PEI or Bust!

In an emotional response to some unsettling things of late, my bestie and I decided that there's no time like the present and booked an spur-of-the-moment vacation to Prince Edward Island to check off one of the items on our Bucket List. We decided that the drive was not intimidating (Uhh, foreshadowing), so it provided us with an opportunity to see some areas of Canada and the US that were previously unknown to us, and we came away with an complete sense of satisfaction! We'd highly encourage anyone who has not yet ventured that direction to embrace the challenge and Git 'R Dun!

What follows is a list of thoughts and impressions that stuck in my grey matter:

Quebec City, QB

We decided that the trip out east would be done inside Canada so we booked accommodations in both Quebec City and St John, partially because neither of us had been before but had heard about how wonderful they were, but also since they offered geographical features that generated some giddy excitement. We're beach lovers after all.

We enjoyed pretty fair driving weather until we neared Ontario's most eastern city of Cornwall, encountering rain for most of the drive to QC. We bypassed Montreal in a teeming downpour, but were pleased with some sunshine as we neared the day's destination, and after checking into our hotel (complete with bike storage containers!), we did a walking tour of the old city, starting at the Citadel. If you've never been, the ambiance and architecture of the old city is a "must see it to believe it" place! I could write paragraphs on the beauty of the old buildings and the 'buzz' of the energy, but none of it would create the feelings we experienced as we looked the part of tourists, craning our necks this way and that. 

After a 2 hour stroll, and with the light waning, we decided to grab something to eat on the way back to the hotel, somehow stumbling upon Pizza MAG just off Rue Saint Louis, and were treated to one of the best pizza dinners we've ever experienced! Our young waitress was very patient with our lack of Francais as we scanned the menu, and after filling our bellies, she explained that the kitchen had made an error with one of the pies so they were giving us a two-fer! 

What? Nice!

St John, NB

Our trip to St John the next day was much less wet, although we still had to deal with roving rainclouds, and like yesterday, the skies cleared as we arrived, allowing us to enjoy a beautiful, picturesque walk from the hotel to the harbour where we grabbed a most delicious fish and chip meal on a patio overlooking the ships. We were both astounded by the level that the tide rose and fell, the barnacles and seaweed evidence of at least a 6 m change (20'ish feet for the non-Metric types). Again, our server was most patient and pleasant, and we walked off our full bellies with a stroll around the harbour in the twilight.

Like QC, I don't have the words to do the sights justice, so I'll simply invite you to put it on your list.

Prince Edward Island

Since we were driving from the New Brunswick side, we opted to use the Confederation Bridge to access the island with it's 13 km expanse having the stereotypical sense of astonishment on our faces as we marvelled at the feats of engineering to build such a structure. Our rented cottage was not too far from the bridge exit, and arriving at Augustine Cove, we were greeted by an equally jaw-dropping vista of the beautiful seaside at our cottage. We were staying on the south side of the island, the portion that featured red sandstone cliffs and shallow waters that were profoundly impacted by the tidal pulses that exposed 2 or 3 football field long low tide beaches allowing us to walk the width of the cove with only occasional shallow water crossings. For two bumpkins from Ontario, despite living on a beach, the sights left us gobsmacked!

If you know me, you'll not be at all surprised to hear that we brought the bikes! 

I have to admit that I was not at all prepared for the hilliness of the island, my rides accumulating close to 1000 m of climbing over a 100 km. The highlight of the week was the day that I set out for Charlottetown, some 40 km away, with the intention of picking up PEI's famous Confederation Trail to come back, a retired rail line much like the Simcoe County Rail Trail here at home. I was treated to a twisty, winding path of crushed limestone for nearly 75 km, passing through a host of little hamlets, and I even found a wee frozen yoghurt stand kind enough to refill my water bottles. The CT traverses almost all of the island for those that were of the mindset to do some bike-packing.

Another sight that needs to make the list is Cavendish Beach, but you'll have to grab a day pass since it's a part of the park system down there. We walked along the beach for an hour and a half before deciding we couldn't reach the end, the 5 m sand dunes, deserted beach, and assortment of sea life highlights for our efforts.

If you're in the east coast, ya gotta have some lobster, eh?

We decided to splurge on an authentic church supper in New Glasgow, a curious little hamlet in the north west of the island, and despite its hefty price tag, came away with a positive experience. for $50 a person, you get unlimited chowder, mussels, and deserts plus a lobster + potato/coleslaw salad side dishes for an entree. Although pricey, the whole experience made it a worth while adventure.

Of course, any trip to PEI would be incomplete without some lighthouses, so a few mini-roadies allowed us to explore the outer regions of the island, but it was a weird feeling to drive for literally hours to reach somewhere on an island. I guess we're just not used to that living in Onterrible. Another sight-seeing oddity if you're interested surrounds PEI's plethora of little white churches, and on one trip out to the most eastern portion of the island, we passed by 15 of them! No, we didn't count them twice! 

Maine, Vermont, and New York!

Since we chose to arrive in PEI via the Canadian route, we decided to return via the USA, and learning a few things along the way made it a great choice. Our first overnight was in Portland, Maine, and thanks to some appreciated advice from the hotel staff, we took in the beauty of the Portland harbour with its sights, smells, and lighthouses. The Spring Point lighthouse was at the end of a man-made pier comprised of massive chunks of concrete, whose size made for a wonky walk since there was a considerable space between the boulders. After surviving that experience, a little more detective work revealed that Spring Point was actually an old fortress, the hill (or so we thought) was actually buttresses, barracks, and armourments that must have been a part of the harbours defences at one time. 

Being inherently frugal (I'm a former teacher, after all), I convinced Joyce that we should take the "senile" route across Main, Vermont, and New Hampshire on route to New York so that we could avoid the ridiculous number of tolls using the turnpikes. As much as that decision treated us to some incredible vistas, especially through the incredible mountains of Vermont, it did make for some 'white-knuckled' twisty-turny descents as we raced the foreboding rainclouds rolling in from the west ... yep, more rain! We even found a cute little Swiss chalet style store, high up in the hills, to purchase some Vermont old cheddar, a fav of our daughter and hubby. 

Keeping with the trip's theme, we drove through some incredible rain storms in NY state on route to our hotel in Farmington for the night, but the fringe benefit was the Presbyterian car wash that got rid of all the red dust from PEI. 

Back home in Da Beach

In the end, a host of memories were made, items checked off the Bucket List, and new plans for future travel hatched. 

Ahhh, retirement is quite okay, if I'm honest.