Have you ever had to just get out of the house and go explore? Just throw on your jacket and take off? I sometimes get this “wanderlust” feeling and I just have to go. Sometimes I have a destination in mind, sometimes I don’t. There have been days where I walk to the top of my street and catch the first bus that comes by. Doesn’t matter what direction, doesn’t matter where it’s headed; I just get on and start my adventure.
Well, this past weekend, I had a bit of an adventure. This one was sort of planned because a week or so earlier, I saw a flyer advertising a Pop-Up Holiday Craft Bazaar. The location wasn’t far from where I live. That section of the city is commonly known as Kingston Road Village. Not really walking distance in the winter snow and coldness, but by bus it was only about a 15 minute ride. So I figured I would go and check it out.
Going on an adventure…
Saturday morning rolled around and I got my daily “to dos” taken care of before I headed out. Around 11ish, I started my journey on foot. I walked to the top of the street where I waited only a few minutes for a bus. Lucky me…sometimes I have a much longer wait.
I wasn’t exactly sure which block this Pop-Up Bazaar was located on, so I quickly pulled out my phone and checked the address on Google Maps. Turns out that I could take the bus almost all the way there. Turns out that the bus turns Northbound just a few blocks before my destination.
Walking the rest of the way…
Now on foot, I decided to cross the street (not sure why…just a whim). I love looking in shop windows as I pass them, and the first one I saw that caught my attention had a lovely display of children’s books. What luck! I needed to buy a present for my nine year old granddaughter (who will be refered to as M) and she loves to read.
Looking up, I saw that the shop was called Ella Minnow Children’s Bookstore, so in I went. The inside area was small, like most city shops, but oh so whimsical and enticing. This was the kind of bookstore that I would have loved to be able to visit when I was a child. The soft colors and beautiful cabinetry drew me further into the store. These features really showcased the array of books, toys and educational objects that were offered.
I wasn’t sure what book I wanted to buy, so I asked for suggestions from the lady who was behind the counter. (She may have been the owner…I’m not sure.) I told her the books that I already knew M had read and she showed me a few that she thought might be suitable. So I picked out one and brought it over to pay. While I was waiting for my turn in line, a few little trinkets caught my eye and I ended up buying them as well.
The wonderful lady rang up my purchases and handed my my bag. She thanked me for shopping there and I thanked her for a great shopping experience.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
I left the store and proceeded down the street. Not too far down though, because another window caught my attention. The first thing I saw was a really cute, Bullwinkle open sign. Then my eyes went downward and saw a line of gargoyles guarding the window full of collectibles. Yep…I had to go in here.
I have thing for gargoyles!
I pushed open the door and walked into a collector’s dreamland. Down the middle of the whole length of the store was comic books. Boxes and boxes of comic books. Around the perimeter of the store I saw amazing collections of, well…just everything! There was Transformers and Star Wars collectibles; I saw Elvis and Queen and Tragically Hip memorabilia! Bruce Lee figures, Dungeons & Dragons board games….OH MY.
There was so much to look at…DC Comics collectibles vs Marvel Comics collectibles. My head was spinning! I wasn’t sure what to look at next…then I spotted a collection of time pieces. Wow, they were amazing. One of those would make a perfect Christmas gift for someone!
I saw bins of DVDs for a buck each…that’s right….only $1. I made a note to get back there again, when I was going straight home, to go through them and pick up a bunch.
There was so much more there but I am going to stop now. I would be writing all night if I kept listing what there was. They are on Instagram, check them out: The Gargoyle.
Just before I left, I struck up a conversation with the owner. He was telling me that they buy up whole collections when they find them and are always getting new stuff in. I am going to make The Gargoyle one of my regular stops now…need to keep up to date with any new collections!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
When I left the fantasy land that is The Gargoyle and stepped back into the real world, I decided I better head for the Pop-Up Holiday Craft Bazaar that was my original destination. It wasn’t much farther down the street, maybe about half a block, but on the opposite side of the road.
At the Holiday Bazaar now…
I crossed over and came to this small storefront where I saw a sign pointing in. I had arrived. I suddenly realized that I should have come here first because the space was a long narrow area and was already crowded with shoppers! I wish I had gotten there right when they first opened. I’m sad to say that I didn’t get any pictures of all the wonderful treasures found inside. The crush of people didn’t leave me any room to do so. There were some lovely hand made cards; beautiful images on a great quality stock paper. The handmade jewelry was just incredible! Everything there was all hand made and just amazing!
I did run into a neighbor of mine who was selling her custom gifts and picked up a beautifully adorned, stemless wine glass. (Which I took pictures of once I got it home!) Sarah wrapped it up very nicely for me too. She had some gorgeous items on her table and I am sure I will be visiting her before too long to possibly pick up a few more things. She’s on Instagram too! Check out her stuff: Sarah George @ That’s Georgeous.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Getting hungry now…
After making my way out of the busy bazaar, I figured it was time to get some lunch. I had spotted “No Bull Burgers” on my way down the street and decided it was a great time to check them out. Yes, I was in the mood for a burger! I walked into the restaurant and first thing I noticed was large menu on the back wall above the kitchen pass-through. It showed the Signature Burgers as well as Build Your Own, and then the sides and add-ons you could also order.
There was bench seating along one wall and bar stool type seating up against the front window along with a couple more stand-alone tables by the side windows. I figured I better grab a table while I could. That was a good move. Several more people came in right after me. This place seems to be doing quite the booming business.
I must say, it was really hard to narrow down my choice to just one burger; they all sounded amazing. But after a few minutes debate with myself, I settled on “The Redneck”. This consisted of a 1/4 lb of fresh in-house ground organic Triple A Angus beef, Swiss & cheddar cheese slices, a deep fried beer battered potato chip encrusted pea-meal bacon slice, lettuce, tomatoes and whiskey BBQ sauce. (I just died and went to Burger Heaven folks!) Did I want fries? Hmmm….with that much burger to eat, I think fries would just be overkill. I will just have to plan a trip back in the near future to try out their POUTINE! So, the very friendly young lady behind the counter took my order. She told me what was on the burger (lettuce, tomatoes/bbq sauce, etc) and asked if I was ok with that. I assured her it was perfect. I ordered a drink and sat back down to wait for my feast.
Several “regulars” came in to order their usual lunch orders; most for takeout, but some stayed to eat. One gentleman sat at the table next to me and we struck up a conversation. He was telling me how good everything was here. We both got our orders at the same time. Wow…mine was huge and his was similar, but with the addition of fries. I turned to him and said “Race ya!!”. So we dug in…(He won!!) I cut my burger in half because it was so big and had to stop for a break, between halves. Let me just say…The Redneck Burger was everything the menu promised…and more!
I chatted a bit with the young lady (I didn’t catch her name) and also with the Tony (the owner) and asked if I could take a few pictures and that there would be a mention in my blog. Tony was quick to point out the charity coupon deal that they were doing at that time and said he would appreciate it if I could give that a mention. (Unfortunately, I would be publishing this blog post too late for the coupon, but I did manage to send off an email to my subscribers about talking it up!).
Click on the photos to enlarge!
My belly was full now and I decided to wind up my journey and head back home. But you know, there was one more stop I wanted to make. There was this little shop that caught my eye called Collected Joy. How could I pass that up?
Just a little bit more “shop exploring”…
Collected Joy turned out to be a very charming store, filled with an assortment of lovely quality gifts, jewelry, cards, stationery, pottery, glassware and everything in between. The setup of the store was great, with creative displays along the walls and some racks down the middle. With a bit of research, I found out that most of the stock is designed, created and made primarily in Canada by Canadian designers.
Click on the photos to enlarge!
I wandered around and made note of several things that I would like to go back and have a further look at next time. There were definite possibilities for buying Christmas presents. I saw some pretty funny (raunchy) and adorable greeting cards and some great natural textiles that I might be interested in, but I was getting tired and decided it was time to call it a day. My wanderlust had been sated…for now….
It’s great you explored these special shops in your area. I too may have passed these, but look forward to checking them out!!! Thanks for sharing.
You don’t realize how much you miss when you drive by. It’s only when I walk down streets that I take time to check out all the shops.