It was Canada Day when we arrive in Victoria, BC this afternoon to sunshine. Canada Day is a federal holiday celebrating the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867. This is the date when the three separate colonies of the United Canadas (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada. Victoria is about 100 miles from Vancouver, Canada and 62 miles from Seattle, Washington.

Named for Queen Victoria, the city is one of the oldest in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843. The city has maintained a large number of its historic buildings and its parliament buildings finished in 1897, as well as the Empress Hotel which opened in 1908. The city’s China town is the second oldest in North America, after San Francisco.

Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada’s Pacific coast. The city of Vancouver has a population of about 100,000 while the Greater Victoria area has a population of about 400,000.

Most communities across Canada host organized celebrations for Canada Day, typically outdoor public events such as parades, carnivals, festivals barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks and free musical concerts.

We arrived in Victoria about 1:00pm and made plans to meet up with friends Marnie and Jimmy McNeill. Kent met Marnie when they both worked for Air Canada in Montreal in the 1970’s and they have remained friends ever since. For a time, Marnie and Jimmy had a home in Palm Desert and we would visit them during their winter stays, but they have since sold that home. Jimmy and Marnie took us on a little tour around some of their local neighborhoods before stopping for coffee and pastries at a waterfront café.

We then wandered some of the streets and alley ways around China Town and the main streets around the Empress Hotel and waterfront. There were lots of people gathered at the waterfront for a day long celebration of Canada Day. In the evening they were scheduled to have fireworks display as well.