Nelson and Kaslo B.C.

Another stop on our summer vacation was Nelson and Kaslo B.C. Situated in the heart of the Kootneys, these two places are a must see if you like the feel of a laid back type of life style. There is no hustle or bustle here. The architecture is from a bygone era, with not much renovating as far as I could tell. I found people to be very friendly and helpful. We wandered up and down Baker St. in Nelson one afternoon and stuck our heads into most of the shops and of course the Kootenay Bakery Cafe because they had an amazing assortment of goodies.

Purchased at Pixie Candy Shoppe

Of course the boys’ favourite store was Pixie Candy Shoppe. We spent quite a bit of time in there as the boys couldn’t make up their minds what they wanted and of course, mom wouldn’t let them have everything. Along with some candy, each boy bought themselves a stuffed toy. Lucas’s was named Magic and Kale’s was named Duke. They had fun adding things to them. I immediately fell in love with Magic and when we got home, the boys surprised me with a miniature Magic which I have sitting on my mantel in the living room. I named her Lily.

As we were leaving Nelson, we noticed and old fashioned Dairy Queen. Ken and I decided to stop and treat the family to an ice cream and share stories of when we were kids, we had one just like it in Kelowna back in the 60s. The last time Ken and I saw one like that was in Yellowstone City in Montana in 2008.Yellowstone National Park.
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The next day, we headed to a small town about an hour and fifteen minutes north east of Nelson called Kaslo. What a quaint little place. It reminded me of Kelowna in the 60s. Front St. had lots of little shops including an old fashioned butcher shop that had that old small town feeling. Like we did the day before, we wandered through the shops and made a few purchases
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At one end of the Front St. sits the SS Moyie. It’s a paddle steamer sternwheeler that worked on Kootney Lake from 1898 to 1957 and after sixty years of service it was sold to the town of Kaslo and restored. We spent some time on the paddle steamer. For a small fee you can tour it. It was interesting to see how people traveled back then. There is also a video you can take in. It explains the history of the SS Moyie.

The same afternoon, we back tracked to Ainsworth Hot Springs. For someone that has never been to a hot springs, this is the one to go to. Even though it was 35 Celsius that day, we still enjoyed the springs. I like to go to that one as it has caves you can wade through. Most of them you just sit in what is like an overheated swimming pool. Big deal!