2017 Bluesville

The above trio are a Victoria-based blues band called "Slim & The Deuces". They contacted me last week and asked if I would like to take some photos to use on their latest CD. On Friday I spent about an hour with them down on Store Street in old town Victoria. One of the cuts on their CD is entitled "Store Street Shuffle" and they wanted some photographs to include the street sign if possible. Above is one of the many photos I took that day. From the left, band members are John Hunter, Dave "Slim" Harris, and George Fenn. For me it was a great opportunity to try some new techniques and work with interesting, congenial people. Below is a little taste of their music from a live recording made on Canada Day 2016 by Dave Harris.The song is the "Store Street Shuffle" by John Hunter. For the CD, the band is still in the studio and the CD will be released in early 2017, entitled "2017 Bluesville".

Janion Hotel Update

The Janion Hotel pictured here was one of old town Victoria's most derelict buildings until recent renovations. Below is what it looked like a few years ago. Above you can see that while adhering to the original style they have made some additions and improvements. The work is not finished yet but I am quite happy with the makeover of this heritage building.

Grindstone Cafe

Regular visitors here will know that I like to see murals on our buildings rather than ads or blank walls and here's another that I have not featured before though I see it several times a week. It's on the walls of the Grindstone Cafe on the corner of Herald and Store Streets in Victoria's old town. The artist is Mario Labonte.

The Janion Hotel

For many years the derelict Janion Hotel stood boarded up and empty at the eastern end of the Johnson Street Bridge. It looked haunted enough so that I even used the photo below as a scary Hallowe'en picture for this blog. However, in the last year or so work has commenced to turn this heritage building into a smart bunch of micro-flats (above). I'm happy to see this old building re-purposed in this way but I hope the final product will look a little more integrated. Below is the Janion Hotel from the front 5 or 6 years ago.

After Dark in Old Victoria - Swans Hotel

Just around the corner from Chinatown is this landmark heritage building, Swans Hotel, at the bottom of Pandora Street. Originally erected as a feed store in 1913, it was completely re-purposed about thirty years ago by Michael Williams, the man responsible for a number of other heritage restorations in Victoria's old town. You can read more of the history of this building by clicking HERE.

Mr. Tube Steak

Beneath a riot of plum blossoms is a stand familiar to most Victorians. Mr. Tube Steak is on his corner of Store Street with his selection of hot dogs. One of the joys of traveling in exotic lands is the wide variety of delicious street food. My mouth still waters when I recall Acara, the deep fried beancakes of West Africa, the wonderful tortillas of the streets of Mexico City and Indian Chai stalls in Madhya Pradesh. Of course, much of the year our weather is not suitable for eating outside but I am always happy to see street food vendors.

Value Village

Fern posted a photo of a favorite bakery of hers yesterday. Here's a favorite stop of mine whenever I go downtown, the store called Value Village. There's a lot to like about this store, not the least of which is that a portion of what one spends there is donated to charity. But it also has the virtue of being relatively cheap - if you don't mind second-hand, you can buy almost anything you need in the way of dry goods, housewares or clothing for a fraction of the price you would pay in the mall for the same items. However, you must be a little bit patient. Sometimes you have to visit the store repeatedly until you find a specific item. You can never tell for sure what you will find when you visit the store since the stock changes daily, and what other store can make that claim? It makes for interesting shopping. Another bonus to shopping there is occasionally finding treasures - items that are really beautiful and valuable that have been priced by someone unaware of their true worth. Pretty well every major city in Canada has one or more of these stores and they are also widespread in the USA under the name of Savers.

Capital Iron with Christmas Lights

After I posted a photo of Capital Iron a few days ago, blog visitor Pedro commented that I should check it out after dark when they turn on their Christmas Light display. The photo above doesn't do it justice but the 15 seconds of video below does. Thanks Pedro!

Capital Iron

I'm sure every city has a store like Capital Iron. It's the store you go to when you can't find what you want in any of your ordinary stores. It's probably closest to being a hardware store but also stocks all sorts of camping equipment, marine supplies, small appliances, plants and garden statuary and, and, and, etc. The building itself has an interesting history. It was built in 1863 from a design by the same architect (H.O. Tiedemann) who designed Victoria's original Legislative Assembly Buildings, known as "The Birdcages". It was built to serve as a flour mill and then became a scrap iron business in 1934. Since then it has evolved into what it is today. It's located at 1900 Store Street, directly above the Upper Harbour.

Everything Mural

Here's a new mural - this one located on Store Street at the end of the parking lot opposite Capitol Iron. I can't give any background information on this except to say that after pondering it for some time I've decided that it may be a representation of what's in most people's minds these days - a soup of various platitudes, iconic figures, cartoons and memos. Within the larger design it seems that individual artists have painted specific tiles.

Spring is Coming

We've had some bright, sunshiny days lately though they have generally been accompanied by a cold wind. Here's another of my favourite heralds of spring, this old tree that flowers beside the derelict Janion Hotel on Store Street. Often this is one of the first to bloom in the city because of the extra warmth it gets from the Janion's aged bricks soaking up the sunshine.

Apex Steel 2

Here's another one from the Apex Steel Building. Victoria is known for it's mild climate and beautiful gardens but I like knowing is still has a few dark corners.

Apex Steel

At the end of Store Street, on the edge the Rock Bay site sits the former Apex Steel building. It's currently owned by BC Hydro but they use the building mostly for storage and it has been allowed to slowly fall to ruin. Stepping inside is like stepping back in time. It has apparently been used for a small, locally made horror film and I don't doubt it.

Parking with Bears

One of Victoria's largest murals is on the side of the Mark's Work Wearhouse store facing the Capital Iron parking lot on Store Street. It was painted by "Mural Man" Jeff King in 1996 and is entitled "Sher's Bears" in dedication to his sister.

Singles Bar

She's thinking, "Gee, I rilly like his hair but maybe I should tell him sun block works better if you spread it around...." He's thinking, "She's like awesome but her dog looks heavy...." I love places that sell garden statuary. There's a couple along Store Street here. Capital Iron is the best but this one (Chintz & Co) also has a nice selection.

Rock Bay

Victoria is not all parks and groves and delightful little bays with seawall walkways. It has its industrial side as well although tourism and government are probably the primary employers. I've mentioned the Gorge before as a long arm of the ocean that reaches into Victoria. The Inner Harbor is the first area on this arm. After passing under the Johnson Street Bridge, the Gorge enters the predominantly industrial neighborhood known as Rock Bay, pictured above. The photo below is just to the right of the above shot and shows the backside of buildings on Store Street in downtown Victoria. The Johnson Street bridge is directly to the right side of the photo below and the Bay Street (Point Ellice) Bridge is just to the left of the photo above. And if all that doesn't confuse you thoroughly, I give up.