Canada Day on Prince Edward Island

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This morning, we kindred spirits arrived in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island before 8 AM. I had managed to drag myself out of bed in time for my first work-out in the gym on the Lido Deck, and enjoyed seeing the red soil of Prince Edward Island approaching on our left. The island drew ever closer as I worked out on the treadmill with quite a few others, who were all running at a blistering pace; while, I walked along at 3.6 MPH enjoying the outside view, not minding that reception for the channel covering Wimbledon was no better here than in our cabin.

We had breakfast in the dining room, and again I enjoyed the Swiss Muesli, along with the Frittata Italiano and I added some link sausage and toast. Sharon ordered one slice of French Toast; but, still she got two! We’re going ashore today, and won’t be back for lunch aboard! Our tour meets ashore at 12:15 PM; but, we plan to disembark and walk around, maybe even find a lobster roll! We headed towards the library for our Sudoku Challenge. I had clearly blundered in the Easy Puzzle and had to start over; but, managed to finish a few seconds ahead of Sharon. In the Hard Puzzle, I again realized that I’d made a mistake, and tried to fix it, and again things were just getting worse, so I had to start that one over as well. This time Sharon takes the prize and finished about twenty seconds ahead of me! Happy Girl, now we’ll see if she defends her title tomorrow or retires with the crown!

We found a popular restaurant on the wharf, with an extensive seafood and land-lovers menu including a promising looking lobster roll (served either hot or cold) for about $18. They also serve fried clams (same price) which Sharon claims to enjoy; although, I don’t remember ever seeing her eat them. She claims that she had them with me at Halifax two years ago when I had my decent Lobster Roll; but, she said her clams weren’t very good. They didn’t open until 11:30 AM and we doubted that would give us sufficient time to meet the tour group back at the terminal building. We walked down the street, and came across Dave’s that served lobster roll. They at least were open and their lobster roll was about $12, but they didn’t really have anything Sharon would like. A block farther up the street we found The Water Prince Corner Shop was up the street that combined a fresh seafood and restaurant and general store; and, according to the waitress who was setting up the indoor and outdoor tables, they were open now. We decided to have lunch at 10:30 AM, I got the lobster roll for $15 and Sharon got Fish and Chips for $12 (haddock). They also offered halibut for $15. Their lobster rolls are made with fresh lobster cooked on site, and not froze as many places used (or so we were told). Their buns were nice and a bit more substantive than a hot dog bun (more of a Hoagie bun), and they were fresh. The lobster salad clearly had chunks of lobster in it, with just a bit of mayonnaise for binding. The bun was lined with a single leaf of lettuce and there was just a very tiny amount of celery in the mix. I thought the size of the bun was appropriate; but, would have preferred just a bit more of the lobster salad (of course). I would have to say, this lobster roll is the best that I’ve had (okay, this is my fourth lobster roll). The first that I’d ever had, on the HAL tour highlights of Prince Edward Island was, in a word, abysmal, and I’d venture to say should have been called a celery and mayonnaise roll because it certainly had no lobster in it. I later got one in Maine on the same HAL cruise when we took a tour guide recommendation during our free time before returning to the ship. It was in a local tavern with local beer and I’d have to say it was good, but the lobster salad probably included too much celery. The third lobster roll I had recently at a cooking class at our local Dorothy Lane Supermarket in Ohio, where they’d brought in their Maine supplier, and some of the indicators of a good lobster roll were explained. Interestingly, a hot dog bun is often used because of the desire not to have anything over-power or take away from the lobster. Mayonnaise should be used sparingly, only sufficient to bind the lobster together. In general, these are the only two ingredients needed in a lobster roll; although, quite a few also add some chopped celery and a bit of lettuce. The lobster should be in recognizable chunks. The sample I enjoyed during this class was delicious; but, just a slice of a full lobster roll, so it really only whetted my appetite for more… so here I am on PEI looking for more. I noted to the waitress that someone on the cruise ship had mentioned that the lobster rolls served at local McDonald’s are pretty good; and she agreed, they were, considering (they’re made with frozen lobster that is). My lobster roll came with a choice of potato salad or fries, and the fries were excellent. Sharon enjoyed her fish and chips; again, she chose not to get the fried clams which were available.

We went back to the terminal in time to meet the tour group… and we waited… and we waited. There is always someone who seems that they’re entitled to show up fifteen minutes late. Well, we waited twenty minutes for the last couple to arrive. I was beginning to realize that my feet were killing me, and the new running shoes I was wearing weren’t properly broken in yet and it felt like I would surely wind up with blisters. We still had to walk back, past the shop we’d had lunch in, and at least that distance again to the theatre. We meandered slowly to the theatre and our guide had to compete with the many public goings on celebrating Canada Day this July 1^st. Red and White banners and bunting were being displayed everywhere, and everyone was greeting “Happy Canada Day”, which the locals really smiled in appreciation if you said it to them first. We got to the theatre across the street from a larger theatre that has the longest running seasonal musical “Anne of Green Gables” that runs from June until September. We were going to see “Anne and Gilbert” (The Musical) which is the love story of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe of the fictional town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. The theatre interior is a boxy concrete structure with the concrete floor as the stage. A stair-step platform supports five rows of increasingly uncomfortable smallish chairs, shall we say less than ideal for comfortably supporting the ever burgeoning American derriere. The theatre seats about 120 people. The show is entertaining; and, while familiarity with the Green Gables franchise will definitely enhance enjoyment of the show, prior knowledge of Anne (who definitely is proud of spelling her name with an “E”) is not necessary. To recap, Anne was an orphan who came to live with Murilla Cuthbert and her brother (both never married). She meets Gilbert at the local school, and never seems to forgive him for making fun of her flaming red-orange hair; this, despite his only trying to be noticed by her. As this musical begins, Gilbert is the school teacher of the Avonlea School that they had attended together, and she too is credentialed to teach. He decides to take a position at the White Sands private school for higher pay, and to allow Anne to teach near Murilla who is aging and otherwise alone after her brother’s death. Despite it being apparent to everyone but Anne that she and Gilbert belong together, she does everything she can to have none of it. In the end she must make the choice of either Gilbert or a new wealthy smarmy suitor who has written her poems about her eyes the way Gilbert never would. She knows that she must make a choice and that someone is going to be hurt. Indeed, in the end, she does make a choice.

The show last two and one-half hours. Did I mention how uncomfortable those chairs were? Still, the musical was very enjoyable with a wonderful cast. The play ended just after 4 PM and “All Aboard” is at 4:30 PM, and we still had to walk back to the Maasdam. We boarded at exactly 4:30 PM, and heard that one tour bus had broken down and they were waiting for at least 50 people (half from our group, because we were among the first to return from the musical). The timing meant that we missed Team Trivia with our teammates (I hope the forgive us and haven’t replaced us.)

Sharon rushed up to Mass where she said the sermon was on geese. I met her there and we headed up to the Rotterdam Dining Room for dinner. We had joined four others at a table for six, and they were just getting their appetizers. I started with the Tomatoes and Buffalo Milk Mozzarella. HAL serves this with thin slabs of cheese wedged between thicker slices of tomato and some balsamic vinegar drizzled over it; but, it is quite good. I also had the cabbage soup, which was a nice broth based soup, but not exceptionally memorable. I had the vegetable curry with forbidden black rice, which I don’t remember having before, and it was quite good. The curry was tasty, but it was quite mild and I was expecting something hotter, as was the gentleman from Macau sitting next to Sharon (no, not me, I was sitting across from Sharon). Again, I had the cheese plate featuring cheeses from North America, including Edam, Smoked Gouda and Pont E’l’veque.

We had a bit of time before the show so we headed to the casino. Sharon lost about half her daily $20 limit; while, I was giving back to the house most of what I’d won the day before. I started with poor cards, and then a nice run of winning 8 hands in a row, after which I would normally have quit, but there was still more than thirty minutes before the Show. Well, I only won two hands after that streak ended.

The show was a musical sit-com called Goode Company, featuring four male singers working at an advertising agency which they’ve started after their musical endeavors of the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. Sounds like a perfect venue to offer a musical collage of rock and roll, disco and hard rock.

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