Update 15: PEI

Update 15: Prince Edward Island  July 16-23, 2010

From the top of the hill, the land rolls over the valley like a patchwork quilt in shades of green. Mature wheat fields add a contrast of light beige highlighted by the sun. Rows of short dark evergreen trees define the squares of green potato plants speckled with white blossoms and the lime green of young wheat. Squares of strawberry plants past their season lie of  low clumps of green. Squares of corn stand tall in the field, some already with tassels of gold. Wheels of baled hay dot the green or yellow squares they lie in. Could we be in Ireland? Maybe, but no. We have arrived in Prince Edward Island, Canada's Green Province. Farm houses and their barns hug the edges of the road.  Homes are surrounded by large mowed lawns.

The Confederate Bridge connects Prince Edward Island (PEI) and New Brunswick. The 13 km/8 mile bridge spans the Northumberland Straits.

As the island comes into sight the red cliffs and beaches stand out.

The exit from the bridge leads right into Gateway Village. The Visitor Information Center offers brochures for each area of the island. It also houses gifts shops and a restaurant. Other shops and restaurants in the Village welcome visitors and hope they will purchase their wares. Anne of Green Gables creates the bases for a booming business on the island. Her character inspired merchandise can be purchased all over the island. The PEI dirt shop reminds visitor of what the red sand beaches can do to a white shirt. So they sell dirt colored shirts made with the red dirt. The distinctive red-brown shirts were inviting but not a color Lynn or I wear. We did however leave our contributions at the Village.

PEI measures about 20 miles wide and about 60 miles long which means no where on the island can you be more than 10 km from water. Acres of crop bearing farmland cover the island. The green of the crops and the trees are striking. The PEI  claim to fame is the PEI potato, although strawberries and corn fields are also plentiful.  Dairy and beef cattle occupy green pastures. We learned that a co-op company called ADL processes all of the island milk.

After being in Quebec for several days where Catholic churches appear every mile or two in the cities, and in the middle of every village, we noted the absence of them on PEI . A variety of faiths placed their churches in prominent locations. Presbyterians and United Christian appeared most often with a few Baptist and Anglican congregations too.   We learned in Nova Scotia that the United Christian church combined Presbyterians and Methodist.

Our Pine Hill RV campground buzzed with activity. Located just outside of Charlottetown, our neighbors who lived in Charlottetown came here to help beat the heat and humidity. Kids, kids and more kids moved around the park biking, walking, running and swimming. Adult groups gathered around the campfire at one site and enjoyed each other's company. We felt squeezed in here, but since we tour each day it didn't matter much. We set up and headed for Charlottetown.

To our delight a farmer's market covered  the sidewalk for three blocks. We looked at the vendors, then went to the Anne of Green Gables store. Victoria Lane had restaurants filling most of its sidewalk. Some art galleries and a few shops call this street home. In the summer, traffic is restricted, making this a pedestrian area. This musician was playing for the people on Victoria Lane.

Next we walked down to Peake's Wharf.  Some of the shops here were the same ones we saw at Gateway Village.

We investigate the shops, walked out on the waterfront boardwalk and returned to the center of town. We made a monetary contribution in the Anne of Green Gables Chocolate Shop, and picked up a couple of things from the Farmer's Market vendors.

Charlottetown's old buildings and narrow streets make a quaint setting for the capitol city. Colorful homes in a connected row look very 1800. 

People dressed in 1800 fashions can be seen walking the streets. The downtown maintains the vintage look.





When the settlers arrived, they fished to make a living. Then they discovered that more money could be earned by boat building. The first lighthouses were eight sided and tall. Then the island depleted their wood supply and imported wood from Nova Scotia to build the next round of lighthouses which were four sided and shorter.

The next morning we set out on the Points East Coastal Drive. We hoped to drive along the water. We were wrong. The 200 mile drive follows an inland route. We took side roads to see the harbors, bays coves and lighthouses.  At the Wood Island Lighthouse, we toured the 11 rooms of exhibits.   One room told all about rum running. This display of kegs was in that room. A Beach Glass Festival just happened to be there too. So we popped into their display tent to have a look. Most of the creations were jewelry.

From the  park grounds we saw the ferry that runs between PEI and Nova Scotia. We compared their route and prices to that of driving around via the bridge.   Our best choice remained the bridge..

We drove past those fields of potatoes, corn, wheat and hay. Both dairy and beef cattle grazed in their pastures.

At one of the many red sand beaches I went wading. To my surprise the water felt warmer than I expected.




We lunched at the only restaurant in Murray Harbor...The Bethauf Cafe opens in April and closes in October, to give the fishermen a place to eat. The food was good.

We drove through many small harbors filled with fishing boats. Lobster pots/crates filled the docks or front yards awaiting the new season.

After much winding around the coves we arrived at East Cape, the most eastern point on PEI. We took our photo ops including the lighthouse. Off this point the tide waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Northumberland Straits and the Atlantic Ocean converge. Obviously these waters create dangerous conditions for the fishermen.

Our dinner choice was the Rob Roy, a fairly new restaurant. It was late. W were hungry. An older white haired gentleman came to the table and began talking to us. He owned the restaurant. He talked and talked about the restaurant and other ventures. Apparently he sells blueberries to Japan and also owns considerable land on the island. We said good-by and headed home.

COWS makes awesome ice cream! Locally owned and operated, COWS supplies ice cream to 6 stores in PEI, 1 in Halifax, 3 in New Brunswick, 1 in Banff and surprise...1 in Whistler. COWS also makes comical Tee shirts using popular trends/people.

When we toured the factory, the design creation and the screen printing process were described.  Some of this year's shirts include: Haylor Swift, Cows on the bus go moo, moo, moo, High School Moosical and Elmoos.  Comical cow characters bring the shirts to life. The ADL milk coop puts together the ice cream mix that COWS uses. Then the workers hand create the flavors. Cowie Wowie uses vanilla ice cream, caramel, nuts and chocolate.  The workers make ice cream on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursdays. On Friday the ice cream workers work in the owner's oyster farms. Not only does the owner have oyster farms, but he also owns the Anne of Green Gables Chocolate Shoppe and the Anne of Green Gables store.   The chocolate shoppe features a PEI oyster....usually called a turtle. The "oyster" contains chocolate, pecans and toffee.  YUM!   The third area of the factory holds cheese. The cheese is processed at ADL and brought to the COWS factory for storage and care. The cheese cylinders get wrapped with additional cheese cloth and stored for at least a year. Turning the cheese is part of the process here.

Going north from the campground we drove into the PEI National Park. Kids jumping off a bridge into the water made us laugh. They jumped right next to the sign that said "Don't Jump off Bridge; Fine $2000" Apparently that ordinance wasn't enforced.

 In this part of PEI the park consists of a 15 km strip of land. The Gulf of Saint Lawrence flows on the north side, with bays and sloughs to the south. Red sand dunes rise on the strip. Dune grass, dwarf evergreen trees, and wild roses sporting pink blossoms cover the south side of the dunes. The north side plummets red sand down to the edge of the water. The single road down the strip uses three lanes: two for cars and one for bicycles and walkers. The south side of the road housed several resorts with vacation cabins. Each resort displayed a "no vacancy" sign.

Down one lane the lavish Dalvay Resort Hotel and cabins sat regally above an inland bay.  The manicured grounds gave an expensive look to the resort.  Above the bigger bays, large home sit on the red cliff looking equally as regal.

Between resorts marsh land water flowed between grass hillocks and muddy ponds. Algae grew in some ponds. The mud and marsh land with dunes resembled entering Florence, Oregon.

Cars park on the shoulders of the road closest to beach access points. Some cars park in the lots with named beaches, bath houses and lifeguards.  Boardwalks lead the way to the beach. Stanhope Beach looked inviting enough for us to stop. The reader boards by the bath house gave us some insight to the beach and it inhabitants. The shifting red sands make sandbars easily, thus the water can be shallow for quite a ways out. A smaller sandbar between the gulf and the beach  created a two foot wide creek. Stepping into the creek brought a surprise. The water temperature equaled bath water.

The four of us went wading. The warm water of the Gulf itself surprised us. We walked through the reddish brown water being careful to avoid the softball size maroon jellyfish.

Local informed us that this jellyfish will sting. We didn't see the non-stinging clear jellyfish.

Meet Georgia. Covered with red mud, the ten month old found the beach delightful. Georgia and her family just live down the road. Mum said they get a season pass for $30 each year to enter the park and enjoy the beach.

A note about island drivers: PEI drivers resemble Bainbridge Island drivers. They drive as slowly as they want. Many can't maintain a constant speed. They speed up just when you think it's time to pass. Then they slow down again.  Unlike BI drivers, some PEI drivers roar around you like the speed limit is only a vague suggestion.

Counting wildlife each day remains a favorite part of our travels. With all the green meadows and pastures we expected deer to be seen in many places. However, huge vegetable gardens were unfenced. Then we were told PEI has no deer or moose. They have an oversupply of foxes. We saw one in the evening. They also have coyotes, weasels and maybe a mountain lion or two. They don't like to let tourist know about the mountain lion, but they are rarely seen.

L. Maud Montgomery lived on PEI. The island inspired her book Anne of Green Gables. Anne has grown into a commercial gold mine for the island.  Cavendish, the author's home, provides the story location. We stayed at the Cavendish  KOA.

Not far from the Cavendish strip visitors can drive to see the house where the author was born, and her grandparent's farm. The Anne related attractions, stores and candy shoppes have their clerks dressed like Anne or in 1800 attire.

Within a mile or two of the campground tourist could visit an array of "Anne" experiences. Avonlea recreates Anne's 1800 town.

We enjoyed how this tour bus driver spent his waiting time at Aveonlea.

The Green Gable House sits on Provincial Park property and can be viewed for a price. An amusement park with a young child's section and a water park offer fun choices for the family. Outside miniature golf and a black light indoor miniature golf were close too. Ripley's Believe it or Not  and a kid oriented village of shops invite families to "come on in".

"The Anne of Green Gables Musical "comes with a "must see" rating in the guide books. Lynn and I expected a play for young people, and hoped Jay and Derrille would enjoy it too. To our delight the play matched it's billing. The acting and singing meet the highest professional standards. The humor made us laugh heartily throughout the entire play. A couple of poignant parts brought tears to my eyes. Anne could easily be a smash hit on Broadway.  This night became a highlight of our trip to PEI.

From the base camp of Cavendish we explored the North shore and the west end of the island. The town of Summerside has old buildings but lacks the charm of Charlottetown.  Some of the shops at Spinnaker Landing  captured out interest.

We chose to take some time and drive around the lower part of the western end. Along the tour road we stopped to see a group of bottle houses. Things like this always make you wonder what inspires a person to devote the time and energy to this kind of project. 

The next day we visited the Acadian Museum just outside of Summerside. The museum traces the story of the French Acadian people who desired to maintain their language and culture in spite of the English take over.  The maritime provinces changed ownership between the French and the English seven times. When the English claimed the land in a European treaty settlement, they demanded the Acadian people swear to the English government.  When the Acadians declined, the English deported them. Some went back to France, some to the 13 British colonies and many to Louisiana. After a

period of time, some returned to the Maritimes which now have pockets of Acadian people in each province.

The Centre Expo-International serves authentic Acadian food, so we went there for lunch. The sampler entree allowed us to taste a bit of everything. Chicken Fricto looks like chicken and potato soup, but may be considered a stew by Acadians. Rapure, a pork and potato patty, can be eaten plain or the Acadian way by pouring molasses over it. The Meat Pie made with a light and fluffy pastry, was filled with only a compressed mixture of pork and chicken.  Acadians like molasses on that too.  Our waitress said Acadians like molasses on almost everything.  The fourth entree, Hominy, included chicken also and had a soft texture. Lynn and Jay also tried Poutine de Trou, the Acadian dessert. The same tasty pastry from the meat pie is now folded over and stuffed with fruit. It comes with a sweet sauce to pour over it. This topped off our Acadian day events.

After dinner we returned to Summerside.  The College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts entertained us with a Ceilah (Kaylee).  We had checked out the venue when we bought out tickets. Derrille and Jay stood in line for an hour to insure good seats on the top of the wooden bleachers. Pipers, Drummer, Highland and Step dancers delighted us with their skills. The vocal director sang, but she was more pleased with herself than we were.

Throughout our Acadian area drive, I was struck by the bold use of color on their houses. Other areas of PEI use bold color too, but it appeared more common in this section. Dark colored homes use bright trims and white or tan colored homes often use bold trim.

 A midnight blue, dark but bright, can be found on  several homes. Maroons, deep reds, caramels,  bright yellow, tangerine, lime green, and rich dark chocolate brighten up the neighborhood. Mint, olive and sage greens join mauve and federal blue as common colors.

People with stark white paint may choose trim colors in fire engine red, jet black, hunter green or dark blue.

Unlike the cookie cutter pastel beige of many housing developments the bright colors created interesting homes.  Maybe the bright colors help brighten the dark winter days.  Hmmmmm

Rain poured from the sky and the wind blew with gale like force the day we chose to visit the North Cape, the more westerly part of the island. The wind farm windmills spun at a good rate of speed. All the flag flew straight out.  Jay, Derrille and Lynn braved the elements for the photo at North Cape.  The high cost of moving a wind farm may cause the island to put in retaining/ sea walls at the cape. Apparently a high rate of erosion occurs every year. The lady I spoke to thought PEI was eroding at a rate of 9 feet a year, but that sounds like too much.

The rain lessened as we pulled into the Seaweed Pie restaurant in Miminegash. Seaweed Pie......YUM! Expecting a green stringy something in a pie crust we were surprised. Seaweed pie is not a pie. It is not green seaweed, but it is yummy!  In reality, a sponge cake topped with a cool whip/sea gel mixture, cut in a pie wedge and drizzled with raspberry sauce creates this dessert. 

In Mininegash  the collection of Irish Moss provides the main way to make a living. The Irish Moss museum helped us understand this seaweed native to PEI. 

The seaweed is harvested with rakes being pulled through the water by boats or by horses. It can be sent to a dryer, but it's cheaper to just lay it out in the front yard to dry.  Next it goes to the processor who boils the seaweed to form a gel.  The gel makes a starch-like, non-caloric substance called carrageeman.  90% of dairy products especially ice cream and sherbets use it to thicken the formation of ice crystals. (if I have that right).  Chocolate milk uses it. The seaweed substance is part of beer, confections, salad dressing, toothpaste, shampoo, cosmetics, water-based paints and insect spray. The United States consumes 4500 metric tons every year! The restaurant boils its seaweed to the gel for use in Seaweed Pie since they don't need much of it. To help meet the world wide need of this product they are finding the seaweed grows somewhere in the South Pacific too.

Besides seaweed, the people of PEI fish for a living. Many fish for the lobster and tuna market. Although haddock must be caught, since it is the fish of choice in all the restaurants right now. We noticed that many homes near the North Cape had the big fishing boats sitting in their yards. Perhaps their fishing season has finished, or we discovered that lobster is caught during the winter. Brrrrr. Deep sea charter signs advertise their availability in many of the little harbors and coves. Oyster and mussel farms provide another livelihood.  Lines of buoys in sheltered coves show their locations.

Bumping over the bad roads in PEI we wondered about road maintenance. Many road in Canada need some TLC.  We thought perhaps the harsh winters caused part of the problems. We found it interesting when a local reminded us that PEI is basically a big red sandbar. It geologically connects to the Appalachian range of red sandstone. The red sand is everywhere. Lots of sand.  NO GRAVEL.  Gravel must be imported from Nova Scotia to make cement, concrete, even asphalt and ultimately roads....a very costly item for the island.

The roads have a diagonal grid appearance that matches the land grants to English nobility in the 1700's. As changes occurred  and land divided the road must have changed too. I don't think a straight point to point road exists on the island. Roads veer off at strange angles from one another to get anywhere.

In downtown Charlottetown we came across three-bin trash collection sites on the street corners.  Whatever you throw away needs to be classified as Waste, Organic or Recycled. Can and plastic bottle collection sites can be found too. The park trash area displays detailed information on what goes where. We discovered that "trash" creates a big problem on a tiny island. The island uses one landfill, one compost pile and has an incinerator that creates the energy to heat the government buildings. Bringing your shopping bags to the market is common, as is carrying a small number of purchases just in your hands. PEI is not only green from all the vegetation, but "green" ecologically speaking.

Dairy bars pop up everywhere, just like latte stands do at home. Canadians love their ice cream and their donuts.  Dairy bars provide all kinds of dairy treats as well as burgers, dogs, fish and "chips"/fries. Poutine orders have fries covered with cheese curds, gravy and sometimes peas. We didn't find it appealing but most Canadians love it. 

For donuts, go to Tim Horton's.  Even small towns can support several of these donut and coffee shops.People come to drink coffee like they do at Starbucks in our country. (They have sandwiches and soup too)  A long drive-through line wraps around all the stores. In the morning when the last donut of a particular kind is purchased, a new batch will be out in 10 minutes.If you don't know what you want by the time you reach the cashier, you will be asked to get out of line until you decide. If you slow down the drive through line, the people behind you honk. Canadians don't like the line slowed down by people who can't decide before they get there. We have visited Timmy Horton Stores from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and it never ceases to amaze us that any hour we drive by (or stop in) a line nearly wraps around the store getting to the drive through!

Canada has a new 10% tax that is applied after the sales tax is computed. In most places, items are priced appropriately, but by the time you add the taxes the price really jumps up.

Regardless of the taxation, the people of Canada show their patriotism. More flags fly in front yards and gardens than we would observe in the states. The Canadian flag is a popular choice, but flying the provincial flag, or Acadian flag occurs too.

The village churches established years ago sit close to the road. In many cases a cemetery may be connected to the church property. The old markers tip and lean. The eroded writing makes idenification difficult.   Sometimes modern markers stand out among the old ones, or are located in a new cemetery down the road.
Life on PEI moves a bit slower. Crime doesn't seem much of a problem, but perhaps we just didn't see it. Their love of family shows in the activities advertised and available. We spotted some youthful rebels, but they are less prominent that the clean cut, good looking young people we saw in the restaurants and shops. Many of the young people appear very good looking, wholesome, happy and healthy.  Although we found Nova Scotia harbors and coves more interesting, PEI has a tranquil feeling that few places in today's world can offer.

Next stop:   Nova Scotia