We had a very early 4:30 wake up because we had to leave the hotel at 5:15 to reach the ferry to Vancouver Island. It cost $101 to ferry our car across to Vancouver Island.
We ate Tim Horton muffins with coffee on the ferry.
Dennis' Garmin GPS was still working great.
Rain was expected and Butchart staff had umbrellas ready for people to borrow.
The famous Butchart boar was acquired from Florence, Italy. It greets everyone who enters the gardens.
Do you see mom briskly walking (uphill!) a teeny bit impatiently? We had to rush to keep up with her.
The first place we needed to see was the Sunken Garden.
The lighting was not good so we resolved to return to take another photo.
The Sunken Garden was created in an exhausted limestone quarry by Jennie Butchart. Her husband, Robert Butchart owned Portland Cement.
We were so glad to see the sun come out.
We didn't need umbrellas the entire day.
Raindrops on the tulips made them extra beautiful. Dennis told me that he knew some photographers used a spray bottle to get the same effect.
Please forgive me for all these photos.
Feel free to just scroll through quickly. I just love looking at them and remembering.
The Japanese garden was a favorite place for mom.
You can see the window here of the restaurant where we would be having our lunch.
It started to rain pretty hard while we were having our lunch at the Dining Room Restaurant which was once the home of the Butcharts.
Mom had the crab and English pea arancine for the appetizer while we had the smoked salmon flatbread.
For the main entree we had the West Coast seafood turnover while Dennis had the AAA rib-eye burger which is not pictured.
As we left the restaurant, the rain stopped.
The sun was out and everything glistened and sparkled.
Our next stop was the warm and humid Victoria Butterfly Garden. Thank goodness the attendant told me to use the hand dryer on my camera lens because it kept getting fogged up from being outside in the cold.
What a surprise to see so many cherry trees blossoming from our Embassy Inn room.
We were pretty tired so we decided to just do a carry out of fish and chips from Barb's Place. It advertised that it was one of the "top 10 seafood spots by the sea" by Sunset magazine.
Art and Dennis were nearly frozen standing outside waiting for the fish and chips while mom and I waited in the car.
The fish and chips were OK... I'm sure they'd have been tastier if it was eaten right away at the dock.
It was another wonderful, beautiful day.
Dennis' Garmin GPS was still working great.
Rain was expected and Butchart staff had umbrellas ready for people to borrow.
The famous Butchart boar was acquired from Florence, Italy. It greets everyone who enters the gardens.
Do you see mom briskly walking (uphill!) a teeny bit impatiently? We had to rush to keep up with her.
The first place we needed to see was the Sunken Garden.
The lighting was not good so we resolved to return to take another photo.
The Sunken Garden was created in an exhausted limestone quarry by Jennie Butchart. Her husband, Robert Butchart owned Portland Cement.
We were so glad to see the sun come out.
We didn't need umbrellas the entire day.
Raindrops on the tulips made them extra beautiful. Dennis told me that he knew some photographers used a spray bottle to get the same effect.
Please forgive me for all these photos.
Feel free to just scroll through quickly. I just love looking at them and remembering.
The Japanese garden was a favorite place for mom.
It started to rain pretty hard while we were having our lunch at the Dining Room Restaurant which was once the home of the Butcharts.
Mom had the crab and English pea arancine for the appetizer while we had the smoked salmon flatbread.
For the main entree we had the West Coast seafood turnover while Dennis had the AAA rib-eye burger which is not pictured.
As we left the restaurant, the rain stopped.
The sun was out and everything glistened and sparkled.
Our next stop was the warm and humid Victoria Butterfly Garden. Thank goodness the attendant told me to use the hand dryer on my camera lens because it kept getting fogged up from being outside in the cold.
What a surprise to see so many cherry trees blossoming from our Embassy Inn room.
We were pretty tired so we decided to just do a carry out of fish and chips from Barb's Place. It advertised that it was one of the "top 10 seafood spots by the sea" by Sunset magazine.
Art and Dennis were nearly frozen standing outside waiting for the fish and chips while mom and I waited in the car.
The fish and chips were OK... I'm sure they'd have been tastier if it was eaten right away at the dock.
It was another wonderful, beautiful day.
It amazes me how different the gardens look from one season to another. I plan to visit this fall. I love your pictures, and Mom is still forging on ahead in all your pictures. That's wonderful! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the beautiful photos of the gardens. We were in Vancouver several years ago but ran out of time to visit the garden. Everyone who's been talks about how wonderful they are.
ReplyDelete44,000 cherry trees in Vancouver B.C. cherry tree capitol of north America.....$101 for the ferry wow whee, it is expensive to go to the Butchart Garden, think I will just get my enjoyment from your lovely lovely photos..We adore fish n chips always get them right at a dock if we can in seattle we know the places the police go to as our lovely only child lived there for many years, we get the fish n chips and stay in our auto and enjoy the rain, most years, not this year, warmest in recorded weather history..The shore is lovely I don't want to go home it is dark and misty and mysterious, the company excellent and someone bought a whole bunch of clams, oysters and one fellow got 5 big lobsters we had an outdoor roast it was lovely cold but lovely, just had to make sure we were all bundled up..ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really amazing to know they have so many cherry trees and so many different varieties of cherry trees as well.
DeleteJust stunning. You could have kept up the pictures which I could look at forever. :) Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh, my, what a beautiful flowery day! And how kind of the sky to only rain when you were all inside. I know your mother must have enjoyed this immensely but I think the rest of you did too!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures. I wish I had seen this garden in full bloom when I visited friends in Vancouver in March 1994. There was still snow on the ground back then and it was very cold.
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful..Now we know how they are so green.. So much rain.. Kay please stop by the blog and meet my new grandson. My daughter had Blake two weeks ago.... He is so sweet.....Michelle
ReplyDeleteI went there a long time ago, it was lovely. Glad you had a good experience.
ReplyDeleteKay, I think your photos are just beautiful, and your mom looks to really be enjoying herself. The gardens are so lovely!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful gardens and colorful flowers! Too bad the light and weather wasn't a little better but it looks like you still had a good time and got wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteSeems like your trip was blessed! Well, after a rough start that got resolved. Very nice and lovely, your mom is the star!
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful trip! i sure am enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of a great destination.
ReplyDeleteThere's been much change and expansion since I was at Butchart Gardens. You had a great day.
ReplyDeleteOh how I love Butchart Gardens! I could not stop taking photos of the flowers either. It is an amazing place. I bet it was spectacular in the fall. Was this your first time there?
ReplyDeleteDid you notice the face on the teapot? It is created by the reflection. I see a smile made by the knife. The faces are the eyes. Something white is the nose. That's my crazy imagination at work, but I thought it was such a cute little face that I had to point it out to you.
P.S. The teapot even has a little cap on. (The lid.) Ok, I'm getting carried away.
ReplyDeleteAha, you noticed too. I confess it did cross my mind when I saw the photo. Art wanted to do the teapot photo to take a reflection shot.
DeleteThe gardens are truly lovely. Glad to see your mom has a spring in her step!
ReplyDeleteWinnie
Hi Winnie! We found that taking mom on trips by ourselves is much easier for her because we can pace it and adjust for her energy level. It is more work for us though. :-)
DeleteThank you for the tour of Butchart. We've been there two or three times, but not for ten years or so. I love the pulsatilla. Tried to grow some here once but it didn't survive after the first season.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you were lucky with the rain and everything else.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! I was there in 1979! My son and DIL live in Vancouver. We have visited twice, but there is always so much going on. My brother lives on the island, too.
ReplyDeleteOur kids are expecting a baby any day now!
cheers
We have been gone all week, spending it at Rockaway Beach for a little vacation, so we were without internet except on our cell phones. as a result, I am just now catching up on your trip posts. This one of Butchart Gardens is so beautiful! It makes me think we should make a spring visit of our own. We haven't been there for many years, and that was in summer.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! A lovely post on the garden.
ReplyDelete