Farewell to Newfoundland

Our last day in Newfoundland and we are on our way to a picnic lunch in Ferryland.  We had a lovely drive up and wouldn’t you know…there was one more thing at the side of the road.  Most times we could never stop in time.  Side of the road stuff can be really neat. 

Today, it was a fellow who liked to make boats and little scenes.  We were able to turn the car around on the rural road and go around for a better look.  He was a very talented fellow and had lots of things for people to see.

Then we were up at Ferryland for our picnic.  It was quite a walk in from where you could park.  Fortunately the sky was overcast and that saved us some as the weather is promised to be a scorcher today.  The temperatures in Newfoundland have broken – no make that smashed all the records since records have been taken.  I think the average temperature for July was 25 degrees this year and in all other years the average July temperatures was 21 – so that is huge for this part of Canada and today it was 30 and with the consideration of humidex – 40!  It was brutal.

So up at the lighthouse, it was quite foggy and windy.  We were never cold, but it was such a change from the city heat and humidity.  We had a lovely basket of sandwiches, orzo salad, homemade lemonade and a delicious desert.  They provide picnic blankets for sitting and you just grab a space on the grass outside to enjoy your lunch with amazing views all around.  What a great and unique experience.  Barbara Brown and her sister Brenda and Barbara Arnold joined us for lunch and it was so great to be with our Newfoundland cousins one more time.

Soon it was time to go and then we were on our way to Holyrood and A Schooner Inn for our last night before returning home.  It felt like we were coming home when Colette was on the deck.  How lovely to spend the beginning of our trip and the end in such wonderful company.  We had one more walk to dinner along the boardwalk and then home again.  Then a visit on the deck and now to get a good night sleep before we are on our way tomorrow.

Goodnight and goodbye for now.

Puffins At Last

 
 

Fully rested up and ready for the day, we came downstairs to a lovely breakfast of pancakes and ham.  It was very good.  Then we walked down to the nearby beach.  As soon as I saw the beach, I knew it was one where I might find a bit more sea glass to add to my collection.  After about 45 minutes, I only found 2 small pieces, but it is fun to look.  There were so many little shorebirds there.  Some blended in with the rocks so well that it was hard to get a picture.  I enjoyed them just the same.  The fog was really rolling in - it definitely puts such a grey pallor on everything - odd to see fog in the middle of summer.

 

baby Murre

Along the way I finally saw where the capelin came in.  Unfortunately there was no one with a bucket to get the easy pickings…so not the birds and bugs are eating their fill.  This isn’t quite what I wanted to see – one of my favourite sayings is, “be careful what you wish for!” and this was certainly one of those times- I got to see the capelin…but yikes! And the smell…..ewwww.



Murres

So we were on the boat with Captain Wayne to have our puffin and whale adventure.  We set out and the fog was definitely putting a damper on visibility.  Whales were certainly not easily seen and then by the end of our trip – we didn’t see any at all.  But the birds!  We were out at the Witless Bay Ecological Protected Area.  It was on Gull Island.  The cacophony as we approached was amazing.  So many birds.  We saw puffins…so many puffins…murres, 

Razorbills

razorbills, black gulls and kittiwakes.  So many and all living in this amazing habitat.  It had lots of the grassy area that the puffins can burrow in – yes they have their nests underground, the rocky ledges for the murres, gulls and the razorbills.  

Puffin

So on the top, which is the grassy slope are the puffins, then the murres and razorbills and then the gulls after that. 

So If you are a puffin, you would never get pooped on – however the gulls – I imagine they have to dodge and duck.

The area we were observing is ancient - the rock formations told of much harsh weather creating deep erosion.  There were many sea caves that have been carved out and will eventually undermine the rock around sending it cascading down and then the sea will crash and etch and change the land again after the next winter.  There are areas where the boat could manoeuver between different rock stacks that were solid land in previous years.  Interesting area.

It remained foggy for the rest of the day.  We drove into Petty Harbour for dinner and it was a bit of a challenge getting back to the Inn.  With country roads and not much lighting, we had to pick our way a bit here and there, but we made it back safely.

Tomorrow, we are off to Ferryland (pronounced Ferilund) for our lighthouse picnic.  The weather says the day will be very hot and very humid.  Nasty combination.  We have to walk in about 3-4 km and then out again.  I think Tom is going to try to drive up the narrow road to avoid this walk.  We will see – either way I will be prepared with lots of water.

Maggie and Jiggs

Today was a travel day – flying from Halifax to St John’s for the last few days of our adventure.  The time  did not seem to go very fast, but already it is almost at an end.  We certainly have been busy and there are a few great times still ahead.

We drove straight to pick up Nonie and then to go to Barbara’s for a traditional Maggie and Jiggs Dinner.  Let me tell you … it was a home cooked meal and the flavours were so unbelievably wonderful. 

 

Even though it was a very warm day, she had prepared - from left top to right bottom...peas pudding, mashed turnip, potatoes, corned beef,  carrots, parsnips, cabbage and molasses pudding.  My goodness – it was delicious.  We all ate our fill.  Then there was rhubarb-strawberry pie and ice cream for dessert.  We enjoyed every mouthful!

Then it was time to leave and make our way to Witless Bay for 2 nights.  We are going on a whale watching and puffin tour tomorrow at 1:00 in that area and it promises to delight.  The tour we have chosen is with Captain Wayne.  Camera is charged and we are ready to see it all!

There's a Storm a Brewin'

I need to tell you how much I appreciate that you are reading and commenting now and then.  I so look forward to seeing any and all responses.  We share them together and enjoy the connection with family and friends away and at home.  Thanks!

 

We left our hotel shortly before noon and made our way to the very old and very lovely Public City Garden.  We wandered around just enjoying the lovely day and being out in such a beautiful setting.   It is a great place for a picnic or simply just to take a walk.  There is a gazebo in the centre with lots of seating and during the summer, afternoon concerts are held every Sunday.

 

We moved the car up to Springarden Road to have stroll amongst the shops there.  Although we didn’t have lunch here, had to take a picture to show you.  A little further on we had a light lunch and then we were on our way to the cemetery where the greatest number of Titanic passengers are buried. 

Shannon and Tom walked among the grave markers and noticed that although lots of them had names on them, several of them just had a number.  Even though the passenger list would tell the name of each individual that was lost, I guess each individual body that was recovered wasn’t absolutely identified.  There are 121 markers in the Titanic Grave Site.

Then the rain started and wow did it come down in a hurry.  Decided to forego any further exploring and just get to the hotel near the airport.  We might even rent a movie this evening.  It is nasty outside.  We have had so much good luck with the weather that we won’t complain of some time being inside.

Tomorrow our flight is at 11:00 – we won’t even have to be up at the crack of dawn for this one!

 

Sunny with a Chance of Rainbows

We started off the day by doing laundry this morning.  Now we are all cleaned up and ready for the last week of our vacation.  The place was called the Detergency Room.  Cute name. Anyway, we managed to get everything done in 1 1/2 hours  - hopefully that is the last laundry we need to do before coming home.

Tom and Shannon went to look at some historical stuff, while Eileen and I chose to walk on the wharves down in the harbour.  It was lovely down there.  The city was alive and very colourful as it is Pride Week in Halifax and the Parade was today. 

Eileen and I were on the waterfront when the parade went by about about 4 streets up, so we saw some from a distance but not enough to see how much fun it must have been. 

Later when we were still walking about, we saw lots of people in such wonderful costumes making their way around town.  It was such a fantastic atmosphere.  The city was filled with rainbows!  (I think the people in this picture have posed for other pictures before...just sayin...)


The book store had a funny sign in the window with a rainbow that made us giggle.  Even the different businesses had corporate signs with rainbows in support of Pride Week.  Well done Halifax!
 

Eileen and I visited Casino Halifax and that's all I will say about that.  Well, actually I will say 2 things - we kept our shirts, but we are not flying home first class!  So as all of us are wearing Fit Bits....a little mechanism that tracks your steps for the day...I have to report that I accomplished 16,870 steps!  Considering about 2500 is a usual day with no extra walking - you can see what an accomplishment that is! 

We have all had lots of walking days, but this was exceptional.

 

So with this lovely day in Halifax Harbour at an end, our plans for tomorrow include the gardens and a walking day on Springarden Road before we make our way to the airport hotel to get ready for our early flight tomorrow morning to return to Newfoundland.

WHO PISSED IN HER CORNFLAKES...

We set off for Halifax today and our first stop was Timmy’s for breakfast.  I think I must have been take Grandpa to breakfast day.  It was a cute site to see the grandpas inside with their little charges.  One little girl was still in her pyjamas and at another table there was the superhero fellow.  He was wearing a Ninja Turtle hat, rough and ready Recon Man T-shirt, Optimus Prime, and transformer sandals.  I didn’t think I should ask about his underwear – that would be creepy, but my guess would be spiderman!  I knew we were safe with him in the restaurant!

We took a lovely drive – part scenic – part pedal to the metal to get there.  We had a stop in Sherbrooke – an interactive museum in a small town setting.  All the people are dressed in period costume and were running things the way it would have been at turn of the 19^th century.  We went through the little gift shop and then drove to the working mill.  There was a lovely old waterwheel that was working to turn the big saw in the mill.  It was a neat little look for free.  We didn’t go through the whole village as time was pressing us to move on to get to Halifax. 

Driving further along we came to a very busy part of the highway – cars were parked all over the place and people were donning wet suits and grabbing their boards.  A little further along and we could see over the boulder breakwater and there it was – SURFING – and the waves were coming in strong.  I never thought this was something we would see on our drive from Sydney to Halifax – it was in a little town called Lawrencetown.  A very popular place and the word must have been out that the surf was up cause they were arriving from every direction.

Finally we were in Halifax and looking for our next B&B.  We found the Verandah on a very small street with no parking out front.  WARNING:  Course language and suggesting gesturing – reader discretion is advised.  We made our way up the stairs and a little dog was barking a greeting at the door.  The lady – nope not a lady – the woman at the door looked at Eileen and said “if you don’t like my dog…don’t come through my door!”  Eileen was flabbergasted – she said “I never said I didn’t like your dog…”  Then the woman said, “I don’t like the look on your face.” Then I said, “We have come here to check in, would you rather we didn’t stay here?” ..she said, “Well if that suits you but good luck getting anything else.”  Tom thought we should err on the side of caution and not be hasty.  We went upstairs to look at the rooms and Shannon said, “OK I’m looking on line right now…WE are NOT staying here!”  First hotel we called had available rooms and is beautiful - the Delta Hotel in Halifax Harbour.  So Tom went down and told her that we had found other accommodations and wouldn’t be staying.  Her response to him was… “It’s just as well, I didn’t like them anyway.”  Then Tom got his dander up and told her “good luck running your business”.  So imagine if this was our first time at a B&B or for anyone to have an experience like that.  Letters will be written and phone calls will be made – do not stay at The Verandah Bed and Breakfast in Halifax, NS

We had dinner downstairs in the hotel.  Tom, Eileen and Shannon had the lobster.  Finally – the lobster dinner that Atlantic Canada is so famous for with corn on the cob, coleslaw and a bun.  I had rack of lamb.  Mine was delicious and the others didn’t seem to be wasting their time tucking into their large portions.  Chins dripping butter and fingers sticky with lobster juices…ew ew ew…me I was clean and shiny with my delicate portion of ½ of a rack of lamb with a modest amount of roasted vegetables.  Shannon even had to remove her lobster juice contaminated watch so as not to permanently damage it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before and after pictures of the lobster feast

Then we retired to our rooms to write letters and make phone calls to some really important tourism people – take that Verandah B and B!

St. Ann's Point to Ingonish Ferry

Happy Birthday Pam – may you feel special and loved all day! 

We started out on the Cabot Trail at St. Ann’s and drove to Ingonish Ferry.  Not sure whether we just have more beautiful scenery out west, or we picked a particularly unscenic part of the drive.  I know Tom was very disappointed. The road was mostly away from the water, rough and windy.  The next leg would have been a $20 fee as it is a National Park and just not sure if it would get better or not.  I felt bad for Tom and Shannon as they had high expectations for this part of our Atlantic adventure.  Only a couple of times we saw beautiful scenery – but no where to pull off the road and enjoy it, and then when there was a look off where you could pull over and stop, there wasn't anything special or picturesque to see.

 

So saw a fast food place on the way back to Sydney.  Who in their right mind would have thought this was a good name for an eating establishment!  Well it has been there for a very long time so for some reason it works…oh and did I mention that it is right next door to an ice cream place called Lick a Treat?  Oh Please!

  

Back to the hotel and then a wonderful walk on the boardwalk all the way to the giant fiddle.  This is at the cruise ship pavilion on the waterfront.  I was hoping to see giant things on this holiday and so far, this is it!  Our hotel room looks out on it so I have had a great look at one giant thing. 

I never saw the giant potato on PEI and haven’t found the giant lobster, but for now….this pic will have to do – Thanks Tom!

 

Dinner was at a lovely little place called the Olive Tree.  They had Greek and Italian and the wonderful smells emanating from the restaurant had us salivating as we opened the door.  We all ordered souvlaki . The plates were huge - we would have had leftovers with 2 dinners.  The waitress was already to pack up the remainder but we really couldn't take it with us  Most every table was taking away packages enough for another meal at least.  If we get there again one day we will order half as much food. What a great find though - delicious, reasonably priced and a great menu!

Same Day - Different Adventures

I rented a car for Eileen and me to do some exploring of our own.  Our first stop was in a place called Marion Bridge to a little quilt shop and when we opened the door we were aware of the humming of the ceiling fans as well as the computerised sewing machines.  There was a class going on. 

The shop owner was very friendly and it was a pleasant place to stop and have a chat.  I was able to get them all to pause for a picture depicting our very girlie day.  Time to push on to the next place on our list.

Rita’s Tea Room – celebrating the late Rita McNeil who came from Cape Breton.  It is truly out in the middle of nowhere.  Big Pond is not much of a dot on the map and there as you are driving down the road, it springs up on the left hand side.  It was not at all busy – in face only 4 other people were in the tea room.  Eileen’s stomach was still not feeling great, so we opted to just look around. Eileen bought a few things from the highly overpriced gift shop for a friend or two back home.  A single serving porcelain tea pot (I thought it was a lidded creamer) was $58.00 and a cup and saucer was $28.  I think Royal Doulton is nicer and you could probably get one cheaper!  So the bits and pieces of memorabilia around was nice but overall I think a bit of a disappointment that it was more like a shrine than a tasteful tea room and gift shop. 

Moving onto…Glace Bay – well let me tell you about Glace Bay – there I just did.  We drove around quite a few streets hoping to find a little gift shop or somewhere to poke around.  No luck – so then I started going up random streets and ended up at a dead end down by a fishery.  Got out to take a picture of the little bay with a seagull studded beach when a fellow tourist who was also taking pictures pointed out an “easy to navigate” path to get down to the rocky little beach. 

 

In my mind, I thought this looked like the perfect place to find sea glass.  It wasn’t long before I had several pieces of different sizes and colours to take home with me - I even found a piece of the coveted turquoise blue glass.  None were very large, and some of them were tiny, but I was so glad to be able to find some to take home with me.  Just as an aside...I learned that the locals call the brown sea glass the Labatts line - made me chuckle.  So Glace Bay I now say that you are an amazing place for sea glass!

Then we came back to the Holiday Inn to wait for Tom and Shannon to come home and tell us of their adventure in Louisbourg.  We hadn't  been back in the room for very long when the phone rang and it was Shannon.  She had a big misadventure as soon as they got into the park – she fell and gouged both knees on the gravel and sprained her ankle.  Tom and Shannon were able to take in the park as much as the pain would admit and then they stopped in at the hospital for 4 hours to get cleaned up and an xray (showed nothing thank goodness).  So they didn’t get back to the hotel until about 7:30

We stayed in the hotel for the evening watched the opening of the Commonwealth Games and the Toronto Boston baseball game on tv.  Quiet night and a good night to relax.  Something is telling Shannon and the rest of us that we needed to slow down.  Tomorrow is a driving day on the Cabot Trail.  So that will be good for Shannon to stay off her foot.  She will likely to be stiff and sore tomorrow.

A Much Better Day Today

So finally we are up and moving about.  Today we are on our way to Sydney, Nova Scotia and hoping to keep up with our itinerary – having lost a day, we need to figure out where we can cut something out.  We made our reservation on the ferry and were on our way by 11:15.  We still aren’t quite up to snuff, but the day of rest really helped.

 

Another beautiful day – can’t believe our luck but actually a little too hot.  We are really enjoyed the best that Atlantic Canada has to offer.  Still when we look at the forecasts, the weather seems to be following us for a bit longer yet.  Ferry ride was uneventful and still gradually feeling better all the time.

We made a brief stop of about an hour at Rena’s house.  Rena is the mother of Jane – Jane and Linda from Terrace – Shannon’s friends.  They had come out for the summer to stay with Jane’s mom for a month.  We had a cup of tea and oatcakes and cheese.  That went down pretty good.  We enjoyed our visit.  Then it was on to Sydney another 200 km or so.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn Harbourside in Sydney, NS on Cape Breton Island around 6:00 – Shannon and I finally have our own beds – I think we will both enjoy that!  Don’t get me wrong we have been really good bed buddies, but your own bed is still nice.  We had dinner in the hotel and enjoyed our first meal since the breakfast of the 20^th.  It was good – nope it was great!

Didn’t do much else, but tomorrow Eileen and I will putter around while Tom and Shannon go to Louisbourg to have step back in time when they will enjoy the historical fortress and all it has to offer.  So Eileen and I have Rita’s Tea House our plans as well as some quilt stores and local crafters trail to see some of the artisans in the area.  A girlie day for sure.

Here is a shot of the beautiful sunset that happened right outside our window this evening!  I think there must be some smokey fires nearby or something – wow can’t even name that colour!

 

 

We Were In Love With P.E.I. Right Up Until...

Great breakfast, we had candied bacon – done with brown sugar, scrambled egg, homemade bread into toast and a fresh fruit skewer – such great ideas we are learning for yummy breakfasts.  We are on a driving tour starting with Greenwich to see the sand dunes.  Oh and here is an observation, PEI has the most Tim Horton locations per capita than in any other province in Canada.  I see lots of people wandering around with Timmy’s cups, I have yet to see one.  Oh wait – finally there is one.

 

 

Learned something about Anne of Green Gables.  Evidently Ann has a huge following in Japan.  A Japanese lady was visiting from Japan and was so enthralled with the story, she translated Anne of Green Gables into Japanese when she returned home.  Later this story was added to the curriculum in Japanese schools and remains in the schools today.  Anne was such a different thinking free spirit that she became more than extremely popular with the people there. Then we learned that there are special “Anne” tours that come from Japan.  They arrive at 11:30 pm and the very next morning they are picked up by tour busses to go to Green Gables House – then back to the town for shopping at the Anne store in Charlottletown.  After dinner they are picked up once again to go the play – Anne of Green Gables which has been going for 50 years.  Then back to their hotels or inns and catch a 6:30 am flight back to Japan.  Now that’s obsession!  The year that SARS hit Ontario, Japanese tourism was down by 95% and this killed many of the tour companies in Charlottletown.  The few tourists that did come from Japan during that time were quarantined for 14 days when they did return home.  So even though the absence of Japanese tourists in Charlottetown was devastating for the tourist dependent industry here, Japan totally escaped the pandemic.

Stopped at PEI National Park and headed down to the beach.  It was lovely fine white sand – we are on the northern part of the island where the beaches are all white – on the southern part of the Island, the beaches are all red.  We will head down there later this evening on our way home for the Lobster Dinner – yes we are going to the New Glasgow Lobster Dinner – it was featured on You’ve Gotta Eat Here – so I think it is a good place for Tom, Eileen and Shannon to get their fill – me – I will have chicken or  beef.

Eileen and I are sitting at the Greenwich National Park Interpretation Centre while Tom and Shannon are doing the 1 hour roundtrip hike to the dunes.  Eileen and I were just happy to sit where it is cool and let them have that experience.  The sound of the meadow birds and the peacefulness of this spot is lovely – it was a good choice for the two of us. 

 

 

So – now here’s where everything ground to an abrupt halt….Shannon and Tom came back from their hike and Shannon felt really ill – we thought for sure that the heat had gotten her down.  So we decided not to carry on to Cavendish and the New Glasgow Lobster Dinner.  Wasn’t long before Eileen and I were both feeling under the weather and went to bed.  Guess the flu, or something like it, hit us hard.  So we were fortunate enough to be able to stay an extra night in Charlottetown at the Colonial Charm – what amazingly wonderful hosts Reg and Shelley.  You would think they would be pushing us out the door with gloved hands and masks, but they went out of their way to get us toast, tea and anything to try and help us feel better.

 

Needless to say the three of us did a lot of sleeping to get ready for our drive to Sydney.  We really needed to stop and take the day.  Poor Tom he was doing a bit of walking and a bit of driving and a meal or two by himself – he wasn’t affected thank goodness.  So there it is not much to report during this time.  We certainly are a sorry lot!

I want a Hippopotabus for Christmas...

We started out walking this morning and didn’t stop until we went to bed.  Going upstairs to get to bed was a struggle I must admit.  I let the others wend their way around the town to see the historically significant sights – me I was all about rushing to the Quilt store and what a lovely little shop it was!  I bought a few items (not a surprise for anyone I’m sure).   There was a really neat little set of patterns that makes a truly Atlantic Canada wall hanging.  I loved it, but I am one panel short.  I will have to mail order it at a later time.

Then I hurried down to do the Hippopotabus – a duck tour (land and water).  I met up with Shannon and Eileen and we did it together.  It was fun to go around the streets learning a bit about the town and seeing the beautiful streets that are Charlottetown.  Factoid: Did you know that PEI has almost 30 golf courses on the island which is 139 miles long and between 4 and 40 miles wide? That's a lot... and now you know!

and then OMG – we went down this path to the water.  Steep, extremely bumpy and I WAS NOT LIKING THIS ONE BIT – and then just suddenly we were floating but rocking side to side (please Paxil – I need you to work RIGHT NOW!)  I had no idea that they went way into the harbour .. ok calming down some…saw lots of jellyfish in close to the shore and they were not the beautiful ones in the Victoria Harbour, but rather some nasty purple blobs that can have a nasty sting if you are unfortunate enough to get that close.  Now I was calm enough to ungrip my sleeping white fingers from the rail and enjoy the rest of the trip.  Next time I will read the brochure.

History Lesson: So after we disembarked, we made our way up to Province House lawn to watch the re-enactment of Sir John A MacDonald’s magnificent scheme to unite the British Colonies in North America.  This was acted out by the Confederation Players in period costume and was a great 20 minute production.  It portrayed PEI’s reluctance to join confederation as they couldn’t see the benefits and felt that they would be under represented in a federal parliament situation.  So as part of their conditions to join Canada, they would have and keep 4 seats in parliament – which is greater than their population would allow them to have.  The population on the island even now is only 145,000.  I didn’t know that!  - but now we all know!

So on we walked Tom and Shannon making their way to have a lobster roll at Dave’s Lobster and Eileen and I to poke around in the shops and finally went our way around to a place called Brakish and lo an d behold on the menu was Clam Chowder – not fish chowder – hurray – I was hoping to find some and I did.  It was delicious.  Then we walked back to the quilt shop to pick up my purchases (as I didn’t want to walk around with them all day) and then finally home.  We had 1.5 hours until it would be time to make our way on foot again into the town for dinner.

We had a reservation for Buono Mangia for dinner and it was delicious!  Pasta is homemade, bread is homemade, sauces are amazing and we were in 7^th heaven for such a delicious Italian meal.  It came highly recommended by Reg of the Inn and certainly did not disappoint.  So then it was back to the Colonial Charm and then to early bed. 

Sailing .... Sailing Away to PEI

Beautiful day to start out on our journey to Charlottetown, P.E.I.  One minor glitch – when we pulled into the gas station and the cover release switch was jammed and we couldn’t get the cover opened to get gas.  Fortunately around the corner was a mechanic who was able to use a pick to release the switch and then we were able to go back to the gas station and fill up. 

Drive was smooth all the way up past Halifax, Truro and there were some interesting names on highway signs in between like: Tatamagouche, Mushamush River and Shubenacadie.  When we passed by Stewiacke, we were exactly half way between the North Pole and the Equator.  Other than that it was a long straight road for 2 hours.

Glitch #2 is now while we are waiting for the ferry we are reserved on.  It broke down, so we will catch the next one.  We were supposed to leave at 1:00, but instead we will be leaving 2:45.  These things happen and we are not in any great time crunch, so that will be just fine.  Later tonight we are going to a show called “Canada Rocks”.  That should be great fun.  But for now, here we sit. 

These ferries are weird – the front opens up like a shark – so the front part of the deck raises and the cars drive under the top jaw, so to speak.  There was also a ramp going down that they fill with cars – so glad we didn’t end up going there!

So we were on the 2:45 ferry and sailing for 75 minutes over to PEI – smooth crossing.  There was a COWS ice cream on board so we were able to same what is proclaimed to be the best ice cream in the world.  Evidently this was voted by Tauck World Discovery as best in the world…not by themselves – so I guess there is some credence to the ranking.  Anyway, it was a hot day and it sure tasted good!

Our first real view of the island was the red rocks and the lighthouse.  Looked so beautiful coming in.  We drove for about 45 minutes past many corn fields and of course potato fields.  PEI supplies 30% of the world’s potatoes in 15 different varieties!  Can you name more than 5?  Didn’t know there would be a test did you!  Lovely rolling fields and so green – looks beautiful.

We arrived at our B&B around 5:00 and walked down to Victoria Street for dinner.  Quite the happening place.  Street is closed to traffic and many street restaurants. 
It was lovely. 

Eileen and I shared Lobster Mac and Cheese.  Even though it had lobster in it, it tasted pretty good.

After, we walked to the Confederation Art Centre for our show, Canada Rocks.  This show was a musical review from west to east of all the Canadian singer/songwriters from BC to PEI.  It was so lively and the music was excellent.  We really enjoyed It – then it was a quick walk after nearly 3 hours of music back to our home for 3 nights. 
 

 

 
 
Shannon and I have a beautiful King room with a guardian outside the door to protect us from things that go bump in the night....unfortunately -

 

NO I DIDN'T KNOCK HIM OVER ... but every time I open the door - he scares the crap out of me!