29th Wedding Anniversary Vacation

Our 29th wedding anniversary was celebrated on a weekend trip to Pender Island (one of the southern Gulf Islands of Canada). Our flight arrived in Victoria, B.C., early enough in the day that we could see The Butchart Gardens before our ferry left for Pender Island. Here is Dave standing in front of the entrance to the gardens.

There were lots of these Painted Daisies (Cinerarea) planted in many of the flower beds. Butchart Gardens was started a little over 100 years ago by the Butchart Family. The property was a worked-out limestone quarry that was once used for cement making. It started as a family hobby to beautify the acreage by using plants they collected from all over the world. There is a Rose, Japanese, Italian, and Sunken Garden.

The tulips were in full bloom in the gardens with lovely English Daisies (Bellis) growing beneath them.
Mary Ann viewing the Ross Fountain where the water rises 70 feet and changes fountain patterns often.
A lovely combination of pink tulips with little blue flowers.
Posing by the Painted Daisies.

Enjoying the Sturgeon Fountain by the Rose Garden.
Blue Poppies with salmon colored Azaelas.
One of the many waterfall inside the Japanese Garden.
This was one of Mary Ann's favorite spots in the Sunken Garden.

Here we are finally on Pender Island. The sunsets at night were gorgeous. Here is a view of the harbor from the back of one of Poet's Cove hotel restaurants.

We enjoyed a delicious anniversary dinner of fresh halibut and scallops. They gave us a complimentary lemon tart dessert as a gift for our special occassion.
Since we had a rental car we were able to tour the island.
A view from the front of Poet's Cove resort.
Several float planes took off and landed during our stay. One evening two float planes delivered about 25 people for a company dinner at one of the resort's restaurants. On Saturday night there was a lovely wedding and reception taking place at the resort. We enjoyed dancing to their music close to the harbor.