Tab 12: Brackley Beach

"You know, it’s kind of nice when the day’s not scheduled."
-Adrienne, with surprise

Today was a pretty relaxed day. Unusual, but enjoyable. Weird.

We had breakfast again at the Great George. I should note there is no dining room for breakfast so the good folks here have resorted to the same solution I did in my tiny bachelor apartment in Ottawa.

After breaky, Marco and I drove up to Brackley Beach on the north shore of PEI. Brackely is actually part of PEI National Park. Our hotel has a season’s pass to the park so we were able to avoid the $17 admission fee, making the day’s activities uber-cheap.

The beach was amazing. Red sand, like the roads, Anne of Green Gables dunes, a lighthouse, and hardly anyone there at all… we basically had the whole beach to ourselves.

We set up a little camp out of the way of the wind with our two umbrellas we bought at Canadian Tire yesterday.

They only blew away once.

We spent a really nice morning. I passed the time by reading Anne of Green Gables. I was oh-so-PEI.

At about 1:00 it started to get really cloudy and colder. Marco and I left in search of lunch… but were stopped by a yarn interlude!

First stop was North Shore Island Traditions Past & Present Rug Shop in North Rustico… a deceiving name as it is actually doesn’t seem to have much to do with rugs. Instead, it is a Fleece Artist mecca!

The lady who runs the shop, out of the back of her house, has tons and tons of Fleece Artist and Hand Maiden yarns. I bought a lovely thrum sock yarn kit (the sock will be bluey, the thrums are green)

I was trying to follow my own rule and buy local but the lady at Island Traditions explained that yarn from PEI is generally coarse and scratchy and not used for garments.

She was right. At the next stop, Rustico Bay Wool Sweater Company, all the PEI yarn was not something you’d want to knit a sweater out of… or anything really.

The yarn trail and lack of food had made Marco grumbly so we headed off in search of lunch… at a place not recommended by Frommer’s. Yes, we were *off* the schedule here, people. We took a massive risk. However, it paid off. Lunch at the Blue Mussel Café was delicious, and we made it just in time to avoid a massive downpour.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for dinner. I actually sent it back to the kitchen. Some of you may not believe this but I have never done that before. I ordered the stuffed chicken and it was burnt one cm thick on the bottom and the top was completely dried out. We were the only people in the restaurant… it does not inspire confidence if you’re only cooking for two and you still can’t get it right. A bummer, but also a free meal for me so there is no lawsuit pending at this time.

Tomorrow, back to Nova Scotia. See you in the booming metropolis of Truro.