[2023-05-19] Feeding the soul
Today, Mel and I took a day trip to Almonte. We used to do this particular jaunt regularly, pre-COVID and pre-cancer, but had gotten out of the habit. Until today.
And what a lovely day it was to visit what's known as the Friendly Town. The drive between Kanata (a suburb in the western part of Ottawa) and Almonte is beautiful. No one "goes for a drive" anymore (or at least not many people), but it was a thing when I was younger. My mom, younger brother and I often took a drive to Almonte from our farm near Ferguson Falls, especially in the fall when the many maple trees that line Upper Perth Road and Wolf Grove Road were resplendent with colour. We would often stop for a cone at Peterson's Ice Cream, which today is the site of the Almonte Ice Cream Shop.
But back to today. Our first stop was Hummingbird Chocolate on Ottawa Street. A year ago, they moved from a location tucked out of the way to the more visible and accessible location on Ottawa Street, the main road from Ottawa to Almonte. The site is billed as a factory, store and cafe. As we approached the new location, Mel said, "Hey, Hummingbird is now here." We decided to stop in. Such was the kind of day we had: following our whims, allowing them to take us where they would. Once inside, we were drawn by so many options. We purchased some Hazelnut Praline mini chocolate eggs in a little bag and resolved to come back in the afternoon for some chocolate sorbet.
As we exited the building, we encountered a man doing some masonry work at the entrance. I stopped and said, "Would you like some chocolate? Fresh from the store. Not even opened." He looked up at us with a smile and said, "Well, it would be rude to refuse." He rubbed his chalky hands on his shirt, and held them out. I opened my bag of chocolates and dropped two of them into his palm. We smiled and bid each other a nice day.
From there, Mel and I proceeded to Mill Street, the main road in Almonte. As we strolled along the street, we were heartened to see how many businesses had survived the pandemic, such as Crush Marketplace, Vamos Outdoors, Cheerfully Made, Pêches et Poivre. At every turn, we met wonderful people—pleasant, helpful and generous—including a woman who spontaneously asked us whether we needed directions, a second woman, walking with her mom and two kids, who let us pet her sweet, old Aussiedoodle, and a third woman who let us take a picture of her adorable Yorkie, whom she was training to wear googles for when they go sailing.
Feeling peckish, we stopped in at North Market, which is both a cafe and a shop selling specialty groceries, craft beer, wine and ciders. Once again, we met welcoming staff who accommodated our preferences and even offered to take photos of me and Mel as I fussed over the best way to take a selfie. In the cafe, Mel and I split a tender scone flavoured with apple, spinach, Cheddar and caramelized onion—all in a harmonious balance—warmed and drizzled with a little butter. We also shared a chai-flavoured baklava and apple crumble herbal tea. It was a delightful start to what would turn out to be a personally curated food tour of the town.
Mel explored some of the town's antique and vintage stores—notably Big Vintage and Almonte Antiques and Collectibles—on the hunt for music magazines and memorabilia. We happened upon a place called Curious & Kind, where we met Wake, the most gentle soul I have encountered in a long time. Mel and I immediately felt at home. Wake told us that Curious & Kind (which lives up to its name) is a shop, workshop and space for small events, focused on storytelling, poetry, crafting, art and community gathering, among other things. They explained that Curious & Kind receives everyone, but is especially welcoming to people who are neurodivergent, queer, disabled or chronically ill. When I spotted a copy of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Wake invited me to find a page that spoke to me and to write in it. I chose the page that read:
"The fox never really speaks," whispered the boy.
"No. And it's lovely he is with us," said the horse.
I wrote on this page, "It's wonderful for everyone to feel included." Wake explained that Curious & Kind would soon move from its location on Mill Street to a space in the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.
Next, we wandered into Baker Bob's, where we purchased a broccoli and Cheddar croissant. Gently warmed, the croissant was fresh, crispy, tender, savoury and wonderfully flavoured. We enjoyed this second course of our food tour in the little square outside the shop, near the statue of James Naismith, Almonte native and inventor of basketball.
Having satisfied our interests on Mill Street, we returned to Ottawa Street, making a stop at the Almonte Butcher Shop. The lovely man who greeted us pointed out all that the shop had to offer, including locally sourced meats, in-house-made sausages and breads, deli meats and made-to-order sandwiches. We settled on a chocolate chip cookie as the next course in our food tour.
As we had committed to doing, we returned to Hummingbird Chocolate. We headed straight for the gelato-sorbet counter for a serving of chocolate sorbet, which is inexplicably smooth and creamy despite containing no dairy or coconut milk. The woman who served us explained that it's whipped in a gelato machine, which gives the sorbet its light, fluffy texture. She also mentioned that it's flavoured with Hummingbird's 70% tumaco chocolate, which won a gold award from the Academy of Chocolate in 2020—one of 257 awards the company has received since its founding in 2012. The sorbet capped off our food tour of Almonte. One of the things that stood out for Mel and me, beyond the sorbet, was how accessible the building was, from the spacious setting, to the wheelchair-accessible washroom, to the front door that could be opened with an accessible button, and the wide, gentle ramp from the parking lot into the store. These kinds of inclusive structures don't just happen; they are designed with equity in mind.
Our next stop was at the home of Abi of Soaps by Abi, a delightful woman who greeted us with a smile and a wave as we drove into her laneway. Mel and I had met Abi and her husband, Rémy, at a craft fair last fall and fell in love with their gently scented artisan soaps. Today, Mel purchased a package of four soap pebbles in Abi's Fruit Punch collection: Pineapple, Mango & Papaya, Peaches & Cream, and Pomegranate & Mango. We enjoyed speaking with her in French.
This concluded our visit to Almonte, but we had one more stop on our itinerary: Playvalue Toys in Carp. You may have seen this 16,000-square-foot facility near the junction of Hazeldean Road and the road connecting the Queensway with Highway 7 to Carleton Place. We had never been to the store; today seemed like the perfect day to stop in. Aside from the huge store and impressive selection of toys, games, puzzles, Lego sets and figurines, what struck us both was the kindness and helpfulness of the staff. Both women working at the store spent considerable time with us, answering questions and helping us find items we were interested in. They even let Mel jump on the store's huge trampoline.
Today was a day of feeding the soul. We grazed our way through delicious food. And we met so many pleasant people whose values we admired: kindness, inclusion, attention, enthusiasm, generosity and gentleness. We look forward to our next visit to Almonte.
