When I was a kid growing up in Kitchener- Waterloo, my dad would sometimes drive the two of us to St Jacobs to retrieve mail for the small publishing company that he and my mom owned and ran. For while my parents worked as professors (at Waterloo’s respective universities) during the daytime, they also ran – as a labour of love – a small publishing house and the business address for their company, Sand Hills Books, was situated along the main drag in the village.
‘The last time I encountered a brew this large,’ I exclaim as I raise my one-litre Bavarian stein in the air, ‘I was at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich.’ A lifetime ago. Twenty-five years, actually. Another story for another day. Cheekily, my TOQUE partner- in-crime Cai raises her own stein and klinks mine. ‘Prost!,’ she laughs. We make eye contact (as folks are wont to do) and then each take a gulp, my lager and Cai's IPA brewed just down the street. Cold. Fresh. Heavenly.
WHETHER YOU’RE HOSTING FRIENDS & FAMILY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON OR LOOKING FOR THAT PERFECT GIFT FOR FOLKS WHO MIGHT BE HOSTING YOU, THE EXPANSIVE AND INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED ST JACOBS FARMERS’ MARKET IS YOUR ONE- STOP DESTINATION FOR HANDCRAFTED GOODNESS.
‘All I do is eat, sleep, and crochet,’ Angela remarks with a laugh while I check out her arrangement of handcrafted market wares – all neatly organized in front of her on a wooden vendor table. I crack a smile (imagining her catchy statement dubbed onto some club track or other) and focus on what’s on display.
‘This is like a scene out of ‘Yellowstone’,’ I exclaim to my TOQUE Partner, Cai Sepulis, as we wade through the crowd to get a better look. When we get closer to the action the sea of bodies parts – revealing a brilliant tableau that really could have come straight out of the popular cowboy-themed Paramount Network show or, possibly, the town of Stars Hollow.
THE HUNT. ANTIQUE COLLECTORS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS: THE SATISFYING ACT OF SEARCHING FOR (VINTAGE) TREASURE – AND FINDING IT. SECURING IT. GIVING IT NEW LIFE AT HOME OR PASSING IT ALONG AS A GIFT. MARKET ROAD ANTIQUES (LOCATED BESIDE THE ST JACOBS FARMERS’ MARKET AND FEATURING OVER ONE HUNDRED VENDORS SPREAD ACROSS TWENTY THOUSAND SQUARE FEET) IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO JOIN THE HUNT.
‘I still can’t believe that all this food is available at the Market,’ I exclaim to my TOQUE Partner, Chris, as I stare down atthe spread laid out in front of us. Samosas. Dolmas. Hummus. Cubanos. Cannolis. And more. Chris and I are seated in the back of the Mercedes Sprinter that my wife, Sonia, and I acquired and converted into a veritable mobile home at the beginning of COVID.
Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
Stratford – and, by extension, Perth County – lends itself to takeaway. A coffee to carry, a sandwich in hand, something sweet tucked alongside – then out into the streets for window shopping, into the theatres for a performance, or down to the riverbank for a nosh.
