Pinball, Tiki, a Free T-Shirt, and Corn Dogs

 Victoria, BC

Our Morning Walk

This morning we grabbed Francis and walked down to the waterfront, a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb.  We walked over the Johnson St. Bridge, the one that was shown drawn in yesterday's blog, and enjoyed the sun.  

There is a brewery and food hall that we haven't visited yet.

They don't appear to have the weird obsession of getting rid of Dandelions here.

The Johnson St. Bridge in its down position.

Here is the big gear that raises the bridge when it goes up.

Both sides of the bridge have completely separated pedestrian paths which is very nice.

The Google reviews for these chairs are very high. It's a nice place to sit and watch water taxis go by.

They decided to use kilometers on this sign.

Pinball

This afternoon we went to Pinhalla Pinball and Pizzeria, twice.  We went at 3pm when we thought they opened and then again at 4pm when they actually opened.  It's a very short walk from our Airbnb so it was no big deal, I just had to delay my pinball urges for an hour more.  Pinhalla is a brand new Pizzeria and pinball arcade.  They have 34 machines in excellent condition.  I was excited to play a few that I have never played before.

On our first visit they were still closed.

Mars God of War was a new machine for me.  It's really fun.

Whoever designed this toilet interface failed.  You shouldn't need to add instructions to your toilet.

I also got to play Popeye Saves the Earth for the first time.  It's a lot of fun too.  On my 3rd game I earned a replay for my high score.

I am sure at some point I will be able to review the pizza, but I can say that the pinball side is fantastic with a lot of room to move around.  The machines have plenty of space between them.  It's a great place to play pinball.

Tiki in B.C.

After pinball, we walked 5 minutes to Tora Tiki for their 5pm opening.  We didn't have huge expectations for it but it ended up being really fantastic.  Their happy hour runs from 5-7pm and their decorations are really great.  It was a really comfortable tiki bar with very friendly staff and fantastic drinks.

They had two portholes with monitors behind them.  The video cycled from aquarium to a sunset while we were there.

I really liked the skull shirt but I also liked the other shirt because it said Victoria BC on it.  

We didn't steal a cursed mug.

Donna got the Trader Vic's Grog.  It was fantastic.

I got the Happy Hour Daiquiri.  It was only $8 CAD and also fantastic.  

I also got an order of the corn dogs.  I love corn dogs and these were pretty good.

It was cool to see old Bruce Brown movie posters.  I had most of his surf movies at one point.

It's also a Karaoke bar but that doesn't happen until later in the evening and it's in a private room.

After our drink and corn dogs I asked about the T-Shirts.  Our bartender and possibly the owner said they only have small and extra small and more were on order.  She then looked at Donna and asked if she wanted a shirt for free because there aren't many small or extra small tiki bar patrons.  Donna checked out both styles and settled on one.

This is the shirt she chose.  We ended up leaving a large tip.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Victoria So Far..., check it out.

Free Pinball and Expensive Beer

 Chicago, IL

Not me, clearly

Chores Before Fun

Today was set aside for getting a package delivered.  We are switching to Google Fi.  Google Fi offers an unlimited data plan that works in Canada for about the same price as we are paying for limited data with Verizon.  The change needs new sim cards so we had to have them shipped to us.  We are staying on a very busy street with no place to hide a package so we planning on getting to it as soon as it arrived.  I checked tracking when I woke up at about 7 and it said the address was insufficient and it was being returned to sender.  I called the local post office here as soon as it opened and talked to them and they verified that they had it and set it aside for me to pick up.  Tracking Numbers For The Win!  The rest of the morning was picking up the package and setting up Google Fi.  I also took the opportunity to close an old bank account we weren't using anymore.

USPS and NASCAR, together at last.

 Pinball!

It's been like 2 days since I have played pinball so I thought it was time to get flipping.  I found a new to me place kind of downtown that has some of the latest machines set on free play with the expectation that you spend money at the bar.  I took transit to Headquarters Beercade and arrived at opening, 4pm.  It was a huge place with really cool décor and a ton of games.  I opened a tab, bought an expensive beer, and set up at the Godzilla Machine.  I have been watching videos and wanted to test out my new knowledge.  It takes a while for the knowledge from your head to get to your hands but with enough free games I crushed my Godzilla high score and accomplished some things I wanted to accomplish.  I also played The Mandalorian, James Bond 007, Rush, Iron Maiden, and Foo Fighters.  All of these machines are by Stern and were kept in great condition.  I ended up playing for about 4 hours.  

The Entrance.  It was a rainy day, prefect for pinball.

I didn't have a place to set my beer for the photo.

Pretty cool hu?

This is my Monster Score (pun intended) on Godzilla.  It's good enough for 23rd on their all time leaderboard.

The L at dusk.

I played 39 games of pinball for fee.  That would have cost $26 at Logan Arcade.

My 23rd place score.  I gotta get a billion now!

That's it for today.  If you missed Hanging With the Hipsters, check it out.