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Post by chalet on Feb 20, 2024 6:23:43 GMT
I'm going this summer. Always wanted to go and just starting to read about it. I know about the Butchart Gardens and love
taking ferry's and walking everywhere. I thought maybe a tour of mountains and lakes for a day but I haven't gotten that far. No, I'm not a hiker or a kayaker. In my head I'm cafe society so where's the best place for high tea? I do love water and looking at mountains, nature and animals. My friend is meeting me in Vancouver to see a concert at the Queen Elizabeth theater and we will stay in a hotel close to the venue. The rest of the trip I travel solo. So, you been?
Tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria
• Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.
• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted.
• No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.
• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted.
Guests who arrive in unsuitable attire may be politely declined.
Thank you for your understanding.
I'll pack my Aintree outfit!!
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Post by brookie on Feb 20, 2024 14:34:34 GMT
If you get to Yoho National Park, let me know. THAT I can help with.
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Post by kittylady on Feb 20, 2024 19:31:45 GMT
I'm going this summer. Always wanted to go and just starting to read about it. I know about the Butchart Gardens and love taking ferry's and walking everywhere. I thought maybe a tour of mountains and lakes for a day but I haven't gotten that far. No, I'm not a hiker or a kayaker. In my head I'm cafe society so where's the best place for high tea? I do love water and looking at mountains, nature and animals. My friend is meeting me in Vancouver to see a concert at the Queen Elizabeth theater and we will stay in a hotel close to the venue. The rest of the trip I travel solo. So, you been? Tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria
• Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted. • No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.
• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted. Guests who arrive in unsuitable attire may be politely declined. Thank you for your understanding. I'll pack my Aintree outfit!!Be careful with how true to Aintree you go - ankle monitors may lead to you being refused entry. |
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Post by notoriousmkg on Feb 20, 2024 21:04:50 GMT
I'm going this summer. Always wanted to go and just starting to read about it. I know about the Butchart Gardens and love taking ferry's and walking everywhere. I thought maybe a tour of mountains and lakes for a day but I haven't gotten that far. No, I'm not a hiker or a kayaker. In my head I'm cafe society so where's the best place for high tea? I do love water and looking at mountains, nature and animals. My friend is meeting me in Vancouver to see a concert at the Queen Elizabeth theater and we will stay in a hotel close to the venue. The rest of the trip I travel solo. So, you been? Tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria
• Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted. • No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.
• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted. Guests who arrive in unsuitable attire may be politely declined. Thank you for your understanding. I'll pack my Aintree outfit!! As soon as you said Victoria, the first two things I thought of were Butchart Gardens and high tea at the Empress Hotel. I have literally not been there since 1983, when I went there with a bunch of relatives. I especially remember the finger sandwiches - which were literally the size of a finger. My super-cute cousin, who as the time was a junior Olympic swimmer, managed to eat as much of them as my brother and I together, |
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Post by chalet on Feb 21, 2024 2:35:25 GMT
If you get to Yoho National Park, let me know. THAT I can help with. You know, that's the other part of the trip that I would have taken because I will get to Banff one day. The one person I want to take that trip with is my uncle (the whole scenic train thing and nice accomodations) but he's only been going to Bali and side trips in that part of the world and he's going to buy a place there, so I'll have to plan a separate trip. Imagine having a place to stay in Bali and you can't afford to get there? I can't fly that long without being in a bed pod. I'm going this summer. Always wanted to go and just starting to read about it. I know about the Butchart Gardens and love taking ferry's and walking everywhere. I thought maybe a tour of mountains and lakes for a day but I haven't gotten that far. No, I'm not a hiker or a kayaker. In my head I'm cafe society so where's the best place for high tea? I do love water and looking at mountains, nature and animals. My friend is meeting me in Vancouver to see a concert at the Queen Elizabeth theater and we will stay in a hotel close to the venue. The rest of the trip I travel solo. So, you been? Tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria
• Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted. • No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.
• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted. Guests who arrive in unsuitable attire may be politely declined. Thank you for your understanding. I'll pack my Aintree outfit!!Be careful with how true to Aintree you go - ankle monitors may lead to you being refused entry. What are you talking? I'm going naked! I'm going this summer. Always wanted to go and just starting to read about it. I know about the Butchart Gardens and love taking ferry's and walking everywhere. I thought maybe a tour of mountains and lakes for a day but I haven't gotten that far. No, I'm not a hiker or a kayaker. In my head I'm cafe society so where's the best place for high tea? I do love water and looking at mountains, nature and animals. My friend is meeting me in Vancouver to see a concert at the Queen Elizabeth theater and we will stay in a hotel close to the venue. The rest of the trip I travel solo. So, you been? Tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria
• Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted. • No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.
• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted. Guests who arrive in unsuitable attire may be politely declined. Thank you for your understanding. I'll pack my Aintree outfit!! As soon as you said Victoria, the first two things I thought of were Butchart Gardens and high tea at the Empress Hotel. I have literally not been there since 1983, when I went there with a bunch of relatives. I especially remember the finger sandwiches - which were literally the size of a finger. My super-cute cousin, who as the time was a junior Olympic swimmer, managed to eat as much of them as my brother and I together, I used to be a high tea person, now the actual food doesn't interest me much. Okay, I lie. A cup of tea and a good scone with Devonshire cream. The rest, don't care. The reason I wanted to go there is because on the soap General Hospital in 1982 they did a location storyline and I fell in love with Victoria. |
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Post by notoriousmkg on Feb 21, 2024 2:55:50 GMT
I had forgotten about the scones until you mentioned them. High tea at this hotel was the very first time I had scones, and I was like, "Why are these pastry things so dry and hard???" LOL
Speaking of General Hospital, I remember that around 1982 it was a huge cultural phenomenon. I can't remember if that was the Luke and Laura era (cue the Christopher Cross song) or not. I had a high school friend who watched it every day and would make humorous comments about it. Also, there was some pop song out that had a chorus like "I can't cope without my soap, General Hos-pit-AL!"
While I think the place will live up to your expectations (I thought it was pretty ritzy), it kind of reminds me of my visit with my wife and kids to Cocoa Beach around 2016. I had this really romanticized idea of the place because I loved the TV show, "I Dream of Jeannie" and that was where it was supposed to take place. But when we stayed there it was really one of the most drab, low-key beach towns we've ever stayed at. Literally nothing (except Ron Jon's) was open after 9 pm. And the waves on the beach were about 1 foot high. But it was close to Kennedy Space Center, where Mrs Mo was having meetings every day. Also, there was an I Dream of Jeannie Lane, but aside from the street sign, it wasn't really a tourist stop.
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Post by dolem on Feb 23, 2024 8:00:31 GMT
We drove up to Vancouver last summer for 4 days, loved it. We had our a 12 and 14 year old with us, so definitely had to plan activities that kids like.
Victoria: Book a ticket early for the ferries, they are packed in the summer. We walked on last July and just took a taxi from Schwartz Bay to Victoria proper - it's at least a 20 minute drive, maybe more. Victoria is beautiful in the summer. Definitely go to Butchart Gardens & tea at the Empress is a fun experience.
In Vancouver we did all the standard touristy stuff, went to the Capilano suspension bridge & park. It was BUSY! I think there is suppose to be another suspension bridge somewhere near Capilano that is far less crowded and even possibly free. Didn't hit up Grouse Mountain, but it looks fun. Walked through Stanley park while my daughter roller bladed. You can rent bikes and ride it. Went to Granville Island, ate and shopped. We ate a ton of good food.
Honestly think that Vancouver is the most beautiful city on the west coast. Have fun!
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Post by chalet on Mar 4, 2024 5:59:13 GMT
I had forgotten about the scones until you mentioned them. High tea at this hotel was the very first time I had scones, and I was like, "Why are these pastry things so dry and hard???" LOL Speaking of General Hospital, I remember that around 1982 it was a huge cultural phenomenon. I can't remember if that was the Luke and Laura era (cue the Christopher Cross song) or not. I had a high school friend who watched it every day and would make humorous comments about it. Also, there was some pop song out that had a chorus like "I can't cope without my soap, General Hos-pit-AL!"
While I think the place will live up to your expectations (I thought it was pretty ritzy), it kind of reminds me of my visit with my wife and kids to Cocoa Beach around 2016. I had this really romanticized idea of the place because I loved the TV show, "I Dream of Jeannie" and that was where it was supposed to take place. But when we stayed there it was really one of the most drab, low-key beach towns we've ever stayed at. Literally nothing (except Ron Jon's) was open after 9 pm. And the waves on the beach were about 1 foot high. But it was close to Kennedy Space Center, where Mrs Mo was having meetings every day. Also, there was an I Dream of Jeannie Lane, but aside from the street sign, it wasn't really a tourist stop.In 1982 L&L were over (for the time being) and Emma Samms came on as a lovely English rose from a family of con artists - based in Victoria, BC. So they went to rescue her in Victoria hence the on location shoots. The song "Baby Come to Me" by James Ingram and Patti Austin shot to the top of the charts with heavy airplay on GH which became Luke & Holly's song. 1983 when Laura returned "Think of Laura" got heavy airplay on the show and became the L&L reunion song. Christopher Cross wrote it about a girl that got shot by a stray bullet on a campus. (of course there was Herb Alpert's "Rise" disco jazzy instrumental that went to number one on the charts for the month of October 1979 as Luke raped Laura on the dance floor to that tune). I saw the Jeannie sign photo online. My computer wallpaper is inside Jeannie's bottle, I kid you not. You know they recently demolished all of the Screen Gems backlot sets? We drove up to Vancouver last summer for 4 days, loved it. We had our a 12 and 14 year old with us, so definitely had to plan activities that kids like. Victoria: Book a ticket early for the ferries, they are packed in the summer. We walked on last July and just took a taxi from Schwartz Bay to Victoria proper - it's at least a 20 minute drive, maybe more. Victoria is beautiful in the summer. Definitely go to Butchart Gardens & tea at the Empress is a fun experience. In Vancouver we did all the standard touristy stuff, went to the Capilano suspension bridge & park. It was BUSY! I think there is suppose to be another suspension bridge somewhere near Capilano that is far less crowded and even possibly free. Didn't hit up Grouse Mountain, but it looks fun. Walked through Stanley park while my daughter roller bladed. You can rent bikes and ride it. Went to Granville Island, ate and shopped. We ate a ton of good food. Honestly think that Vancouver is the most beautiful city on the west coast. Have fun! Oh oh! Thank you, Dolem! Thanks for the Ferry info. Your entire description has made me so excited. Thank you so much. I'm glad the kids had a ball. I just looked up Grouse Mountain and laughed when I saw the aerial tram. I used to live on Roosevelt Island in NYC and took that damn thing every day to get to Manhattan till we got the subway. I'll definitely have to take it. I'm already losing sleep over footwear. |
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Post by dolem on Mar 6, 2024 16:57:20 GMT
Of course! The ferries are probably the trickiest thing, especially if you're going over a weekend. The lines are long to get on and there's really only one ferry terminal leaving from Vancouver to Victoria. I'd totally suggest walking on unless you need to have your car for some reason. You can buy tickets though and I'd suggest getting an early ferry & getting there very early to get in line (weekends of course), not sure if they are less busy over week days. We also had near perfect weather so I'm sure that made everything more busy.
My fam did this Richmond Night Market, not sure if it would be something you're into. Kids loved it, tons of really good asian foods and silly shopping. Very loud & crowded, though I know we watched some youtube videos on "family" oriented things to do as my husband and I had only ever been there as college aged kids and very young 20's.
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Post by ao on Apr 1, 2024 1:03:09 GMT
My sis lives in Victoria so I know it quite well. The gardens and Empress hotel are big tourist draws and worth a visit but if you have wheels and a little more time it’s worth heading out of the city to explore more of the island eg Nanaimo or Parkville on the east coast. Victoria itself is lovely but beneath the genteel veneer it suffers the same problems as so many other cities with noticeably more homeless people camped out in parks and public spaces and the usual drugs/alcohol problems. It’s unfortunately better to avoid certain neighbourhoods these days.
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Post by chalet on Apr 14, 2024 3:07:46 GMT
Of course! The ferries are probably the trickiest thing, especially if you're going over a weekend. The lines are long to get on and there's really only one ferry terminal leaving from Vancouver to Victoria. I'd totally suggest walking on unless you need to have your car for some reason. You can buy tickets though and I'd suggest getting an early ferry & getting there very early to get in line (weekends of course), not sure if they are less busy over week days. We also had near perfect weather so I'm sure that made everything more busy. My fam did this Richmond Night Market, not sure if it would be something you're into. Kids loved it, tons of really good asian foods and silly shopping. Very loud & crowded, though I know we watched some youtube videos on "family" oriented things to do as my husband and I had only ever been there as college aged kids and very young 20's. Thanks for all this great info. I bought the Fromer's guide so it's bedtime reading. So far it looks like I'll be going to Victoria during the week but I will book the ferries. My sis lives in Victoria so I know it quite well. The gardens and Empress hotel are big tourist draws and worth a visit but if you have wheels and a little more time it’s worth heading out of the city to explore more of the island eg Nanaimo or Parkville on the east coast. Victoria itself is lovely but beneath the genteel veneer it suffers the same problems as so many other cities with noticeably more homeless people camped out in parks and public spaces and the usual drugs/alcohol problems. It’s unfortunately better to avoid certain neighbourhoods these days. OMG! My eyes! It's ao! Missed you woman! Thanks for this info too. I'm writing down all these ideas and will pack as much in as I can. Last summer I was in LA and my friend was driving around. She said didn't know why, but my timing was good because somehow suburban LA got tidied up and there wasn't a homeless blue tent to be found. I saw two blue tents my whole trip from LA to San Diego. |
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