Travelog: Victoria with Magpies and quilts

 The Magpies met in the late 1990's on the Usenet newsgroup Rec.Crafts.Textiles.Quilting. We spun off from RCTQ so we could chatter (like magpies) off-topic.  We've had in-person meetups large and small.  

Earlier this year Diane offered to host a Magpie meetup in Victoria, BC, in conjunction with the Victoria Quilters' Guild annual show May 9-10.  Five of us took her up on the offer:  Stacey (MO), Phebe (WA), Janet (PA), Debs (also in Victoria), and me.  

Janet flew to O'Hare and we had the same flight from ORD to SEA.  We spent the night in Seattle (8 p.m. arrival so no sightseeing time) and took the FRS Clipper ferry from Seattle to Victoria on Thursday.   

The Huntingdon Hotel is conveniently located near the ferry dock and downtown Victoria.

Thursday afternoon:  we walked to the Emily Carr House and met Diane there.  The house was the Carr family home where Emily and her four sisters grew up.  She became a noted artist and writer whose work was inpsired by the First Nations people of British Columbia.  

with Diane and Janet

The garden at the Carr house had quotations from her writings.   

After the Carr house we walked to the British Columbia Parliament building and took a tour.  A magnificent dome, stained glass, mosaic floors. 

We sat in the legislative gallery for a few minutes and watched an uneventful discussion of a budget item. No photos allowed.

Parliament is illuminated at night

The Empress Hotel is just across the bridge from Parliament.  We went in the lobby but we did not have the legendary tea. ($109 CDN per person w/o champagne, $151 with.)   

Debs joined Janet, Diane, and me for dinner. 

Emily with animal friends outside the Empress

Friday morning I woke up before Janet and had a long walk at Beacon Hill Park.

We had breakfast together at the hotel, then she went out for a walk and I did some exploring on my own. 

The Maritime Museum is in a two-room storefront across from the Empress.  They're raising funds for a standalone building on the waterfront. There's a lot packed into the two rooms!

I chatted with the man at the front desk and commented on the Rotary polo shirt he wore.  He said, "If you're interested in local Rotary, the district annual meeting is right next door in the conference center."

I went to the registration desk and explained that I was just in town to visit. They said I was welcome to browse the projects booths.  Such fun to learn about their district actitivies to address Rotary initiatives!  

The Miniature World Museum was around the block.  Kitschy but fun.  From WWII to the Civil War, the Old Woman in the Shoe, and King Arthur.

I ducked in to the central branch of the Victoria library. 

On my way back to the hotel I noted that the ferry had arrived -- and there were Stacy and Phebe.  I escorted them to the hotel.

Diane and her husband Ralph picked all of us up (S, P, J, me) and we went to the renowned Butchart Gardens.   Debs met us at the garden restaurant at lunchtine.  

Visiting Butchart Gardens was a bucket list check off for me!

The gardens  were developed by Jennie Butchart from a limestone quarry that supplied her husband’s cement plant. The gardens were begun in 1909 and completed in 1921. They now encompass 55 acres.  

At this time of year: spectacular rhododendrons, fancy tulips, English daisies, blue/pink/white forget-me-nots and so much more!

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown Victoria.

Saturday we went to the quilt show!  It was held at the Pearkes Recreation Center in Saanich.   The Victoria Quilters' Guild is large with several hundred members. The show is biennial.   

Janet, Phebe, Diane, Stacey, me, Debs

Local shows are great because there are stop-in-your-tracks beauties and also quilts that you could conceivably make.  Here are some that caught my eye.  I have artists' statements if you want to know more.  

 

 All Canadian themes.  You can't miss "Anne With an E."  Lower center is inside a grain elevator. 

 

 

The Raven got my viewer's choice vote.  

Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee are at the bottom. 

There were vendors at the show. I was aware of my little suitcase and my fabric diet so I treated myself to 8 FQs and two half-metres and that was it!

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After the show there was enough time to see local attraction Craigdarroch Castle.  It was commissioned by Scottish-born coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan and completed in 1891. The Dunsmuirs lived there for three generations. The house also served as WWI military hospital, a college, and the Victoria school department offices. Restoration as a historic house/museum began in 1995 and is ongoing.

# # # # # Diane and Ralph hosted dinner for all of us at their house. 

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Sunday morning:   Janet and I (compatible early birds and dedicated walkers) went back to Beacon Hill Park. 

We saw seven peacocks and one peahen, a turtle, two deer, and many flowers.  We also got a view of the snow-capped Olympic mountains across the sound.

After breakfast with Stacey and Phebe (who were going to meet an online knitting friend) and chcking out of the hotel, we headed to the Royal British Columbia Museum.   (Again, conveniently near the hotel).  

RBC has natural history, human history, and a lot more.  We saw it all!   

I was reminded of Te Papa, the museum in Wellington.

 

Preserving First Nations culture, including their languages.

There is a great Old Town permanent exhibit.  

The spirit or Kermode bears are black bears with white fur.  (Polar bears are grizzlies.)   Note the magpie (the avian one). 

We went back to the hotel, said a final goodbye to Stacey and Phebe (who took the ferry back to Seattle). Ralph and Diane took Janet and me to the airport, with dinner on the way.   

We flew from YYJ (Victoria) to Toronto, touching down at 6:30 a.m.   Customs was a breeze.  Our final flights were two gates apart:  Janet to PHL and me to ORD.   I was home at 10:30.

We packed a lot into a short trip:  quilts, history, exercise, and most of all friendship.  

 

This is a monkey-puzzle tree.  Arucaria arucana, native to Chile.  The leaves are all spiny, sharp and hard.  

Camas, or Indian hyacinth, was blooming profusely at Beacon Hill Park.   It was an important food source for native people.   The cooked tubers taste fig-like, according to the website.  

I'll share more photos in subsequent posts.

Meanwhile I'm linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!