Vantoria

Some may remember the old commercial, "Let's go to Victoria on Princess Marguerite." It was a boat trip from Seattle to Victoria. They aren't around anymore. But we took a short vacation cruising from Bellingham to Victoria. Or Vantoria, as Lucas calls it. I think Julie Meteer gets the credit. She mentioned that Victoria San Juan Cruises was having a 2-for-1 sale. Without that nugget we may have never decided to go to Victoria. We’d been kicking around the notion of a vacation, but hadn’t come up with anything concrete, other than a possible date. It had to be after summer quarter and before the fall sports started – which really only left two weekends. So that part was easy.

More difficult was where to go, and how to get there. There were the usual obstacles: time, distance, money and kids. Neither of the boys would be pleasant during a long car ride so we’re rather limited. Plus we’re bordered by the water to the west and a whole lot of nothing worth seeing to the east. North is Vancouver, South is Portland and the Oregon Coast – though that might be a tad far. Anything in between is fair game but not all that palatable as a vacation destination. Then Julie suggests Victoria, BC – a little bit of London within striking distance (which reminds me of the IRA). What a great idea. It’s touristy, which I always enjoy, is a real city so there are parks to play in, and we can take a boat there which gives us the benefits of being adventurous in its’ own right, and not confining the kids to a seat for three hours.
A little internet surfing supplied a few ideas of what to do when we got there, but for once I decided to just let things play out. It’s hard, and maybe a little foolish, to impose an itinerary on children. Significantly though, I did find a hotel that looked on the google map to be very near where the boat put in. I also found the local transit schedule which had some helpful links – to local parks and tourist attractions. Two I did plan to see were Beacon Hill Park and the Harbour Ferry.

After talking to Julie I took Lucas down to the ferry terminal to look into tickets with San Juan Cruises – they sail each morning from Bellingham to Victoria, and return at dinner time. I could have booked online but I wanted to ask about the sale. Sure enough they were offering 2-for-1, but I had to get a coupon. The gal at the desk was nice enough to sell me the tickets without one, but said I’d have to bring one with me when we checked in. No problem, I bought the local paper the next day and happily clipped out a little rectangle of newsprint, which saved me $129.

I took Friday off from work to allow us to travel on that day. We packed up the night before, traveling light due to a worry about space on the boat. No need, it turned out. But with enough diapers for Jack and a change of clothes apiece we left early Friday morning to catch our ride. Judging from the line it looked like it would be a fun cruise, there were four women with a 12-pack of beer. Mind you it was about nine in the morning, so I wanted to sit near them figuring they would be an entertaining group. Sadly, we never saw them again.

Even without the company of four drunks the trip was a lot of fun. Kim bought herself a "bottomless" cup of coffee and was very thankful for the calm seas. Lucas and I ended up staying outside quite a bit, taking in the sights. Kim stayed inside with Jack and introduced him to the freezer full of ice cream bars. I figured we could use them as a bribe to keep the kids in line for most of the trip. Kim, on the other hand, figured we might as well hop them up on sugar as soon as possible. Of course Jack wanted to go back time and again. Upon arrival we breezed through customs, took our bearings and walked to the hotel which was only a block away. I will take full credit for the location. Kim gets credit for the quality, she wouldn't let me choose my usual el-cheapo. After checking in we went hunting for lunch. We cruised through the touristy Inner Harbour, where we saw Darth Vader playing a violin, but could only find an over-priced hot dog. So I led us afield. Kim reigned me in, knowing full well I'd walk for an hour in search of a better deal. But she was hungry and had experience with my food-search treks.

We settled on sandwiches and Jack fell asleep in Kim's arms so she was stuck carrying him. I offered to take a turn, but she was afraid he'd wake. So Jack slept through a good deal of sight-seeing. We saw the parliament building, some dinosaur tracks and quite a lot of totem poles in Thunderbird Park. We also spotted a place for dinner - The Spaghetti Factory. We went early, which was a good thing since a large line formed after we were seated. The restaurant obviously wasn't a one of a kind local experience, but it was perfect for us. Both the kids will eat noodles and it was close to the hotel. Jack covered himself in sauce and after we hosed him down we went outside and caught a city bus. A double-decker mind you, so we went upstairs and got the front seat. We rode was too long, but we got a tour of the city and the chance to ride a double-decker for about a tenth of the tour bus cost. After the bus trip it was time to head in, though we did stop by a store for a bottle of beer. Should bring a bottle opener next time. They guy at the shop said he wasn't supposed to open them but "loosened" it for me. Kim and I drank it was we got the kids ready for bed. Our plan was to get them asleep then take turns going out to see the Inner Harbour and Parliament lit up. Instead we both fell asleep about nine.

The next morning we headed to a grocery store Kim had found on a map to collect some breakfast. Another Ragsdale family picnic. Though with no van to eat in we had to settle for a table outside a Starbucks, which provided our caffeine fixes. From there it was off to Beacon Hill park, which was only a few blocks away. There we found a fabulous fountain. It was shaped like a watering can, but was about two-stories high. It had four buttons you could press, and they would send water shooting out from different holes in the can. Best of all, the park had a petting zoo. Right after opening they had the Goat Stampede. They let a mess of baby goats charge from one end of the zoo to the other with all the spectators lined up cheering them on and herding any strays back in the right direction. It was a hoot. We spent a good bit of time there and the rest of the morning playing in the park. From there we had to find some lunch and souvenirs. So we went downtown for both. Lunch was a miserable affair in a food court of all places. But we did find some great sweatshirts in a tourist shop. We also took the time to cruise a couple of neighborhoods and catch a ride on the Harbour Ferry - little 8-10 person boats that act like a water bus or if you stay on long enough you can get a guided tour. After that we had to go back to the hotel (the Harbour Towers if you're interested), collect our bags and head back to the boat.

It was then Friday in reverse. Breeze through customs, pick a seat, ply the kids with ice cream bars and enjoy the ride. There were a couple of differences this time though. For one thing they fed us dinner - chicken and salmon. There were also two guys on Ski Dos who followed us for about an hour as we headed into Bellingham. They would get behind the boat then come charging up and either ride the wake or use it as a ramp. It was quite the sight.