New Glasgow 3, P.E.I., Canada

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND  (Monday, June 3; Tuesday, June 4; Wednesday, June 5)

Such a romantic name and such a pretty place.

On Monday morning Peter woke up early to go deep sea fishing which was on his list activities for our Canada trip. I’m sure the opportunity will present itself again.

Instead of lamenting I had not read Anne of Green Gables as a kid, I finally bought the book and started reading it. I’m glad I did as it provided me with some background for the musical which we saw Monday night. It was a perfectly lovely evening, kind of a date night. We drove into Charlottetown to have dinner and see the musical.

The musical has been running for 53 years to almost sold out crowds.

PEI (Prince Edward Island) is almost a theme park for Anne of Green Gables. We have seen the Green Gables house, the museum, and the author’s home. The author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, has definitely put PEI on the map. I do appreciate Anne’s irrepressible spirit.

 

 

As Canada Day was such a big deal we almost forgot today was our beloved country’s birthday. We have some Canadian flags strung up in our RV site. I wish we had some American flags to include in the decorations to celebrate both birthdays.

 

We spent Tuesday exploring part of the island. After visiting the themed locations we drove  the northwest side of the island. We went to North Cape which is the farther northwest point of PEI. There  was a light house but unfortunately it was not open. Looking out to sea we did see what looked like a pirate ship. It had 3-masts  and green sails. Our imaginations have probably gotten the better of us with these fanciful thoughts. I wish we could have taken a picture through the binoculars.

It was a beautiful day.  You could have left me in a hammock somewhere on the island and I would have been happy. (As long as someone picked me up when it started raining.)

It was a long day driving so we will probably not explore the east part of the island tomorrow. We’ll do some laundry and visit some local sites. Peter is talking about boiling another lobster tomorrow. This will be his 6^th…

More about lobsters. In our blog when we were staying at Capitaine Homard’s RV Park you may recall that we were surprised to be served a female lobster with eggs. It was a bit disconcerting and unappetizing and has not occurred since then.  We have been told that usually fisherman release a female lobster if it is less than two pounds. Unfortunately Capitaine Homard’s restaurant did not do that as the lobster we ordered was only 1 ½ pounds.  Only boy lobsters from now on.

There is more. Living in Phoenix all my life I do not have much experience with lobsters or eating them. There is another part that I did not know about called the “tomalley.” The tomalley comes from a Caribbean word tumale meaning sauce of a lobster. To me, it is really unappetizing and has discouraged my appreciation of lobster. It functions as both the liver and pancreas of the lobster. Some say it is a delicacy. I would just  as soon not have anything to do with it…Apparently it is included in making lobster chowder. (I wish I didn’t know that.)  Sorry for recounting an apparent morbid curiosity with lobster body parts. There is a lot of other seafood in the Maritime provinces thank goodness.  Although I do like a few bites of  succulent lobster.

PREP DAY

Today (Wednesday) is Prep Day as we are getting ready to leave our campsite in pretty New Glasgow Highlands. We will leave early in the morning tomorrow for our next destination. Thursdays are usually travel days.

Our goal today is also to get caught up with the blog. As in many other sites, it has been a challenge due to spotty WIFI. We often have to work on it in a specific location in the RV park.  Last night we were up late doing one of the postings in the lodge where there is  better connection. Other places it depends on the time of day. We put a lot of work in into it, especially Peter when he decides to inbed a video. So, we really appreciate when you check in with us at least once in awhile. We really, really like it when you leave a comment. We do get homesick and lonely especially since we are so far from home. There is another benefit to keeping the log as a travel diary. We get to look back on it when we get home.

So tomorrow we are returning to New Brunswick where we will spend a week in St. Martin and nearby locations.  This includes Hopewell Rocks where the tide comes  in and out twice a day. It can be up to fifty feet. After that we will go to the province of Nova Scotia where we will spend a few  weeks.  Eventually we will be taking a ferry to Newfoundland.  More about this later.

Next blog will be from a different province.  (I’m certainly learning a lot about Canadian geography)  JY

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Sunday July 2, 2017

This was a utility day – we BBQ’s some mackerel fillets that I picked up for free down at the dock when one of the fishing boats came is – they were yummy!

Monday July 3, 2017

Got up early and went into North Rustico to the wharf.  Today was my deep sea fishing trip.  It was nothing spectacular with 10 people on board – the day before they had caught more fish than they knew what to do with so there was some hope we’d get into some good fish.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  I caught two mackerel and several perch and it was a slow 3 hours for everyone.  We all had a good time as everyone was cutting up and telling fishing jokes.  The best catch was a wolf fish – vicious thing with teeth to prove it – the guy that caught it was going to take the hook out of the mouth but the captain and 1^st mate were all over him with don’t touch it.  They used pliers to remove the hook and the captain put a mop handle in the fish’s mouth.  The fish bit down on it and would not let go even when the captain held the handle over the side and tried to shake him off. He finally let go and there were some pretty good teeth marks in the mop handle – if the fish had got a hold of the guys fingers they would have been pretty messed up.

When I got back from fishing we showered and got ready to head into Charlottetown.  Months before we started our trip I reserved to VIP seats for the “Anne of Green Gables” play at the Confederation Center.  We had visited the house where Lucy Maude Montgomery (the author) got the inspiration and the encouragement to write the Anne story.  She was a very prolific writer with 20 novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays.  In spite of all that she never felt she achieved the great novel she desired.  Her books have been translated into 17 different languages.  Japanese especially study and admire her work so much that they organize pilgrimages to PEI to visit Green Gables, Montgomery’s birthplace, the house she grew up in  and her grave site.  We have visited all of these places and we have OD’d on “Anne of Green Gables”.

We were very lucky when we got to Charlottetown as there was free parking directly across the street from the theater. We dined at a delicious Italian restaurant across the street in front of the theater.  Our seats were excellent and the play was very very well done by some very talented performers.  This is the 53^rd consecutive year the play has been running.  Lucy Maud Montgomery had no idea what her legacy would be and without knowing it put PEI firmly on the map and to some extent bolstered the economy significantly.

Tuesday July 4, 2015

We decided to drive to North Cape which is the most northerly and westerly point on the island.  It was an all day trip with additional stops at  more Anne of Green Gables tourist sites.  At the teeny tiny house where Lucy Maud Montgomery was born the house was crowded with lots of people.  The house had only one way in and the same way out – one set of narrow stairs up and the same set of stairs coming down – it was packed.  We vacated when a large tour bus pulled up to the parking lot – it was an excursion from a cruise ship docked in Charlottetown.

As we left Canvendish, location of Green Gables, I was flabbergasted to drive by two amusement parks The one on the north side of the road had roller coaster, huge water slide, Ferris wheel, etc. – the whole nine yards.  On the other side of the road was the other park which featured things like Ripley’s Believe it or not – a wax museum – an arcade – a paint ball area the size of a football field with trees, building, bunkers and boulders.  In front of the admission stand there was a giant statue of the Transformer Optimus Prime – actually was done very well and looked just like the one in the movie.

There was also a grizzly beat sculpted out of nails.  We didn’t go into either park as it seemed they were geared for children although the ice cream parlor looked inviting.

The trip to North Cape was long and uneventful however navigating all the roads even with a map was tricky – had to stop and turn around and ask questions several times.  Then just when you think you are getting the hang of it there is construction and a detour with an arrow and you are on your own from there – no signs to help you get back to where you are supposed to be.  We drove up along the north shore of the island but you couldn’t see much of the ocean along the drive and drive back along the south shore of the island.  The North Cape was interesting but the lighthouse was automated and there were no tours.  We ate lunch at the restaurant there, walked around a little and the headed back.  I had planned to drive to the East Cape the next day but after driving to the North Cape abandoned that plan for a quiet day at home. And it is prep day for moving tomorrow.

When we were driving into Charlottetown to theater we were warned about 5:00 traffic to which I had to laugh.  There are 150,000 people on the entire island whereas at home there’s 150,000 people on the I-10 and I-17 at rush hour – driving into Charlottetown at 5:00 was like driving to church on Sunday morning.  Another thing that’s different is they do not have soda fountains in the Circle K type convenience stores – if you want a soda you buy a bottle or a can and there is definitely no ice – if you want ice you have to buy a 3 pound bag.  In restaurants when you order a soda with your meal you buy it by the can and if you want a refill you buy another can – rarely is there ice.    PRC