Prince Edward Island - Week 1

Friday, July 7, 2017 - Today was rather low key. Alan went to play pickleball in the morning. He helped the group paint lines on the courts. I went for a walk. We are both really enjoying the boardwalk along the coastline.

After lunch, we went to the College of Piping. It was a little disappointing to discover that it is not really a college. It is just a school that offers lessons. We were the only 2 audience members for the 1 PM session. They showed dancing, drumming, and playing the bagpipes.

Our evening entertainment consisted of walking to the waterfront park area for a free concert (bottom right).
The photo on the top right is another squirrel friend from along the boardwalk. The photo in the middle shows the 2001 gold medal winners of the World Junior Curling Team from Summerside.

Thursday, July 6, 2017 - Our vacation house is in a great area. The Red Shores Summerside Raceway is just a block or two away. When Alan took his morning walk, he saw practice for harness racing.

Today we drove over to the Cavendish area. We ate lunch at the Blue Mussels Cafe in North Rustico Harbor. It was delicious!

We then went to the main Cavendish beach area. The weather app said it would be windy today and that was extremely accurate. I felt like I got a good sand blasted exfoliation! These are their "white" beaches. They are not nearly as white as our FL beaches and there are rocks everywhere. (The lower right picture is my blue shirt and black shorts with sand on them.)

We then moved down the coast to escape the blowing sand. Upper right is where we had a family photo made on a cruise adventure 2 years ago. Bottom left shows the "white" sand Cavendish beach area that we were at.

We drove further down the coast and found a stop with 2 parking spaces. I think it was called Doyle's Cove. We got out and had a peaceful time for relaxation.

We continued down the coast to the North Rustico Beach area. The white stripes on the shore on the picture in the upper right is the dry sand blowing across the wet sand. On the bottom left, you can see a lot of jellyfish coming ashore.

Alan being goofy beside an Anne of Green Gables statue - Avonlea shopping area

And the grand finale - our main reason for hanging out in the Cavendish area today - The Cavendish Beach Music Festival! A free Tailgate Party started at 6. We heard several bands that will be playing during the weekend festival. 

July 5, 2017 - Today we stayed in Summerside. The morning started with Alan playing pickleball. I went for a walk.

Alan and his pickleball friends. The only friend I saw on my walk was a squirrel that wanted a treat that I didn't have.

We took the free tour of the fox museum and learned about the silver fox industry that used to be on the island.

Then we took a short free tour of part of Summerside. We met at the Holman House. Mr. Holman used to be in the fox industry. We started and ended in the garden - one of the oldest on the island. The mural on the bottom left depicts a fire from the early 1900s that destroyed a lot of the buildings in Summerside. The bottom right is a stone carving above a brick building's doorway. It was built after the fire.

As we walked home, we noticed a tall ship leaving the harbor. A local resident took our photo.

We went to a free evening "Concert in the Garden" which is next to the "Lefurgey Cultural Center". The house was built in 1871.

July 4 - Independence Day for the USA. We toured the Central Coastal Drive. Pictures from our stops are below.

Chelton Beach Provincial Park - We can see Confederation Bridge from this park.

Alan's pickleball friends recommended that we eat lobster in Victoria so that's what we did. I had the lobster roll and Alan had the lobster and bacon sandwich. Both were delicious.

Other scenes from Victoria including PEI's largest tree!

Argyle Shore Provincial Park

Upper left - From Rocky Point, you can see the cruise ship in Charlottetown.
Upper right - Bonshaw Provincial Park - lots of fish were at the water's edge and we saw eagles too.
Lower left - USA and Canada shirts
Lower right - Summerside has a wonderful walkway along the coastline. This is one of the scenes that Alan saw on his evening walk. He could also see a "tall ship" on the water and Confederation Bridge.

Meanwhile, back at home . . . Gina and Steve - thank you for taking care of our children (and dog).

And to Karen - special prayers - Melvin Riley Whitaker (Sept. 30, 1937 - July 4, 2017). Sending my love.

July 3, 2017 - Alan is having pickleball withdrawals. He had already researched where to play and he started his day by hitting a ball. He enjoyed meeting the locals and will go again.

After his return, we went on the North Cape Coastal Drive. Our stops and a few pictures are below.

Jacques Cartier Provincial Park

North Cape Lighthouse and Wind Farm.

The Canadian Potato Museum - we didn't tour the museum, just visited the gift shop.

West Point Lighthouse - We took the self guided tour. It is an inn. You can stay in the rooms that the light keeper's family used to use.

The Bottle Houses and gardens

July 2, 2017 - Today we made a trek into Charlottetown. We went to the visitor's center, the harbor, Walmart, and Old Navy (searching for Canada Day shirts on clearance). The stores do not open until after 12 on Sunday. There were people waiting at the doors at Walmart and it was packed.

When we returned we napped, walked on the boardwalk along the beach, and grilled out. It started out cloudy and dreary and ended up sunny and gorgeous.

July 1, 2017

After 1820 miles of driving, we have arrived. And it's Canada Day - 150 years. We are just a couple of blocks (a short walk) from the beach and an ice cream stand. We walked down to the family friendly Canada Day activities at the waterfront and listened to the live music. Alan smirked when I wore jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a long sleeve sweatshirt. However, we sat at the waterfront in the drizzle waiting for fireworks and it was cold. He even opted to not eat an ice cream. We love the cooler weather and we got a good dose of it.

The "tall ships" at Summerside

Waiting for fireworks on Canada Day

Where we sat waiting for the fireworks

And finally fireworks!