Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is about as different from Las Vegas as you can get.
Replace the fevered pace and twinkling lights of Las Vegas with the relaxed, open aired freedom and trees of Victoria — and you can see why it might shock your system a bit.
Vegas is 24/7. Victoria has closing times and last calls.
It is a much needed change of pace and it would serve as my first time to Canada.
An opportunity to do some corporate video production came across my desk and I jumped at the opportunity to get back to my basics: filming and editing video. That it included the awesome athletes of the World Rugby HSBC Women’s Seven Series in the backdrop was icing on the cake.
So I hopped a Delta flight to Seattle that connected to Victoria, B.C. via a puddle jumper and I touched down amongst the trees and wildlife of glorious Canada.
My taxi driver must have thought I was out of my mind a bit because I was in wonder of all the green trees set in the foreground against beautiful mountains, highlighted by incredible blue skylines and puffy white clouds.
Once you’ve lived in the desert for a while you forget how… brown?… everything isn’t.
I shuffled in and out of corporate shoots and filming opportunities at and around the lovely Delta Hotels Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort, while sneaking in time to stare out into the harbour to watch tiny ships navigate in and out of the surrounding docks.
I was technically at work, but you couldn’t convince me of that in the moment. My heart was happy to be there.
That evening, the Blonde Bombshell (who was there in an official capacity for her employer) and I made our way to downtown Victoria to enjoy a quiet dinner.
Downtown Victoria surprised me. I thought it would be a bit slower paced and laid back than it was… which made me smile. The area is full of life with an amazing array of shops and dining options and lots of brew houses. It honestly reminded me a bit of Austin, Texas.
It wasn’t as wild as Austin, obviously, but the crowds skewed to the younger side, which makes since once you realize that the city and surrounding areas have seen an influx of younger folks over the last few years. Tons of restaurants. Tons of shops. Tons of pubs. Tons of fun. You had me at “pubs.”
With the mildest climate in Canada, gardens bloom year-round in Victoria. The city is tied closely to both land and sea and the rugged natural beauty of the Pacific coast encourages all-season adventures in the great outdoors.
Easily explorable by foot and at your own pace, a visit to Victoria can be as relaxing and rejuvenating as it is educational and exciting. Take advantage of the diverse historical, architectural and multicultural makeup that comes from being the oldest city in the Pacific Northwest.
Victoria, b.c., tourism website
After walking around a bit we decided on dinner at Nautical Nellies Steak & Seafood House where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and what I currently hold as the gold standard for Old Fashioned drinks…. the Nautical Canadian Old Fashioned. Ryes, bitters, real maple syrup.
Real. Maple. Syrup.
Not overly sweet. Just a hint, but that hint was damned good. Yeah, I had a couple of them. I could wax poetically about this drink for a while but I had more work to do.
The next two days saw me heading to the city of Langford, which is just outside of Victoria, for more video shoots where I got to enjoy some incredible rugby action. The rugby series stops in Vegas once a year, so I was familiar with the men’s league, but had never seen the women play.
I’ve worked in sports for most of my adult life and can get numb on occasion to the hoopla of it all, but let me just say… these ladies rock.
Tough, athletic, but incredibly kind and humble, these women left it all on the field that day, battling for season points and that day’s tournament trophy. It was a phenomenal event to witness firsthand and made me an instant fan of the sport.
That evening we headed to a group dinner with the corporate sponsors and some of the rugby officials at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa which is breathtaking in itself. The roads wind up the mountain and through some quiet neighborhoods, so I had to be extra careful around tight corners because I’m a terrible driver both in the U.S. and Canada.
Overall it was a quick weekend work trip, but I was happy that I got to do it. I would have loved more time to explore the area but I can’t complain. Which brings me to the only negative of this trip…
TSA and Customs on the U.S. side. I know we’re nearly twenty years in on the 9/11 Patriot Act measures but honestly, we haven’t figured out a better system than taking our shoes off and standing in absurdly long lines?
And nearly every airport is different these days… some want your liquids and laptops out of your main bag, some want them in. They all swear they do things the same way but they don’t.
Rant finished!
Some of the ladies of the Women’s Seven Series rugby teams That’s a sweet ass trophy Rugby action! Not a bad view when editing video A big golden bear for the Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus A coy fish pond inside the Westin Hotel Langford, B.C. The crowds were loud and loved their teams Part of the Women in Rugby series I filmed Can’t wait to fly out again
