September 11, 2009 – Prince Edward Island

We explored the western end of the island yesterday sans GPS. Our first stop was a little harbor village in Summerside, the PEI version of a Shoreline Village. In the gift shop, they sold fudge and I bought the last of the chocolate. As of today, the fudge and ice cream concession is closed.
From there it was off to see the bottle houses. It is not anything you would see in CA, as the construction is simply a collection of bottles embedded in concrete to form walls. In all, there are three structures: a chapel, a house and a tavern. Then it was off to the potato museum. Yes, a potato museum. Potatoes are a major crop grown on PEI along with Corn and Soy Bean. Anyway, the museum highlights the history of the potato and it growth as a major food crop. From the museum, we journeyed to see the West Point Lighthouse which is now an Inn and Restaurant. You can actually stay in rooms in the lighthouse. Carol went in while Spice and I took a walk on the beach. We met a couple from Saskatchewan. They had never been in eastern Canada, so this was quite an adventure for them.

We had considered driving to the northeast to see the large wind farm project and interpretive center, but decided to pass. We did decide to stay one more day on PEI.

This A.M., I went to the K.O.A. office to see about staying another day. I don’t know when Halloween is in Canada, but at this campground it is this weekend. The spot we were in was reserved for the weekend but we could change to another spot. When I asked about the campground filling up for the weekend, the woman said that it would be quite busy as many of the island families come there for the three day Halloween festivities. That pretty much sealed the deal for us. We packed up and moved about 20 miles down the road, closer to Charlottetown. The move actually saved us a couple of bucks in camping costs.

While driving to the new campground, we stopped at the PEI preserves shop and bought preserves. Being only a half block from the toy store, we left everything in the preserves parking lot and walk to the toy shop. The toy shop features wooded toys which are made on the premises. You can actually watch the craftsmen in the shop.

We spent the afternoon in Charlottetown, the provincial capitol. Walking around downtown is much like being in a moderate size Irish town with pubs, small hotels and shops. The area around the ship harbor is again like a Seashore village as they get a lot of trade from the cruise ships. The highlight was St. Dunstan’s Basilica. The largest Catholic Cathedral on the Island, it is quite beautiful both inside and out. Carol got some great photos. One of the things I appreciate about Catholic Churches/Cathedrals is they are open to the public and you are welcome to come in. Sometimes the construction is awesome, sometimes just so-so. They can be a bit gaudy. But usually, the stain glass is interesting, as are the embellishments around the altar.

Not yet having had enough fun, we ventured off to the “Cows Creamery” for a tour. Cows Creamery is well known in Canada for their quality ice cream. But they are also quasi famous for their tee shirts (check out the web site for some good illustrations). There were ten of us on the tour: Carol and I along with four Amish/Shaker couples. We were supposed to where our creamery hats while on the tour. So these four Amish/Shaker women carefully put the creamery hats on over their little white bonnets (Carol and I have been discussing what to call the head piece they wear and bonnet is as close as we can come. Whatever it is, it fits tightly over the hair and ties beneath the chin. It is usually a netted material with a bit of lace trim). Carol really wanted to get a picture.

So that is it for PEI. Tomorrow, we’re off to Nova Scotia.