On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Elma
Some pics from an impromptu trip I took in April 2023. It was impromptu in the sense that that there was only 2 months of planning, not the usual 18 months. My sister and brother-in-law had booked a Panama Canal cruise ending in Los Angeles. The ship they were going on was then going to reposition to Vancouver BC to spend the summer cruising Alaska. They suggested that I join them in LA and do the repositioning leg. I had done the Panama Canal before and was not interested in repeating it. The cruise was relatively cheap, but the flights and other travel expenses were ridiculous.
Oh well, what is money for?
It was unseasonably warm when I left home, 80+ for several days. So I was unprepared for 40 degree temps when I landed in LA. The atmospheric river had wiped out one of the scheduled ports of call, Monterey; so we were going to have two nights in San Francisco. This was highly unusual for cruising. Ships are normally in port for 10 to 12 hours. Fortunately, as the weather was good in San Fran, sunny and warm, we didn’t miss the Aquarium and the whale watching too much.
We left Nor Cal after two very pleasant days and sailed express to Victoria BC. That is a very long stretch of uninterrupted sea; but we were promised whale sightings since this was the prime migration route and time. And there might have been whole armadas of whales out there; but the rain and fog limited visibility to less than a quarter mile for most of the time. Have you ever been on a ship that is sounding its foghorn? Jarring.
Victoria is a beautiful city, even in the rain. The ship was docked at a freight terminal away from the city center. But they had a very efficient system of shuttles to take people into downtown. The Canadians, we could learn something from them. Our adventure in Victoria was High Tea at the Empress Hotel. There were ladies wearing fascinators!!!
Our last port was Vancouver BC, which is a thirty minute ferry ride from Victoria. Our ship took 12 hours. I swear that there were times when the Captain was sailing us in reverse. Vancouver is a beautiful city, even in the rain. Our cab driver gave us a nice tour of the city. The Vancouver airport is one of the nicest I have EVER seen.
Sailing into San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz Island at sunrise.
On our first day in San Francisco, we took a wine tasting bus tour to Napa and Sonoma. View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin County side.
We stopped for lunch in the Village of Sonoma and ate at a wonderful little Mexican place called, La Casa, where I discovered they charge you for chips and salsa in Cali. Who knew? Across the street was the Mission San Francisco Solano. It is the northern most of the missions and is run as a state park.
We saw the super bloom of California poppies,
This Prickly Pear cactus in the Mission courtyard was obviously ancient.
On the second day in San Francisco, we rode cable cars.
The original façade of the Empress Hotel. There is now a modern entrance hall off to the left.
High tea. I forgot to get a pic of the three tiered food stand until we had devoured most of it. Sorry. When the server brought out our individual tea pots she turned over the tea timer. When the green sand ran out the tea was mild, the white sand for medium, and the tan sand for robust.
Sailing slowly out of Victoria, the clouds lifted enough so we got glimpses of the surrounding mountains.
Public art at the Vancouver Airport
raven
sweet
JPL
How fun!
way2blue
Too bad the weather wasn’t more accommodating—it’s a lovely coastline. I do have memories of fog horns—one cruise in particular I had a high berth seemingly right under the fog horn. And remember waking up with my head jammed in the corner and a pillow over it…
citizen dave
Looks like a fun trip, thanks for sharing. I always wonder if at some point, Alcatraz will be restored to some version of its natural state. Doubt the feds will give it back to the native people, but maybe a sharing agreement would work.
Love the tea timer.
Maxim
Thanks for the pics! Sounds like a good trip. FYI, most Mexican restaurants in California do not charge for chips and salsa.
Yutsano
Wow…High Tea at the Empress Hotel is magical. I haven’t done it (yet) but friends have and have said how wonderful it is. I thought you had to have reservations though. Did the cruise arrange that?
pieceofpeace
Love that part of Canada. And your unique shot of the SF street, with dark, shadowed people and colorful scene is stunning.
dibert dogbert
RE: Sailing in the fog!!
Back in 1945 we sailed back from AK to Vancouver. The first part was wonderful from Haines to Juneau and beyond to Wangle. The rest of the trip was in fog. I have always wanted to repeat that trip to see what I missed as a child.
Elma
@Yutsano: the ship did offer excursions to the High Tea, but I had booked it before we left. The internet makes doing such long distance stuff so easy.
dibert dogbert
Here is a tour of San Francisco from the air.
https://link.shutterfly.com/Jk0R8lrZgvb
JaneE
I live in CA, and most places put a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa on the table when you arrive, and it is always free. There may be more than one dip, our local does a bean dip as well as a salsa, and they usually ask if you want refills if you finish any of them. Also free.
But Chips and Guacamole may be on the appetizer list, and they will charge you if you order it. Quite frankly it sounds a bit unscrupulous to make customers ask for chips or chips and salsa so they can charge you. All my experience has been in the southern part of the state, so it may be different up north.
Origuy
Nice pictures. I’ve never been to Victoria, although I’ve been to Vancouver several times. My strongest memory of Vancouver Airport is trying to find the plane to Whitehorse.
The sculpture in the last photo is called Spirit of Haida Gwaii. It’s by a Haida artist named Bill Reid. Haida Gwaii is the indigenous and now official name for what used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands. There are several other works by Reid in the University of British Columbia’s art museum.
Dan B
@Origuy: A friend of ours moved into a large retirement complex next to downtown Seattle so we got a tour. We were astounded at the artworks everywhere including a couple by Bill Reid downstairs in a hallway leading to the swimming pool.