We stayed at Victoria's premier hotel: The Fairmont Empress (Liz Broen had negotiated a great rate for our group). Everyone met up for Happy Hour in Liz and Peter's room which had great views of the city and harbor.

Saturday night was the pub crawl, with Peter laying out plans for visiting up to 8 city pubs. (Un)fortunately, everyone really enjoyed the food and spirits of the first pub, the Sticky Wicket, and maybe we stayed a little too long. Only 10 hardy souls ventured to the second pub, and after that, it was just Peter and Mitch wandering the streets of Victoria.

On Sunday, we all went to the BC Aviation Museum (nice people, good exhibits) followed by Happy Hour and dinner at a nearby restaurant. After dinner, a few of us attended one of the concerts that were part of the ongoing Victoria Jazz Festival (really good music).

On Monday morning, we all caravanned via the scenic coastal route to the world-famous Butchart Gardens. The gardens were stunning - we lucked on the weather and had a delicious picnic lunch.

On Tuesday morning, some of us returned to the US whiles others waited out the weather in Victoria for a trip to Tsuniah Lake.

This trip took a lot of planning - a big thank-you to Peter, Liz and Lisa for putting together such a fun weekend.  Click picture for more photo's.