Prince Edward Island-Our Final Province

The Confederation Bridge-Entrance to PEI

From Wolfville, Nova Scotia we headed to Prince Edward Island (PEI). After crossing the Confederation Bridge we stopped at the visitor center to meet up with Lalia’s Mom and her sister Susan. It was good to see them and we’re looking forward to spending some more time with them in a week or so. The RV became a little lighter after we transferred some of Mom's treasures from Florida yard sale shopping this past winter!

The 9-mile Confederation Bridge is designed to allow Cruise ships to pass below

The West End of PEI

Our 1st stop was at the Mill River Provincial Park on the west side of the island, a very nice RV park with lots of room, good WiFi, and lots of grass.

From here we drove to North Cape which is famous for its rock reef where the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait meet.



North Cape is also home to a 38 acre wind farm established in 1980 as Canada’s National Wind Energy Laboratory. Located on the northwest tip of PEI these wind turbines are exposed for 300-degrees to the wind-swept Gulf of St Lawrence.

From a distance the size cannot be appreciated

But with Charles standing near a hub of the arms displayed in the museum
the true size is evident!

After visiting North Peak we drove the North Cape Scenic Route along the west end of PEI. It was a nice ride as we passed through many small harbor towns. Very pretty for sure. We ended our ride with a stop at the Canada Potato Museum for a “light” potato snack.

The obligatory tourist photo!

New Glasgow

Our next stop was in New Glasgow which is famous for the New Glasgow Lobster Supper. We toured the New Glasgow and Cavendish areas and the central coast of PEI.  Dalvay by the Sea is an historic hotel within Cavendish National Parc. A summer cottage for the rich and famous when built. It hardly qualifies as a cottage!

We also made a trip into Summerside for some shopping. I think the highlight of this area was the New Glasgow Lobster Dinner which we all enjoyed a lot. We each had a 1 pound lobster, all the mussels we could eat, and all the chowder, salad, dessert, and non-alcoholic drinks we wanted.

Point Prim

From New Glasgow we drove to the Lord Selkirk Campground and Golf Course, about an hour's ride. Once again this was a quiet and relaxing two days. The spots were large and the park was well tended.

We chose this campground for it's proximity to Point Prim Lighthouse renowned for it's amazing sunsets.

Folks clamming at the lowtide

Touring some of the southern and eastern coast included a stop at Woods Island to check out the ferries coming and going to Nova Scotia. Two arrive and depart multiple times each day, and we were lucky enough to see both.

We also toured the Woods Island Lighthouse which gave us a good in depth history of this lighthouse and some of the lighthouse keepers who lived here for many years.

Looking back to the ferry loading dock

One tidbit we learned was most enlightening. Prohibition did not end on PEI until 1948. And Rum Running was a dangerous but lucrative business for many years.  The Nellie J. Banks was famous for avoiding the revenuers. And when the rum-running business gave out her captain became the Captain of the Ferry!

Until 1961 every resident received a liquor consumption card. If you didn't partake of alcohol, you were very popular with those who did.

North Murray Harbor

Our next stop was at the Seal Cove Campground, about a 40 minute scenic drive along the Island's south coast before a turn inland where more small harbors once again came into view.


The short trip from Lord Selkirk was thanks to Ray not understanding where the Seal Cove Campground actually was. It’s really hard to find good tour guides! [Editor's Note: Ray wrote this part of the blog. There were no complaints from Lalia/Colleen/or Charles.]  From here we drove to Montague for, what else, a little shopping and a quick beer at a new brewery in town, Copper Bottom. Very nice beer. We also drove more of the eastern coast but managed to relax a bit here also. Nice park and very few bugs.

Copper Bottom Brewery in Montague - A great spot for a selfie!

Morell

Our final stop on PEI was in Morell to spend some time with our friends Janie and Blair MacDonald, friends that we made on a previous trip to PEI and they have welcomed us into their home our past two trips here and this year they opened their home to Colleen and Charles also. We all had a wonderful time and more new friends were made. We cannot thank Janie and Blair enough for a wonderful time which allowed us all to fall in love with Sammy and Abbey, two Springer Spaniels, and Charley Rose the cat. We all got our doggy fix here and had a great time. There was lots of good food, a couple of boat rides, and many many laughs.

Charles and Abbey

Sammy and Abbey are never far from Janie's side 

Sunset from the MacDonald backyard

Charles enjoyed his turn at the wheel

We enjoyed the  breeze and refreshments

Colleen fought a mighty battle in this action shot

Unfortunately the mackerel was under-sized and had to be returned to the sea

But he left a good-bye gift-fish poop!

Morell is also very close to where Lalia’s mom and sister Susan are spending the summer, so we were able to spend a lot of time with them. Lalia's brother Len and sister Barbara are also visiting with Barb's sons, Nicholas and Andrew. One of the first days included the "Flying of Dad's Kite". Andrew, Barb's youngest son helped us get it aloft!

While here we toured the most eastern side of the island including the Souris lighthouse, ate at 21 Breakwater, a wonderful Souris restaurant, drove through more picturesque small harbors, and stopped at the East Point Lighthouse, where we saw seals just off shore.

The answer is yes, just beyond the fence is a concrete pad that will soon fall into the sea

A seal bobs just off shore

We spent one day in Charlottetown and visited the Confederation Center of the Arts where the Upper Foyer has been transformed into a replica of the historic Confederation Chamber where the Fathers of Confederation met during the Charlottetown Conference in the first eight days in September, 1864. It was then at Province House when Charlottetown became the Birthplace of Modern Canada.  The  Province House was closed due to renovations. We also walked around the harbor and had a nice lunch at an outside pub listening to some great music.

Too soon it was time to say good-bye to Colleen and Charles. They are headed for Pennsylvania and then Back to Trace. We miss them already, but we plan to be back home in early September. The adventure goes on!