We Should All “Be A Tourist”

Victoria BC along with several other jurisdictions puts on a great event every year called “Be A Tourist in your own Hometown”.

Here in British Columbia we are blessed with the most wonderful surroundings which comes with the fact that we can expect many visitors such as relatives, friends and tourists. Have you ever been challenged with thinking where do I take my cousins or where should I tell my Mother In-Law to go? (don’t answer that). Have you been walking somewhere in our city and a visitor has come up to you and asked for directions? Are you a front line employee who gets asked for suggestions of things to see? OK, time to do your research and visit some of those great attractions that you haven’t been to in years or perhaps you’ve never been before. The cool thing about this homework is that it’s actually fun!

My Wife and daughter have this all figured out. Every year they take part in Victoria’s Be a Tourist in your own Hometown  event.  For a small fee they get access to tons of great attractions, get reacquainted with some incredible local restaurants and stores. They always have a wonderful time. This year they split up their usual two day mid week adventure and saved the second day for Sunday. This meant that grumpy ole’ dad who actually works in the tourism industry was invited or even encouraged to join them. Anything for the cause I say….

So up bright and early we were off to the Sidney Museum’s Lego exhibit. This was one site I had not visited before and the Lego “sculptures” were indeed works of Art. As a Star Wars Fan this was soooo cool. Next we headed to Butterfly Gardens. It was great for me, as a professional promoter of Victoria, to see the parking lot full and busses equally full pulling in. Once inside, we were dazzled by the bright flowers, small birds flying about and of course some of the prettiest Butterflies I have ever seen. This is indeed a very cool way to escape to a tropical setting without leaving home.

Lastly our family headed to one of our favourite destinations, the Butchart Gardens.  As The Chamber has been promoting via the Victoria Flower Count, were were blessed to see a large collection of winter flowers and plants, bushes that were already covering their quarry with beautiful hues and sculptured topiaries that almost made you feel you were looking at real live animals. Of course a visit to the Gardens requires a ride on a horse, lion or maybe a giraffe. If you haven’t visited their Rose Carousel your missing something.

My wife and daughter had a fantastic fun time on their first day of the event but I can say with certainty that I not only viewed something new that day it was a great chance to spend some really fun time with my family and connect with Beautiful Victoria BC. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr1qV4HbLqU[/youtube]

Picture gallery : Our be a tourist day

The moral of this story. Whether you take part in an event like this or just take a day and head out to see some of the most wonderful sites and activities in your city, at least once a year We Should All Be a Tourist in our own Home Town.