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!