Prince Edward Island - The Gentle Island

We hadn't originally planned on going to PEI.  But, from the brochures it seemed it would be a cool place to visit.  Going there would involve some planning and cost some money.  We decided that if we were going there, it would have to be for a few days in order for the expense to be worthwhile. Crossing over to PEI on the bridge doesn't cost anything, but leaving the island would cost us $44.50. 


We drove to Shediac New Brunswick to spend the night and saw the world's largest lobster:) 

From Shediac we took the Confederation Bridge to Gateway Village on the island.  This bridge is 8 miles long and takes 10 minutes to cross.  I timed it...they are right. 














Of course when you get off the bridge you are funneled through a touristy area, but they did have some cool shops there.



 The drive from the bridge to the campground really gave us an idea what the island was like...there are rolling green fields that go right up to the waters edge...the unpaved red clay roads that have always been a part of the island...and the churches...every little community has one.  When you see a sign for a community usually there aren't any businesses - but there is a church.  They all seem to architecturally different and unique.

Our campground - Twin Shores - was on an area of the island called Green Gables Shore - which is on the north central coast.  The book Anne of Green Gables was written on PEI and there are museums, the author's home, and everything "Anne".  It is on a point on the coast where one side has the red sand of Darnley Bay and the other the white sand of The Gulf of St. Lawrence.  It was absolutely beautiful serene place to be - even if there were 600 other RVs there. 

We took a drive to golf at Mill River Golf Course.  This course was the golf course used in The Big Break show - One of Randy's favorite golf shows.    We got rained out and drove up that way again - this time we drove up to the very tip of the island - for us it will be the northernmost point of our travels.  We saw the wind farm and the North Cape Lighthouse.

Our geocaching on the island led us to a beautiful brick cathedral and cemetery out in the middle of nowhere.  The Parish of Mont-Carmel have a stunning cathedral - inside and out.  It is open to the public and they have volunteers on site to answer questions.  I picked up a handout with the history of the parish.  The huge columns inside are actually made of concrete and were painted to look like marble by artists from Italy in 1921.  Visitors are surprised to find out they look the same now as when they painted.  The cemetery is just as beautiful as the church with a history that is just as fascinating. 

 

We made a trip to Charlottetown which is the largest city on the island.  We weren't there long.  We found a geocache, had a seafood lunch and walked around the historic waterfront.  Just enough for a warm sunny day.

After much discussion we decided that we would take the ferry from PEI to Nava Scotia.  It is more expensive than the bridge, but the additional $60 would save us about 400 miles and hours of driving.  We made our reservations and had to leave our campsite at 5 am Sunday morning for the 2 hour drive to Woods Island for the ferry.  The 75 minute trip on a warm sunny day was great.  

 There's a link to the right of this blog that will take you to more pictures.