“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
1 John 3:18
We’ve taken you along the aisles of Pike Place Market where the fish were flying and the bouquets of flowers were gorgeous. We’ve also been to Chihuly Garden & Glass where it’s almost hard to believe that the sculptures are made by hand! But we aren’t finished with our adventures in Seattle! While we were there, we also took an amazing day trip to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada. We departed for a three hour cruise from Seattle on the ferry that took us through Puget Sound and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca on our way to Victoria’s Inner Harbour. What’s there to do in Victoria, British Columbia? Glad you asked!
Before we travel, I always spend time researching all there is to know about the place we are going ….you never know if you will have a chance to return, so I want to do and see as much as we can! Everything I read mentioned the beauty of Butchart Gardens, but we only had one day in Victoria, and really didn’t want to spend the day there, because I wanted to explore the city! So, we had intentions of wandering through the city…but right before the ferry landed, we decided we would buy tickets and visit the Gardens! And it was a great decision…it was one of the highlights of our trip! You are in for a treat today…lots for the eye to take in! Come along as we take a walk around the beautiful Butchart Gardens!
Robert P. Butchart, a pioneer in the thriving North American cement industry, was attracted by rich limestone deposits on Canada’s West Coast. He moved his family and in 1904 he developed a quarry and built a cement plant on Vancouver Island 13 miles from Victoria. Close to the quarry, Butchart and his wife, Jennie, established the family home complete with plantings of sweet peas and rose bushes.
For the next five years limestone was quarried from a massive excavation to supply the cement factory.
From the lookout, this was our first view of the spectacular Sunken Garden
By 1909, the limestone was exhausted, and a unsightly barren pit was all that remained.
Today, deep expansive walls (remnants of the quarry) cradle beds of annuals, flowering trees, and unique shrubs.
