A REAL "IRL" EXPERIENCE WITH PEI'S FIRST INSTAMEET / January 22, 2018 by Sean Berrigan

On Sunday a group of 30+ Instagramers ascended upon a small hidden gem of a location within the eastern end of PEI called Mooney's Pond. For the first time, an event of this kind has taken place on PEI, taking inspiration from bigger city IG meetups like in Toronto, and New York. It's interesting how Instagram and social media has made it so easy to feel like you really know someone by what they share online. It's even more interesting when you get an opportunity to gather a community of like minded individuals together to network and get up to something creative. It was truly amazing to see such a great crowd of people show up and bare the cold and snow to trek through some awesome trails and fire of some flares and smoke grenades..for the gram along the way :)

Special thanks to The Morell River Management Co-op for allowing us to host the event there and to our friends at Receiver Coffee Co for hooking all the attendees up with free drip coffee for the hike.

Pre-NYE Winter Foraging on Robinsons Island, PEI / January 2, 2018 by Sean Berrigan

When my girlfriend decided that she wanted to make a holiday winter wreath, I knew a great place that neither of us had been to during the winter time. We're both usually allergic to super cold weather but decided we needed to suck it up and get some air into our lungs. We ventured out to Robinson's Island, a small island attached to the Brackley Provincial Park on the North Shore of PEI. Robinson's Island Trail System, also known as R.I.T.S is a 5km multi-purpose pedestrian and bike trail system that once housed a family campground. When I was in college for Photography at Holland College, we would always go there for a class photo excursion field trip at the start of each school year, so I was slightly familiar with the area but still rusty. I remembered that there I'd always see this ghostly dilapidated building planted in the middle of the woods that once housed a tiny theatre that one could only assume was operating during the days of the family camp ground. We didn't get to see this building sadly enough, I think it may of fallen for good over the years. Vanessa and I, along with our favourite little golden doodle Hazel went for a nice stroll through the island. Vanessa found some really great leaves, twigs, berries and branches all of which were already fallen to make sure not to disturb the healthy and living trees, and bushes around. We had some great views, some smokey joints (medical) and snapped a few shots throughout the whole venture. If you didn't know already, PEI has some incredible winter trails and scenery that often gets looked past because of the cold weather. Don't miss out!

-Sean

Sneaky Cheats, Sunday Treats / October 21, 2017 by Sean Berrigan

It's been awhile since i've made a blog update. As always, I was fortunate enough to take in another smoke out BBQ with my buds here in Charlottetown last sunday. Sneaky Cheats PEI is a craft catering service my good friend Nigel Thompson just started here on PEI. We convinced him to get the guys together for our buddy Skye's birthday and have a lazy Sunday BBQ with the Sneaky Cheats smoker. I've been vegetarian since the first of July (never thought I'd see the day), but sadly I have to admit I caved super early and tasted a lot of these smoked treats Nigel and the guys cooked up. It was well worth it to say the least! haha

We smoked fresh salmon with a lemon, brown sugar and herb rub which was probably the star dish of the day. There were smoked back ribs, smoked bologna sandwiches, some great kale salad, geese, and oh I almost forgot, there was a smoked brie wheel melted over top of some incredible smoked beef. Below are some images from throughout our day. Cheers!