It was shocking to see how empty Friday Harbor was, now that the hustle and bustle of summer is over.
We caught a bus from Sidney to Victoria (which is super easy to do and took about 50 minutes) and it dropped us right near the Empress Hotel and the Parliament building, which was very near our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Inn, which I highly recommend as a super affordable, but nice place to stay. They offer free parking and free breakfast (and the breakfast is up to a $9.95 value at their sit down restaurant, so a great deal!)
We started our day at the Empress hotel where we splurged for Afternoon tea for my friend Charly's Birthday.. and it was wonderful!
We did some exploring around city.. which was gorgeous. You can see the history, the British influence, and how many of these older buildings are still around. I loved it! Also, there were lots of dogs in their statures which made me really happy!
We were also there in time for the Christmas lighting ceremony at the Parliament buildings! We saw the chorus sing Christmas Carols and then the lights came on! It was magnificent!
We did some more exploring the next day and I LOVED The Parliament building.. as well as the other great buildings in town.
I decided to walk out to Craigdarroch Castle while Charly went to the Museum, and the walk there produced tons of beautiful old Victorian homes, of which I am a HUGE fan. I could walk around for hours and just look at houses, which I pretty much did. :) Here are some I found on my journey.
The Castle was AMAZING! I am SO glad I walked down Fort street to find it and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
