This little piggy went to Stratford...

This past Saturday, Tim and I (very belatedly since he was born in April) celebrated his birthday by going on the Bacon and Ale Trail in Stratford. What, you may ask, is that (aside from an ascetic's worst nightmare)? It's a self-guided, bacon-oriented tour through Stratford, with stops at a variety of restaurants, pubs, and shops. If all of this sounds kind of familiar to you regular blog readers, the arrangement is quite similar to the Chocolate Trail that Natasha, Janice and Tessa enjoyed back in March. Without further ado, let us set out on the trail...

Our first stop was Molly Bloom's, an Irish-themed pub just down the street from one of Stratford's theatres. Tim and I both had the bacon and potato soup, washed down with a glass of Tankhouse Ale from Mill Street Brewery (a microbrewery in Toronto).

Mmmm... lunch!

Natasha and Janice joined us for lunch, and then headed off to pursue some non-bacon-related activities like shopping and having tea (more on that later...).

Janice, shown here not consuming any bacon or ale.
(Note from Natasha: This grilled vegetable salad, which I also ordered, was so yummy!)

Tim and I, however, wisely continued on our porcine quest, making our way to Foster's Inn for bacon-wrapped pork terrine — we weren't sure what, exactly, a "terrine" was, and we still aren't, but it was tasty — along with another glass of Tankhouse Ale.

Tim, enjoying his mysterious terrine and only slightly repetitive Tankhouse Ale.

Next, it was off to Bradshaws and Small-mart, where Tim and I picked up a fancy bottle opener (complete with a bottlecap holder) and bacon soap, respectively. Now I just need to figure out which extra-special occasion I should prepare for by showering with the bacon soap...

We finished up the in-town portion of our tour with beer (this time, a Silversmith black lager) and slice of bacon at Mercer Hall, across the street from Small-mart and Bradshaws. This restaurant was a bit fancier than the others, and I forgot to take pictures, but the lager was a definite highlight of this stop.

While we were wandering through Stratford in a beer-fueled haze, Natasha and Janice were having a much more respectable, classy time at Harry Ten Shilling's, enjoying an English tea.

Tea for two...

Scones, cream and jam, and not an ounce of bacon in sight.
(Note from Natasha: But there are some very pretty edible flowers adorning our fruit and cream. Once again, yum!)

After they finished their tea, we all met up and headed back to New Hamburg to pick up our children, all of whom were at my parents' house for the afternoon (thanks, Mom and Dad!). However, before we could bring the tour to a close, we had one more stop to tack onto the curly-tail end of our journey. The "Best Little Pork Shoppe" is a meat shop/bakery/gift shop just outside Shakespeare, a small town between Stratford and New Hamburg. We picked up some bacon burgers there, and posed for an obligatory picture with Percy, the giant pig poised outside the shop.

I think that, by this point, Tim may have had his fill of pork-related events.

And that was it for the tour. A good time (and far too much bacon) was had by all, and I will close by wishing Tim a very happy birthday!