Everyone who knows me well is very aware of my obsession with the television show Once Upon A Time. The show is about all classic fairytale characters being trapped in our world. It first premiered in 2011, and it ended in 2018. Not only the plot and life lessons, but the characters especially have taught me so much about life and myself at times. It has gotten me through both small and huge obstacles, and I can’t fully describe how thankful I am for it.
For a good amount of the show, the characters lived in two settings: The Enchanted Forest (fairytale world) and Storybrooke, Maine (our world). Storybrooke, Maine was the town that the Evil Queen created and trapped most of the fairytale characters in. They lived in Storybrooke, with their memories wiped, and given an entire fake identity to hide their fairytale origin story.
For 10 years, my dream has been to visit the town in which Once Upon A Time was filmed. In real life, Storybrooke, Maine, is really Steveston, Vancouver. I am finally living this dream as I’m sitting in an apartment after experiencing 4 magical days here, accompanied by my father and my boyfriend. We leave early tomorrow. But, let me take you back to the beginning.
Once Upon a Time, we landed at the Vancouver airport around 9: 30pm. The ride was approximately 5 hours and 20 minutes. Once we got off the plan, we were immediately greeted by the fresh scent of Vancouver rain. It wasn’t too bad at first, but I’m definitely tired of my raincoat and boots by now.
Anyway, my dad picked up our rental car, and we went off to our apartment styled hotel (it’s a very interesting building with high ceilings and pipes hanging down from them.) My boyfriend and I were starving so we ventured back out to find some food. But apparently, no one is out past 9:00pm here. All restaurants were closed except for one small pizza shop which we were pleasantly surprised. That concluded the first night.
Tuesday morning, we woke up early and went out to see “Storybrooke” for the first time. We spotted where the show’s clock tower used to be. The amount of nostalgia and excitement I felt looking at something where an object used to be is astonishing. We then ate breakfast at the Cannery Cafe, which is also known as Granny’s Diner in the show. The walls were covered in photos of the characters, and some were signed by the actors! I teared up seeing the cafe for the first time.
On Wednesday, we left Stevenson and explored different parks that the show used as filming spots. We also visited a beach and took a photo exactly where a scene took place which was so unbelievably cool for me.
Today (Thursday), we went on a gondola that brought us halfway up a mountain! We ate lunch in a ski lodge and then rode the gondola back down. This part was cool but today we had the strongest and coldest rain of the week, so that wasn’t great. After leaving, we drove through Gastown, Yaletown and Chinatown, which are all parts of downtown Vancouver.
Tomorrow, we will wake up around 5:30 AM to leave for our flight. This trip has been so meaningful for me. I am so grateful for it, and it was genuinely worth the 10-year wait.
