Friday 4

This morning we headed to Butchart Gardens, the much ballyhooed sight of Victoria. Flowers, and colors, and leaves, Oh Boy!! And the radio said it was 2 degrees Celsius (about 35F). So, I’ll let Theresa tell this story.

For those who don’t know, Butchart Gardens is an old strip mine owned by the Butchart family. Mrs. Butchart decided to make use of the mine after her husband’s company had finished stripping the limestone out for cement processing. The Gardens includes their old family home, which is where all the shops and restaurants are now, as well as 4 gardens – the Sunken Garden, the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Italian Garden. Those who know us, know that Bill and I typically avoid gardens, as my interest is minimal and Bill’s is usually non-existent. However, everyone we spoke to about Victoria asked if we were going here, so we thought we should.

Even the trash cans are "gardens"

The Fall Season made some interesting sites.  There were still some flowers blooming (they have different flowers that bloom at different times of the year) and the fall colors made some really nice scenery.  My favorite garden was the Japanese Garden, but the Sunken Garden was also really nice.  We, of course, know nothing about flowers, so will just present some pictures with little commentary J

Look at the beautiful roses!!  Oh, wait, wrong season!



Inspired by Escher!



After Butchart Gardens, we headed back to the B&B, stopping at a winery on the way. We did a tasting, which was interesting in that there were two buyers also tasting, so we could eavesdrop on their conversation. Of course, we weren’t spitting our wine out!

We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon, watching a video of the Planet of the Apes. Then, we went to Spinnaker’s Pub for dinner, having a Pumpkin Ale (me) and Discover Ale (with hops that went in the Space Shuttle Discovery) and a Bitter Cask Beer (Bill).