Welcome to my Family Guide to a Weekend in the Waterloo Region, if you are just joining me here, pop on over to Day One where you can get all the ins and outs of The Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory, Chicopee Tube, and Taco Farm.
Now let’s move on to Day 2!
After waking up at the newly renovated Holiday Inn Kichener Waterloo, enjoy a fabulous hot breakfast at Embers Restaurant (Contact Jennifer Burton direct at 519-894-8520 and mention Mom vs the Boys, she will include breakfast complimentary to your reservation!) You won’t be disappointed, there were so many great things to choose from, even yogurt parfaits and premade smoothies!
Start your day bright and early, and scoot right over to the St. Jacobs Farmers Market, it’s a must-see for the region! My family loves St. Jacobs and the boys get super excited when they spot mennonite horse and buggies touring the streets. The market is a busy place with many vendors both inside the Harvest Barn and out all selling their local wares. We even got an inside look at all the cows ready to be auctioned, it was stinky, but well worth the assault to the senses seeing hundreds of cows all in one place! The boys were truly fascinated! The farmer’s market is open Thursdays and Saturdays 7am to 3:30pm all year.
Next, take a short drive over to St. Jacobs Aberfoyle Model Railway. My husband and I had visited during a visit in the wintertime and we knew the kids would love to see all tiny people, buildings and trains in action! The attention to detail is impeccable and you can tell right away that it was a labour of love building and creating each display. Be sure to stay to witness day to turn to night, as all the street lights, windows and even campfires light up one by one. You’ll be amazed all over again but what you can now see inside of the buildings! Children may have a hard time seeing the full display and will need to be lifted up. It would be great if the exhibit had a couple of step stools handy.
Ready for some lunch? Wander down King street and you will be met with many choices. When traveling with the family, Stone Crock at 1396 King St. is a great choice. Plenty of seating, a casual atmosphere and they are known for their lunch and dinner buffets, but be sure to save room for a piece of their famous homestyle pies! They looked amazing and my mouth was watering just looking at the huge bowl of whip cream for topping!
Now that you are fueled up, get ready for another adventurous afternoon at Bingemans! There is soooo much to do at Bingemans, so you’ll have to decide what your family likes best. While the weather is still warm, hit up Big Splash, where you can ride waterslides and splash in the wave pool and spray and play area. Our family had a blast trying out the Mini Golf Course. There are two courses to choose from, or you can play both and the price is only $5 a round. The courses are both pretty easy and the kids were able to play well, we even saw a few hole in ones!
We also let the boys have a good turn playing at FunWorx, they have been there before and love it! It’s not nearly as much for adults to hang out and wait, but kids will go crazy for the interactive three-level indoor play structure. You can also try Kingpin Bowling which looks like a lot of fun. Visit the Bingeman website for full details on all their attractions!
So there you have it, to days packed full of fabulous fun in the Kitchener/Waterloo and St. Jacobs region. You can follow the itinerary I’ve set up for you here or mix and match with days and venues that work well for you. Be sure to plan a stay when the St. Jacobs market is running, you won’t want to miss out! I highly recommend the garlic butter from Garlic King, it’s amazing!
Enjoy your stay in #KWawesome
All of the activities and accomodations were complimentary and coordinated by Explore Waterloo Region. I was not compensated in any other manner. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.
What a good looking market 🙂 I am surprised you get to see all the cows for auction – very cool for the kids to see 🙂
We were surprised too, we sat in on the auction for a few minutes too, it was really neat!
It looks like a great getaway!
Your boys are so adorable! After reading this all I want to do is eat pie and travel lol
lol that sounds good to me too!
Looks like a fun time. The farmers market looks fantastic as does the pic of the pecan pie!
this market has something for everyone to enjoy, thanks for the info! 🙂
The smiles say it all! It looked like a great getaway!
The good part of my brain was thinking “lovely produce” while the devilish side was craving that pie!
haha! I know what you mean! the market makes healthy food look good though!
I love the picture of your little one holding the great shaped watermelon!! This is a great post, thank you!
that’s a big zucchini! huge right?
lol…might help me if I wear my glasses….still huge though, right? At least it looks really heavy 🙂
I live in Cambridge so have been to many of these places except the cow auction. Not missing anything there!
Do you visit the market? It’s such a neat little place! There are rebuilding now from the fire a couple years back
We spent some time in the Waterloo region a few years ago and it was a great mini stay! Ontario really has so much to offer families to discover! BTW your pictures are great and really captured everything beautifully!
Thanks Tammy!
Looks like a fun time!
oh I want those yellow beans
Looks like fun. I admit…I stopped and stared at that peacan pie for while.
Looks like a good time was had by all!! Thanks for sharing..especially those pics of the yummy looking pies!!! Mmmm
Love St Jacobs Farmers market, we usually go a couple times a summer but didn’t make it over this year 🙁 Stone Crock is a great place to eat at!
Would love to go check out the market in St. Jacobs
This is a place my family would love to visit.
We’re actually going to Waterloo next week….thanks for the heads up about the St. Jacobs Aberfoyle Model Railway!
Awesome! Have fun!
I would love to take my kids to some of these places.. Looks like a great time.
Look at those pieces of pie, yumm
Those pies have my tummy rumbling!
How I loved St. Jacobs when i visited last year. I wish i could go again seeing these pictures
This is a place I would love to visit
Looks like you had a wonderful time. We have Farmer’s Markets on PEI as well-no live animals though. There are lots of wonderful smells from the home made baking and lots of fruits and vegetables.
local farmers markets are so great for the community!
We have family living in Waterloo so we have had the pleasure of visiting the St Jacobs Market, which is really a great place to visit for any age! Love it! Nice post!! 🙂
I really should take a trip to Waterloo (I live in Mississauga which isn’t too far away). A co-worker used to always go to the Farmers Market and raved about it.
You’re so close! You should definitely check it out this Fall
This looks like so much fun! The pie looks yummy!
Haha before I read this post, I commented on ‘day 1’ that St. Jacob’s is a really nice place to visit in the KW region! And it looks like you enjoyed it too!
You can’t visit the region without a stop at the market right?
Awesome pics, looks like you guys had a blast!
I have been to St. Jacobs once and it was lots of fun!
Looks like you guys had a fun time! I love the variety of activities, things to see and food to eat! I would love to visit there one day with my family!
I have been to St Jacobs a few times and I find something different everytime I go there!
I wish we had more time there, I really wanted to check out that broom shop
Now I totally want to go to Kitchener to check this all out! I haven’t been since the teen years. Thanks!
I live right down the street from St Jacobs Farmer’s Market and I absolutely love the fall theme. Pumpkin Pie, gourds and Halloween decorations Oh My!
lucky you! I would visit all of the time! Especially in the Fall!
Looks like such a fun getaway! I’m glad I’ve been able to see and hear all about it now!
I did not know Kitchener offers so much fun! I will definitely check this out on one of my days off!
We live there, but driving for a living we miss so much and never get to the market often enough!
That pie looks amazing! I might have to go down to Waterloo myself.
Sounds like you had a great stay. Lots of variety – farmers market and auction, model railway, good food, mini golf etc.
i wish we were closer…love to visit
I liked your A Family Guide to a two day stay in the Waterloo Region
#KWawesome Day 2 post.
It looks like you had fun and Bingemans sounds like a great place.
Looks like there’s quite a lot to do.
The Stone Crock and the Framers Market are the 2 places I would visit
I lived in KW for 25 years almost and didn’t know about some of these things! Very cool
What a delight, making memories with your children.
Like the suggestion of the model Railway.
mmmmmm pie
Looks like my idea of fun…St. Jacob’s Market is awesome….I have to go back.
Holy pies………..and bowl o’ whipped cream??
Heaven.
I actually used to live in KW (hoping to move back next year)
the Farmers Market is the best! havent been there since it burnt down. Cant wait to get there again. everything is priced great and tastes amazing
Wow,that produce looks so fresh and delicious….that big zucchini would make some yummy bread
I need to find another big one like that for this year