Visit Victoria BC on your Sequim vacation

Sequim summer weather is going to an end but we are expecting nice Sequim weather this fall for September. That's at least what long time Sequim residents tell us. Let's believe them.

Our recent guests at our Sequim vacation rental had a great time on their Sequim vacation. We made new friends with a couple from California who were using our monthly Sequim vacation rental for their Sequim house search. It was nice to see when they found what they were looking for...a nice Sequim house with water views of John Wayne Marina and Sequim Bay. They are very excited to be back soon and move into their new Sequim home.

On their Sequim real estate vacation, they managed taking a day off for a relaxing visit to Victoria BC. They were the same enthusiastic about Victoria as we were. Actually, our friends from Hawaii who live now in NZ, also stayed in Victoria for 3 nights on their way to visit us in Sequim. They liked their visit to Victoria as well. So, we figured it's time to share our trip experience with our Sequim town blog visitors. No Sequim vacation is complete without a trip to Victoria!

There are so many things to do in Victoria BC or on Vancouver Island. It's quite interesting to hear what people decide to do. Our Hawaii friends did a Victoria Harbor Tour and enjoyed High Tea at The Royal Empress Hotel, which does not come cheap at $55/person but is definitely an experience to have tea at a 'royal' ambience and taste hors d'oeuvres, one does not come across normally. Our guests from California had a great time with a whale watch tour on an open Zodiac, where they watched up to 20 Orcas on their 3-hr whale watch tour.

Now, let's share with all Sequim visitors what we did last year in May when we spend 3 nights in Victoria BC. First of all, we had heard about all those great reports about seeing the magnificent flowers at Butchart Gardens. All the roses were in full bloom...fragrances, colors, varieties can't be described! Must see to appreciate! We will be back for more flowers at Butcharts Garden. Next time we'd like to see the fireworks on Saturdays between June 30 - September 1.

We also had a great time at the Royal London Wax Museum, even though after having seen the real wax museum in London, I must say it cannot live up to the expectations. The Royal BC Museum in Victoria was really impressive and educational. We split that into a morning and afternoon visit. Museums can wear you out. But most impressive was our visit to the IMax Theater where we watched the Humpback Whale migration to Hawaii (I had to close my eyes at times not to get dizzy but otherwise it was an indescribable movie experience!).

In any case, we could go on for ever on our visit to Victoria but that's it for today. Last but not least, we took the bigger Auto ferry from Port Angeles (more stable for me not getting sea sick) but if you travel to Victoria without your car, you might want to buy tickets for the faster but smaller Victoria Express Ferry from PA. Visit Victoria on your next Sequim Vacation! The Sequimers

More photos of Visit to Victoria BC

Tags: best sequim vacation, visit victoria BC, sequim vacation, Vancouver Island

The Sequimers visit Mexico

Dear friends,
You did not hear from us for quite some time after our last Sequim area hiking adventure to Lake Angeles. Here is the reason. We were gone on a longer trip to Mexico. Now, we are back home in sunny Sequim. Well, we were a little concerned when we read online about all the bad weather news in the Seattle area, while enjoying the sunny, blue skies of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Our Sequim house made it just fine through some tough November rains (most rain recorded for November ever, even sunny Sequim broke its records). Now, it looks like we brought the sun back home with us from Mexico. The Sequim skies are sunny and blue with a few clouds coming and going. Instead of heavy clothes, a vest will do fine as an outdoor protection. We love to be home.

How did our trip to Mexico go, you want to know. Let’s cut a long story short. It was our first trip to an all-inclusive hotel in Mexico. Keoki had been to Mexico some 30 years ago, but that does not count. There were no inclusive hotels then anyway. We had done quite a bit of research for our Mexican vacation - isn’t the Internet great for that purpose?! - on vacation spots in Mexico, on all-inclusive hotels in Puerto Vallarta and on the hotel we had finally decided for…the Royal Decameron in Bucerias.

We read our way through the Trip Advisor reports written by travelers who had stayed at the Decameron before. Over 90 % were positive and assuring, which made us feel good. The bad reports troubled us somewhat and made us a little concerned and aware what guests encountered, like an Iguana under the bed or an upset stomach (Pepto-Bismol was in our luggage). We also knew ahead of the time what building we wanted to be at…by the ‘adult only’ pool. We had requested a room there, which worked out great.

Here is our experience in a few words…we had all the 14 days sunshine and blue skies (we were actually happy about each cloud in front of the sun, as it was at times too much heat for us Sequimers 88-90F), beach was endless in both directions, water was a little murky from steady surf (mostly OK for swimming), several pools to choose from (we preferred adult only, no screaming kiddos and no loudspeaker noise or music from daytime ‘actividades’), food was plentiful and great variety to choose from (what looked ‘funny’ we did not eat, I also stayed away from fresh lettuce).

We liked the option to eat dinner ‘a la carte’ at one of the 5 restaurants, like Thai, Japanese, Italian, Mexican and Steak House instead of the buffet. Mostly we enjoyed our food…nice setting w/white tablecloths & candle lights, with salad bar, appetizers and all the drinks you want (not first class but average quality). The staff was well trained, friendly and accommodating. Most of them spoke decent English, otherwise they had to cope with our beginners broken Spanish. We improved somewhat within the time of our vacation in Mexico. Some Spanish classes could not hurt.

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation in Mexico but are happy to be back home in the crisp autumn air of sunny Sequim. More Sequim adventures will follow from the ‘Sequimers’.