Roadie: Victoria, British Columbia

View from the Harbour Pathway, Victoria, British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Just as we spent Canada Day in Juneau, Alaska, we spent Independence Day in British Columbia, Canada. It was a very brief stop and the final port of call on our seven day Alaskan cruise. The cruise ship dock is located at Ogden Point, a 35-minute walk to downtown Victoria. As you might expect we were beginning to miss home, but we're still game for a self-guided walking tour of Victoria, British Columbia. Our boat was docked for only 4 hours so it was a nice low-key way to conclude what had been an exciting six days.

Aquatic life beside the cruise ship on our way to Victoria, British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Look closely and you'll find the outline below water of a dolphin that swam
beside the ship. (7/4/19)

A humpback whale exhaling. (7/4/19)

View from our patio of neighborhood to the left of the Ogden Cruise
Ship Terminal. (7/4/19)

View from the Harbour Pathway. (7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

Close-up of sweet peas, a flowering plant, not the vegetable. (7/4/19)

View from the Harbour Pathway. (7/4/19)

One of the garden areas in Beacon Hill Park. (7/4/19)

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings home to the Legislative Assembly
of British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Close-up of giant sequoia outside British Columbia
Parliment. (7/4/19)

Close-up of the Knowledge Totem Pole carved by Coast
Salish artist Cicero August. The pole was originally created for the
 1994 Commonwealth Games. (7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

(7/4/19)

Community garden in James Bay Village area of suburban Victoria,
British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Community garden in James Bay Village suburban Victoria,
British Columbia. (7/4/19)

Roadie: Liberty Island

Lady Liberty to the left and the Big Apple to the right. (9/6/15)

After multiple trips to the Big Apple, we finally made our way to Liberty Island last Saturday to see Lady Liberty. The weather was hot and humid, so the trip out on the touring boat was an especially welcome cooling event. The "airport like security" signs promised as he stepped in line to board were accurate as we, and hundreds (thousands?) of our closest friends waited in line to make our way through metal detectors.

Lady Liberty with New Jersey in the background. (9/6/15)

Like most tourist attractions in New York, however, they have been at it for many years, so what seemed like what could be a long wait went rather quickly. The number of folks visiting Liberty and Ellis Islands was staggering. It was difficult not to make the obvious observation that the experience traveling to them was very much like the experience of immigrant travelling to America through Ellis Island.

Part of the NYC skyline from the boat as we traveled to our first stop, Liberty Island. (9/6/15)

Many were on the water that day enjoying the final weekend of summer. (9/6/15)

Difficult to say much that is not readily observable: an
impressive artistic accomplishment to be sure. (9/6/15)

Based on the images Anne and I captured that afternoon, it is also easy to suggest it might be near impossible to take a terrible picture of the Statue of Liberty. Despite not using any filters, the color of the sky varied in the pictures taken as we made our way across New York Harbor (from the New York side). Just as when we went to South Dakota over ten years ago to tour Mt. Rushmore, the actual scale of the statue was surprising. If Mt. Rushmore seemed much smaller than expected (and it did), the Statue of Liberty was much larger.

Stopping every few steps as we walked around the base of the statue
never bored by its beauty. (9/6/15)

(9/6/15)

(9/6/15)

Elements of the Statue in view: torch, tablet, crown
and robe. (9/6/15)

The torch isolated in frame.(9/6/15)

(9/6/15)

We did not purchase passes to tour the base or top of the statue but were not that broken up about it. There was so much to take in with the just the Island and Statue, that it felt fairer to leave that for another day. After spending about 90 minutes on Liberty, we boarded the large tour boat that would take us to Ellis Island, the second leg of our journey.

The New York City skyline from the boat as we travel from Liberty
to Ellis Island. (9/6/15)