26 July 2019, Friday

We sleep in, cook up a potato cake for breakfast, saw another plank for leveling Vincent, and then head towards Charlottetown. We stop at Sobeys on the way to restock some basic groceries. I ask one of the workers if the strawberries are local. “No,” he says, “our strawberries are late this year, these are from Nova Scotia.” That’s close enough for us. We buy two more quarts. 

Once in Charlottetown we find Gahan, a pub recommended both online ad by Jason from the B&B. O and I each order a Dunkel which is rich and malty. I’m wondering if a beer will make walking with crutches easier or harder. O requests a burrito bowl and I order curry butter chicken. As we await our early dinners we hear sirens in the streets. Two fire engines and an ambulance pull up next to Gahan’s, which leaves us wondering just how spicy O’s burrito bowl is! Happily, they drive away before the burrito bowl arrives. After dinner O dashes for Vincent as our parking meter has expired while I hobble along behind. There is a two hour parking limit so we move Vincent just up the street to a spot across from The Mack, location of the evening’s concert and then find a shady park bench upon which to sit as we await the opening of the box office and the doors. 

It is quite pleasant in the shade. We watch young people play games and then we cross the street and hobble a block to get more COWS ice cream. We return to our shady park bench and are soon approached by another group of young people. They ask how many years we’ve been married and, when we answer, they ask if they can take a group selfie with us. Turns out they are on an office scavenger hunt. We comply with smiles.

It is finally time for the performance, Tara MacLean’s Atlantic Blue. I had purchased tickets months ago, not really knowing what to expect, but I thought attending a performance at the Confederation Centre of the Arts would be fun while we are near Charlottetown. This performance is at The Mack, a small cafe-like venue with wine and beer available, and tables with six people seated at each. We are greeted warmly by the two other couples at our table, both from PEI. As the performance begins, we learn Tara is originally from PEI, moved west to British Columbia and , influenced by the long tradition of Atlantic Canadian musicians, made her way home. She tells the story through film, slides, music and brief biographies of singer-songwriters past and present. A troupe of talented singers and instrumentalists complete the company. The performance goes by quickly though it begins at 7:30 and lasts until 10 pm, with a 20 minute intermission. O and I thoroughly enjoy the show. We return to our campground, driving along the dark country roads of PEI.