Conditions at 5:15 am:2' and clear (good grief, it's 17' in Toronto at this hour!)
Expected later: 9' but rain starting in the afternoon
Well, it was a busy one! Friday after work, I met Brenda and Bernie at the Home Show at the Civic Centre. Brenda was looking for ideas for a stone patio outside their new sunroom and she found just what she was looking for. After touring the show, we had worked up quite an appetite - time to check out a burger. So we all reconvened at the Old Dublin Pub where we ordered beer and the Dub-Fibrillator. The rules are that the burgers are to be served with no side dishes so it's just a burger but they're not cheap. The burger by itself is $12.00. It consists of 100% Island beef, resting on a bed of Guinness braised Island pork belly, smothered in onion marmalade, topped with cumin gouda and sprouts, nestled in a pork belly and beef fat toasted bagel bun. We broke the rules slightly and ordered a side of onion rings to go with it. The burger was very good and very filling, but we all managed to finish. Unfortunately I still have a cold so I don't think I got the full benefit of the flavours but I know it was good. As we were eating there was some kind of group activitiy going on at the table across the way so Brenda and I wandered over to take a peak and see what all the excitement was about. Turns out Keith's brewery were doing a tasting promotion and promised they would include us in the next round. When they were all set up we joined 3 other people for some education about Keith's beer. It consisted of sampling 4 types of Keith's beer and comparing them to each other. It ended with each of us trying to get a piece into the middle of a crokinole board. Of all six, Brenda was the only one who even made it into the middle circle and she won a T-shirt. It was really a fun evening.
Saturday was a non-event. I worked until 2:00 then came home and slept for 2 hours. This cold is really hanging on. Then I took the dog for a walk and met Brenda on our way. She had been out for the afternoon with some friends from her college days and had left over Macaroni and cheese with lobster.Lucky me! After watching a bit of TV I went to bed and slept till 7:00.
Sunday morning I did some laundry and some tidying up until Brenda called me around 10:30 and the three of us headed out to the west end of the island. It was a gorgeous day for a drive - sunny and heading for 10'. We toured along until we got to the tip of the island. There is a visitors centre there but of course it's not open this time of year. They have some of the components of the windmills on the ground and I couldn't believe how big they are. When you see them up in the air you have no idea they are so huge. After walking along the cliffs and the shore we headed back down. We stopped in Miminegash for snacks and something to drink at a little gas station store and Bernie was chatting with the owner. Much like many of those small places, they are now barely hanging on and will in all likelihood close in the near future. It's really too bad and will be a serious loss to the community, just as losing Wakelins has been to us.
From there we headed to West Point lighthouse and the beach there. There's an incredible amount of damage from the storm surges in December. They've done a lot of work to this building and the surrounding area and the dune that used to be there is completely washed away. It's going to be quite a job to get that up and running again this year.
We were amazed at how much snow still remains in areas out there - certainly a lot more than our end of the island. We wound around and made our way back to Summerside for at stop at Canadian Tire where Bernie purchased a portable shelter (but he wouldn't tell me why) and Brenda picked up a Crock Pot. Then off to Kensington to sample the burger at the pub there. Can you believe it? They were closed! Talk about a let down. So we drove around to a bar that had a sign advertising BBQ Grill and we went in. Turns out the restaurant portion was also closed. But the bartender did suggest a family restaurant a block or two away that she knew would be open. So away we went - again. Finally we found the place and it was open. We figured out pretty quickly that we were the youngest people there but that was fine. We were all pretty hungry by this point so it didn't matter where we were. After devouring our food, we headed out on the road once more for the trip back. We took the scenic route, up through Cavendish and it was a lovely drive. All in all, it was a pretty great day! Thank you Brenda and Bernie -again!
Wow you were long winded today
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