PEI: Festivals, Music, Beaches and Wind Turbines

---

I find it amusing that there are no tolls to get onto PEI, but there is a toll to leave the island. We opted to take the ferry to PEI and will leave by the Confederation Bridge. It is known as The Gentle Island and from what I saw that is accurate. The hills are the gentle rolling type. It is picturesque with the crops, the cows, and the fishing boats. We did a lot of driving to see the different sections and coasts of PEI.

Charlottetown

We visited Charlottetown two different nights. We both enjoyed this town. The first night we walked around an old section that has restaurants, a brew pub and street music. We ate and drank at The Gahan House. That is where I had scallops for the very first time. My friend was right I did enjoy them. We walked some more and ended up at Cows ice cream store. Of course we had to try this different ice cream. It was a little pricey, but it was rich, creamy, excellent quality and a wonderful treat.

The next night we returned to go to the International Shellfish Festival. There was an admission fee of $15/person. It was inside a large tent, so we would be okay no matter what the weather. I didn’t know quite what to expect and we were there for the evening activities. It turned out to be a lot of fun. They had an oyster shucking competition. That could have been hard to see, but they had cameras and large LED displays, so we could see everything easily. At the beginning the rules and penalty system were explained and it was quite detailed. They also had a man who was the master of ceremonies for the competition. He was good at getting the audience to participate through cheering. We were divided and each side was to cheer for their respective shucker.

During the course of the evening we heard two different musical groups perform. I enjoyed them both but the group from Newfoundland was my favorite. They were called Shaneyganook. Their music was lively and there was a lot of energetic dancing by the audience.

The Bottle House of Cap-Egmont

This was actually 3 different buildings. I liked the quirkiness of these buildings. There were also gardens and water features surrounding the buildings.

Anne of Green Gables House

Anne was a fictional character, but this house was known to the author, and she drew on her knowledge and love of PEI in her books. Years ago someone had given me the video tape of Anne of Green Gables, so we watched the video the night before visiting this house. There was an Amish family touring the house when we were there….I wonder what they thought about it…was it just about the way they do things at home now? The house was to portray life at the turn of the century…1900, not 2000.

Odds and Ends

As I said earlier we did a lot of driving and saw a lot of different areas of the island. It was a busy few days. We enjoyed our time and especially Charlottetown. That town seems to have a variety of events going on throughout the year.

Now it is time to head across the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick. We’ve saved the Bay of Fundy for the grand finale of our time in the Canadian Maritime.

---

Photos

Sunset from our RV
This was overlooking Malpeque Bay.

Rolling hills and farmland
I tried several shots to capture the colors and this is my best one but still not right. These fields were a richer golden color and really added to the sense that fall is quickly approaching. The greens were also deeper and richer color.

PEI The Gentle Island
It seems correctly named with its gentle rolling hills.

Singing Sands
I liked the red rock cliffs and then the light color sand...very picturesque. We tried to hear the singing of the sands, but they were apparently not performing at that time. George even was down on all 4s trying to hear something. He had the camera, otherwise I would have snapped a photo.

Shucking competition
It was interesting to hear the scoring system for the competition. One of the time penalties was for blood on the oyster. I don't remember how much time, but apparently if you cut yourself try not to bleed on the oyster.

Entrance to the Bottle House
This was located by the road, and that helped us know when we had arrived. The actual Bottle House is further away from the road and behind a normal looking structure.

The Bottle House - outside
There were 3 different buildings made out of bottles. This was the house. It wasn't a house for people to live in, but more of a garden feature. There was also a tavern and a chapel.

Inside the Bottle House
When the sun light hit the bottles it lit them up like stained glass.

North Cape
Here there is a red rock reef that extends for perhaps 2 km at low tide. Our timing was wrong for being able to walk out on it as we arrived at near high tide. The tide continued to rise while we were there and various rocks and land masses continued to disappear.

North Cape restaurant and museum
There was a great view from the restaurant. We shared seafood crepes. We have been taking advantage of all the good seafood on this trip.

Wind turbine
The North Cape is also a research center for wind turbines. This finger of land has 300 degrees of exposure to the sea winds. There were several wind turbines of a few different designs.

Wind turbine and me
They are much bigger on the ground than way up high in the air. It was impressive to stand next to one.

Festival
This was in Charlottetown.

Comments

[Phyllis]

pictures
Lynn, I love your photos and commentary.

[Denise]

Louisbourg
Lynne, It sounds like you enjoyed the fort despite the weather! I swear to you that it what I remember the fort looking like 30 some years ago. I also remember the guard at the entrance saying the same thing. Loved the photos of the lighthouse. Safe travels. D

[Iris Young]

PEI
Loved the photos, of the maritimes, I think we loved PEI best. Have a good trip.