I hate my birthdays, sometimes. Because I end up planning them. A surprise would be nice. (My 50th had surprises, which I loved.)
Today, I turned 52. And it was left to me to decide what we were doing. I chose to go Fort Langley.
(I chose this because Choo Choo had wanted to go, but for a variety of reasons, it hadn’t happened and was looking like it wasn’t going to happen. We’d already done things I wanted to do, like the Britannia Beach Mine, and I think everyone just assumed I’d want to do something train-related, which wouldn’t be incorrect. But I wanted Choo Choo to get something she wanted.)
Many years ago, getting to Fort Langley was easy – you’d just drive a few kilometres into Albion, turn at 240th, and take the Albion Ferry across to MacMillan Island and into town. But with the construction of the Golden Ears Bridge over in Pitt Meadows, they pulled the ferry from service, returning MacMillan entirely to the Kwantlen First Nation. Golden Ears is still the quickest way around (going via Mission and Abbotsford is, curiously, longer).
Alex, of course, was already on a geocaching search before we’d crossed the Fraser to the south side. This took us to Derby Reach Park, which was the original location of the Hudson Bay Company’s Fort Langley, built in the 1820’s. I learned this because while Alex was huffing through Derby Park, the kids and I wanted to the other side of the road to read the historic marker signs.
There’s nothing left of consequence at the original site, other than the marker. It’s entirely possible it’s been paved over by the road, or lost to the river’s flooding and erosion. In any case, barely a decade later, the fort was moved to its current location that would eventually give its name to the town surrounding it.
Normally, I’m supportive of Alex’s geocaching, I even participate in the exercise. Today, though, I hung with the kids with the apparently false expectation that we wouldn’t be at Derby for long. It was over an hour and a half before she finally returned to the parking lot, which burned a lot of my goodwill to her asking to stop for a “quick cache”. Normally, I defend her from the girls’ whining; today, Alex got a quip from me for taking so long.
It was a quiet drive into the town from there.
We parked in the lot for the fort proper, which until that point, I wasn’t even sure where it was. And I suppose I should have played my “birthday” card then and gone to see the fort, but between my surprise mine visit (regardless of how well it was ultimately received) and the fouled mood from an overstayed geocache stop, I opted to belay the visit for another time. Off we went into the town.
Normally, we stick to Glover Road, which is the main strip in Fort Langley, so we don’t see much to the sides. But as we walked towards Glover, we found the Antiques Mall, which is a very dangerous place if you have any interest in older stuff. Carrying my backpack of camera equipment, I couldn’t go much further than the main “lobby” (hallways drift off in nearly every direction), as I’d have to “check” my bag, something I don’t like doing.
Choo Choo got some stickers, Monkey and Alex both got badges. I left with nothing new.
We ended up at the Rail and River Bistro, wedged between the CN tracks and the river (hence, the name). It was … decent. It wasn’t what I wanted – I’d hoped for a proper brewpub – but it was what we’d agreed on, and Alex’s wheat allergy is always a mitigating challenge. (Not everywhere has gluten free that’s not just a salad.)
We wandered up Glover, poked into the bookstore, looked in the knick-knack stores (Choo’s description for shops that sell touristy stuff), before winding back to the car.
Dinner was at Randy and Annie’s, Allen and Jean’s absolutely stellar neighbours, who invited us for dinner, not realizing it was my birthday. It was easily the highlight of my day, as family (and extended family) meals are often the most enjoyable.
