6: Prince Edward Island (9/13-9/15)

The trip from Moncton, NC to Prince Edward Island is a relatively quick hop, just 100 miles or so. What was impressive was the number of moose warning signs along the way (and for the record, there are no moose - or bears - on PEI).

We took the Confederation Bridge to the island, at 10 miles, the world's longest bridge over ice-covered waters (one doesn't  pay to go to PEI regardless of whether arriving by bridge or ferry; one only pays to leave). Our arrival coincided with that of the remnants of Tropical Depression Gabrielle, and it just poured buckets all day. It was an easy decision to change our tent site reservation to a small cabin at the same campground, and it's so reasonable and comfortable that we decided to stay in it all week, much to my delight.  Campground is on a bay just outside Charlottetown, PEI capital; quiet, beautiful, convenient, well-equipped.  We just became fans of the KOA chain.

On to Charlottetown. First stop in the rain was Founders' Hall, which tells the story of Canada's confederation process. The first-ever meeting in the process took place in Charlottetown in 1864, therefore a source of big pride for the town of 30,000.

Then to the PEI Seafood Festival, a marker on our trip calendar. It was....okay. Actually, it was a lot like Frederick's Oktoberfest (which I co-organized). A LOT. Kind of home-grown, big tent, hopeful vendors around the edges, a lousy sound system, some local celebs, expensive food and lousy beer. Even the teens walking around looking for tables to clear seemed so...Frederick. Maybe it was just the pouring rain and everything wet underfoot, but it was an expensive disappointment.
Quickfire competition

Clam chowder competition; the audience got the results!

BUT what made the day for us was passing a hall where a ceilidh was advertised for that evening.  A conversation at tourism brought a hearty recommendation in confirmation, and it was just what we'd hoped.  The Benevolent Irish Society had the Fiddlers' Sons in to play, featuring Eddy Quinn, who sang and played numerous instruments so well that it was hard to believe this was a $10 concert.  Allen had a long talk with the bass player who filled him in on band member and island history.  I loved that, at intermission, a "lunch" was served, sandwiches and cookies made by Society members.  Maybe a third of the 150 audience were off-islanders like us.  (We saw Eddy the next day, jogging through downtown C-town, wearing a hat and sunglasses, seemed trying to be unnoticed.  As he's 6'8", handsome, and skinny as a bean, hard not to notice him.)

Saturday brought a cloudy day with intermittent sprinkles only, thankfully, so we headed back to C-town to explore. It's historic, picturesque, and tasty. We investigated the basilica and government buildings.

City Hall

Provincial House, seat of PEI legislature

Oldest home in Charlottetown

Just a house I liked

We poked into shops, ate lunch where Wills and Kate ate in 2011, hiked to Victoria Park, and cooked our own dinner at camp.  Camp neighbors Bob and Rae, from Arkansas, regaled us with stories of hunting.  We were especially impressed with her story of how their dogs grabbed a wild boar by the ears, immobilizing it, so she could administer the stab-and-twist to its heart.  Ick.  They were on their way to a bear hunt on Nova Scotia.  But the flounder they caught and shared with us was nice.

Sunday morning brought housekeeping chores - planning and making reservations through to the Newfoundland portion of our trip.  An afternoon's drive through countryside indeed peaceful got me to Cavendish, Lucy Maud Montgomery's home and perhaps the biggest tourist draw on the island, the Anne of Green Gables area.  I toured LMM's cousins' home where she spent good times, enough so she purportedly modeled Green Gables, Haunted Wood, and Lover's Lane after that farmhouse and its surroundings.

LMM in her early 30s, when the first Anne book was published, and her guess bedroom at the farm.

 A drive along the island's north coast, a walk through a Christmas tree-like lane to a deserted red-rock beach, spectacular red cliffs,  a Sunday drive for the old folks, I guess, followed by dinner at Pedro's, where everything is made from scratch, a big hit with us!

We had planned all along to attend a second ceilidh we'd heard about, this one in New Dominion near our campground, and so we did.  Turned out the pianist/2nd fiddler is renown both on PEI, his home, and all over; he far outshone the headliner/organizer, and the audience, mostly olds like us and olders, went as wild as were were physically able.  We bought his CD.  Courtney's mother and "nana" made the biscuits for intermission "lunch."

Our campground is tended by the conversational, welcoming Terry, who's spent his entire life on PEI. He's turned us on to Pedro's, confirmed the ceilidh as a valid thing, built his own home, and genuinely seems to enjoy his morning chats with Allen.  We missed him this morning, his day off.