When I was a young boy we started making trips to Victoria for Christmas. I think I was three years old when we came for the first time. We came again the following year and it sparked a tradition which lasted until 2000, the last time that my family as a group or in part, came to Victoria to stay at was then The Olde England Inn. The building was owned and operated by the Lane family, who opened the Hotel and Restaurant in the late 1940’s. The hotel was decorated in suits of Armor, hundreds of swords, knives, small weapons, classical British paintings, and always topped off with fresh flowers in every room. The staff uniforms were clothing of styles of the late 16th to early 17th Century. And Christmas time at the Inn was a very special treat. When I was little, after Chrismas dinner…the Hotel staff and the owners, Mr. and Mrs Lane, would host a photo slide show, tell stories, and present a Magic show at the end of the evening (it was the early 1970s).

Mr and Mrs Lane would travel the world every year, going on Safari’s, take river Cruises up the Nile river, etc…and take hundreds of photos. The photo slide shows (when I was a four year old boy) always put me to sleep. I wish I could go back in time a really pay attention now. I think I really missed something back then.

Just a few years later…after Mr Lane passed away, the slide shows and the magic show all became parts of the past. New employees became familiar faces, since we often did more than one trip to Victoria most years. And some of those employees from the late 1970s and into the early 1980s have remained friends with my Family over these many years. Our favorite person, from those days, Todd, we have tried very hard to keep in touch with. Of course, life happens, time moves relentlessly forward and things, and places all change, and people loose touch with each other in that ever changing cycle. I found Todd on Facebook a few years ago, and sent him a message. We messaged back and forth a few times, keeping him apprised of my travel plans this Christmas season, we kept a tentative plan to meet at some point during my stay in Victoria.

Todd and I were able to connect in the early afternoon on Boxing Day. We walked up to Pandora St and found a coffee shop, where we sat for an hour or more just catching up and comparing our life journeys in work, education, and experience. We had a nice conversation, as we walked back towards the Empress hotel and said or good-bye’s for the time being. Afterwards, Sammie and I hopped in the truck and drove back to SeaCider Co. so that I could purchase a couple of cases of Cider to bring home with me.