For those of you new to reading this blog please note that it is my means of keeping in touch with friends and family, and other interested folks, while the spouse and I spend the winter in Vancouver - and during the trip here and back to PEI. I update when I can, aiming for every few days. It is very simply my thoughts, observations and details I want to share about our travels. Scroll down, way down, for details of the trip across the continent which began our odyssey and our adventures living in our small, 22 ft, Rialta RV, for the winter........
Today, just 10 days before Christmas, was a most perfect day. One of those totally unexpected special times that is all the more enjoyable because it wasn’t planned.
We got up early after a night of heavy rain on and off. Love sleeping to the sound of rain on the roof! Anyway Jack took the car in for 2 new tires. See, I told you guys he would not be able to resist spending $$ to fix it up. Anyway, its safer now, so he’s happier, and we can take it on some longer trips. Apparently the belts in the old tire were broken - or something. OK, so the intention was to have a coffee then spend the day at camp. Its foggy, damp and grey today.
Didn’t happen. I had cut an ad out of the paper for an English shop and a scrapbooking store in Chilliwak. Mentioned it over coffee at Wendell’s Café and Bookstore and next thing I know we’re going for a “little ride” east in search of Dickens Sweets & British Museum and Classic on Alexander.
Dickens didn’t look like much from the outside, but inside WOW! Along with the Museum it is a grocery shop, bakery and tea room. The displays were fascinating. One cabinet was all Gollywogs. There was a “Mrs Beeton’s Kitchen,” pub displays - just too much to take in. Even a model train set up that folks could drive. One area was an “animated Christmas display” complete with a live Father Christmas who was a hoot. I didn’t even get to the second floor museum. Amazingly, there was no admission charged to the museum and displays
What was the most charming was the food service, or tea room. It was all set up amongst the displays. Large, long tables, held up to 20 I think. And they were full. The tea room was set for twos or fours, it was also full. A lot of slightly older folk like us, all enjoying the English fare from Dickens own bakery. Soups, meat pies, sausage rolls, Toad in the Hole, Christmas Pud with Custard Sauce, Pork Pie, you name it. They also had a Sweet Shop with dozens of jars of candy lining the walls, more than 125 different loose teas in the tea area, and give lessons on candy making and fondant and such.
I had so much fun (and spent so much money).....it was great. We are going back - have to, Jack bought out some of their stock and ordered more. Besides, we want to take John and Chrissy and reserve Mrs. Beeton’s kitchen - you can eat there in amongst the memorabilia. What fun!
The scrapbooking store was great too, but I’m afraid my attention was focused on the trip down memory lane. Turns out they are beside each other so I’m saving it for next time.
Just a bit of trivia for you:
- there are more then 300,000 Brits in British Columbia. That relates to the number of British shops, tea rooms and such.
- So many of the things I relate to England are here: holly trees and shrubs, blackberries growing wild everywhere, hedgerows, but that is a topic for another day. For now, I must sign off: Miracle on 34th Street is on.
Julie