Our Maritimes Road Trip - Prince Edward Island

We woke this morning, to an overcast, gloomy day, totally at odds with the weather that I wanted to enjoy for our Prince Edward Island experience. So, to brighten our spirits, we wandered down into Charlottetown for a cup of the best coffee we have had in a while, and a perusal of the Anne of Green Gables store. Pepped up with caffeine, we began our drive to the Cavendish area of Prince Edward Island, the area where Lucy Maud Montgomery grew up and where the Anne books are all set.  

Our first stop along the way was at Dalvey shore, our first glimpse of the ocean for the day. It the biting wind, I stood on the red sand beach and got my photo and from then on, was reasonably content to take my photos of the rolling green landscape and cows from the warmth and wind-free comfort of the car. 

We arrived at Green Gables house at the same time as two coach loads of anne-loving tourists, so it was busy. Last night, we watched the first half of Anne of Green Gables, which meant Hubby and both girls, had some faint understanding of what it meant to be visiting Green Gables. Both girls were excited to be visiting Anne's house - although, much to our amusement, The Youngest seems incapable of saying the name 'Anne', constantly referring to our beloved red haired heroine as 'Arn'. Hubby, marvellous man that he is, promptly went to the butter churn cafe and came back bearing both carrot cake and 'Raspberry cordial' - as he now holds that important knowledge of what Raspberry cordial means to all Anne fans. Scored himself a few points with that one!

After battling to get a photo free of coach travelling tourists, we did our tour of Green Gables, seeing Anne's room, Marilla's room, Matthew's room and the kitchen and sitting rooms. It was something of an achievement for me to have visited one of my childhood storybook loves and I just loved it - even if it was busy. 

Then we headed off for our wander through the haunted wood. This was a beautiful wander through the woods, (if you don't include the complaints of The Youngest, who quite simply wanted to go back to Arn's house and thereby go back to the car, which thereby would mean a return to the hotel). 

We made it to the ruins of the house where L. M. Montgomery grew up, visited a book store at that location (which had not only Anne of Green Gables materials, but also interesting books in other genres)

before heading back to green gables through the misty, windy weather. We completed our time at Green Gables with a wander down lovers lane, where I got my much coveted 'walking down the lane with my daughters' shot (even if it was not the actual lane from the movie) before the tantrum throwing antics of our three year old, ensured a swift return to the car and a quest for some much needed lunch. 

The Youngest promptly fell asleep as soon as she was in the car, meaning that our lunch at the Fisherman's Wharf Lobster Supper was enjoyable for the three awake members of the family, and some delicious seafood chowder, one PEI freshly caught lobster and a bowl of PEI blue mussels were consumed in peace and with great joy. 

Feeling pleasantly full, and not quite ready to say goodbye to Green Gables territory, we did a drive to where I though we could see the Lake of Shining Waters. Instead, we found ourselves at a beautiful spot on the coast, where we spent a fabulous hour exploring rocks, and enjoying a very beautiful spot on the island. 

We headed back to Charlottetown with enough time on our hands to wander down to the waterfront, follow the antics of Eckhart the mouse (we found 4 of 9 statues), before heading back to our BnB to wash and pack and get ready for an early departure tomorrow morning in order to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia. 

I have enjoyed Prince Edward Island, and would dearly love to spend more time here. It is much bigger than I realised and we saw such a small fraction of it. At least I have achieved something off my bucket list in visiting Green Gables. If the girls had of been older, we may have visited the Avonlea village as well. However, I am content with what we managed to see and am delighted that I have introduced both my daughters and my husband to the magic that is Anne of Green Gables. 

Our Maritimes Road Trip - Fredericton to Prince Edward Island

We awoke today to a much colder world than we had yesterday. Where we had been sweltering in t-shirts just 12 hours earlier, we were now bundling up in jackets and sweaters, trying to protect ourselves from the chilling wind blowing blustering around us. 

We had intended on exploring Fredericton before heading off towards Prince Edward Island, but after hurriedly making our way to a cafe for breakfast, we decided just to take a couple of photos and hit the road. It was just too darn cold for wandering around. Before we left Fredericton we stopped in at a small store that sold tea and coffee, to purchase some take away drinks. The owner of the store had his beautiful giant schnauzer 'Cooper' in the store, and the girls were just captivated and delighted with him. He was gorgeous. 

Our first stop this morning was two hours down the road at Moncton. Once again, the drive proved spectacular, with the landscape vibrant with fall colour. We planned to arrive in time for the Tidal Bore - this is a Phenomenon caused by the Bay of Fundy tides, where you see the tide rolling in along the Petitcodiac River. We arrived by luck, just a few minutes before the tidal bore occurred. So we only spent less than a minute in the freezing wind waiting for it to come rolling up the river. It was pretty impressive to watch. 

From Moncton, we travelled half an hour down the road to Shediac, the Lobster capital of the world. It is pretty much the end of the summer season, and many business are now closed that would normally be bustling with the summer crowds. However we managed to see the Big Lobster and find somewhere to get our serving of Shediac lobster - an absolutely delicious lobster roll. We didn't make it to any of Shediac's beaches, and although we drove down the waterfront at Pointe-du-Chêne, it was a case of 2 second photos before high tailing back to the car out of the wind. 

It was a further 2 hour drive from Shediac to Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. My whole life I have dreamed of visiting Prince Edward Island and seeing the beautiful landscapes where Anne of Green of Gables was set. So I was very excited that we were finally on our way. The trip to Prince Edward Island is across the Confederation Bridge - a 13km engineering marvel. It looks glorious from a distance and was quite incredible to cross. 

A further 40 min drive took us through rolling green country side, laced with red dirt, with glimpses of ocean through the pine trees and autumn colours. We arrived in Charlottetown, at our beautiful BnB, late in the afternoon. We strolled through Charlottetown to have dinner in a local pub - more lobster, PEI oysters and scallops, then braving the cold back to our lovely warm room. 

The children are delighted with our accommodations as there is a little child size inbuilt closet that they have already turned into their cubby house. I am delighted as we have access to a range of DVD's - one of which is Anne of Green Gables - we are watching it as I type. The girls have not yet gone to sleep - captivated as they are by Anne. Hubby is delighted that he gets to watch this classic movie for the first time. His comment so far 'what a terrible time to live in - doilies everywhere'. Hahaha. I am sure he will love our Green gables excursion tomorrow!

Jen x