We woke up to this view of the Atlantic:
We then went on a three-mile walk through the national park, through marshes, forests, meadows -- you name it. It was beautiful.
We then headed over to the "
Green Gables house," the farm that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write the
Avonlea series in the early 1900s. She did actually live here, during childhood summers; a relative owned it, and she said she spent many happy years here. It's touristy now, but you still get the beauty of it, and the home is beautifully maintained (even if Parks Canada's idea of decor is way more kitschy than I ever imagined Marilla and Matthew's home to be).
 |
| "Anne's room" |
 |
| Gilbert and Anne |
 |
| The pilgrimage is complete |
 |
| Goofing off in the gift shop |
Then we hit the road again, this time heading to Charlottetown (also famous in the books, as it's the biggest town on PEI), on the southern, bay side of the island. Our GPS kept taking us down some interesting roads, including ones where I was really glad we had four-wheel drive.
We reached Charlottetown and reached our campsite early; as it was a Monday, the campground was pretty empty, so we got a primo end spot on the water. This time, it took us five minutes to set up the tent, which made us giggle at how stupid we were the day before.
 |
| Tide's out. |
We then headed into town, and again, I'd only done enough research to get us started, but
Gahan House had popped up many times during my search. I'm so glad we started here, because their wait staff was great and full of suggestions, and ...
 |
... it was home to the best fish and chips I've ever had. Seriously, crazy-good.
And I take my fish 'n' chips very seriously. |
 |
| Victoria Row, a pedestrian-only street of restaurants and pubs |
We walked around Charlottetown, another college town, and headed toward the harbor.
Rich also ordered this: an oyster shooter in moonshine, with hot sauce suggested. I did not have one.
 |
| Ferryman's Chowder with leek oil |
Our waitress suggested a walk down the wharf and a view of the water at 6, when sailboats come out to the harbor for practice. Sure enough, about 15 sailboats were on the water, and plenty of other pleasure boats came in and out of their docks.
 |
| Random beauty |
 |
| Moosehead: Canada's Coors (blech) |
Rich and I have a terrible habit when we're traveling: We feel so much pressure to find the "right" places to go -- to not miss anything -- that we tend to wander aimlessly. This time, we ended up at the
Merchantman Pub, which ended up being a good choice. Their curry fries were aaaaawesome.
Rich had a lobster roll. We also chatted up a couple of local guys, which was a lot of fun.
We headed back to our campsite with a six-pack of local brew and started a fire. I walked a few feet to the water to see the tide coming in.
 |
| Jiffy Pop, of course (after we botched the first one somehow) |
This time, we sat by the fire and listened to Of Monsters and Men (which Rich is obsessed with now). Peaceful, with gentle waves lapping the banks.
No comments:
Post a Comment