OVERNIGHT IN ST. JACOBS

It’s been a long winter of being cooped up at home, so when March Break rolled around you could say we were kind of desperate to get away somewhere, literally anywhere but home.

We decided on St. Jacobs as it’s very close to us so the drive to and from isn’t that long and mostly scenic. We’ve been going there as a family since I was a kid and visit yearly in the summer for the farmer’s market. The market does run year round so we arranged our stay to coincide with their weekday market day. I don’t have any memories of ever visiting in the winter/cooler months of the year and we’ve never spent the night there, so even though we’ve been multiple times those two factors made it kind of a unique experience this time around. Plus, my toddler has never been to a hotel so it was super exciting for her and fun to experience that through her.

We ended up overnighting at the Holiday Inn Express solely based on the fact it had both a heated indoor pool and splash pad area for kids. Though to be honest it didn’t feel that heated, especially if you go in the morning. No, it’s not an Instagram worthy hotel but it was clean, cheap, included a decent breakfast, was right across the street from the market and my child absolutely loved the pool and splash pad. It’s the perfect property for a family getaway.

As I said, we decided to incorporate a weekday market visit so we overnighted on the Wednesday. We went up earlier in the afternoon and wandered around the town of St. Jacobs. It’s changed a lot since my days as a kid when it was more authentic to the roots of St. Jacob and their Mennonite history. Now it’s more filled with kitschy tourist stores and in my opinion the only reason to stop in town is for the Stone Crock Bakery, where you have to get yourself a “Piggy Cookie”. It’s a soft cookie with icing and a pig face on it. They’re a kid, or my adult sister’s, favourite! Next you’re going to want to stop at the Stone Crock Meat & Cheese shop. I HIGHLY recommend buying their Caramelized Onion Cheddar, the Truffle Gouda and the Parsley and Onion cheddar. Great additions to a charcuterie board. Currently these two shops are in separate spots in the city, but will eventually be in one spot as a mini market type layout.

For more information on what to see and do in the village, events they put on and even other places to stay click here.

In the summer, when we go for the day only, we like to pack a picnic lunch and eat by the little river. It’s in behind the main street of the village where the big Home Hardware store is. This would be a good spot for some Instagram pictures!

After wandering around town we had an early dinner reservation at The Village Biergarten in one of their winter domes. In the summer this restaurant is a fun open outdoor dining experience on wood picnic tables. The menu is small but the portions are definitely not! We started with their Cesar salad, the dressing had a faint sweet taste to it unlike other cesar salads and we shared a veggie flatbread. We then all ordered the same entree, the schnitzel which was enormous and delicious. Honestly if you don’t have a picky kid eater, the portions are so large you can share with your kiddo.

After dinner we spent the evening swimming at the hotel and just enjoying the room, because as I said my child has never been to a hotel so she was thrilled by it. Plus we wanted an early bedtime as we had the market the next morning. As I mentioned the market is year round, Thursday and Saturday’s. In the summer there’s obviously way more vendors in the outdoor space and they hold an extra market day on Tuesday’s. We actually got lucky that it was that first taste of beautiful weather on the market day and there were quite a few outdoor vendors set up. It’s your typical farmers market with a mix of lots of local produce (in the summer), fresh flowers, artisan vendors with specialty items or food and then of course your kitschy type vendors. My first stop on market day is always the Market Tent where I grab a cappuccino from the Full of Beans Coffee Bar. From there I head right across the tent to Bake My Day. They are a butter tart bakery with amazing concoctions of different flavours of tarts. The Coconut Raspberry tarts are the best things I’ve ever had! My parents always buy from Eva’s Deli, also in the Market Tent. It’s a Hungarian deli selling smoked & cured Hungarian style meats, sausages, as well as uncooked meats. Another great stop for a wicked charcuterie board snack/dinner. The market consists of two other indoor spaces, Peddlers Village which is filled with tons of mom and pop “fast food” type vendors and flea market type vendors and then there’s the Market Building, mix of food and drink and artisan vendors. You’ll actually find both Stone Crock Bakery and Meat & Cheese represented in the Market Building if you can’t get into town. They just carry less product than the actual stores do in my opinion. I’m not a fritter fan but my girlfriend loves The Fritter Co. in the Market Building and when we were there the line up for fritters was out the door, so if you’re a fritter fan this seems like a must stop vendor for you. Also, Lil Donuts is always packed year round, think freshly made powered donuts! *chefs kiss*

For more on the market click here.

Right across from the Holiday Inn, and a few of the other accommodation options in the city, you’ll find the St. Jacobs Outlet Mall. I love the Levis store in there, tons of options unlike the stores in the malls and the pricing is decent. I wouldn’t call them outlet pricing but they’re still better than full pop.

Here’s a little video on my time last summer in St. Jacobs.