DAY 2 - VICTORIA

Woke up  this morning to the sound of the ship’s foghorn.  We were in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (sp?) and the sea was glassy and the air full of mist.  The sun appeared fairly early and while we were at breakfast we were treated to the sight of some humpback whales about 50 yards from the ship.  Some of the kids saw dolphins as well!

My brother Jim, the Commodore and I played trivia in the morning and, again, came in second!  We must sharpen our brains!

The ship docked in Victoria about noon and then 30 minutes later they gave the signal for everyone to disembark if they wanted.  Everyone took off except the Commodore, our grandson Mason and I.  We decided to stay behind and enjoy a day on an empty ship!  Mason is intrigued by the “silver” elevator with “bubbles” so he and I spent 40 minutes just riding the elevator!  He helped everyone who boarded with “pushing buttons” and pretty much had them totally charmed by the time they exited!  We had lunch on the deck and visited the ice cream stand.  Later in the afternoon I took him to one of the lounges for an orange juice on the rocks and he had four Filipino bar servers wrapped around his little finger!  They laughed and teased with him and he loved every minute.  The bartender was especially charmed since he has a little one Mason’s age back in the Philipines.

Ed, Theresa, Kendall, Trevor and Cameron with Amy, Brian, Connor and Sydney walked all around downtown Victoria and found a great place for lunch.  They had a great afternoon.  Kevin, Lisa, Riley, Brady and Cally found a guy with a pedicab and took a three hour tour around the city that they just loved!  Del, Miss Independent, took off on a five hour walk all around the city.  She came back very tired and very happy!  Jim and Kevin walked from the ship to the middle of the city and wandered around.  The weather cooperated all day with bright sun and a crisp 64 degrees.

Once everyone was back onboard it was nearly time for dinner so the grandkids all decided they wanted to go for pizza so the rest of us headed for the dining room.  The kids also had some hot tub time before pizza.  Mason had an early dinner and then Amy checked him into the Kids Club for the evening.  He seems to really enjoy his time there.

Brian and Jim headed to the poker tables after dinner and Eddie and I hit the blackjack table for a little win!  At 9:45 most of us headed to the theater to watch a really funny comedian named Kevin Hughes.  I’ve seen him before and really enjoyed his comedy and he did not disappoint tonight!  He will perform again later in the cruise with a different show and we are all looking forward to that act.

We have a sea day tomorrow and not a thing planned! Yay! 

XOXOXOXO