Welcome to Prince Edward Island! We are headed over the Confederation Bridge. This massive structure spans 7 miles over the Northumberland Strait connecting Borden, Prince Edward Island to the mainland; Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. The Confederation Bridge was built for vehicles only, with a single lane and one emergency lane in each direction.
If visiting the Island by foot or by bicycle, you would have to take the 24 hour shuttle service that is provided. Once you have entered PEI, you will find yourself in the midst of Gateway Village with an array of specialty shops, restaurants, and an information center. 
We decided to find a RV park and Holiday Haven in Cornwall had been recommended to us.
We had a lovely spot overlooking the water and could watch the people dig for clams in the evening when the tide went out. 
Prince Edward Island is a crescent shaped sandbar of less than 200 miles tip to tip.
PEI is famous for many things such as Anne of Green Gables, potatoes, and world famous seafood. It is flooded with artisans and each studio is open to the public all summer. 
There are three separate coastal drives one can take, offering something for everyone.
Bicycling and hiking are also extremely popular here and a good way to explore the island is by utilizing the Confederation Trail which is built on an abandoned railway and extends from tip to tip of the island.
On Friday, we decided to venture down to Charlottetown, PEI’s capital city, with a population of 35,000. We walked the beautiful tree-laced streets and followed the boardwalk along the Charlottetown Waterfront to explore the quaint shops.
We walked by St. Dunstan’s Basilica, one of Canada’s largest churches, known for its twin Gothic spires, an impressive altar and fine 
Italian carvings.
If visiting the Island by foot or by bicycle, you would have to take the 24 hour shuttle service that is provided. Once you have entered PEI, you will find yourself in the midst of Gateway Village with an array of specialty shops, restaurants, and an information center. We decided to find a RV park and Holiday Haven in Cornwall had been recommended to us.
We had a lovely spot overlooking the water and could watch the people dig for clams in the evening when the tide went out. Prince Edward Island is a crescent shaped sandbar of less than 200 miles tip to tip. PEI is famous for many things such as Anne of Green Gables, potatoes, and world famous seafood. It is flooded with artisans and each studio is open to the public all summer. There are three separate coastal drives one can take, offering something for everyone. Bicycling and hiking are also extremely popular here and a good way to explore the island is by utilizing the Confederation Trail which is built on an abandoned railway and extends from tip to tip of the island.On Friday, we decided to venture down to Charlottetown, PEI’s capital city, with a population of 35,000. We walked the beautiful tree-laced streets and followed the boardwalk along the Charlottetown Waterfront to explore the quaint shops.
We walked by St. Dunstan’s Basilica, one of Canada’s largest churches, known for its twin Gothic spires, an impressive altar and fine Italian carvings. At the information center, we learned that PEI farmers have been growing potatoes since 1790 and are accountable for almost ¼ of the Canadian production. More than 30 varieties of potatoes are grown in the red dirt of Canada’s smallest province. PEI produces some of the best potatoes in the world and supplies to customers in over 30 countries around the world. 
Behind the Information Center is the Sand Lot where artists create giant sand sculptures. The sand sculpture is made from fine grains of sand with natural occurring silt and clay and water.
Once the artist completes the sand sculpture, a sealer is sprayed on the surface to keep the water in. This transparent layer will allow the sand sculpture to stay standing for months thru rain, wind and sun.
After all that walking, we decided to stop by the Gahan House, brewers of handcrafted ales. We each tried a house-brewed ale along with seafood chowder and french fried PEI sweet potatoes. Everything was fabulous!
We walked a little more and then had to have a Cow ice cream cone. They claim to have the best ice cream around, served in a handmade waffle cone. I must admit, even though I am not very fond of ice cream, this was truly, truly yummy stuff!! At that point, we decided to head back to the trailer and since it was still fairly early, we washed both the truck and trailer. They were both looking pretty pitiful after being driven over 5,500 miles across Canada.
We awoke to cloudy, windy weather on Saturday but decided to go ahead and drive around the Blue Heron Coastal Drive and stop at a few of the artist’s studios as well as visiting the Anne of Green Gables Museum.
The book, Anne of Green Gables, was first published in 1908 and has long been revered as a Canadian literary classic. It was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, who was born and raised on PEI. The tale begins as Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, send for a boy orphan to help them out at the farm. The requested orphan takes the shape of Anne Shirley, a redheaded 11 year old girl who can talk a mile a minute, much to the Cuthbert’s dismay. But Anne’s disarmingly charming personality quickly converts Marilla and Matthew and her feisty spirit soon draws many friends- and much trouble- her way. The novel describes the beauty of the island and the timelessness of the Island way of life. The novel has been translated into more than a dozen languages and believed to have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The Green Gables Museum is actually the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Aunt and Uncle and the place where she stayed at various times in her life. She was married in the front parlor on July 5, 1911 and derived many of her ideas for her 22 novels from this house.
Inside the museum, you can view the front parlor where Lucy got married, and her Enchanted
bookcase in which her character, Anne, sees her reflection but believes that the reflections are real people whom she names and becomes very attached to. We also saw the blue chest which 
Lucy wrote about in her book entitled, “The Story Girl”. In this book, she tells of a true romance which happened in her Aunt and Uncle’s home in 1847. It is a story about Eliza Montgomery, a distant cousin of the author who was to be married in the house. The day of the wedding, the bridegroom did not show up. Eliza buried her wedding cake in the front yard, locked all her wedding clothes and gifts in the Blue Chest, and warned that the chest was never to be opened. It remained locked in the Campbell kitchen for nearly 40 years until Lucy got permission from Eliza to open it. Eliza never married.
Jan auditioned for the part of Anne, but it seemed that something was just wrong about the pigtails!!!
We stopped at probably 15 or more studios and thoroughly enjoyed all the pottery, woodworking, paintings, glass, etc. It is so much more fun to look at these type of shops than the typical souvenir shops.
Of course, we found a couple of pottery bowls and a lighthouse painting that we just had to have. Gradually, the day got worse, with rain, wind and colder weather. Though it is still around 67, the wind coming off the water is cold, so we thought we’d just head back to the trailer and rest a bit before heading out tomorrow to Nova Scotia. Hope the weather improves before then, but if not, we’ll just take it easy and gradually make our way to Halifax.
Behind the Information Center is the Sand Lot where artists create giant sand sculptures. The sand sculpture is made from fine grains of sand with natural occurring silt and clay and water.
Once the artist completes the sand sculpture, a sealer is sprayed on the surface to keep the water in. This transparent layer will allow the sand sculpture to stay standing for months thru rain, wind and sun.After all that walking, we decided to stop by the Gahan House, brewers of handcrafted ales. We each tried a house-brewed ale along with seafood chowder and french fried PEI sweet potatoes. Everything was fabulous!
We walked a little more and then had to have a Cow ice cream cone. They claim to have the best ice cream around, served in a handmade waffle cone. I must admit, even though I am not very fond of ice cream, this was truly, truly yummy stuff!! At that point, we decided to head back to the trailer and since it was still fairly early, we washed both the truck and trailer. They were both looking pretty pitiful after being driven over 5,500 miles across Canada.
We awoke to cloudy, windy weather on Saturday but decided to go ahead and drive around the Blue Heron Coastal Drive and stop at a few of the artist’s studios as well as visiting the Anne of Green Gables Museum.
The book, Anne of Green Gables, was first published in 1908 and has long been revered as a Canadian literary classic. It was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, who was born and raised on PEI. The tale begins as Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, send for a boy orphan to help them out at the farm. The requested orphan takes the shape of Anne Shirley, a redheaded 11 year old girl who can talk a mile a minute, much to the Cuthbert’s dismay. But Anne’s disarmingly charming personality quickly converts Marilla and Matthew and her feisty spirit soon draws many friends- and much trouble- her way. The novel describes the beauty of the island and the timelessness of the Island way of life. The novel has been translated into more than a dozen languages and believed to have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The Green Gables Museum is actually the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Aunt and Uncle and the place where she stayed at various times in her life. She was married in the front parlor on July 5, 1911 and derived many of her ideas for her 22 novels from this house.Inside the museum, you can view the front parlor where Lucy got married, and her Enchanted
bookcase in which her character, Anne, sees her reflection but believes that the reflections are real people whom she names and becomes very attached to. We also saw the blue chest which Lucy wrote about in her book entitled, “The Story Girl”. In this book, she tells of a true romance which happened in her Aunt and Uncle’s home in 1847. It is a story about Eliza Montgomery, a distant cousin of the author who was to be married in the house. The day of the wedding, the bridegroom did not show up. Eliza buried her wedding cake in the front yard, locked all her wedding clothes and gifts in the Blue Chest, and warned that the chest was never to be opened. It remained locked in the Campbell kitchen for nearly 40 years until Lucy got permission from Eliza to open it. Eliza never married.Jan auditioned for the part of Anne, but it seemed that something was just wrong about the pigtails!!!
We stopped at probably 15 or more studios and thoroughly enjoyed all the pottery, woodworking, paintings, glass, etc. It is so much more fun to look at these type of shops than the typical souvenir shops.
Of course, we found a couple of pottery bowls and a lighthouse painting that we just had to have. Gradually, the day got worse, with rain, wind and colder weather. Though it is still around 67, the wind coming off the water is cold, so we thought we’d just head back to the trailer and rest a bit before heading out tomorrow to Nova Scotia. Hope the weather improves before then, but if not, we’ll just take it easy and gradually make our way to Halifax. 
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