Last Summer 2016, I had the opportunity to explore Fort Langley with a lovely Women's Group, as part of my co-op work term at The Salvation Army. This was a short field trip into the town of Fort Langley, about a forty minute drive from Vancouver.
We explored the town centre and browsed at the local shops. We passed the community hall and local post office, and visited a church as well (not pictured here).
Fort Langley has a small town feel. There are lots of small shops and local diners that have been running for decades. For some of these women, it was their first time visiting this place. I, too, share in this experience. I was not aware of such a town until this day. hehe oops?
After walking around town for about an hour, we proceeded to have our lunch at the lelam’ cafe.
The lelam’ Arts & Cultural Cafe is an Indigenous owned cafe, with a menu incorporating some of the traditional flavours of the Coast Salish diet. Their dishes include wild smoked sockeye, wild pacific salmon, and bannock (a type of bread).
Good news! I found out they have an express cafe at the Richmond Cultural Centre!
I forgot what my sandwich was called but I had a chicken breast sandwich with mushroom soup on the side. The purple spread is their cranberry chutney YUM!!! (I checked their recent menu and this is not being served currently)
Take a look of how GOOD this sandwich is - TASTES GOOD TOO!
After lunch, we all made our way to the Fort Langley National Historic Site - a former fur trade post of Hudson's Bay Company. It’s also commonly referred to the ‘birthplace of British Columbia’.
When we entered the site, we arrived just in time for the blacksmith's presentation. There were also barrel-making and gold panning live demonstrations, but it did not fit our schedule. The site was full of costumed storytellers sharing the tales of this trading post back in the 1800s. It’s like you’re re-living the past!
Another good thing about visiting this place is that they provide self-guided audio tours in languages other than English (ex. Mandarin, Japanese, French, Spanish, etc.) - perfect for the multicultural nature of Vancouverites.
Blacksmith Shop
Overview of Fort Langley National Historic Site
Cooperage (barrel-making and woodworking)
Big House (where HBC directors/traders stayed)
Tried on one of their uniforms here and took a ‘candid’ shot HAHA :)
Thankful for this opportunity to visit Fort Langley with this lovely group of women. Hopefully, I can visit back to explore the town a little more. I’m sure there’s so much more to see!
JUL 2016