A new adventure - Prince Edward County

 

I'm waaaaaayyyyy behind - not just in documenting the most recent adventure to PEC (Prince Edward County, in Ontario, Canada) but in pretty much, well, life.  But because this is the most recent adventure - albeit a week ago, and things have happened since then - I thought I'd start again with this.  In some ways, I wish I had journalled more throughout the week.  I was simply too exhausted for the first few days.  That's ok.  Sometimes you just have to take care of your body, mind and spirit by allowing it to rest, and making that the priority.  So I did.  And I'm glad I did.  I'm glad I gave myself permission to not think I "had to" do anything.  Mindfulness is starting to kick in.

So, for this post, I'll just share the actual journey, not the events (well, maybe a quick note on the event).  Because I didn't actually document anything, and my memory isn't what it used to be, I'm depending on Google maps Timeline feature to remind me where all we travelled, and stopped, and hopefully I can fill in the blanks in my head later.

Sat. Sep. 17/22 - 

• First stop, EggSmart a block away for breakfast.
• From EggSmart on Homer Watson Rd. in Kitchener to Port Hope, ON, where we stopped at an En Route for a very quick lunch and bio break.
• Stop in Carrying Place, ON at a small vintage place
• Stop at the Bed & Breakfast, Ard Macha, to check in, unpack, refresh from the long-ish drive, and decide where to go for supper.  
• County Canteen in Picton for supper.
• Back to B&B for the night.

Sun. Sep. 18/22

• Taking County Road 7 east from the B&B, our first stop was at the side of the road near Prinyer Cove, and then again shortly after on the same road to photograph birds and boats in the Cove.
• Continued to County Road 8 around the end (sort of ) the peninsula to 5th Town Cheese Co., sampled cheese and bought a few culinary treasures, honey, crackers, jams and mustard.
• Next door we stopped at The Cape Winery, where it was raining slightly, and we went ahead and had an outdoor wine tasting, while watching 4 gray kittens tumble over each other, and the two cows and large hog in a pen.  
• A bit further along Rd. 8 we stopped at the Rose House Museum, however, it was closed.  Beautiful, though, and hopefully we can go back next time we're in the area.
• In Waupoos, we started at the Waupoos Winery, but their lunch was too large for what we wanted, so we went across the street to the Cressy Mustard Company and ordered a sharable poutine - which turned out to be enough for 5 people - and a hot dog each - and we could have split that too.  
• We followed Rd. 8 back to Picton, and found Macaulay Heritage Park, which was also closed and it was still raining.  We wandered the grounds, peered in the windows of the historic home, read the signs, vowed to return some time (which we never did), and then continued on.  
• We opted to find The Local Store on the recommendation from our hosts, and enjoyed it (some purchases made) but didn't find either the antiques nor the fine art to be anything we wanted to take home.  
• Spent a few minutes at County Traders in Bloomfield, a vintage store with mostly furniture.  Interesting place with interesting items.
• Next up was Dead People's Stuff - which sounded way better than it actually was.
• Stopped at Kinsip Distillery, where they had great tastings, things to take home and funky chickens.
• Back to Picton, explored the marina and saw a black-capped night heron.  Then we stopped briefly at the Arts on Main Gallery and thoroughly enjoyed the many artists' work on display in this co-op.
• Up to Lake on the Mountain and walked around the park area and lookout, then went to Miller House for a charcuterie board and some wine.
• Stuffed, tired, back to the B&B.

Mon., Sep. 19/22

• First stop was the Tim Horton's in Picton for coffee
• Straight to Wellington, where we hung out at the marina for a while to see if we could find any birds.
• Side Street Gallery, where there were some beautiful pieces of art, and I think I bought a couple of small things (lavender soap?).  Maybe this was the place with the Dutch door?
• Next door we stopped at a small house that had been converted to a small business that did wine tastings of local wines, and had an extensive selection of wines and culinary delights - some of which did come home with us.  Decanter PEC, house was built in 1848 and they had put this in tile in the front hallway.  Wait, we were drinking wine before noon?
• Out in the country, west of Wellington about 5 kms we found By Chadsey's Cairns, a gorgeous old barn that was home to another wine tasting, and a bottle was purchased - was it a Reisling or a Gewurtz?  Those were the only two they had, as they were retiring.
• Driving further west along the Loyalist Parkway and we found Sandbanks Winery - and I love their Baco Noir.  Another wine tasting (three before lunch?  Sheesh!)  Some winery exclusives were a must to take home.
• Back to Wellington for lunch at the Midtown Brewery, for me, a shrimp roll.
• North along the 2 to Carson's Garden and Market, where they had a small nursery and lots of interesting gifts and curios.  Can't wait to try the Raspberry drink mix.
• We had heard there was another distillery so we set out to find it, and did.  Stillus, which is Ukrainian owned and they had vodka, gin and perogies (perogies were only on the weekend though so we never did try them).  I had a very interesting tasting and Steve had a cocktail.  Should have bought the key lime vodka.
• Heading back toward Picton and ran across Huff Estate Winery, but we were feeling a bit like we didn't really need any more alcohol.  We did go into the Art Gallery there, Oeno, and saw a few pieces we really liked, and a few surprises.  2 Maud Lewis for sale and 1 Group of 7 for sale.  More on that later.
• Back through Bloom field to Picton, where we stopped briefly at the marina, then found Coach's Pub for dinner.  We sat in the back, and that was interesting.  Pretty good food, but did we really need one more drink?  Not really
• Back to the B&B where we just kicked back for the evening.

Tuesday, Sep. 20/22

• We had decided to go to Kingston today and purchased tickets the night before, and made the reservation.  Fastest way was to take the Glenora Ferry.  From there we followed the Loyalist Parkway east all the way to Kingston, parked and walked to the pier where we picked up the Thousand Island Cruise.
• Spent the afternoon cruising through the Thousand Islands.  A cool and very windy day - except around the Admiral Islands area, where it was sunny and much calmer.  
• The live music was a bit much as were the selfie takers.
• Arriving back in Kingston, we wandered, shopped - including a couple of new zunimals and a tshirt for Steve at the Lighthouse gift store, wandered through a very eclectic antique store, found a stationary store that had no pens, and finally went for dinner at Chez Piggy.  
• Driving back to the B&B was mostly uneventful, the ferry was on it's way back to our side when we arrived, and there were very few cars.  A quick trip across and a short drive back to Ard Macha.

Wed. Sep. 21/22

• A gorgeous day, so let's find some nature and maybe go for a hike.  First up, McDonald's for coffee.
• I point us south, toward the Point Petre Provincial Wildlife Area, which turns out to be fenced off, and part of an old Army Reserve.  But we find our way to the beach, where it is miles of bedrock limestone, perfect for walking, and there is no one else around for about an hour.  Lots of great pictures, awesome find!  
• In search of lunch, we stop at Lighthall Winery, where they have wine and cheese pairings.  Although it's not much, it's at least a little bit to keep us going.
• Long Dog Winery is next, and although the wine tastings are interesting, they have no food.  Cool place, tucked away.
• Collier Collection Antiques was interesting, but we only spent a few minutes there.
• Driving along Old Milford Rd we noticed a yellow shed that appeared to have turned into an art gallery.  Aiden Haley was a delightful gentleman who had painted for most of his 85 years.  
• Back to Picton, where we decided to check out Gus's Diner, another recommendation by our hosts.  Unfortunately, having eaten at Chez Piggy the night before, Gus was, unfortunately, a bit of a lunchbag letdown.  
• Back to the B&B, where we sat out on the upper balcony for quite a while, enjoying the warm evning.

Thursday, Sep. 22/22

• First stop once again is McDonald's.  This is getting to be a habit.
• Next we stop at the Metro grocery store to grab a couple of sandwiches, as the plan is to be in an area where there is little chance of finding a place to eat lunch.  We're glad we did this.
• A short stop at the Little Bluff Conservation Area to use the facilities and a short hike along the top of the cliff, and we find that we can go back on the same admission.
• We've opted to visit the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, where Steve's intel has indicated he may see some migratory birds.  It's at the end of the road, and we spend a good portion of the day there, getting some cool shots (no birds, however), get a good hike in, lots of fresh air, and see some very interesting abandoned buildings.  
• Stop in again at Little Bluff C.A. and walk around some more, get more pictures from the beach this time.
• We decide to go back to Lighthall winery and pick up a bottle of the sparkling white that we had tried, but they had already sold out.  Oh well.
• I had seen signs, and ads, for Honey Pie Hives, an apiary that had Mead, which I've always wanted to try.  We tried it, and that was enough.  But the Buckwheat vinegar was amazing!  Better than Balsamic!  And the hand-dyed yarns...  uh oh.  And tea, and of course honey, and soap.....
• Back through Picton we stopped again in the area of the Macauley Heritage site.
• We both thought of the same place for supper, the Waring House restaurant.  The food was very very good, the place was super busy, and they had live music!  It was a loooong night though, the server seemed to be exceptionally busy, but we enjoyed it.
• Back to the B&B.

Fri. Sep. 23/22

• Earlier in the week we had driven past a place to the east called Red Roof Gallery.  As we drove past (no Open flag out front) I had emailed and they said to just come in.  We got sidetracked that day, but the artist did watercolours, my favourite, and I wanted to see it.  So I called and he thought it would be ok if we stopped in.  What a treat!  Loved his work, and we each bought a piece.  I think we made his day.
• We backtracked from the art gallery and went west again, this time stopping first at McDonald's.
• I had hoped to check out a Pioneer Village in Ameliasburg, and we were not disappointed.  It was very well kept, we were the only guests, and we saw some great artefacts.  One interesting aspect was the taxidermy special exhibit.
• We headed south from here, just wandering, and came across the Grange Winery - well, I had googled looking for a winery with food, and this place had a food truck - gourmet food trailer was more like it.  We opted for a glass of wine (no tasting) to drink with our lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed sitting out in the sun and having our treats.  The venue was gorgeous.
• It turns out we were on Clossen Rd., and country road that had several interesting places along it as neighbours.  Our next stop was Old Salt Cocktails.  What a cool place!  We each had a cocktail that was mostly booze, but it was yummy.  And such a beautiful spot to just sit and relax.  
• Next we visited Prince Edward County Lavender, a delight for the senses.  Many treasures were found here and brought home, including a couple of small gifts.
• Closson Chase Vineyards was the best of them all, a beautiful barn, perfect sunlight (although by now I had a pretty serious sunburn on my face, not enough sunscreen!), fantastic wines, seated outside and our tastings were selected at the table and brought to us instead of us standing along a bar.  Gorgeous place.  
• One more winery, this time Broken Stone, one which had been recommended by the other couple staying at the B&B.  More tastings, more delight.
• We had been searching for a winery with pizza, as we kept seeing "Wood fired Pizza" signs in front of all the wineries - except the ones we visited.  So we went back to Picton and had pizza at 555 Brewing, which was good, but apparently we missed the best - because they were closed.  Maybe next time.
• By the time we got back to the B&B we were both dead tired, we'd had a bit too much to drink, too much sun, and we just wanted to rest.  We shared a little maple whiskey from Kinsip with our host, and then begged forgiveness to simply go to bed.  

Sat. Sep. 24/22

• Our last full day in the County and we were ready to slow down and take it easy.  I had been wanting to browse the shops on the main street in Picton, much like I had done years before in Picton, NZ, and so we started off with a coffee from Tim's.  While Steve was at Tim's, I tucked into a second hand store and found a few treasures.
• Dollarama for foam core boards to keep our new watercolour art treasures from bending.
• After this we found parking on the main street, and wandered in and out of a number of fine retail stores, me buying way too much but it was all worth it - I can't get these things anywhere else!  And of course a lot more window shopping.  Soaps, and yarn, and books...
• Lily's Cafe for lunch - fantastic place, we will go there again.  We wish we had been able to stop there earlier as they had sandwiches and smaller fare.  
• We opted to spend some time just winding down so went back to the B&B and found some outside space to relax, read, and of course, Steve had a nap.  It was glorious, although the AirBnB next door had new people outside in the pool.  Fortunately they were not rowdies, and were actually playing classical music for a while.  The cool air coaxed them inside after a while, and we were undisturbed.
• Dinner was at Bloomfield Public House, another place to return to and enjoy.  But next time we'll make reservations, fantastic food!
• Back to the B&B for a good night's sleep.

Sun. Sep. 25/22

• After yet another wonderful breakfast and great conversation, we headed out on our way home.  On the way we had a few stops we wanted to make, the first being Andara Gallery.  It was really a studio gallery, with a husband/wife artist couple showing their works.  Wonderful work it was, he did encaustic art - very good, we both loved it - and she was a photographer.
• A bakery close by, Taste of Country, offered a place for a bio break, and lots of good eating!  Some cheese bread, cherry bread, and a couple of jams may have made their way into the car.
• Stopping at an On Route in Newcastle offered a chance for another bio break and some lunch, just a bagel, as we'd had such a large breakfast.
• Steve had heard there was a bird hanging out in Col. Sam Smith Park in Etobicoke, so that was our next stop, and we had a chance to stretch our legs.  The skies coming over the city were very dark, but we managed to miss the rain - and catch a rainbow over the yacht club next to the park.
• Homeward bound at last, dinner on our last night was easy, fast and cheap - a quarter pounder with cheese for me and a bacon deluxe cheeseburger something for Steve at the Golden Arches.  
• Home at last.

Photos and details to follow.