Part Time Vagabond 
formerly Experience Music Project
The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP, is a museum dedicated to contemporary popular culture, located next to the iconic Space Needle and sees over 750,000 visitors annually. It was founded by Seattle native and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project and was originally focused, almost exclusively, as a homage to Jimi Hendrix. After some financial struggles, it broadened its coverage to all things pop culture, and was rebranded in November 2016 as MoPOP; a new home to legendary pop culture artifacts and exhibitions dedicated to some of the biggest names in music, science fiction, sports, video games, fantasy and horror television and film. Several MoPOP exhibits have toured all over the world and the museum has also played a vital role in helping develop community artists with an extensive array of programs benefitting over 150,000 students each year.
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For the last 50 years, Dale Chihuly has been revolutionizing the complex art of glassblowing, pushing the medium to its limits to produce some of the most colorful and stunning pieces of art in the world. His work ranges from unique, sometimes whimsical individual pieces to large whole scale, all-encompassing architectural installations such as the famous ceiling sculpture at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. His team of artists and sculptors can lay claim to some of the greatest pieces of glass artwork across the globe, and Chihuly Garden and Glass can give you a healthy dose of these masterpieces.
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Victoria, the capitol of the Canadian province of British Columbia, is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada’s Pacific coast. Named after Queen Victoria, this gem is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest. Its ancient Victorian history, rugged shorelines, sandy beaches and ideal location close to Vancouver and Seattle has made it a thriving summer vacation destination. It is also popular with retirees due to its year-round temperate climate and slow, relaxed pace. Due to the academic prowess of institutions such as the University of Victoria, Camosun College, Royal Roads University, the Victoria College of Art and the Canadian College of Performing Arts, Victoria also attracts students from all over the world.
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The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second oldest in North America behind San Francisco’s. With beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century due to the mass influx of miners from California, Victoria’s Chinatown was apparently a maze of alleyways and courtyards where one could find everything from restaurants and opium dens to theaters and gambling establishments. Even though it still remains somewhat popular with Chinese-Canadians, today’s Chinatown has shrunk to not much more than a city block and really is a far cry from its former glory.
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Founded in 1886 under the care of the first curator John Fannin and located in a single room in the Capitol Buildings, the Royal British Columbia Museum has humble beginnings. In 1913, the provincial government proclaimed the Museum Act, giving the museum formal operating authority and defining its objectives. The museum bounced around from home to home, ever growing in its prominence and by 1961, estimated annual attendance had reached 100,000. The province recognized that the time had come to expand the museum, and in 1963 Premier Bennett announced plans to build a new museum and archives as a Canadian centennial project. Three years later, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother dedicated the cornerstone for the current museum exhibits building. In 1969, the second museum building, the Fannin Tower, was finished. Growing from strength to strength, the museum was merged with the Archives in 2003, which at the time was a 109-year-old organization. Today, the combined organization is home to approximately 7 million objects and strives to share the story of the region with the almost 1 million visitors that wander its halls each year.
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Placed prominently overlooking the waterfront on land formerly belonging to the Lekwungen people, the Neo-Baroque giant domed structure of the main British Columbia Parliament Building is hard to miss from most of downtown Victoria. Captain George Vancouver overlooks the city from atop the central dome and a statue of Queen Victoria adorns the front lawn. These buildings are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, thus making Victoria the capitol of the province.
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Located 20 km NW of Victoria in Brentwood Bay, BC, the Butchart Gardens is a stunning group of floral displays spread over 55 acres maintained by a staff that includes 50 full time gardeners. Over a million visitors wander through Butchart each year. The gardens which are still privately owned by the Butchart family, have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada since 2004.
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Craigdarroch (means “rocky oak place” in Gaelic) Castle is a historic mansion built by the wealthy 19th century coal baron Robert Dunsmuir. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992 and is a landmark of Victoria, fondly dubbed “Canada’s Castle.”
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Nestled between the ancient kingdoms of Polonnaruwa and Dambulla in the heart of Sri Lanka’s dry zone, Minneriya National Park was originally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1938 and gained National Park status in August 1997.
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Part Time Vagabond 