Seattle and Victoria 2011

Have you ever heard of a babymoon? Joe has. In the time before the craziness of his OB/ GYN rotation started, he had the chance to watch a few "Pregnant in Heels" episodes. In one of them, it was recommended that the couple go on a "Babymoon" to help them bond before the baby came around. I guess you could call this trip a babymoon for us, but it was more just an excuse to get away. I had been wanting to take Joe to Victoria, BC for a while now, and we finally did it. He and I both said "that will be our last big trip," and then we remembered that we said that about Hawaii and Chicago, and then I went to Paris on my own for school. I guess what it all boils down to is that we know our lives are about to dramatically change, but we also love to travel so much, we are going to have to find a way to get away, even if it means day trips to Taos, Angel Fire or Santa Fe. We will find a way, I am sure of it.

We took off on the Wed night before Easter. Seattle was as beautiful and sunny as ever. We spent our first day doing what we do best: Exploring, and pricing out apartments. Call us weird, but we love to see how much the cost of living is in different cities. Probably because we know that our lives may send us to one of these cities before too long when residency happens. While walking we found the most wonderful french bistro for brunch. Toulouse Petit was full of life, hopping with people and the cutest west coast waitresses ever.
        

Joe outside the restaurant in a cute little area of town.

We continued exploring the city. Of course we hit Pike's Market.

I wish I had a Farmer's Market closer to our house.

Love those tulips.

We took the Clipper Boat to Victoria the next day. We were sure to live like real royalty while we were there. We were sure to have High Tea, stay at the Empress Hotel, enjoy walking around the city, eating really good food, and of course we hit up the Butchart Gardens.

 

At the Parliament Bulding

 So Joe would never admit it, but he love High Tea almost as much as I did. We had a table right by a window that had a view of the whole bay.

 In front of our hotel. One of the few pictures of both of us. Those are hard to come by when it is just the two of you traveling.

Walking through Victoria. Joe quickly realized how much fun it is to walk hours on end with a pregnant woman who already had a prepregnancy bladder the size of a pea. I got really used to shamelessly asking what I was the cheapest thing I had to buy in order to use the facilities.

 I seriously believe that this place is the Garden of Eden. It was so beautiful, and such great weather.

We headed back to Seattle on Saturday, shopped and ate some more, and then we were off. It was a much needed break for both of us. Babymoon? Perhaps, but all in all, just a great vacation.