A Spectacular Seattle and Victoria, BC Trip!
I just got home at 1 am from a wonderful trip to Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I say this almost every trip, but this trip was one of the best trips I’ve ever had! I got to do so much fun stuff I can’t believe it. My son presented at a national conference in Seattle, so I decided to go with him (since guess who was mostly footing the bill?). 😏 I totally turned it into a “Bucket List” trip for myself though!
This is a teaser post of future topics from my trip. I’m sending a shout out to the following folks I met and tour guides who showed me their beautiful cities! I’ll write about each of these topics in the days to come. Here goes!
Thanks to Lynn of Seattle Under The Radar Tours who is a wealth of knowledge and took us to fun places all over West Seattle and knows the best place for a superb picnic with sensational Seattle-based foods! Hats off to her for a totally-customized and super-fun tour to a great farmer’s market, the Starbucks Reserve Store, the record store where many Seattle-based bands got started and still come back to play, local neighborhoods, and an awesome photo spot to end our time in Seattle! So much fun! 👏👏👏
Thanks to Kieran of Victoria Pedicab Company, who took me all over Victoria in a pedicab (transport consisting of a covered cart with an electric bike attached, although he did have to peddle sometimes!). Shout out to him for two customized tours that were great fun and extremely informative. He’s fun to chat with and we both discovered we enjoy reading books, particularly of the fantasy genre. In fact, he took me to a super cool independent bookstore in downtown Victoria on National Book Lover’s Day and I bought his favorite fantasy book to read for myself. I enjoyed the intelligent conversation and entertaining tour immensely! I wish him great success in his future endeavors. Plus I can’t wait to read the book he recommended! 📖
Thanks to Roman, the tour guide and Zona, the bus driver (hope I spelled her name correctly) of the Henry Mural Tour Company. Not only did I get a fabulous tour of Ballard, Fremont, and the Henry Gallery on the Seattle waterfront, I got to learn all about Henry (famous artist of the Pacific NW) and his artwork and many murals. His murals and artwork made my heart happy and it was fun sharing a peach prosciutto pizza with both of them. PLUS, I was the only guest on the tour. What a fun and feel-good tour! I’m now totally a Henry fan! 🎨
My gratitude to the ladies in the front window of the top deck of the double decker tour bus to Butchart Gardens that vacated their seats 5 minutes before the bus left for the gardens. Another couple nearby urged me to take a front seat and I got a birds-eye tour all the way to the gardens. Fun!
A shout out to the many families I took photos of during the trip who were delighted to have pictures of everyone together. I loved seeing the light in their eyes when they looked at the photos on their phone/camera. It brought me joy. Some folks even offered to take my photo in return. A special note of appreciation to the adorable young Muslim family at Butchart Gardens whose husband thanked me profusely for family photos and even ran after me and sought me out to thank me a second time and tell me it meant a lot to him. It made me feel like I really made a difference.
Thanks to Jag, the Uber driver who picked me up at Butchart Gardens at 10 pm and told me he was going to start physical therapy school this Fall. He moved to Canada from India when he was 12 and really applied himself both in school and work. I enjoyed hearing about his dreams and plans for the future. He will go far and I wish him much success!
A note of appreciation to the woman on the whale watching tour from Europe, whom I shared a sunset photo with because I got a more complete one. We discussed world politics and discovered we had many common views. It once again reaffirmed my firm beliefs that we as people are far more alike than we are different. We all want a better world for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren. She urged us as Americans to vote and vote wisely, as the world is watching. I have heard that same comment from a number of folks in several countries. Our vote should not be taken lightly. I have always believed that. A good reminder and a courageous conversation. Thank you.
A shout out to the British couple at the Victoria restaurant who invited me to sit near them on the comfortable couch near the fire pit, as there was no way I was going to be able to sit in the tall bistro chairs on the patio (short people problems 😏). We had a lovely conversation about travel, immigration, and more. They were gracious when I told a story and, due to language differences, made the story both more funny and embarrassing. Word to the wise - the word “pants” in Great Britain refers to underwear, not slacks or trousers. 🙄😆😉 A good reminder that learning about cultural differences can be both enlightening and fun. We all got a good laugh about that one. 😂
Thanks to my Uber driver named Michael who is a Seattle foodie and told me about all the great, locally-owned restaurants in the area. He was a wealth of good information and was fun to talk with. Stay tuned for a future blog post about great places to eat in Seattle! 😋😋😋
Thank you to the Seattle Convention Center for the great free art exhibits and displays, including one with current children’s book illustrators/authors. I loved it and it made me feel better about not having time to go to the Seattle Art Museum on this trip. There’s always next time! 😉
And, last but not least, thanks to the lovely staff at the Paramount Hotel in downtown Seattle, who were so friendly and kept us supplied with bottled water during our stay. I walked more than 26 miles this week and the water was a lifesaver!
So, as you can see, I had a memorable trip filled with all sorts of beautiful people, places and experiences. And that, my friends, is why you travel!
Stay tuned for more details, photos, and stories! 👏