Rapher's Log: Stardate July 6/23
Final day of this short trip. What’d we get up to?
Day got off to a better start, both of slept better. I think I got 4 hours before waking up then I slept for 3 more. Didn’t actually get up until after 5:30 - sleeping in! Got to the breakfast room around 7:00. Mostly the same food - boiled eggs were swapped for omelets and pork sausage links instead of turkey sausage patties. No bacon. Sandra thought we should have purchased some Ready Crisp bacon and zapped it in the microwave in the breakfast room. Might be a good way to start a breakfast riot. *G*
Our one planned stop on the way home was the antique store we went to last year - Ice Boat Rarities. They were supposed to open at 9:30 so I figured if we got on the road by 8:30 we’d get there in time for opening. Two problems - it took less than an hour to get from Charlottetown to Ice Boat (just outside of Borden Carleton) and they were having an issue, there was a sign on the door saying they wouldn’t be opening until 10:30. We’d already tried to kill 15 minutes at the Ice Boat Memorial across the street, there was no way we could kill another hour. And the mosquitos would have eaten us alive in that time. Killed one bugger while we waited and the amount of blood that came out of it was ridiculous.
The sign also suggested visiting their other store up the road “Island Uniquities and Antiques” - another antique store in an old church. So, we did as the sign suggested. The store ended up being larger than expected. The lady working there explained that the owner had run into issues going to the bank and ended up having to go to the branch in Summerside, which didn’t open until 10:00, hence the late opening of the other store. Oh well, going to the second store worked out. Aside from spending a lot of time doing the “Ooh, I had that/knew someone who had that” in the toy section (seriously…they had a Susie Homemaker oven!). Lots of other interesting things, including a large amount of old postcards. I got a few from Fairy Land and one from Woodleigh. Sadly, they didn’t have any from Holiday Haven.
What they did have, however, were some old hockey cards. Based on the look of the players, I’d say most were from the 1970s. There were maybe a dozen of them on display. I was shocked to recognize one of the cards - Norm Ullman. Used to play for Detroit in the 60s till he was traded to Toronto. I knew him from his time at Toronto, wrote him a fan letter when I was 8 or 9, got an autographed picture back. The card was $2, so I had to buy it. Sandra didn’t buy any hockey cards but managed to spend a wee bit more than I did. We managed to kill almost an hour but opted not to try Ice Boat. Went to Gateway Village for a last pit stop and gas stop before spending $50.25 to leave the Island.
Normally the drive across the Confederation Bridge is uneventful, we did have to stop for a bit this time. They were doing some paving near the New Brunswick end. It was a little weird to be stopped on that bridge. However…with the NS/PEI ferry being out of commission for a few days, the Bridge was the only way to get to the Island (other than flying). There was a huge Country Music Festival starting Thursday/Friday. Not so sure that closing the Bridge, even for a bit, was such a wise move. The backup of traffic heading to the Island when we finally got moving again was crazy.
The drive through NB was typically uneventful, got to Amherst around noon. Again. Odd that… Anyway, actually went into the tourist shop at the Tourist Bureau and bought a few things. Well, cookies for me. Also managed to leave some pamphlets behind that I’d picked up. I put them down to pay for the cookies and I do believe I forgot them. Oh well. Next stop was Truro, where we were very grateful to be heading the other way. The traffic was seriously backed up on the other side of the highway. Went to Starbucks to get something to eat/drink. I got two drinks, I’d ordered the frozen Strawberry Acai lemonade. Not sure who messed up, but they also made the non frozen version of the drink and they offered it to us, so I took it. After a quick break at Stewiacke again (still the halfway point between the North Pole & the Equator!) we got home shortly after 3:00. (and if anyone’s wondering, Coal was fine, aside from wanting to go outside as soon as I got home)
See you next year! ;-) (maybe...we'll see)
Day got off to a better start, both of slept better. I think I got 4 hours before waking up then I slept for 3 more. Didn’t actually get up until after 5:30 - sleeping in! Got to the breakfast room around 7:00. Mostly the same food - boiled eggs were swapped for omelets and pork sausage links instead of turkey sausage patties. No bacon. Sandra thought we should have purchased some Ready Crisp bacon and zapped it in the microwave in the breakfast room. Might be a good way to start a breakfast riot. *G*
Our one planned stop on the way home was the antique store we went to last year - Ice Boat Rarities. They were supposed to open at 9:30 so I figured if we got on the road by 8:30 we’d get there in time for opening. Two problems - it took less than an hour to get from Charlottetown to Ice Boat (just outside of Borden Carleton) and they were having an issue, there was a sign on the door saying they wouldn’t be opening until 10:30. We’d already tried to kill 15 minutes at the Ice Boat Memorial across the street, there was no way we could kill another hour. And the mosquitos would have eaten us alive in that time. Killed one bugger while we waited and the amount of blood that came out of it was ridiculous.
The sign also suggested visiting their other store up the road “Island Uniquities and Antiques” - another antique store in an old church. So, we did as the sign suggested. The store ended up being larger than expected. The lady working there explained that the owner had run into issues going to the bank and ended up having to go to the branch in Summerside, which didn’t open until 10:00, hence the late opening of the other store. Oh well, going to the second store worked out. Aside from spending a lot of time doing the “Ooh, I had that/knew someone who had that” in the toy section (seriously…they had a Susie Homemaker oven!). Lots of other interesting things, including a large amount of old postcards. I got a few from Fairy Land and one from Woodleigh. Sadly, they didn’t have any from Holiday Haven.
What they did have, however, were some old hockey cards. Based on the look of the players, I’d say most were from the 1970s. There were maybe a dozen of them on display. I was shocked to recognize one of the cards - Norm Ullman. Used to play for Detroit in the 60s till he was traded to Toronto. I knew him from his time at Toronto, wrote him a fan letter when I was 8 or 9, got an autographed picture back. The card was $2, so I had to buy it. Sandra didn’t buy any hockey cards but managed to spend a wee bit more than I did. We managed to kill almost an hour but opted not to try Ice Boat. Went to Gateway Village for a last pit stop and gas stop before spending $50.25 to leave the Island.
Normally the drive across the Confederation Bridge is uneventful, we did have to stop for a bit this time. They were doing some paving near the New Brunswick end. It was a little weird to be stopped on that bridge. However…with the NS/PEI ferry being out of commission for a few days, the Bridge was the only way to get to the Island (other than flying). There was a huge Country Music Festival starting Thursday/Friday. Not so sure that closing the Bridge, even for a bit, was such a wise move. The backup of traffic heading to the Island when we finally got moving again was crazy.
The drive through NB was typically uneventful, got to Amherst around noon. Again. Odd that… Anyway, actually went into the tourist shop at the Tourist Bureau and bought a few things. Well, cookies for me. Also managed to leave some pamphlets behind that I’d picked up. I put them down to pay for the cookies and I do believe I forgot them. Oh well. Next stop was Truro, where we were very grateful to be heading the other way. The traffic was seriously backed up on the other side of the highway. Went to Starbucks to get something to eat/drink. I got two drinks, I’d ordered the frozen Strawberry Acai lemonade. Not sure who messed up, but they also made the non frozen version of the drink and they offered it to us, so I took it. After a quick break at Stewiacke again (still the halfway point between the North Pole & the Equator!) we got home shortly after 3:00. (and if anyone’s wondering, Coal was fine, aside from wanting to go outside as soon as I got home)
See you next year! ;-) (maybe...we'll see)