Everybody Else Is Already Taken

Journeywoman and Albion Manor

 Social media has enabled me to meet, and write about people I would never have met otherwise. Recently I welcomed two online friends into our beautiful Victoria, BC. First friend is Evelyn Hannon, AKA Journeywoman.

I first got to know her through Twitter as "Erica Ehm's mom" on Twitter. But when I was in Toronto for the ONE project and with Erica, the whole day people would come to her saying, "I just saw your mom!" "I'm a big fan of your mom!" – I remember Erica rolling her eyes!

Evelyn is the founder/editor of Journeywoman.com, largest online resources for women who love to travel. Her enthusiasm and curiosity show all over the Journeywoman site :) I love that.

Last October, I finally got to meet her in person at Blissdom Canada in Toronto, but we merely said hi to each other. It was a busy conference!

So you can imagine my delight when she messaged me to say she was on her way to Victoria after the TBEX conference in Vancouver.

First, we met at Fairmont Empress for afternoon tea. We met with Angela, AKA Hotel_Goddess over their signature afternoon tea. I love Fairmont Empress' tea any day but having them with two amazing women truly made my day. One topic I took home with that day, was how Evelyn said she would try something and be better at it, and move on to learn something new. This encouraged me to pursue something I have always wanted to learn, but never made time for it – namely, Poker and Dance, respectively. I am weary of making any new announcements here as my resolutions for 2011 is not going as well as I'd hoped for(!), but I'll be making some calls to learn those skills. (Is Poker a skill?)

The next day, Evelyn suggested we have a small Tweetup at Albion Manor in James Bay, where she enjoyed her gourmet breakfast.

Beautiful salon @GDGeek, @MelWood, @Toots11 were able to join us and we have discussed things that's special about Victoria. She is looking for "inside scoop" about Victoria, BC... and I am working on the post now. After that, Fernando, one of the owners of this manor gave us a tour of their beautiful B&B.

I had driven by this place many times before but had no idea about this stunning B&B. Each room was furnished and decorated with amazing antiques and art collected from around the world. Fernando is an artist as well, and his pieces can be found throughout the manor.

This manor was built as a wedding gift to a young couple in 1892. You can learn more about the history here.

I very much enjoyed the tour with Fernando – each room and each piece of furniture had an unique story about them. It's as if you are staying at a museum!

Evelyn, it was amazing to see you again. I am honored to call you a friend. And thank you Don and Fernando for having us over, what a treat.

Posted June 28, 2011