Early Morning

Lying in bed, I listen to the sounds of early morning traffic outside our window. A sound we are not used to; not in Wimberley, not in Montreal, certainly not in Monhegan, and not in Maine.  We are a world away from our normal reality. I woke because even with my eyes closed, it is so bright, I thought it was dawn.  The street lights glow through the antique glass windows and light up the interior of the apartment. It is not even 5 am, and the sun is still tucked well below the horizon, not due to rise for another hour and a half if it shines at all today. A sunny day is not in the forecast anytime in the near future.

I needn’t have worried about how to find our way to any room in the middle of the night; the city lights have taken care of that.  And it didn’t take long to grow accustomed to the size of the apartment; however, I still get turned around when I walk into those large, roomy hallways, well, one wide hallway and one hall-room.

Too early to be fully awake, I close my eyes.  Sleep overtakes me.

Coffee and Pancakes

It is after eight, and Michael is nowhere to be found.  I check all of the rooms.  Finally, I open the door to the tiny front hall and then open the door to the front porch. He is sitting in a rocker close to the French- window-paned-wind-screen sipping his coffee.  I join him.  True to form, the sun is not visible. Fog swirls. Small flying insects hover over the shrubbery at our feet. Traffic buzzes. Many cars slow down when they pass by the house; because we sit on the porch or because they are interested in the history of this old mansion?

After a late breakfast of blueberry pancakes — I had to make them, we live in the middle of a blueberry world — we are off to explore the countryside.

The Geography of Prince Edward island

Prince Edward Island is a fragmented piece of land set adrift eight miles out to sea, connected to the mainland by a long bridge, and tucked in between the arms of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is surrounded by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on the east and the Northumberland Strait on the west.

Initially, I thought we would be able to get well acquainted with the entire island. However, this is no Monhegan. I am surprised to learn that there are 3,530 miles of roads on this tiny piece of land that is only 140 miles long, 4 miles wide at its narrowest point, and 40 miles at its widest point — and it has 688 miles of coastline.

Exploring

Farms

Despite the fog (which Mike loves) and gray skies, the air is warm (which I love). We are on a lighthouse quest this late misty morning, and our car rolls through the bucolic countryside surrounded by undulating hills and fields of green and gold, dotted with small farms, large farms, and watery inlets.  I love farms, have always loved farms, big, little, old, new, pristine, dilapidated.  I’m not choosy.  Michael, on the other hand, loves lighthouses.  This should be a good day.

Lighthouses

After passing an inviting, cozy chowder house at the edge of the bay — the parking lot loaded with cars — we turn from it and follow a dirt road the color of burnt sienna to a lone, white, soaring round tower topped with a bright red cap. Our presence chases off the couple here before us; alone, we explore the windswept cliff.

Lighthouse number two takes us past a ferry landing in Woods Islands, and we explore the possibility of a ferry to Nova Scotia on Saturday rather than a drive.  The ferry costs only fifteen dollars more than the toll bridge and cuts our trip in half.  An easy decision, right?  However, thunderstorms and sixteen MPH winds are in Saturday’s forecast.  It’s still an easy decision for Michael. For me?  I’m not so sure.  But I also don’t get a vote.  Well, a very small vote.

We tour the lighthouse and speak at length to the volunteer docent on duty.  The lighthouse is not in its original location, and it needs to be moved again.  The Prince Edward Island coastline loses three feet a year due to Mother Nature’s winter rampage — wind, rain, snow, ice. Three feet a year seems unbelievable to me, but the edge of the cliff keeps getting closer. It’s evident.

Each of the five lighthouses we visit — although they are all white with red trim — has its own unique personality.  They are all in need of TLC, and many are cared for by the community where they stand.

Shopping for Vegetables

I need cherry tomatoes for the arugula salad I plan to fix for dinner tonight to accompany Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Veal Picatta. Approaching the bridge that crosses over to Charlottetown, Michael backtracks and delivers us to a local farmers market.  The produce out front is huge. The yellow and green zucchini are more than a foot long!  How can they even be good?  I snap a picture, but with nothing to compare them to, they look regular size.

I keep reading about Prince Edward Island’s world-famous potatoes, so I ask if they are available. The potatoes I presented to the cashier are not it, although grown on PEI, they are not the famous potatoes I search for. Apparently, what I seek are Irish Cobbler potatoes.  I leave with more potatoes than we can eat in three weeks.

Dinner at Home

The sweet yellow cherry tomatoes elevate the arugula salad to a new level, and Tyler Florence is brilliant.  The veal picatta is delicious, even though I was a bit challenged to find many of the things I needed in the beautifully applianced yet understocked-in-chef’s-tools kitchen. Not having to use my private stash of kitchen tools at all last month while in the Searsport cottage,  I need them now. 

9/2/2014 3:27:34 PM