Road Trip: 94 Take the Cake Café and The British Banger Company

Once in a while you have to hit the open road and take a trip. In the past Sue and I have been to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island; Yellowknife, NWT and St. John’s, Newfoundland. However, in this time of COVID-19, we decided to go a little closer to home…..Okotoks, Alberta.

On a recent Friday morning we headed down the 22 to Bragg Creek. From there it was on the back roads to Millarville / Turner Valley / Black Diamond and onto Okotoks. Our objective was to visit an establishment we have read about in a local magazine….The British Banger Company.

We’re not that familiar with Okotoks so before stocking up on Christmas goodies we decided to grab a coffee at a café we found on-line…… 94 Take the Cake Café. You know you’re at the right location when you see a sign “Gingerbread Street” and two Gingerbread characters are welcoming you in. The entrance way was up a path to a small house, then through the front door to another world.

Everything is painted white and out-lined in black. The floor, the walls, the table and chairs. It feels like you’ve entered a cartoon world. Hanging on the walls were pictures of Jack Skellington and his friends from the Nightmare before Christmas. The creative partnership behind 94 is Sherry and Krystof Lindenback. After enjoying our coffee and slice of carrot cake Sue I looked around the small shop and entranceway. There, hanging on the walls, were some beautiful wedding, birthday and anniversary cakes but my favourites were Sponge Bob Hamburger and Mickey Mouse.

Leaving 94 we headed around the corner to the British Banger Company. We had pre-ordered a number of British delicacies including Cornish Pasties, Steak Pies, Scotch Eggs and Cumberland pork sausages. Tim and Tracey welcomed us in. They owned a butchers shop in the UK and emigrated to Canada in 2009. In the early years of the business, they were able to take part in a Regional Sausage Competition and won 3rd place with two of our sausage flavours – Minted Lamb and Cumberland. After having a good look around their shop we said goodbye and headed back to Cochrane. It had been a good day out.

This wasn’t a big trip and we didn’t see any mind blowing sites. However, it was just nice to get out of the house for a break. And the pay-off…….we had bangers and mash for supper!

About the Author

Martin Parnell is the Best-Selling author of MARATHON QUEST and RUNNING TO THE EDGE and his final book in the Marathon Trilogy, THE SECRET MARATHON-Empowering women and girls in Afghanistan through sport, was released on October 30th 2018. He speaks on having a “Finish the Race Attitude – Set Goals, Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Outstanding Results” and has written for, or been covered by CNN, BBC, CBC, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Runners World, Men’s Journal, Canadian Business, and Maclean’s.

In a five year period, from 2010 to 2014, Martin completed 10 extreme endurance “Quests” including running 250 marathons in one year and raising $1.3m for the humanitarian organization Right To Play. In 2016 he ran the Marathon of Afghanistan in support of Afghan women and girls running for equality and his film “The Secret Marathon” was released in late 2019. Find out more about Martin at www.martinparnell.com  and see what he can do for you in the long run.