Relishing Victoria

Today, we went nowhere.   We stayed in Victoria, the best European town in North America.  I love this place.  Quaint streets lined with interesting shops, lots of high-quality eateries, and lovely architecture, all inhabited by friendly gregarious people.

Dillon came through!  Karen & I were lunching at an outdoor spot across the harbour, at the ferry terminal no less, when we saw Dillon come over and dive the boat.  He went in four times to free kelp from our stabilizers and wing propeller.  Dillon is my newest hero!  The water temp was a balmy 52 degrees, and the air temp was 54 degrees with a 10-knot wind from the north. Best $100 I ever spent!

That's the view of Dillon preparing for his dive while we were dining in relative warmth and luxury across the harbour.

We decided to visit the Stonehenge exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.   I actually saw (sort-of) Stonehenge as my Oxford buddy, Mike & I, rode the train from Oxford to Plymouth, England.  We never went to Stonehenge as we spent too much time visiting Bath.  Cool place, btw.

The current thinking is that Stonehenge was the culmination and joining of multiple cultures and territories into on monument to celebrate the ancestors.  The builders spanned about 5,500BCE to 2,500BCE, slightly predating or at least contemporary with the pyramids of Egypt.

The nearby community of Durrington Walls numbered about 4,000 inhabitants at its peak was the residence of the people who built that iteration of Stonehenge.  That makes the building of Stonehenge one of the largest human endeavors of the ancient world.  The history is evolving as we uncover more.  Pretty cool stuff.

It never ends...  Someone, please save Karen from this sap's questionable sense of humor!

We dined at the Veranda restaurant in the Fairmont/Empress Hotel.  Karen has the salmon while I had the smoked filet of tenderloin.  We were here last Thanksgiving, and our server tonight was the same as then, thanks, Will.

Really tasty and outstanding service!

We paired that with the 2020 Querciabella Chianti Classico.  On the menu it was listed as a 2019, but I was not disappointed, this was very good.

Tomorrow, we reenter the US (I hope they let us back in!) as we head to Port Townsend to visit with friends from our Santa Cruz days: Ed & Cheryl and Larry & Wendy.

Then on Saturday we will visit with Paul and Jenell Werder from my Portland days.  Paul was instrumental in helping me work through some challenging transformations.  The growth and sale of Lighthouse, the challenges of raising adult thinking empowered children, and the realization of my own sense of self.  Paul is a personal, executive, and business coach whom I hold in the highest regard.  In case you are curious to learn more, ask me or visit www.lionhrt.com.

Ciao!