With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1498118
Honey Moon: Annette Bagley; shopping bag illustration: Noun Project/Sugeng Riyanto MAY/JUNE 2023 BCBUSINESS 53 N e ko C h u c ka n ut B ay D istill e r y B l ac k S h e e p Honey Moon: Annette Bagley; shopping bag illustration: Noun Project/Sugeng Riyanto Fuelled to stroll, we wander up to get lost for a bit in the stacks of Hender- son's, the used bookstore that almost rivals Portland's Powell's for breadth of titles on hand (I'm stoked to nab a copy of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry). It's just around the corner from the Whatcom Museum—and while the weather is a lit- tle too early-spring glorious to take the full tour of its collections, the Museum Store is irresistible: local artisans' pottery (I'm still coveting one of Makiko Ichiura's ceramic sheep) sits alongside 1,000-piece puzzles and adorable hand- made puppets. We wander back to the Leo with plans to drive the narrow waterfront stretch of road that joins downtown Bellingham with Fairhaven, the water- front community that's also designated as a National Historic District. And we will—but first, we're stopped in our tracks by a pile of puppies. It turns out that Bellingham is now home to a puppy rescue, which saves canine moms- to-be from high-kill shelters in Texas and California. For about $15, you too can immerse yourself in a dozen or more of Are You My Human's furry babies for an hour or so. (And, in a case of gilding the lily, Bellingham also has a cat café: Neko is licensed, too, so you can enjoy a bottle of local brewery Kulshan's Bas- tard Kat while you desperately wait for Luna or DJ Silly Goose to show you some affection—which they may or may not do, because cat.) Our pet vibes satiated, we hop over to Fairhaven, where Village Books proves there's no such thing as too much time in a bookstore, and then doubles down on that dare with the top-floor Evolve Choc- olates and Café, where we enjoy a view over the harbour and a sweet afternoon snack of an iced gin- ger cookie and a scone packed with Medjool dates, orange and cardamom. But Fairhaven is made for wandering, so we reluctantly leave our ocean view for street level again to explore shops and back alleys and the waterfront itself. The quarter-mile Taylor Dock boardwalk links Fairhaven with Boulevard Park, leading you right out and over the open water—with views back to the peaks that line the Canadian border on a clear day. Patting ourselves on the back for our step counts and strolls, we decide there's time to sneak in a quick taco at Black Sheep back in Bellingham before dinner—where we're rewarded with well-balanced mango margaritas and pork belly tacos topped with mango-pineap- ple chutney, tamarind crema and cilantro. Calories, of course, have no place on a getaway weekend, and so we gamely head post-taco for our real dinner and a tour of the city's newest distillery and restau- rant, Chuckanut Bay Distillery's Penny Farthing. Co-owner Ethan Lynette spent the last few years renovating the old JC Penny building—spot the original "boys depart- ment" signs still framed on the lower level—and is on the way to opening Bellingham's only rooftop bar this coming summer. Once we're experts on the distilling process (let's just say: it's incredibly com- plicated, and so cheers to the pros) we dive into a loaded mezze platter of green mint hummus, baba ganoush and citrus-brined feta alongside sweet baby radishes, fresh dates, grilled zucchini and more. And, of course, an excellent Old Fashioned crafted from Chuckanut Bay's own housemade bourbon and demerara syrup. Our night wraps with more wanders, that sweet stop at Honey Moon—and, of course, a few recom- mendations from those bar patrons for the next day (an easy waterfall hike that we'll line up for our next visit; they raise a glass to us for our taco discovery and Penny Farthing dinner) and a well-earned drop into bed at the Leo at the end of the night. And dreams of future visits—and our own recommenda- tions to offer—in the months to come.