north of the border

In addition to seeing friends in Seattle and exploring the Cascades on our ten-day trip to the Pacific Northwest, we also squeezed in a weekend visit across the border to Victoria, BC.

The impetus for this jaunt was D’s desire to attend the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival, which had assembled a stellar, varied lineup that included several of his favorite artists. There were Chilean reggae greats Gondwana and Canada’s biggest third-wave band, The Planet Smashers. The band that got D into ska all the way back in high school, Mephiskapheles, opened for ska-punk stalwarts Less Than Jake. And D’s all-time favorite musicians — New York rocksteady giants The Slackers — shared a bill with ska-punk legends The Suicide Machines. Ironically, traveling all the way to Victoria was the only way D would be able to see his favorite hometown band. Unlike the Supernova Festival D attended last year, where the performers alternated sets all day on side-by-side stages, the Victoria Fest was broken up into smaller discrete concerts that ran over various days. D purchased tickets for three of the festival shows; S joined him for the Slackers/Suicide Machines double feature.

We generally vacation hard, especially when traveling without kids. So, even though the music started early and ran until 1:30 a.m. both nights, we also explored quite a bit of Victoria in between shows, including driving an hour to East Sooke Regional Park to go hiking. The long summer days helped immensely in this respect. Throughout our ten-day trip, we rarely got going before noon and still had plenty of daylight to burn by the time we ended our explorations each day. This would have been a major no-no in Costa Rica, of course, where D frequently birded before breakfast and where we endeavored to hit the trails as early as possible to maximize the likelihood of seeing wildlife, minimize the chance of rain, and avoid the scorching noonday heat. The cooler temperatures in the Pacific Northwest coupled with the long summer days enabled us to squeeze a great deal of adventuring into our travels while also ensuring we did not run ourselves ragged.

Our hike in East Sooke, a five-and-a-half mile loop trail that took in a significant portion of the park’s coastline, reminded us a lot of Maine. Pine-covered rock outcrops protruded into the bay, while icy coastal waters gently lapped the shore. D scoured the water for seabirds, every so often pausing his search to gaze at the snow-capped Cascades Mountains towering across the water. On our way back, we also visited the Esquimalt Lagoon Bird Sanctuary, where a paved road separates the namesake lagoon from a thin strand of beach.

Our friends described Victoria as the closest European city they can visit from Seattle, a description that rings true to us. It is wonderfully walkable and boasts a fantastic food scene, in addition to nice parks, a variety of cultural opportunities, beach access, and cute Victorian B&Bs. We found Victoria to be immensely endearing; it would have made for a worthwhile visit even without the lure of a killer ska festival.