We had a quiet morning on my husband's last day in Prince Edward County. The night before had been a wild evening with trees down in a town about five kms away and power outages everywhere. We were lucky not to be affected by it all.
The day dawned overcast and we stayed in our hotel for most of the morning and then headed out to where we had had lunch the day before at Lake on the Mountain. We wanted to try the recently opened Miller House as they serve charcuterie and cheese platters from local producers. As we arrived the sun broke through and we sat on the patio overlooking the Bay of Quinte.
The Miller House dates back to 1840 when the mill the miller worked for built him a house. The mill was 200 feet straight down the escarpment from the house and I've no idea how he got to and from work. I can only imagine he had to rappel down and climb up.
The menu was an impressive selection of platters influenced by France, Italy, Spain and Quebec. But we chose to have the local special. It turned out to be the best meal we've had since our adventures began at the end of May.
On our platter were heaping servings of local Genoan salami and Hunter sausage, a pile of Black River aged sharp cheddar, along with a home made baguette. But the surprise was their house bacon marmalade and stone-ground mustard. I've never tasted better anywhere. Sad to say, we couldn't buy any, they'd sold out....
..o0o..
I enjoyed a solo day in Picton for my last day here before I had to drive to Belleville to meet my hubby when he returned from Ottawa.
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While I did the laundry at a laundromat, I also spent two hours at the Naval Marine Archive. I chose to do the latter as I didn't have a chance when I spoke there on Sunday, neither did I have the chance to talk to the executive director who is a character and has more knowledge at hand to find info than the National Archives in Ottawa. In the main area are a few displays including some artefacts related to Nelson and the submarine paintings celebrating the centenary this year. These are all stunning! Their library of books is at the back and they also offer books for sale.
But upstairs is where the real treasure lies hidden. This is the rare naval and marine book collection, and NMA has many volumes that are available nowhere else in Canada. One million dollars worth! I hungered to spend a day a two here, but had to leave.
After a quick lunch in an excellent local bistro, The Painted Peppercorn, I walked down both sides of the main street and enjoyed the cooling breezes at the marina before I headed to find some red barns to photograph and then drive into Belleville.
That's when the day fell apart. My husband was trapped in the closure of Highway 401 at Kingston. He sat in a car for three hours on the freeway and I sat in a hot car in Belleville for three hours at the rental car office. A semi had overturned and spilled tons of chicken feed over all westbound lanes!!
We didn't arrive in Cobourg until 8pm, weary and very thirsty. Luckily the Woodlawn Inn's kitchen was still open and we had a spectacular meal there. We also had a huge comfortable room and we fell into the big four-poster bed with relief. Original part of the mansion was built in the 1830s.
IMAGES: Photos by Pharos 2014
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