Week 165 8/26 - 9/1/2018
We have been looking forward to this trip for some time, and planning together with Ann and Jon.
Here is the condo we rented.
During the week we accumulated several cards on the mantel over the electric fire. We celebrated Paul's birthday and Ann and Jon's anniversary.
This trip was arranged through a golf trip agency. She found the guys five great courses.
A couple of times, Ann and I finished our adventures in time to get a drink or snack with Paul and Jon. Sometimes they had to wait a bit for their ride because we were too far afield.
The local Mi'kmaq people have a nice display at one of the visitor centers. We talked for some time with a woman who is learning to make some of these crafts at the reservation on Lenox Island.She told us that there was a traditional wedding two days ago and that this was the first one she had ever witnessed.
The basket has an interesting feature: when the Mi'kmaq were being displaced from the large region including all of PEI, Nova Scotia and part of the coastal mainland, they were not allowed to use their herbal medicines. This basket includes some of those plants which were hidden among the weave.
Part of this word means cradle on the waves, which is the name for PEI. I think the whole thing means welcome to that place.
Ann and I visited Lenox Island. We toured the museum, cemetery and church. Some other visitors were getting a lesson in harvesting and cooking shellfish. We peeked at this process. A man drummed and sang while the food roasted.
Guess who our tour guide was? The bridegroom from the recent traditional wedding! He showed us all his photos on his phone. He married a woman from the Sami people in Finland. He had met her at a conference of native people.
There were a few official expressions of regret about the way the native people were treated.
Ann and I didn't find too many places to eat, but this one was a nice surprise. It was called a burger place but we had salad and seafood as well as beer from a local brewery.
We thought Paul might enjoy a growler or two for his birthday, so we tried to find Moth Lane Brewery. Even with directions from a person, a map and GPS, we had a hard time finding it and backtracked a few times. This is how we knew we were on the right track -- finally. Guess we are not the only people having this problem.
Our new friends. Ann took this photo. The women are from Quebec. The bartender is the brewer. He looks a bit surly or annoyed in this photo, but he was very nice and chatted with all of us.
Of course a trip to PEI isn't complete without a trip to
Ann of Green Gables house. A HUGE new visitor center is being built. We also had some amazing blueberry ice cream. Ice cream is big here and we tried a few kinds.
A peninsula on the southern coast of the west third of the island is mostly Acadian. We stopped there at the
Bottle Houses.
Also in the Acadian areas, there was an agricultural fair. The timing didn't mesh with our schedule but we did manage to catch a charming competition with miniature horses and carts.
We made a rather long trip west to the Potato Museum. I didn't expect much, but it was really very nice. Lots of info on history, cultivation, advertising, marketing, cooking etc. Here was a strange display of the various diseases that potatoes can get.
Paul planted potatoes this year and was troubled with lots of potato bugs. This is one sort of bug picker.
Ann and I also stopped at a few beaches. All were beautiful, clean, well maintained and appointed with showers and rest rooms, boardwalks, etc. Many people were using the facilities. One beach had a fishing museum. I liked the way this boat looked.
We also went to the easternmost point of PEI. Here is East Point Lighthouse.
We stopped at a scenic view area on the north coast and spotted an eagle flying. We followed him and saw him hunting from a tree.
We had some great meals, almost always seafood. This beautiful and large garden was adjacent to one restaurant.
We planned to celebrate Paul's birthday at a particular restaurant but it was full. We were offered reservations for the following night (Jon and Ann's anniversary) and free dessert for the celebrators. The owner threw in a free dessert for me too so I wouldn't be left out. But that first night, as we were leaving, we heard some jazz. Just a short distance away was a very good trio. We enjoyed it a lot, especially Jon who talked to the players for a while.
Also near the jazz performance was a fish and chips shack, billed as the best fish and chips on the island. It may be true. It was excellent.
Here we are celebrating the birthday and anniversary.
Paul wouldn't want to leave PEI without having a lobster.
North Rustico
Cavendish Beach
I love this photo of Jon and Ann.
Paul and Jon were not left out of the sightseeing. We walked to Teacup Rock near Thunder Bay Beach.
Near Souris on the east coast.
This is one of our favorite views, including hay bales.
On our last day we visited this very touristy area and had some ice cream at the chain place. It was very good. We also looked at t-shirts etc. Don't think we bought anything.
Some people wanted to try poutine. Not my thing.
On the way back to the US, we stopped at the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island.
