The Village of St. Jacobs - A Must See!
While staying in Waterloo, we knew that we just had to get out to see the Village of St. Jacobs - a small town that we used to visit at least once a year when living in Etobicoke and on the Holland Marsh. It wasn't until we were approaching the main street that we realized it had been over 15 years since we had last been here. Although, in our opinion, it has lost a little of its charm because of modernization, it is still a quaint place to take in.
Lunch at the Stone Crock Restaurant never disappoints - and the home-made soup and bread are to die for. It is always a challenge not to succumb to the display of tasty treats at the adjoining bakery, with the aroma of fresh cooking wafting under the nose! We have to say that we rarely succeed in getting out of there without something to munch on later in the day.
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| King St. N. (Main Street in St. Jacobs) |
As mentioned earlier, we were a little disappointed with the nods to modernity which have crept in to the main street. Fortunately, there were still several stores that were reminiscent of times gone by.
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| Loved the carved seat |
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| Great sign for any home, not just a cottage! |
...and this 'Touch of Scotland' still had an 'olde worlde' feeling to it.
We did take a look at the rail cars that were in the siding, but the steam train wasn't running on the day we were there.
Of course, no trip to St. Jacobs would be complete without a visit to the famous Farmers' Market. We had not seen the new building, which replaced the one burnt down in 2015; but we were thrilled to see that none of the ambience of the market had been lost.
The sheer pleasure of walking around absorbing the freshness of the meats, fish, fruits, veggies, and preserves is something that everyone should experience - at least once in their lifetime!
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| Notice the swans on the lowest shelf! |
We loved the Portuguese bakery - especially as they had one of our favourite treats: Portuguese Custard Tarts. If you haven't tried one of these, you haven't yet lived! We spoke with Lourenço at his bakery and asked if we could have his permission to post some pictures of his baked creations.
Not only did he give us his 'OK', but he gave us each a free custard tart! They didn't last long!!
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| They didn't last long! |
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| Laurenço was awesome!! |
Upstairs, unique 'one-of-a-kind' stalls punctuate the perimeter. Wares ranging from African wood-carving to pottery; from quilting to metal sculpturing - it all fills the visitor with a sense of awe at the creativity that is present within these communities.
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| Angela's Secret Garden |
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| Had not seen these before |
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| Pavlo Pottery |
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| Esther's Quilts |
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| Sunnyside Up |
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| More from Pavlo Pottery |
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| Shawna P. - Fine Artist |
Shauna allowed me to video her at work.
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| Wonkies! by Masterpiece |
Outside, there were more fruit and veg stalls, as well as other goodies...
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| A new concept for us - Zucchini Blossoms! |
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| Very funny signs! |
... and we were enthralled by a variety of musicians - three soloists, and a couple playing a harp and violin.
Mark felt he had had a good, successful shopping experience!
All in all, it was an awesome day and we were glad that we had made the effort to travel the 5 minutes that it took to get there from the house where we were staying!!!
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N.B. All pictures are taken with the permission of the vendors (not including the musicians).
Thanks, specifically, to the following vendors:
Sunnyside Up (at St. Jacobs Market) - Leather goods since 1974. Lourenço's Bakery
Esther's Quilts (at St. Jacobs Market) Angela's Secret Garden (at St. Jacobs Market)
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