The government liquor store in nearby Morell, Prince Edward Island, has moved (there are some private wine merchants in Canada, but most spirits-wine-beer stores are government operations). Sign is still up but the store is vacant. HG/BSK made inquiries from some locals. Informed that the liquor store had moved to the gredge. HG/BSK were puzzled. What is a gredge? Turns out a “gredge” is a gas station or garage. The liquor store now occupies a corner of a Needs (a local convenience store chain) which is attached to a gas station (aka “gredge.”) Mystery solved. Other PEI mysteries abound: Anchovies are near impossible to locate in PEI groceries. After a many fruitless inquiries, HG finally located some dusty tins of anchovies, on ice, in the fresh fish department. Clam broth (or clam juice) cannot be found anywhere. Seems strange on an island famed for its bivalves. And okra, a fairly regular vegetable in US markets, occupies a place of complete ignorance in PEI. No one know what it is or where to get it and when SJ has trolled the markets looking for it (to make his famed gumbo), he has met a rather threatened silence, as if “okra” was a code word for illicit drugs. Fortunately, the main PEI mystery — which HG is happy if it remains unsolved– is how this wonderful, peaceful, eminently liveable island province has remained under-the-radar for so long.
