“It’s delightful when your imaginations come true, isn’t it?” — Anne in Anne of Green Gables
Anne is so right!!!! I have imagined and dreamed of being here for so long, and my imaginations have at last come true. Kathryn and Saber gifted me a trip to Prince Edward Island for my 60th birthday, and Kathryn has even accompanied me, although book trips are not really her thing. She is doing all the Anne-stuff like a trooper. (Although in full disclosure, she does not enjoy hearing me quote Anne endlessly, referring to her like a real person from my past, or explaining all the intricacies of Anne-related locations.) I am so grateful and blessed that she is with me here.
We stayed (for part one of the trip) in a home-turned-hotel called Dundee Arms in downtown Charlottetown. At 1:00 in the morning I was slightly disappointed to find that we were actually going to be in the annex. Our room was so nice though; it didn’t even feel like a hotel room. Also, it was surprisingly cleaned everyday, even post-covid. I highly recommend this hotel. It is close to so many places to eat, shop, and enjoy. They even had my favorite thing: in-room robes!!!
We got to Prince Edward Island very late on Saturday night/early Sunday morning. We got a taxi to our hotel and went to sleep immediately. I (of course) was up early. I walked about a mile and had breakfast at a local breakfast spot in Charlottetown. Next I walked to a park overlooking the bay. I saw some lovely old churches and a home which has been a Charlottetown establishment.It was VERY foggy, for some of the time, which is obvious in the pictures below. I walked over 4 miles by 9:30.
After Kathryn was ready, we went downtown. There were many tourist-type shops and some great bookstores. We lucked up and found a craft fair set up near the harbor. We bought this unique piece of art created with sea glass found on Prince Edward Island beaches.
We ate a late lunch at Lobster on the Wharf. My meal, pictured below, was scrumptious! We shopped some more, purchasing nothing, and then had ice-cream at Cows. This is supposed to be the end-all of ice-cream on the island. Neither of us was totally blown away. We made one more stop at another bookstore where I bought Before Green Gables, a book I’ve read but didn’t own.
We just rested back at the hotel. After the flights and late night on Saturday, tv and Skipbo were relaxing.
Day 2:
I rose very early and headed to the eastern end of the island in search of sea glass at Souris Beach. I was told by the artist we bought the piece of art from that this beach was well known for sea glass because it was in a cove and near Nova Scotia shipping lanes where there had been many shipwrecks. I drove our little rental for the hour trip, being careful not to exceed their strange (to me) speed limits: 90 kmh, 80 kmh, 50 kmh. I found the “beach” and discovered several pieces of glass within about 30 minutes. There were signs posted around the area to be very careful of sharp glass on the beach too. Everything washes ashore here. I got some cool bird shots. It was obviously foggy again. It kind of reminded me of my California coastal trip. I also found another interesting old church on my drive.
When I returned and Kathryn got ready, we headed to an area outside of Cavendish to the Anne of Green Gables Museum. This is actually the home of L.M. Montgomery’s relative where Maude (L.M. Montgomery) actually got married. We walked around the lovely grounds, taking a short woodsy trail where we met up with a sweet kitty! There was a gift shop where we bought some raspberry cordial 😀 We toured the home and then waited for our time on Matthew’s Carriage Ride!!! I booked an hour long ride on a carriage pulled by Matthew on his tractor. We went across the road through gorgeous fields and to a beach overlook. Kathryn and I got to walk along the beach for 15 minutes. “Matthew” was full of information about L.M. Montgomery and her family. This ride was a definite DO NOT MISS for anyone visiting PEI, even those who are not Anne fanatics. (Kathryn agrees!)
The beach was lovely and so entirely peaceful. In fact, “peaceful” is how I would sum up my first two days on PEI. Traffic issues are almost non-existent, people are so kind, everyone is so laid back. Cavendish is about an hour from Charlottetown, so we grabbed something to eat at Captain Scott’s as a late lunch. Even the drive was peaceful. We got take out from another Charlottetown downtown restaurant but weren’t as impressed as we were with Lobster on the Wharf. Another pleasant day on PEI!
No comments:
Post a Comment