Alaska - Victoria, B.C. - Stories from the cruise

The only Canadian stop on the cruise, Victoria, capital of British Columbia, is a delightful city. Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, it is equidistant (about 60 miles) from both Vancouver and Seattle. First settled by the British in 1843, it trails Seattle by 11 years for being the oldest city on the Pacific Northwest. Never mind that the Coastal Salish First Nations people lived here for centuries before James Douglas, on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company, set foot on the Island.

Victoria is a beautiful little city. Its history is reflected in the beautifully restored buildings, and the temperate weather promotes year-round botanical marvels. Our tour guide said that Victoria is a favored place to retire, but no place is perfect. The same earthquake fault that threatens California is present here; but the guide said that when the big one comes, Victoria will end up parked on top of Vancouver.

The driver pointed out a statue of George Vancouver, who was responsible for the discovery and development of the region. Originally cast in copper, the green patina made George appear continually sea-sick so the city fathers decided to recast the statue in gold. Unfortunately, when they removed the copper statue to use as a mold, they destroyed one of the legs. So they used the remaining leg as the mold for both and if you were able to look closely, you would see that George has two left feet.

I have been to Canada on several occasions, but not since Homeland Security and Customs and Emigration  and Border Paranoia became a big deal. My first visit, long ago, was on a tour bus at Niagara Falls. Having seen the US side, we crossed over for the Canadian view; a border guard stuck his head inside the bus and shouted, "Anybody not a US Citizen?" When he got no response, he stepped aside to let us pass.

Years later, with the border a bit more controlled, I made a trip to Toronto to speak at a conference. I got to the airport in Austin without thinking about what documentation I might need, and while it took a bit of fast talking on my part, the airline agent stamped my ticket "Documents OK" and away I went. I spent a week in Canada as an undocumented alien. During that time, I worried just a bit about the return trip, but for that leg of the trip I just walked out of Canada into "US territory" at the airport, got on the plane and came home.

The next time I went to Canada on business, I decided not to press my luck and took official documentation, though still not a passport.

To be sure, we had ventured onto Canadian soil earlier in the cruise when the train over White Pass continued into Canada for a few miles before reaching a turn-around junction in the track, so technically we were undocumented aliens at that point, since no one told us we needed passports to take the train trip.

They did tell us that we would need passports in Victoria; in fact, you couldn't board the boat in Seattle without a passport. You had to have a passport, even if you didn't get off the boat in Victoria. So, official, stamped, certified passports in hand, we disembarked, walked about a hundred yards into the Canadian Customs and Emigration building there at the docks.... and walked right on through without a single person giving us a glance!

Coming back, they did check... our cruise ID card, and that was it. Only when we got back to Seattle and left the boat to come home did anyone look at our passports. I wonder, if we had none at that point, would they have put us back on the boat, which was sailing again in just a few hours? Just a thought.