Rain, Rain Go Away

Another wonderful breakfast was served this morning here at the Hillhurst Inn - a grapefruit half (already sectioned - who doesn't love that?!?!?) followed by a delicious spinach and cheese quiche, and another round of the mini muffins and sweet butter. It's been the only sunshine of the day. The weather forecast called for 100% chance of rain today on PEI, and sadly, they were 100% accurate. The good thing is we switched up our ride plans and enjoyed PEI's coastline yesterday.

We made a valiant, if not vain attempt to enjoy downtown Charlottetown, but the ofttimes soaking rains forced a retreat back to the Hillhurst Inn, but not before we ducked inside Northern Watters Knitwear on Victorian Row. This lovely little boutique features 100% British wool sweaters and accessories all made on site using antique Swiss Knitting looms. It is June, despite the early spring-like temperatures, so I wasn't necessarily thinking about a chunky wool sweater when I peeked at their window display last night, but there was a gorgeous ochre-colored wool cape....

The red one was more my style and color. :)

The rain wasn't giving an inch, so we scurried back to the Hillhurst to dry out. I've made good use of the quiet time (of course, with Jason napping quiet isn't always quiet) to catch up on the blog posts, check my email and caption the hundreds of pictures (well, not all of them) I've taken over the last few days.

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"Coasting" Around PEI

We woke on Tuesday to the wonderful scents of home-baked goods wafting up the stairs, something you just don’t get at the Hampton Inn (although the late afternoon white chocolate chunk cookies are a definite plus). We headed down to the dining room, where we met the other house guests – a young couple from Quebec en route to Halifax for a wedding, and an older retired couple from Kingston, Ontario and shared “where-are-you-froms” and “have-you-been-here-befores” over a fabulous breakfast that included a yogurt parfait with granola and kiwi, delicate wheat pancakes with a warm blueberry compote, and assorted mini muffins with sweet creamy butter.

Since the weather report promised sunny blue skies and warm breezes, we opted to cruise the coasts of Prince Edward Island and save the walkabout for Wednesday. The areas outside of Charlottetown are decidedly agrarian – potatoes and cows- with fields of deep chocolate brown patched among the emerald green farmlands. The furrowed rows of tiny green shoots draw your eye down to the water, which sparkled like facets of a brilliant diamond.

We visited several lighthouses along the coast, and arrived at the spot where the world begins – at least according to the sign – East Point, the furthest point east on Prince Edward Island. It was one of the most picturesque and spontaneous riding days of the trip.

Seven hours, 4 lighthouses and two hundred and twenty miles later, we were back at Hillhurst and thinking about dinner. There is no shortage of wonderful restaurants and cafes within walking distance, including Victorian Row, an eclectic mix of eateries and boutiques housed in the brick Victorian row houses on Richmond Street. We settled into an outdoor table at the John Brown Richmond Street Grill. The atmosphere was festive (the street is closed to vehicle traffic during the summer), the food superb and the service excellent. Not to mention the music – a medley of hits from the 60, 70’s and 80’s – playing in the background. Jason opted for the Richmond Street club stuffed mightily with grilled chicken garlic spinach aioli and maple peppered bacon. I was tossed between the flatbread and the garlic chicken – which won out (although I did see the flatbread go by. It would not have been a bad choice either), warm diced chicken and Portobello mushrooms tossed in a garlic cream sauce and served over spinach. It was delicious. Turtle cheesecake, a cup of coffee, and we were totally content.

Tonight, we’re thinking about Hunter’s Ale House (we stopped there last night for a nightcap on the way back to the B&B), where we’ve been told the ribs and lobster are awesome, and the band begins at 10:00 pm. I don’t think we’ve been awake that late since we started on this journey, but we’ll give it a shot (and maybe throw back one or two).

Click here to see more pictures.

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