A Dispatch from the Real Schitt's Creek
Reporting from the matchbox town once home to the Rose family
The sign on the baby blue warehouse buried in a blanket of snow says it all. “SORRY! BOB’S GARAGE IS CLOSED!” Underneath is a laminated copy of a New York Times article titled, “‘Creek’ Brings Stream of Fans,” which chronicles how Schitt’s Creek beckoned people from across the globe to a pocket-sized hamlet called Goodwood, Ontario.
For six seasons, Goodwood, located roughly 45 minutes north of Toronto, doubled as Schitt’s Creek, a fictional town where the wealthy Rose family is forced to move after losing their fortune. As the foursome became embedded in this kind-hearted community, which seems to exist within the scope of just a few blocks, so did we as viewers, a map swiftly forming in our minds of the town’s familiar quadrants. There was Café Tropical, the comfy — and only? — restaurant in Schitt’s Creek, with oversized plastic menus and palm trees painted on the walls. A stone’s throw away was David and Patrick’s impossibly chic apothecary store, filled with wool scarves and patchouli candles. Bob’s Garage, probably minus Bob, was just across the street, and City Hall, home to Moira’s Jazzagals rehearsals, a few blocks from there. Somewhere, it was never quite clear where, was the vintage motel where the Roses lived, its decor deeply dated and frozen in time, yet so very warm and welcoming.
On a chilly Friday morning, I made my own pilgrimage to Goodwood with my fiancé, Ben, driving by stretches of frosty fields and several large, rustic barns, each of which I knowingly muttered to myself, “That one’s probably Mutt’s…” Two minutes before approaching the town center, we queued up the soft notes of “Simply the Best” (Noah Reid’s version, natch) and, as you can see below, I didn’t handle the moment in a particularly cool or calm way.
I guess here’s where I explain the audible gasp. I love Schitt’s Creek in ways that I’ve never loved a TV show before. (And I have some weirdly intense feelings about Friends, Gilmore Girls and The Office.) On an almost daily basis, I have the show playing somewhere in the house as a comforting soundtrack to everyday life. It’s a warm, funny, uncomplicated world that’s safe and populated with characters who you genuinely want in your apartment. Driving into the real-life town felt like the sweetest and most surreal of treats.
Subscribe to keep reading about Goodwood’s downtown, the real Rose Apothecary and Bob’s Garage, and Thea’s trek to find the real Rosebud Motel.