There’s this high-speed ferry in Seattle that offers day trips to Victoria. Well that sounds intriguing! It never occurred to me to do Victoria in a day.

But it’s a passenger-only ferry, so I wouldn’t have a car. (Plus they charge extra for a window seat.) So maybe I could recreate the trip on my own! Drive to Port Angeles and catch the regular-speed ferry (with open seating and a car deck).
So I did! But it turns out that after the feature-length-movie ferry ride duration, the side trip to Butchart Gardens, and the fact that you have to be at the return ferry 90 minutes before departure, there’s very little time left for Victoria.
So I ended up with enough time to wander down Government Street …
… which was mostly closed to cars …
… to the waterfront!
Fast-walking past the Fairmont Empress (and the second vegan afternoon tea I was going to miss that day).
Walking back up Government Street.
First in line on the ferry to Port Angeles!