I am the same when it comes to surroundings. Someone was asking me for a recommendation on where to meet for a breakfast joint halfway between Brampton and Hamilton. I suggested some places like in Bronte Village, Streetsville and along Lakeshore. They ended up going to a boring strip plaza in Mississauga.
To me, surroundings make the experience better. The food or drink tastes better because I've already been conditioned just by arriving and then looking out the window, etc. If I am somewhere charming or somewhere that has character, then it just makes things better. Like food presentation, it's psychological and makes the experience better. Same with packaging, whether it's a cereal box or the label on a bottle of wine. We are human beings.
I know, lots of people don't care about their surroundings. They just care about the food itself or they just need somewhere to hang with people and get drunk. If a place is in the middle of nowhere, but the place itself is quite unique and an experience in and of itself, then I can see myself ending up there.
Same with grocery shopping for me. I much prefer shopping at the Longos on Cornwall instead of Dundas (both Oakville) even though they are exactly the same. But the Cornwall one is across the street from the fancy rich neighbourhood with mansions and mature trees. It's also by the train tracks and next to a somewhat unique light industrial area on one side. Makes for a unique surrounding. The other location is just a normal run of the mill suburban shopping centre.
I prefer the Fortinos along Lakeshore instead of the Dundas one. The Dundas one is newer and has the awesome underground garage but the Lakeshore one is Downtown and surrounded by interesting housing. It's the kind of place you'd want to live in and want to go for a 5 minute walk or whatever to get a couple of things at the grocery store.
Another example would be the fish and chips in Uptown Oakville, which is the newer area by Walmart. The food could be great, but the drive there would be very boring. The surrounding big box retail would be boring to look at. While for the still original 70s decor fish and chips in Bronte Village, down by the lake, I'm already happier just by driving the route there. Then I eat my fish and chips and I'm looking forward to walking around the village or the lake shore for a few minutes afterwards.
And just thought of another example, where it's out of the way and just on its own, but other things make it worthwhile. Breakfast at Flap Jacks in Caledon, north of Brampton. We'd go there when I was growing up because it was getting out of suburbia and having a country experience close by. We'd enjoy driving in Escarpment country on the way there. Afterward we'd go walking around the Cheltenham Badlands or Forks of the Credit or Belfountain, etc. Actually my neighbour did this kind of thing the last two weekends. Went to the Lowville Bistro in the Burlington Escarpment and took his kid to the big playground there and walked the trail along the river. And then he went to a cafe and did some antiquing in Glen Williams, Georgetown. Both have nice drives along the way and surrounded by charm and/or nature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker
A lesbian couple I haven't seen in a few months invited me out tonight. They've got a lovely little home out in the suburban town of Paradise, so to them an invitation to a brewery at an industrial park practically in New Brunswick was reasonable. I, of course, am not going  But holy shit. It's not on Streetview yet but this is where it's located:
Google helpfully marked my bus stop But no buses serve Paradise, as far as I know.
So the town has allowed a brewery to be established on a cul-de-sac in an industrial park in an area not served by buses and where most cabs won't go - it's an hours-long wait for a cab in St. John's on a slow weekend, and they'll often just decline a trip that isn't a reasonable turnaround time. And they'll wonder why drinking and driving stats are not improving Hideous.
I really am... too sensitive... to my surroundings. Some people get overcome with the weather and if it's grey, it sucks the joy out of absolutely everything for them. Urbanity is that for me. There is nothing and no one that could allow me to genuinely enjoy a brewery in a fucking industrial cul-de-sac. Might as well go get drunk in the woods. |
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