We stayed at Gulf Shore Cottages in Covehead, operated by Rosemary & Frank Butler. Great location, affordable cottages, and Rosemary even brought us homemade blueberry muffins! The location was just outside Prince Edward Island National Park, close to beaches, miles and miles of bike paths, and gorgeous scenery. The capital city of Charlottetown is only about a 20 minute drive south. We spent a lot of time at the beach, reading, playing games together, and just relaxing. August 4 the whole family went to a ceilidh at Brackley Beach, with great traditional music from Cynthia MacLeod and sisters Pastelle & Emmanuelle LeBlanc of the group Vishten. Besides the music, which features fiddle, pennywhistle, bodhran, keyboard and acoustic guitar, the great thing about a ceilidh is that audience participation is encouraged -- sing along, stomp your feet, clap, or whatever you like. It was great!
The boys and I got in a lot of bike riding and geocaching (28 caches found during our stay). In addition to the National Park paths and trails, we did a 11km stretch of the Confederation Trail into Summerside, where Sydonyia met us after an afternoon of shopping. I also got in a couple of rounds of golf at the scenic Stanhope Golf Club just up the road from our cottage.
There is a lot of history on the Island. We had visited Founders Hall a couple of years ago; this trip we toured Province House in Charlottetown -- site of the first meeting of the Fathers of Confederation, and current home of the provincial legislature. After we had gone to Province House, we enjoyed a visit with friends Mark & Diane Reid (Mark pastors Good News Baptist in Ch'town), and they told us that the nightly sound and light show at Province House is worth seeing. So we went to see it a few nights later -- it's free, about 20 minutes long, and worth the trip into Charlottetown. You can see it for yourself on YouTube -- but it's not the same as seeing it full-size covering the entire building, while enjoying Cow's Ice Cream outside on a beautiful summer evening!
August 9 we decided to visit some of the tourist attractions in the area -- The Cheese Lady's Gouda Cheese shop, The Great Canadian Soap Company (aka "The Goat Soap Place"), the PEI Preserve Company, and North Rustico Harbour, where we picked up fresh scallops and haddock at Doiron's and headed home for a delicious supper of seafood, cheese, and preserves, before a rousing family Monopoly game.
Vacation on the Island always includes family, and we enjoyed a day at Lot 16 with Uncle Ernest and Aunt Anne, as well as getting a tour of their new condo in Summerside. My parents were over with their trailer also, so we had a bit of a family reunion.
The day before heading home, we headed to Stanley Bridge to visit the Marine Aquarium -- turned out to be the highlight of the trip for the boys. Along with the aquarium exhibits and touch tanks (which were a big hit), there is an extensive wildlife museum. Under the same roof is Carr's Oyster Bar Restaurant, where we enjoyed a seafood dinner (I had oysters, clams, quahogs, mussels, and lobster) on the deck overlooking the water. After lunch we headed into Summerside for a visit with my parents and Anne & Ernest, then home by way of scenic Victoria-by-the-Sea and the factory outlet shops in Charlottetown. The next day, it was time to pack up and head home over the Confederation Bridge... all good things must come to an end, even vacation. But we were refreshed and rested, and looking forward to coming back!
1 comment:
Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all! Thank you for sharing your adventures!
Post a Comment