PEI is known for its beaches and lighthouses. There are 500 miles of the warmest beaches north of the Carolinas on PEI. Although it was too chilly for playing in the water, we did enjoy walking around a beach or two. The sand is soft and often reddish in color. Dozens of lighthouses dot the coast and we visited several. My favorite was Cape Bear Lighthouse (built in 1881) on the southeast tip of the island. Two things make this lighthouse unique: 1) it is a three-story square structure (quite unusual) and 2) it was the first Canadian land station to hear the SOS distress call of the Titanic as she sank in 1912.
Much of the island is sandstone giving the beaches and cliffs their reddish color.
Cape Bear Lighthouse
We stayed in the Jacques Cartier room. I loved the handmade quilt at the foot of our bed. The footed bathtub, while beautiful to look at was a bit difficult to shower in!
The next day we walked around Charlottetown admiring the architecture and mix of old and new. Several quaint shops line the main street as well as row houses turned into Bed & Breakfasts. After getting coffee at Starbucks (the only one in PEI and one of 1068 in all of Canada- compared with over 11,000 in the US... but that's another blog topic!), we headed out to explore the island.
There is an island saying that all roads lead to Charlottetown... and it certainly seemed so as we drove to Cavendish to see "the house of Green Gables." The roads twisted and turned and even with a map it was difficult to know for sure where we were. Every road seemed to be a way to get to Charlottetown as we saw signs with mileage markers for the capital city on nearly every street we ended up on. Finally, we made our way to Cavendish and learned about PEI's famed author, Lucy Maud Montgomery and her beloved book, Anne of Green Gables.
Born in 1874 in a modest house in Cavendish (PEI), Maud (as she was called) was raised by her very strict maternal grandparents after her mother died when she was not quite two years old. Receiving no emotional support or love from her grandparents, Maud retreated into a "literary fantasy world" making up stories about people, places or even things. Her aunt and uncle lived nearby and she soon was spending much of her time there with her cousins. It was their rambling farm house that was the inspiration for "Green Gables." Maud was a teacher, a poet, a hymn writer, an assistant postmaster and a proof reader for a Halifax newspaper before beginning her writing career in earnest. She wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1904, but her manuscript was rejected by several publishing companies before finally being published in 1908. The book was quite popular and became an overnight success. I reread it on this trip and loved it even more than I did the first time I read it as a child.
"She (Anne) opened her eyes and looked about her. They were on the crest of a hill. The sun had set some time since, but the landscape was still clear in the mellow afterlight. To the west a dark church spire rose up against a marigold sky. Below was a little valley and beyond a long gently-rising slope with snug farmsteads scattered along it. From one to another the child's eyes darted, eager and wistful. At last they lingered on one away to the left, far back from the road, dimly white with blossoming trees in the twilight of the surrounding woods. Over it, in the stainless southwest sky, a great crystal-white star was shining like a lamp of guidance and promise. "That's it, isn't it?" she said, pointing."
(from Anne of Green Gables)
"Lover's Lane opened out below the orchard at Green Gables and stretched far up into the woods to the end of the Cuthbert farm. It was the way by which the cows were taken to the back pasture and the wood hauled home in the winter. Anne had named it Lover's Lane before she had been a month at Green Gables."
(from Anne of Green Gables)
"'Oh, Marilla!' Anne clasped her hands. 'How perfectly lovely! You are able to imagine things after all or else you'd never have understood how I've longed for that very thing. It will seem so nice and grown-uppish. No fear of me forgetting to put the tea to draw when I have company. Oh, Marilla, can I use the rosebud spray tea set?'"
(from Anne of Green Gables)
"It was broad daylight when Anne awoke and sat up in bed, starring confusedly at the window through which a flood of cheery sunshine was pouring and outside of which something white and feathery waved across glimpses of blue sky."
(from Anne of Green Gables)
PEI is an agrarian province. The fertile soil and relatively warm climate make it ideal for growing many crops and dairy farms abound. We passed herd after herd of Holsteins, many of them grazing in unfenced pastures with views of the ocean. I swear these cows were SMILING! It has been said that happy cows live in California... PEI has ecstatic cows!
Cows Ice Cream was founded in Cavendish, PEI in 1983. All of their ice cream is still produced in PEI which perhaps explains why they were voted #1 in "World's Top 10 Places for Ice Cream" by Tauck World Discovery as well as "Canada's Best Ice Cream" in a Reader's Digest opinion poll. We sampled their ice cream twice... quite de-lish!!
It is true there are no moose on PEI so the moose hunt was temporarily suspended. In fact, we didn't see any animals of the mammal variety except the aforementioned cows and the occasional dog. But they do have some beautiful birds.
The Great Blue Heron was majestic to watch... so beautiful and graceful. And the Bald Eagle we spied on the treetop was quite regal-looking.
I said earlier that we took the ferry to PEI. There are two ways on and off the island- the ferry and Confederation Bridge. There is no toll or charge to get ON the island, but there is a hefty toll or charge to get OFF! The ferry takes about an hour and a half and costs $74 per car (passengers included) whereas Confederation Bridge takes 10-12 minutes to cross with a toll of $42.50 per car. So... why would anyone take the ferry? If it's the direction you want to go or you just like riding on boats. We took the bridge when our time in PEI was over.
At eight miles long, the curved Confederation Bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water.
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