Butterflies, Butchart, and Jazz

Last night's late show at 9:30 went even better in my opinion. We were able to get the monitor speaker and check some sound levels before the performance. I even cracked open the door to the house at the back of the audience and thought it sounded pretty good. Afterwards I met up with Meg and Denise at The Mint, a bar on Douglas between Pandora and Johnson, and had a Chocolate Porter. Johnny, Corey, Brandon, and Michael all joined us, though I left fairly early.

Today after checking in with Diane Rosner about the tax situation with our box office, Junel, Roslyn , and I drove out to Butchart Gardens. Before you arrive, there is a Butterfly Gardens on the left. We stopped and walked through. Junel took lots of pictures. It was real humid and hot in there. They were maintaining a tropical climate. There was quite a lot of different species of butterflies there. A few Atlas Moths also had just emerged from their chrysalises. They even had a pink flamingo. Roslyn enjoyed it a lot and we got her a little butterfly T-shirt for a souvenir.

We then proceeded to Butchart Gardens. We had a quick lunch at their Blue Poppy Cafeteria and then started the self-guided tour. Almost as soon as we had headed for the Sunken Garden we ran into Kristin, Liz, Sharon, and Stephanie who had all taken the bus out. Roslyn was showing everyone how to sniff the flowers and we all got a kick out of that as well as some pictures.

The gardens are incredible. After the Sunken Garden, you pass through the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and then the Italian Garden. There are gorgeous fountains everywhere. It's definitely a must-see.


The Williams family at Butchart Gardens. Photo © 2008, Baciagalupo/Williams.

We came back to the hotel and tried to get Roslyn to take a nap. No luck. Sharon came over and babysat for us so that Junel and I could go to the Heron Rock Bistro and have dinner and listen to some jazz. The food was awesome and the band was a duo, a guitarist and a fluegelist who tripled on bass and vocals. All in all a fabulous day.