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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The Road to Prince Edward Island

I had intended to detail our ride to PEI when we got back to our B&B last night, but the lethal combination of total exhaustion (thanks to fighting crosswinds for most of the day), Jason's snoring and food coma (dinner was awesome), the only thing I could do was sleep.

Monday morning was beyond blustery; the wind was fierce and the skies menacing. The only saving grace was the weather forecast - no rain and blue skies, literally, on the horizon. The road out of St. John was fraught with frost heaves. Between that, the pot holes and patches of repaving, I felt like I was on the back of a bucking bronco, not an Iron Horse. And the GPS had somehow conspired against us as well. On more than one occasion, it beckoned us to take a dirt road, and on a few others, it actually lulled us into a false sense of security by teasing us with pavement that without warning disintegrated into gravel and dirt.

It was time for coffee and recalculation.

We pulled into Tim Horton's, the Dunkin' Donuts of Canada to warm up (despite long sleeves, a hooded sweatshirt and jacket, the wind was taking its toll) and take a look at the route. It took some backtracking and a little more reliance on Jason's internal compass, but we got back to Sussex and continued on to Prince Edward Island.

Routes 114 and 951 were picturesque, not unlike some of the routes we’ve ooh’d and ahh’d over in the US – the Blue Ridge Parkway for one, where every curve brought another spectacular site. We finally caught up to that elusive sun in Alma, where the skies were a beautiful and welcoming shade of blue. But, try as we did, we couldn't outpace the wind.

It was after 5 when we rolled into Charlottetown and settled into our B&B - The Hillhurst Inn- home for the next two days. I gushed over the architecture and spectacular Victorian interior, including the reception hall in quartered oak with an oak-paneled ceiling. Although it has been renovated since it was built, specifically for the purposes of operating as a B&B, the house (which boasts 8 bedrooms) has retained many of its original features. The home was built in 1897 by George Longworth. The Longworth family were successful shipbuilders and merchants in Charlottetown.

We wandered downtown towards Charlottetown's historic area, (a nice walk, since the wind was finally reined in) rich in a bounty of restaurants, shopping and history. Dinner was the objective, and we enjoyed PEI mussels (of course) and terrific seafood fare at the Old Dublin Pub.

PS. If you're waiting for my further musings on St. John, you'll have to wait until our next visit. Torrential rain and wind pummeled the area shortly after we got to the hotel - and never let up. Instead of exploring, we ordered take-out and watched a "Shutter Island" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Strange movie.

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