In England, one of our favourite things to do is spending a Saturday in a different town or city. I've asked around and observed and it just doesn't seem to be something that Canadians here do...but on reflection I think it's because most of their cities seem the same. Vancouver borders 3 other cities...which are all very similar, they all have malls with the same chain shops, same chain restaurants etc.. and so I guess people don't really see the point in driving an hour away to get all the same stuff you can get if you stay in your own city. Whereas in England each town is so different from the next, there is so much charm and history and so many quaint and unique shops from one place to the next which makes travelling to different places so interesting! Don't get me wrong...I love having as much root beer as I want on my doorstep, I love having the mountains overlooking where we live and a stones throw away, but I miss the quaint-ness that England has to offer more than I ever thought I would!
So when I heard about a little fishing town called Steveston, it seemed like just the sort of thing I was after! So when a rare blue sky day came along I knew it was time for us to check it out!
When the first shop we came across was this cute little bread store, I knew it was just what I had been looking for!
I loved how rustic and old skool it was inside!
and check out the size of that oven! It was pretty amazing! We tried a free sample of their bread and then the owner promptly asked us how many loaves we wanted to buy! Byron said 1 and then the guy asked us for $10!! It was tasty bread...but not $10 tasty! So we said we couldn't afford that much...and the guy gave us a free mini loaf!
I felt kind of embarrassed going into this shop! The amount of times I used to go to American grocery stores back in London or hunt down American groceries online...and now here I am surrounded by them and I'm going into an English store - whaaat?! haha, but it was just fun to check it out! I miss squash more than you can imagine but for $7 a bottle I'm just going to have to miss it for a few months more! I looked longingly at their chocolate and some of their packs of biscuits but decided I would feel too silly buying English stuff so I gave it a miss!
I'd tried to sell the idea of Steveston to Byron a few times...and he wasn't really getting it. Checking out a fishing town by the water in winter? Where's the fun in that! When we 'stumbled' across Bell's Bakeshop he discovered my real intentions of coming here! What can I say, I travel far and wide to hunt down cupcakes...especially when Vancouver is lacking good ones so badly! I had found out that the owner of Bell's Bakeshop had worked at one of my favourite UK bakeries, Angel Food Bakery in Brighton, for a few months before moving back to Canada to open up her own cupcakery! So I knew her cupcakes were going to be worth the trip!
We were met with a cabinet full of delicious sounding cupcakes...
it was pretty hard to choose because I wanted to try so many!
and it wasn't just the cupcakes that took my fancy, check out that malteser layer cake! yum!
In the end Byron opted for the peanut butter/choc combo...
and I went for my all time fave - Oreo! and there's nothing better than pairing a cupcake with a root beer in my opinion! We were seriously impressed with these cupcakes...finally! Byron's peanut butter frosting was super creamy and went perfectly with the rich chocolate cupcake. I had bits of Oreo strewn through my vanilla cupcake and a huge mound of cream frosting covered in Oreo crumbs. It was moist and fresh and delicious...everything a cupcake should be! I'm definitely taking my mom and sister here when they come to visit in April!
After our cupcake stop, we took a walk around the town to burn off some of those calories! We headed down to the wharf.
It was a really lovely day to be in Steveston with the sun reflecting off the water. Apparently we weren't the only ones who thought so as the town was really busy, despite it still being a pretty chilly day!
There were lots of boats down at the wharf selling fresh fish...
It was fun to see!
but I don't know anyone who would buy sea urchins! Apparently they are used in sushi and sashimi and eaten raw! There was certainly a crowd of people around the boat selling these so I guess Asian people like eating them!
How cute is this baby, rocking her pink sunglasses!
I can imagine this place would be even more fun in Summer! The wharf is lined with shacks selling seafood and fish and chips and ice cream, we will have to come back and check it out!
We walked by this deli, it was packed out and it looked so fun inside! I also found a lot of nice gift/card shops...another thing that is hard to find in Vancouver itself so that was a bonus!
Even the clocks look old too!
I loved these travel markers too!
and just when we thought our day couldn't get any better! I remembered the other reason Steveston has been on my radar for a while...The Hog Shack.
This root beer has become my favourite brand since being here! It's made by Henry Weinhard...and it's so creamy and delish!
I loved this quote on the wall!
By went for a ribs and pulled pork platter...
complete with cornbread and all!
and I had this epic hotdog. Not only was it a Nathan's hotdog (which is my fave!) but it was wrapped in bacon and smothered in pulled pork too!
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day...because every day that ends with pulled pork is a good one!
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