2014 Day 6: Wednesday

Still quite windy this morning, and from the sound, the breakers are huge. As a result of the high winds along the road there are now numerous miniature sand dunes, formed by the constant wind overnight. The beach had all sorts of new dunes as well, and the entire surface was rippled from the wind.

The shapes created was pretty cool, and easy for your mind to imagine how it would be like with those massive sandstorms that happen in the desert. 

Another power walk around the park, this time we headed past the park store. A few people are out doing the same thing, along with a handful of joggers. Not really a beach day today as the wind coming off the water is quite cool.

some serious breakers, and a tad chilly

We met Helen & Paul in Bloomfield to do a wander of the quaint shops. Of the little towns here, Bloomfield seems to have attracted the most eclectic mix of retail. The turnover is steady as well, as there always seems to be a few new shops every year. There was a really neat store we discovered last year called 'Kokito' that had an interesting mix of well designed local and Canadian objects, and they have done so well that they have moved across the street into a much larger location. Lots of very cool stuff in there, some of which is coming home with us.

our new key hook

Another favourite not to be missed shop is 'Handworks' which is owned by a local artist, Tammy Love.  Visiting her shop and having a chat is always a treat for Helen, Paul and us.

We then jumped in the car and headed for the Black River Cheese Company. They have been in existence since the early 1900's. Dale has tasted their Maple Cheddar Cheese which she wanted to get a brick of and we also picked up their 6 year old cheddar as well.  Helen & Paul also picked up cheeses and we treated ourselves to some ice cream cones.  A perfect end to a summer afternoon drive in the county..

On the way back to the site we stopped at a neat antique shop, located on the way into West Lake. They have a nice selection of really interesting pieces, and it is always fun to browse and see all sorts of treasures from the past.

this is a bit too creepy for a piece of garden art

coloured TP...clearly a marketing failure

For dinner as planned, we all drove to the Inn of the Mountain restaurant to meet Geoff and Joey. It is a favourite spot with both views of the lake on top of the mountain and of the Bay of Quinte.  Being up high and windy, it was chilly eating out on the patio but we came prepared to bundle up. This restaurant is excellent at braising meat dishes, we had the beer-braised beef shanks with their own micro-brewed beer, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetable mash. Some of us had the pork braised shank or tourtiere.  Good conversations all around.