How we love the Pacific Northwest! A favorite place to visit is the charming city of Victoria, British Columbia. In the past, we have taken the three hour journey on the passenger-only Victoria Clipper through the idyllic San Juan Islands, entering Victoria through the picturesque Inner Harbor, on the southern tip of massive Vancouver Island.

For this trip, we chose instead to board a car ferry in Anacortes, Washington, 2 hours north of Seattle, for a three hour cruise to Sydney, B.C., a close neighbor to Victoria. Our early morning cruise nipped at the heels of fog banks throughout the San Juan Islands, with other ferries and boats emerging and then disappearing, swallowed up in water-level clouds. While my husband read his book in the warmth of the inside cabin, I planted myself, camera in hand, on the chilly outside decks anticipating an intriguing “fog” shot.

The clouds eventually parted to reveal blue sky and sunshine, and with the calm waters, we had the perfect ingredients for a great morning on the water.

Butchart Garden’s manicured sunken garden, available as one of our beautiful Shutter Wonders cards.

Once the boat docked, we headed to Butchart Gardens for an afternoon of wandering in acres of wondrous color. What a promising beginning to our 4-day getaway!