I FIRST STOPPED in Prince Edward County eleven years ago, mid-February 2014, on assignment to write a travel story. It was blustery and grey, but I fell hard—head over heels for the County, the island that would become my home.

Even then, PEC was cultured and sophisticated without pretension. The people were ambitious but generous, committed to building something together rather than competing for space. It felt like Richard Florida’s creative class had not just arrived, but taken root—turned inward, self-sustaining, evolving.

The wine was beginning to make a name for itself—and yes, the County does boast a remarkable terroir—but grapes aside, this place was (and still is) fertile ground for something deeper. “It’s the snowball of enormous spirit and huge collaborative energy,” County-born hotelier Alex Fida told me back then. And it’s even truer now.

What’s happening here isn’t about city expats chasing blog-worthy dreams of hobby farming or hipster rusticism. There’s a hum beneath the surface—the sound of minds and hands at work.

This place is beautiful, yes—a lakefront that feels like an ocean, with waves that shimmer and skies that blush gold and pink at dusk. But it’s more than that. This is a landscape where local wisdom and creative momentum collide. Where Michelin-rated restaurants have cultivated loyal local followings alongside chef-led food trucks and kitchen takeovers with long lines of visiting friends. Where the soil itself becomes the stage for seasoned masters and wide-eyed novices to produce something breathtaking.

The County is a place where anything feels possible.

And this magazine—LIFE AU LAIT—is here to tell that story. To guide visitors toward their best PEC experiences, to capture the spirit of this ever-evolving community, and to preserve the extraordinary goings-on of the hyper-talented people who were bred by—or drawn to—the magic of Prince Edward County.

Lonelle Selbo
Publisher + Editor-in-Chief