July 9 – 15, 2018
Our next destination – Prince Edward Island, home of one of Canada’s most widely read authors, L.M. Montgomery.
One June evening, when the orchards were pink-blossomed again, when the frogs were singing silverly sweet in the marshes about the head of the Lake of Shining Waters, and the air was full of the savor of clover fields and balsamic fir woods, Anne was sitting by her gable window. She had been studying her lessons, but it had grown too dark to see the book, so she had fallen into wide-eyed reverie, looking out past the boughs of the Snow Queen, once more bestarred with its tufts of blossom. — Anne of Green Gables
The road to Cavendish
We planned for a short 2 1/2 hour journey from Moncton to Cavendish but our plan went awry. Before we made it to the traffic circle near Port Elgin, traffic came to a standstill for some (unknown to us at the time) reason. We inched forward for over a hour until we finally discovered the cause of the slowdown – road construction. The road was reduced to a single lane with a flagman permitting only a handful of vehicles from our side to proceed on each turn. After noting the number of vehicles that were allowed through from the other direction, we felt somewhat annoyed. Finally, it was our turn and we drove through the area of fresh pavement and escaped the blockage. We soon discovered that our annoyance paled in comparison to that experienced by the folks going the other way. Their backup continued for a good 8 miles and then in clumps all the way to Confederation Bridge. Clearing this backup was going to take several hours.
Luckily for us, the remainder of the trip was uneventful and we had no difficulty finding our campground.
Cavendish KOA
Back in January or February when we made campground reservations for this trip, Cavendish was one of two locations for which we had to modify our dates. The reason here was the annual Cavendish Beach (Country) Music Festival. The Festival grounds is adjacent to the KOA and, as a result, the campground was fully booked until July 9 (the last day of the Festival).
Campground security met us as we entered to make sure that we had reservations. At check-in we were given wrist bands and a special sticker for truck to be displayed during the festival so they knew we belonged on the property.
Cavendish KOA was one of the busiest campgrounds we had encountered thus far. They had lots of family amenities and activities including two playgrounds, a petting zoo, movie nights, nightly wagon rides, and games for the kids. Our somewhat un-level campsite was gravel with a grass living space next to a permanent rental camper. Except for the music from the Festival on the first night, the campground was amazingly quiet.
Green Gables
While in Cavendish, one positively has to visit Green Gables, the home of the fictional character Anne Shirley. I hate to admit it but I don’t remember reading the Anne of Green Gables books but, in preparation for this trip, I downloaded them to my kindle and started reading.
The Green Gables farm was owned by the MacNeill family, who were cousins of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The farm’s name is derived from the rich dark green paint of the gables on the farmhouse. The main exterior walls of the farmhouse are painted white.
Montgomery visited the farm as a young girl and based the location of her best-selling Anne series of books on the Green Gables farm. She drew romantic inspiration from the house, as well as the surrounding area, including the “Haunted Woods”, “Lovers’ Lane”, and “Balsam Hollow.” — wikipedia.org
What does one drink after touring Green Gables and walking the Balsam Hollow Trail? A Raspberry Cordial of course!
Red Cliffs
The next day we drove into Prince Edward Island National Park and followed the route from Cavendish Beach to North Rustico Beach stopping along the way to enjoy the overlooks.
At North Rustico we left the park and continued on route 6 until Brackley where we re-entered the park. We stopped at Covehead Harbor Lighthouse for a view of this small marina. Richard’s Fish Shack seemed to be very popular.
From Covehead we continued along the coast to Dalvay where we stopped to check out Dalvay-by-the-Sea. This house was built in 1895 by Alexander MacDonald, a wealthy businessman and one-time president of Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. He named the house “Dalvay By The Sea” after his boyhood home in Scotland. Road to Avonlea fans and fans of the Anne of Green Gables movies produced by Sullivan Entertainment Inc. in the 1990s will be familiar with Dalvay as the “White Sands Hotel.”
The Birthplace of Canada
Venturing further afield, we took a day to drive into Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island. This lovely harbor town, filled with historic buildings, was officially declared a city in 1855. In 1864 it hosted the Fathers of Confederation for the Charlottetown Conference which led to the formation of Canada. We spent our day walking around the seaport area and then checking out picturesque Victoria Row.
A Photography Tour
For our final day in PEI, we arranged a private photography tour with Experience PEI Tours. We met our guide in Charlottetown for our evening tour. After inquiring about our interests, our guide plotted a route around the eastern part of the island, and off we went. Our first stop was Prim Point Lighthouse – the first and oldest lighthouse on PEI. It’s one of only a few round brick lighthouses in Canada.
The next stop was East Point Lighthouse, Canada’s only confederation lighthouse and the last lighthouse erected before the Island joined the Confederation in 1873.
We made a number of other stops but the weather was uncooperative with clouds and light rain which ruined any possible sunset shots. We did stop at North Lake Harbor where Bill was able to get a fantastic night-time shot.
A Fond Farewell
She was leaving the home that was so dear to her, and something told her that she was leaving it forever, save as a holiday refuge. Things would never be the same again; coming back for vacations would not be living there. And oh, how dear and beloved everything was — that little white porch room, sacred to the dreams of girlhood, the old Snow Queen at the window, the brook in the hollow, the Dryad’s Bubble, the Haunted Woods, and Lover’s Lane — all the thousand and one dear spots where memories of the old years bided. Could she ever be really happy anywhere else? — Anne of the Island
Like Anne, it was time for us to say farewell to Prince Edward Island.
