Monday, July 14th -it was a beach kind of weekend

Conditions at 5:30 am: 18' and slightly wet
Expected later: 24' that will feel more like 32' and cloudy with a chance of showers

What a great weekend all round. It was very warm and sunny the entire time - absolutely perfect.
On Friday after work, I met Brenda downtown at the new John Brown's Grille, which replaced the Globe. Brenda secured a table for us out on the patio where we could enjoy the evening and the music on Victoria Row. We shared a couple of appetizers and some beer and it was a great evening.

When we were done eating we took a walk down Queen Street to check out where another new restaurant has opened up (let's face it folks, it's ALL about the food!). Then it was off to the Mac to see Lennie Gallant's show Searching for Abegweit. Linda and Nadia had been to see it last week and they loved it. It was really good and capped off a great evening. We took a walk down to the waterfront when the show was over to see if we might catch a bit of Serena Ryder at the Celebration Zone but sadly, that show was finished. It was an absolutely gorgeous night for a walk along the water. Eventually we headed back to our cars and then home.

I had to work on Saturday but stopped into the Van Gaals on my way to see if they might be interested in doing supper at the beach. It was forcast to be another steamy hot day. Brenda advised she would check with Bernie as neither of the guys are too into the whole beach thing. But surprisingly, they both said yes!  After work I set about picking up a BBQ chicken and some nice rolls at the store as well as a couple of ingredients I needed for the salad I planned to make - a southwest pasta salad. By the time the salad was done and I had retrieved all the necessary beach stuff, it was time to head out and our ride had arrived.
We had made the decision to try out Greenwich Beach. It was Lloyd's first time there. There were very few people and the few that were there were mostly leaving as we arrived (that was our plan!). So we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves. We set up our table and our food and enjoyed a great meal. BBQ chicken on a bun, the above mentioned pasta salad, potato salad

Checking out the jelly fish

and chocolate cream cheese muffins, both courtesy of Mrs. Van Gaal and of course, a glass or two of wine to wash it all down. After eating, Brenda and I took a long walk on the beach. It was just the perfect evening. We stayed until the sun starting setting and then fought our way through the mosquitoes along the boardwalk back to the car. All in all, a pretty perfect day with good friends.

Sunday promised to be more of the same boring warm and sunny temperatures (NOT!) We headed out early on our bikes, Brenda and I, for our

second run of the year. Already we've done more than we did last year. We took back roads up to Souris to check out Chef Michael's Snack Shack, along the water in a group of little touristy shops. Chef Michael was there and was just leaving when we arrived. I stopped and had a little chat with him before he left. Then it was inside to do some shopping. There's some interesting items there - all the cookbooks, but I already have all of those. There are aprons  (one of which I had to buy to add to my collection of aprons) as well as some black garlic. Now that's an interesting product. It's relatively new to Canada and is produced by a fellow Ontarion, who just happens to have worked with Lloyd when they were both in corrections. Small world. The garlic came with a couple of recipes but we haven't tried it yet.

From there we headed up the street to the Sheltered Harbour Cafe. We parked our bikes and were just taking off our jackets and helmets when another biker pulled into the parking lot. He looked slightly familiar - the same Newfie I had coffee with in the morning! None of us had planned to arrive there and if we had we never would have been able to time it so well. So Lloyd was very kind and bought us lunch.  Then we went our separate ways. We offered to have Lloyd join us but he declined. I think he figured we would be too pokey for him.

We headed back home, again taking the scenic route. We stopped in St. Peter's Bay for ice cream before the last leg of the trip. All in all a really great day. When I got home, I had a cup of tea and then started in on the lawn, which was sadly neglected. The lawn mower was in need of some repair and it finally got done near the end of the week, so I was able to use it again. I got a lot of the lawn done before the bugs drove me inside. But it was going on 7:00 so it was time to quit, go inside and have a cool drink and relax for the rest of the evening in a nice hot bath. Another perfect PEI weekend!