AUGUST 1, 2011 – OFF TO P.E.I.

Our first stop on this part of the drive was a wine tasting at the Waterside Winery. They make blueberry, cranberry & rhubarb wine. The blueberry cabernet (oaked) is really quite good so we had to buy a bottle.

Continuing along the Fundy Coastal Drive we head for Cape Enrage. This site is part of what New Brunswick is trying to have designated as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is already officially one of the Marine Wonders of the World. At Cape Enrage the tide raises over 53 vertical feet over a 12 hour period, twice a day. When we were there, the tide was in so we did not get to see the floor of the bay, but it is still an amazing site. The original lighthouse was built in 1840 & operated until 1978. There is a set of stairs that descends 99 feet to the beach along Chignecto Bay. I thought it would be neat to go down & walk on the beach, but John thought I was trying to kill him so he wouldn’t go!! We had a great bowl of seafood chowder at the restaurant & they even had Waterside Winery blueberry wine on their wine list.

This part of the Fundy drive is really interesting with lots of twists & turns & a great deal of climbing along high cliffs then dropping back again to the floor of the bay. We found a great little spot, off the beaten path, where we stopped and wandered the beach (rocks). There was another car parked when we stopped & they couldn’t believe we had come all the way from Alberta, but the lady’s sister lived in Airdrie. That’s 2 people in 2 days with relatives in Airdrie.

Next stop Hopewell Rocks, unfortunately with the tide being in there is nothing to see so we just kept driving. We now determine that we are done with New Brunswick & it’s time to head for PEI. It’s suppose to rain tomorrow & John wants to drive over the “Link” (The Confederation Bridge) in sunshine so off we go.

We arrive at the “Link” about 4:30pm & it is really amazing – 13 kilometers over the Northumberland Strait. It’s hard to describe, about half way across the bridge the road climbs another 100 feet in height so that ships can go under the bridge. Unfortunately being in the Mercedes we couldn’t see over the concrete railings, but I can imagine it’s quite a sight. There is no charge to go over this “toll” bridge, but you have to pay to get off PEI!!

Charlottetown is just an hour from the bridge, so after a quick stop at the tourist information centre (which just happened to have a liquor store attached) off we go looking for our bed for the night. We found a Howard Johnson just on the out skirts of town & since we had done a little more than we had actually planned for the day it suited us just fine. Tomorrow is pretty much planned as John needs to find a tire store for 2 new rear tires for the car. Not sure if anyone on the Island will have what he needs, but that is what needs to happen tomorrow.



AUGUST 2, 2011 – TIRES & TOURS in CHARLOTTETOWN

No, they didn’t have the tires he needed on the “Island”, but they could have them from Moncton by tomorrow. That means we have the day to tour the city & as we have found, the best way to tour any new place is on a tour bus. Well, did we find a tour bus!!! The “Hippo” bus. Not only did we have a 40 minutes city tour but also a 40 minutes harbor tour. I’m not sure what we expected Charlottetown to be, but it was much smaller that we expected. The street tour was very interesting pointing out the old houses & churches – Charlottetown has more churches per capita than any other city in Canada. It also has more liquor stores per capita!!! And there are no buildings taller than the steeples on St. Andrews Church allowed.

Now it’s time for the harbor part of the tour. As we get to the waters edge & the captain changes to “water gears” the theme to Jaws is playing on the loud speaker, and once we are in the water we get the entire theme to “Gilligan’s Island”. It was a good thing they supplied blankets as the sky was overcast, it tried very hard to rain & it was not warm.

After our bus tour we wondered the streets of the city, then headed back to the hotel. We even found a clinic where John can have his blood tested tomorrow so all in all a good day. No sooner did we get back to HOJO than the skies opened up like you couldn’t imagine. Since our dinner at the hotel yesterday was so good, we decided not to venture out in the rain (we had a great lunch on the wharf downtown) & just stay in. Good thing we did as the rain came down in sheets & the thunder & lightning continued on into the night. Tomorrow, blood work & new tires, how much more fun can you have.

AUGUST 3, 2011 – BLOOD WORK, TIRES & THE ROAD TO RUSTICO

The blood work only took an hour, the tires we didn’t get finished with until 4:00pm. It was a cool, rainy day so we sat for an extended lunch, then I wondered the mall while John waited for the tires to be installed.

Everything on the Island is close, but there road maps are very deceiving. Our first stop outside the “city” is the “central coast drive” & we are headed for the village of Rustico. It turns out to be about 20 minutes from Charlottetown. We’ve found a quaint little cottage motel in the country side. Our “cottage” is right next to the corn field, but cozy & clean so we’re here for a couple of days. Dinner was at the “Blue Mussel” where “nothing” is deep fried, including the fish & chips. Dinner was to excellent & tomorrow we head for Avonlea & Anne of Green Gables.









AUGUST 4, 2011 – ANNE & NORTH CAPE

It was supposed to rain today, but we awoke to broken clouds & +13, hopefully it stays for the day. We head off to Cavendish which is the location of the Anne of Green Gables Interpretive centre. We wondered through the Centre, but since I never read any of the books & John was less than interested we decided to start our journey up the North Cape Coastal Drive. It’s my day to drive so it will be interesting to see if we are still married at the end of the day! Just down the road, literally, from Cavendish is Malpeque Bay where all the famous oysters come from. We just had breakfast, so the oysters will have to wait for another day. The coastal drive takes us through Summerside (the other major “city” in PEI), around Bedeque Bay, Egmont Bay then up the island to North Cape. The Cape is surrounded on three sides by water, the Gulf of St Lawrence, and where it meets Northumberland Strait. It is also the site of 17 giant experimental windmills. The water was quite rough with plenty of whitecaps but a number of people were wandering out on the sand bar at low tide. The sand, like the earth on the entire Island is red & is really quite a sight.

And if I said we saw potatoes in New Brunswick, it’s nothing compared to what PEI has. Every single inch of beautiful red soil has rows & rows & rows & rows of perfectly hoed potatoes. Hence, every time you get something to eat here you get your choice of potatoes 15 different ways! Apparently PEI supplies one third of all the potatoes to Canadians.

Tonight is our night for a traditional PEI lobster supper. We have been told the best place for said supper is in New Glasgow, which just happens to be about 10 minutes down the road from out little cottage. We really didn’t know what to expect, but after our drive we relaxed with a glass of wine then headed over to New Glasgow about 6:30. We did not expect the fully parking lot & line up well out the door. Well, the wait was certainly worth it!! Your choose your size of lobster & pay accordingly everything else is ALL YOU CAN EAT. John chose a 2 pound lobster while I opted for a smaller 1 ½ pounder. First is your appetizer”S”, seafood chowder, a BUCKET of mussels, a salad plate consisting of a tossed salad, coleslaw & potato salad as well as homemade hot rolls. Did I mention that the appetizers were ALL YOU CAN EAT??? And for each of us!! Once you work through the appetizers they bring on the main course. I don’t think I have ever seen such big lobsters, split & cracked with drawn butter on the side. Oh My God was it good!!! And the atmosphere is unbelievable! The room holds probably 175 people, there is no music & no carpet on the floor but lots of laughter with people of all ages thoroughly enjoying the entire experience. The table sizes range from 2 to 20 with paper placemats (which explain how to eat a lobster) and handi wipes on the side.
This place has been serving lobster suppers since 1958 & in 1974 had the dubious honor of having Margaret & Pierre Trudeau join them for supper.





Oh, I almost forgot about the dessert, which is also ALL YOU CAN EAT. Raisin, cherry, apple, blueberry & lemon meringue pie, as well as strawberry shortcake & ice cream. JD had lemon meringue pie which was at least 6 inches high while I opted for the strawberry shortcake (I only ate the strawberries!) If this blog sounds like we have been on a tasting tour of Canada you are absolutely right. We will both need to have our jaws wired shut when we get home!!! We haven’t had anything other than fish since we arrived in the Maritimes and we have had some of the most incredible seafood chowders you can imagine!!

Tomorrow we check out of here and head to the Points East Coastal Drive. We haven’t played golf on PEI yet so we will see what the next few days bring.