Taking our first trip to Kings Landing Historical Settlement

Have you ever had the experience of visiting a destination in your province or state for the first time – maybe it’s even in your hometown – and it’s so awesome, you’re kind of thinking to yourself, ‘Why did it take me so long to check this out?’ That’s totally how I feel about my visit two weeks ago to Kings Landing Historical Settlement.

For a couple of hours, I totally wanted to move right in. Until I saw how many layers of clothing the women wear under those 19th century dresses. Then I was happy to go home in my flip flops, tank, and ripped jeans.

It was my *first* time. I say *first* because my parents swear we went when I was a kid, but I have no memory of this. While D had gone as a child, his memories of Kings Landing were blurry at best, so for all intents and purposes – let’s just say we were first timers!

But what a time we had!

If you’re unfamiliar with Kings Landing, it’s basically a step back in time to the 19th century. From the moment you enter the welcome center and move past admission, you’re transported through time. Everyone on-site is dressed in period clothing and in character – from those in the houses, around the site, and the servers in the restaurant.

You can’t help but feel a little out of place when you’re like me wearing ripped jeans and Converses or in D’s case, rocking a Blue Jays hat – which, our new friends in the Print Shop were quick to point out while showing us how 19th century printing works.

What I loved most about the characters is their ability to be quick on their toes and improv with you. They’re also really great at stirring up village gossip and telling tales about the others you’ll meet along the way. You’re guaranteed to have some good laughs while visiting, this I promise you.

Upon learning that D was an accountant, the gentlemen in the Print Shop suggested we pop by the Grant General Store, as they may require a bookkeeper. It was so neat looking at the variety of products found in a general store in that era. If you visit, make sure to ask lots of questions about the products.

Oh and D didn’t get the bookkeeping gig, darn. 

If you’re like me and love animals, you’re in for a treat. Between the abundance of beautiful horses pulling carriages and working in the fields, to the oxen grazing in the fields, to the super friendly dogs and sheep – my heart was overflowing.

One thing I didn’t expect (and I don’t consider this a bad thing at all) is that Kings Landing is both HUGE and really spread out. While you can easily walk back to your car if you forget something, it is a little bit of a hike if you’re on the other side of the site.

That said, there’s horse carriages going at all times that stop at a number of different locations, making it easy to hop on and hop off as needed. We like to walk, but we made sure to hop on one for the fun experience.

By lunch time, we were two hungry explorers, so we were really excited to check out the King’s Head Inn for lunch. They’d made homemade fresh lemonade that morning and it was DIVINE. I mean, lemonade is lemonade but this blew all other lemonades out of the lemonade stands. We also made sure to try some of the famous Brown Bread served warm with butter – it’s a MUST!

For our main course, D tried the turkey pot pie and I had the salmon cakes. Both were delicious and just the right portion size.

The 3-pronged fork was a super cute touch! 

After lunch, it was time for us to explore the insides of some of the village houses, which have all kinds of neat things and collectibles inside to look at. Honestly, don’t miss out on the houses. They may seem like they’re just for show on the outside, but inside you’ll find the nicest staff ready to explain various items to you and answer questions!

One of Kings Landing’s most known attractions is its mill. It also happens to be one of the most photographed attractions in Canada. So naturally, I was asking myself WHY it wasn’t on my Instagram until now. 

The mill was super cool and very impressive. And yes, it DEFINITELY makes the perfect Instagram photo.

As I mentioned earlier in my post, I can’t believe it took me 33 years to visit Kings Landing. And I mean that sincerely. It’s about two hours on the highway from Moncton and well worth the day trip.

I’m so glad I got to check this one off my Summer 2017 New Brunswick Destination Bucket List.

So when are you making the trip up to Kings Landing? ;)

I was kindly invited by the team at Kings Landing to visit for the day, however all opinions in this post are my own.