Scare Up Some Fun in Surrey This Fall

Before All Hallows Eve, you’ve still got time to head out to the farms in Surrey and pick a pumpkin or two, take a ride out to the patch and pick up some delicious veggies for a monstrous feast; there’s even a haunted house or two if you’re brave enough.

This fall we spent a day exploring a small part of Surrey, an often overlooked destination just outside Vancouver. We headed out for some pumpkin patch playtime at Rondriso Farms and General Store (8390 172 Street),  a family run, small-scale farm that grows a wide range of crops. Sustainable farming practices are the focus here, they raise cattle, grow vegetables, and every October, Rondriso Farms Pumpkin Patch opens for the season. You’ll find some of the biggest, best-quality pumpkins around right out in the field.

I couldn’t help but pick up a big bag of veggies, Brussels sprouts right on the stalk, a butternut squash, green onion, cauliflower and more! Lots of delicious meals were made and I’ve still got a few more veggies to prepare. I was pecked by a chicken and met a very cool farm dog too, and as we left a rainbow appeared over this little pot of gold, who answers to the name Morgan.

We venture on to Sugar Patisserie (#103 – 17767 64th Avenue) for a sweet treat or three! Sugar Patisserie focuses on crafting fine desserts and sweets from scratch and using a variety of local produce, including the pumpkins we’d just seen at the Rondriso Farm. They’d made a cheesecake and some pumpkin bread, both divine. and even had both chocolate chip and decorative unicorn cookies and I just had to grab a few treats for Michael and they event made them home.

We’d worked up a bit of a thirst so stopped in for a flight of beer at Hawthorne Beer Market (5633 176th Street) in downtown Cloverdale. There are 17 rotating taps here and over 80 craft domestic and import bottles here, enough to quench any thirst. You can even watch one of the barkeeps whip up a fresh batch of Steamed Mussels right in front of you, or order up some flatbreads, a pasta, burger, or some calamari, bruschetta and dry ribs, as we did.

Onto dinner at the Vault (5764 176th Street), where some of the group enjoyed a martini from the eclectic list, others opted for a glass of beer or wine and we all check out the “Vault”, an old bank vault that you can venture into and enjoy a meal. I had some wonderful lamb and a great beet salad, and the steak looked mighty fine. This is old school dining, dishes that have been on the menu forever because there customers would kill them if they took them off, nothing too trendy here, just good food executed well with fresh, local ingredients.

Next stop was Potter’s House of Horrors, and I would never do this again, until, maybe next year. It’s not for the faint of heart I’d been told, and I still dived in, trying to be brave, but I almost scratched all the skin off my friend’s arm as I clung to her for dear life; I think my throat still hurts from screaming and at one point I thought I was going to suffocate to death as I pushed my way through the house. But hey, you’re brave, right?, so go give it a try. I did sit out the second house, as I heard rumours of clowns and I just can’t even, but as I waited for the others I was stalked by the nastiest of creatures and at one point started to run full speed to avoid this freak. I still have nightmares about the sissing sounds this ghoul made, and I just shivered thinking of this situation; make it stop.

Couldn’t help picking up this lovely ornament to mark our first Christmas as a married couple and also another less sappy one in the form of a kitchenaid mixer. Don’t miss La Belle Vie (5709 176 Street) for home decor!

We’re off to Surrey a few more times this fall, so watch for the hashtags #truesurrey as we explore the city further.