The Golden Jubilee Tour of British Columbia

August 21, 2005
At last, I've arrived and, yes, still breathing. This trip was all about me turning... um...fort...no, okay...fifty.
For over a year, Hector was all hopped up in the planning stages of a big Las Vegas blowout to celebrate. At first the idea sounded pretty good: nice room at Bellagio, a couple of dinners in my honor surrounded by a few friends. But then, in the spring, when the guest list topped 35, and he and Mark started speculating about the cost of Cirque du Soleil performers, I spiraled into a panic and eventually admitted I'd rather just take a little trip somewhere to celebrate with Mark and Arturo.

Vancouver: So we arrived late last night, direct flight from LA, picked up our boat, I mean car (monstrous Ford Explorer) and arrived at the Four Seasons around 1130pm. I had booked the four of us into a 2 bedroom suite but happily discovered we had been upgraded to the "Prime Minister Suite" at no additional cost... 37th Floor... gasps as we were escorted into the foyer. I was sure we'd been taken to the convention center in error. A two-story living and dining room with a large bedroom suite attached. Then, upstairs, yes upstairs was a humongous bedroom & sitting area. The damn thing had 3 marble bathrooms, 3 TV's (don't think we ever got around to turning them on) and best of all, 2 minibars. After about an hour of running around giggling and opening doors, we settled down, had a drink to calm ourselves and went to bed. It was luxurious. As we snuggled into our down pillows on the padded king sized mattress, I thought, "fifty is not so bad after all..."

Next morning, we lolled about in thick robes for a couple of hours and decided to have a room service breakfast so we just about ordered the whole menu. They brought it up, laid it out and by golly we ate it. Waffles, eggs, bacon (both types!), toast, muffins, potatoes, it was shameful.

Although reluctant to separate ourselves from that suite, we drove over to glorious Stanley Park and had a carriage ride. Stanley Park is perched at the tip of a peninsula overlooking Burrard Inlet. It's a 1000-acre forest paradise five minutes from downtown. There's biking and hiking paths and it's where I saw my first ever black squirrel. The day was clear and warm, there were lots of people out, but we had yet another cranky tour guide on our horse-drawn carriage ride. In fact she actually drove off and abandoned some Italians who had gone to use the restroom at one of our stops. Oh, she was tough. We dared not ask questions. Ironically, we later ran into the very charming tour guide we had on that same carriage ride 3 years ago. I went over to speak to her and she immediately said "I remember you." How charming is that?

After a hike through the primeval woods we drove over to Granville Island. This is the kind of place Hector enjoys for the humanity but I have to say I don't ever need to go back there. It's the Fisherman's Wharf/Pikes Market/Quincy Market of Vancouver. Get the picture? Manufactured old world charm. We each had a plate of something unsatisfying for lunch. Looked at t-shirts and magnets and other claptrap but time was running out and we were eager to get back to our luxury nest, so we raced back to the hotel and frantically did some more lolling about before dinner.

We had reservations that night at Bishops. The only thing I knew about this place was its website and a good review in a guide book but it looked promising so I chose it as the place to celebrate my bd, Hector's & my 8th anniversary, and Mark & Arturo's 8th anniversary. (they're all around the same date.). Well! We had one of the best all-around dining experiences we've ever had. All four of us agreed. The table, the room, the attentive service, and the food! I had the dungeness crab cake to start- delicate and flavorful without being too fishy. It was divine. And for main course I had the Fraser Valley lamb in four parts- a chop, a sausage, loin and shredded. Spectacular. Mark chose a delicious wine and we sat there for 3 hours and killed about 3 bottles. The staff was falling all over us (not just us, everybody). We were giddy with all the attention. We left in a stupor and, after a half-hearted attempt to visit a gay bar, we just went home and went to bed.

Monday Aug 22
After a lovely buffet breakfast downstairs with the non-Prime Ministers, we lit out for the ferry station at Tsawwassen (love that name) to catch our ferry over to Victoria. We arrived in plenty of time to catch the 11:30 am ferry but unfortunately our reservation was for the 10:00 am ferry and I had misread the email. So they sternly put us at the very end of the "hopefuls" line and said we "might" make it onto the next one. It's fascinating to sit there watching the whole production of the ship slowly pulling up, huge gates opening, hundreds of cars driving off- then the excitement of our turn, will there be space for us? We were in a cold sweat until the time we actually pulled onto the ship, at the very end of the line. It's a gorgeous 90 minute ride through picturesque islands and narrow straits. And a bit chilly up on the observation deck but it's fun to see all the various nationalities and age groups of the other travelers. A good mix of locals, backpackers, lunatics and yuppie tourists.

Victoria
Arrived early afternoon at Schwarz Bay and decided to immediately drive to our hotel to check in. The Aerie is located a few miles north of Victoria up in the mountains overlooking an inlet called Finlayson Arm. This one I found through their website and I knew it was a doozie. We arrived, all agog at the views and the elegant surroundings and after lunch we were escorted up the hill to the private property called Villa Cielo. We had two suites, the Delphinus and the Aquila, both on the ground floor, separated by a communal lounge area. It was all so gorgeous and enchanting we decided right then we'd just order dinner to be brought up to us so we could sit on the terrace and enjoy the view. Sure enough, they drove it up the hill in a golf cart and laid it out on a white tablecloth for us. We spent the entire evening snacking and drinking wine, watching the sun sink behind the mountains as hawks soared overhead. We could see the lights of Victoria flickering on and, in the far distance, past the Strait of Juan De Fuca, we could see Port Angeles, Washington through the clouds.

Next morning, Tuesday, after breakfast in front of a breathtaking view in the dining room, we drove a few miles down the hill to Spectacle Lake, a small pond with a hiking trail encircling it. We walked through the trees for about an hour and a half, passing only a few others hikers. Then we drove over to Butchart Gardens. This is the most beautiful garden I've ever experienced. It was built by a wealthy couple who wanted to make use of the land that was once a quarry. So the property itself has deep ponds, sunken gardens, waterfalls and is incredibly groomed in a way that can only be achieved by a full staff for a century. We spent about 3 hours there and an additional hour in the gift shop.

Drove over for lunch in Victoria. With the weather being so inviting there were all sorts of tourists around, and since Victoria's downtown is so compact it was a bit like being in a stadium. We had lunch at Pagliacci's, a little Italian bistro, strolled the Inner Harbor for a few hours, snooped around the famous Empress Hotel but we heard the call of our little Mount Olympus so we drove like lunatics back to the Aerie. Nap, cocktails, solitude, then we glammed up and went down the hill to the dining room for yet another birthday dinner. Earlier in the day, Mark had made friends with the chef and the hotel owner, Maria, so they came over for a visit and made us feel like VIP's. All the other guests were envious, probably thinking we were movie stars.

Wednesday, August 24
A sad day, farewell to Victoria, farewell to the Aerie and the sort of luxury we can't usually afford and certainly don't deserve. As we were checking out, Maria ran out to pose for a photo with us, what a sweet lady. With promises to return, we drove off down the hill and actually had one last glimpse of a family of deer grazing on the hillside.

Made it back to Victoria a bit early for our ferry to Seattle so we wandered a bit more, took a few photos, wept over leaving the Aerie and killed time. We had already returned the car in Victoria so we boarded the high-speed ferry on foot and took off. There was no good observation deck so we just sat inside the cabin for the 2 1/2 hour journey. Great views of downtown Seattle as we approached, disembarked, collected our luggage, passed customs, stored our luggage and climbed the hill up to Pikes Place Market for some deliciously greasy fish and chips. Bought cheese at our favorite cheese shop, and then grabbed a cab to the airport. An uneventful flight home, but as always, returning to San Diego's weather was like a warm embrace.

British Columbia Photo Album