Anacortes, wa - fidalgo bay resort - visits to Victoria & Vancouver, bc

Anacortes, WA is midway between Seattle and Vancouver and surrounded by the Salish Sea.  We arrived after taking the coach and Jeep (over 54 ft.), on the Pt. Townsend Ferry.  A new experience having the coach floating and moving on water!  As we were one of the largest vehicles on board, we got loaded first (probably the ferry's captain did too, once he got a look at that long rig!) which gave us a great view from inside the coach on the lower vehicle deck.  The ferry ride was about 35 minutes of island viewing and weaving around the San Juan Islands. 

Our new base camp was Fidalgo Bay Resort. With RV sites both on the bay and the sea, the resort is owned by the Samish Indian Tribe. We had a nice end site with a covered cabana.

Anacortes wood mills and canneries have faded and given way to tourism with marinas and pleasure boats along with boat builders. We enjoyed the historic downtown with its restaurants, galleries, and unique nautical shops. A local artist installed colorful wood murals on the sides of the buildings all over town.  Two of our favorites restaurants were Gere-A-Deli and Adrift.
​And there was a "PLATT" building to the amazement of Mike.

The Anacortes Annual Waterfront Festival was going on while we were here.  Your "inner sailor" is encouraged to come out and play!  Of interest to Ron was a large vintage car show as part of the festival. There were many activities for kids of all ages including a "milk carton" boat building competition and race!

One of the reasons we chose to visit Anacortes was its ferry access to Victoria, BC, since we planned a four day, three night trip to Canada. We boarded Gaylord with Andy, whom we found on the Internet using rover.com. Gaylord, after missing us for a bit, had a great time on his 5 acre ranch.  We left our coach at Fidalgo Bay and took our Jeep on ferries to Victoria Island, BC, Vancouver Island, BC and then onto Vancouver, BC.

After an hour plus ferry ride stopping in Friday Harbor on the way, we arrived in Sidney BC which was about 30 minutes north of Victoria.  As we drove south to Victoria on Vancouver Island, we started falling in love with the area.  Victoria is said to be the heart of West Coast North America.  On land or sea, Victoria has an amazing vibe that we thoroughly enjoyed. Known as the "The Garden City," Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast.
Arriving this beautiful day, we took a sightseeing bus tour for an overview of the city. From the Empress Hotel  and its famous High Tea, Parliament House, seaplanes, water taxis and restaurants along the inner harbor, to the numerous parks, gardens and flowers everywhere, we found ourselves in sensory overload.  The gorgeous lade back City of Victoria will call us back in the near future.

After 2 days in Victoria (could have stayed longer) we loaded the Jeep onto another ferry to mainland Vancouver, BC.  We rented an AirBNB apartment at the corner of Burrard and Davis St. (Gay District) which turned out to be a great central location.  Vancouver is a relatively modern port city with modern glass buildings all over downtown and the waterfront.  We enjoyed exploring our gayborhood, the Public Market and many other markets on Granville Island. We also enjoyed touring the many diverse neighborhood parks and beaches surrounding downtown.  While Vancouver is much larger and more diverse than Victoria, it did exude its own special more cosmopolitan charm.

After 3 days and 2 nights in Vancouver, we drove south, crossed the border (which took about 45 minutes) back to the USA at Peace Arch and arrived back at our basecamp in Anacortes, WA.  While we love Canada and its welcoming ways, there is always something special coming home to the good ole USA!