Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons"
Tucked away on the community boundary of Fairfield and Oak Bay is garden with a story as amazing as its legendary rhododendrons.
The story is of the Princess Peggy and Prince Nicolas Abkhazi, their incredible lives had twists and turns and with the preservation of their garden by The Land Conservancy their love is eternally on display for the public to enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abkhazi Garden, Abkhazi Gardens, The Land Conservancy, things to do Victoria BC, Victoria BC Garden, Victoria BC Gardens, Victoria Garden
Inside the Seattle Boat Show at Century Link (formerly known as Qwest Field)
I have always thought that the Seattle Boat Show falls at the perfect time of year. The end of January when winter is at its peak and it feels like there is no end in sight, heading to the Boat Show is a great way to take your mind off of winter. I think that given the recent winter storm that hit the Pacific Northwest, spending a day thinking about a summer on the water sounds especially enticing! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Boating Seattle, Getting to the Seattle Boat Show, Seattle Boat Admission, Seattle Boat Show 2012, Seattle Boat Show Vacation Packages, Seattle Boats Afloat Show, Seattle Hotel Deals, seattle hotels
Chinese New Year celebration in Seattle's Chinatown International District. Joe Mabel/Flickr Creative Commons
The Year of the Dragon begins January 23, 2012 and the Pacific Northwest is ready to celebrate! Chinese New Year celebrates the new lunar year, which is based off of the cycles of the moon. Most Chinese New Year celebrations in Western culture feature lion and dragon dances and parades as well as lantern festivals. The celebration is 15 days long, this year from January 23-February 6 and throughout the Pacific Northwest, public events will be taking place to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: chinatown, chinese new year, Chinese new year festival, chinese new years festivals, lantern, lunar new year, Portland Chinese New Year, Seattle Chinese New Year, Vancouver Chinese New Year, Victoria BC Chinese New Year, year of the dragon
The Victoria Clipper vessels get annual maintenance and go into "dry dock" from Jan 3-13, 2012.
2011 marked an exciting year for us at Clipper Vacations. In the first few months we rolled out a brand new booking engine that most notably improved the online booking experience and gave a much welcomed new look and feel to it. Also in 2011, we celebrated our 25th Anniversary of operation. We threw a small celebration to recognize the event and we also took time to acknowledge all the great partnerships that we built in those years throughout the Northwest, and of course, our many (over 7 million!) amazing passengers we had the pleasure of serving in that time period. We REALLY could not have done it without you.
Tags: Victoria Clipper 2012, Victoria Clipper Wi-Fi, Victoria Clipper Windows
Photo courtesy of the Victoria Tea Festival
Are you a tea drinker? Have you always wanted to try a different tea than your usual variety but didn’t want to pay for a whole box to find out? Have you been hearing about the health benefits of tea and want to learn more? The Victoria Tea Festival is North America’s Largest Tea Exhibition, happening February 18 & 19 at the Crystal Gardens. Over 40 exhibitors will be there with samples of tea and every tea product imaginable. A 2-day pass is only $20 with proceeds going to Camosun College Child Care Services. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: events in victoria, festival victoria, tea festival, tea in victoria, Victoria BC Events, Victoria BC Festivals, Victoria BC Hotels, Victoria Tea, Victoria Tea Festival, Victoria Tea Packages, what to see in victoria
I’m always keeping an eye out for happenings in all of Clipper Vacations destinations to keep our Northwest Events calendar up to date. This week I found out about some interesting things happening in Vancouver, BC and Portland that I thought I would share!
• If you’re looking for an alternative way to celebrate the holidays, Inside Vancouver blogs about the Top 5 Rock and Alternative Holiday Music Concerts in Vancouver
• Apparently a black bear came into downtown Vancouver on a garbage truck this week. Watch the video. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amtrak, amtrak cascades, BC, bear in vancouver, overnight vacation, pacific northwest vacation, Portland, portland holidate, time lapse video, Travel Vancouver BC, vacation package, Vancouver
When my husband and I learned that our friends Cristel and Steve had never been to Afternoon Tea, we knew what we had to do; we booked Afternoon Tea at Victoria’s Fairmont Empress during the Festival of Trees. We, (mostly my husband) also lacked Christmas spirit – Bah Hum Bug! – But I knew we could find some there.
So, last week we boarded the Victoria Clipper at 8:00 am on a frigid Seattle morning. We had coffee and bagels onboard, played cards and laughed all the way to Victoria. Once we arrived we took a walk around the Parliament Building which, in addition to its customary white lights, has festive red and green Christmas lights for the holidays. Though it was cold, it was a beautiful day. No rain and a glimpse or two of blue sky. White horse carriages with Christmas wreaths on the sides clip-clopped along the streets and the Victorian Street lamps were adorned with bells and holly. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Christmas Tea the Empress, empress tea, Fairmont Empress Afternoon Tea, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria BC Christmas, Victoria Festival of Tress
James Bay Tea Room in Victoria, BC
In the spirit of this holiday season’s “Small Business Saturday” sponsored by American Express, if traveling to Victoria, BC, keep in mind there are numerous tea houses owned and operated by small business owners.
Though afternoon tea at Victoria’s Empress Hotel is one of my favorite things, I always make certain to support the smaller local tea houses of Victoria, BC as well. Sometimes in doing so, I find surprises like the James Bay Tea Room. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Afternoon Tea, James Bay Tea House, Murchies, Small Business Saturday, Victoria BC Tea, Victoria Tea Festival
Even the hardest to shop for on your holiday list will love the gift of travel and a Clipper Vacations gift certificate can be used on any getaway– Orca or Gray Whale Watching daytrips on the Victoria Clipper are perfect for families, luxurious spa getaways for someone who deserves some R&R, ski packages for the family member who would just love to hit Whistler’s world renowned slopes, once-in-a-lifetime train rides through the Canadian Rockies and much more. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: clipper vacations gift card, clipper vacations gift certificate, holiday shopping, travel gift card, victoria clipper gift card, victoria clipper gift certificate, victoria clipper holiday bonus
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