Prince Edward County: Day 1

For a simple August long weekend getaway, we decided to head to Prince Edward County for some food, wine and relaxation. We’ve been here a few years ago and took a guided wine tour already, so we wanted to do our own exploring this time. We left Ottawa at around 10am and after a short detour for some Tesla charging in Belleville (all the Kingston charging stations were full), we got to Prince Edward County around 1:30pm. 

Lake on a Mountain

Our first stop was Lake on a Mountain. Aaron had picked out The Miller House for our lunch spot. It had a beautiful patio overlooking the water and the weather was also perfect for outdoor seating that day. Many people had the same idea as us so there was a 20 minute line up to get a table. The wait wasn’t too bad as we enjoyed the view and looked at the menu. We both tried their local IPA which was very refreshing on this summer day. Then we shared a charcuterie board, “The Local” and their flat bread, “Flambée Maison”. On the board, the most noteworthy was the salami and the mustard. Aaron really liked the bacon marmalade. Their flambée was very light and tasty as well. Overall, we felt like it was a good amount of food for a late lunch. We had early dinner reservations and so it was perfect as we did not want to be too full. 

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Local Treats

After lunch, we strolled around and took some photos then stopped by Fifth Town for some cheese and meat in preparation for our picnic tomorrow. We chose the Trufulina cheese which was hard goat cheese with truffles. It was so tasty I did not taste any goat flavours at all, which I usually would steer away from! We then picked some thinly sliced prosciutto to go with our cheese. Finally, we bought some bruschetta toasts and ice wine mustard to complete our charcuterie board. 

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We saw a lot of wineries along the way in this area but we’ve already visited most of them last trip. What did catch our attention was the Clafeld Cider House Market where we did some cider tasting. Aaron really enjoyed their signature Smashed, which was not overly sweet. 

Relaxing in the Inn

Next, we checked-in to our hotel – Picton Harbour Inn. This cute hotel is located over looking the harbour, which we had a nice view of from our room on the second floor. The check-in was very simple and the service was friendly. The room was very clean and spacious. We relaxed a bit and watched some Amazing Race Canada before heading out to dinner.

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Bloomfield Public House

Our restaurant of choice for dinner was Bloomfield Public House. We later found out that the owners have a very interesting culinary journey, having ran kitchens in Ottawa, Banff, Vancouver, Costa Rica, and St. Martin in the past. I really enjoyed the laid-back vibe of the restaurant and the open, simple kitchen reminded me of Chesterfield’s in Ottawa. We started with the bread with cultured butter which had the best texture for dipping and most rich tasting butter I’ve ever had in my life. We shared some PEI oysters for starters and they were refreshing. For mains, we opted for the special-for-2 tonight which was the “pork chops”. We got more than we had hoped for as it turned out these “pork chops” were succulent fatty pieces of pork, with a texture similar to porchetta. The mountain of pork sat on top of some delicious lettuce which I couldn’t get enough of, lentils (with pork belly mixed in it), eggplants, as well as sautéed onions. It looked so appetizing that the couple sitting in the table next to us commented on how they had to order it now that they’ve seen it. This was definitely our favourite meal of the entire weekend. We were stuffed and did not have room for dessert, even though the famous Slicker’s Ice Cream was right down the street.

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Mustang Drive-In

After dinner, we brought some fruits for our picnic tomorrow before heading to Mustang Drive-In for some drive in movies! There was a huge sign to the drive-in so there was no missing it. The box office, on the other hand was not obvious and the lady had to yell at us as we drove right past her. It was all good in the end. She was very nice and told us that it often happens that people drive right past her. We got there around half and hour early and got a good spot at the second screen which was showing “Hobbs and Shaw” and “Yesterday”. I actually also wanted to watch “Aladdin” but it was playing at the same time as “Yesterday” on the other screen. Two movies was definitely a bit tiring for me but I took a short nap in the middle of “Hobbs and Shaw”. Good thing the Tesla is very comfortable for lounging so I overall had a very pleasant experience. “Yesterday” was not as good as I had expected but I was pleasantly surprised how much screen time Ed Sheeran got. It’s been a long but fun day for us in Prince Edward County and it was way past my bedtime so time to call it a night!

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