Victoria, Canada

Legislative Building from across the inner harbor at night:The Empress Hotel: After seeing a few absolutely beautiful, colorful, and lively places in Hawaii, the ship set sail for Vancouver, Canada, for a night, and then to Victoria, Canada, where it stayed for 2 weeks of maintenance. I stayed in Victoria almost the whole time to have more time with Takis. It ended up being a really fun town. There's a wide range of people - ages, ethnicities, languages - and there is really something for everyone. We visited a castle, went to an Imax about under water life, went to an under water aquarium, shopped, walked around the inner harbor, ate too much, and frequented 2 irish pubs on the main street. The irish pubs were one of our favorite places - they had a great atmosphere, live music every night, and many different types and flavors of beers. What more could you ask for? A lot of the restaurants took pride in their seafood as well, as they should, being steps from the water. We also went to the Madam Tussaud British wax museum. There were lots of English royalty, as well as historic american heroes. Unfortunately we missed the Bug Museum - decided to save that one for next time. I'm glad I didn't pass up seeing this lovely place... and the extra time with my bo of course!

a Very Maui Birthday!

view from our balcony: Each night a diver jumps from Black Rock Hula Love! There is a whale left of the boat: So, for my birthday... the best BF in the world made it soooo special! We had an overnight in Lahaina, Maui, so it gave us a chance to do something very cool - we stayed in a resort for the night. I didn't know what we were doing or where we were going so I was definitely surprised and very excited! We hung out by the pool with cocktails all day, and had a beautiful view of the beach. We even spotted a few whales splashing around in the ocean! I took that as a plus sign for being 1 year older. When the sun started to set, we watched the nightly ritual of a clif diver (a torch is carried along the beach to one solitary young diver on "Black Rock"). They celebrate this tradition with hula dancers and music. After a sunny, rejuvenating and relaxing day, we went into the town for dinner. At night there are only a few places that stay open late, but there are definitely people out and about. We were too tired from our day of celebration so we just ate and went to sleep. haha. But the next day, we walked along the beach, where there is a string of resorts. There's lots of sea-side activities, but we didn't have enough time to do them! I wish I could've tried the stand up paddle surfboard. Next time. Lahaina ended up being my favorite port, not only because the resort was a dream, but because the town was also really cool and had a lot of personality. There were lots of little stores with quirky colors and lots of energy. If you are ever in Hawaii, stop by the town of Lahaina! Mahalo!