Prince Edward Island Day 22 ~ Cavendish Beach & More!

The rains are gone (for now) and we woke to a sunny, albeit slightly cool, day, so we decided to head towards Cavendish Beach (part of PEI NP) to walk the beach a bit. 

 Ya think Brad looks cold? 😂

(He was not the only cold one...lots of people were bundled up!)

We then headed to a very popular restaurant called Blue Mussel Cafe. 

 

We tried to have lunch there last week, but they closed their lunchtime waiting list by the time we got there. (Though we found The Rustico Cannery that day and really liked it!). We added our names to the wait-list before leaving the beach, and had no wait at all once we arrived. 

Honestly, we were disappointed.  Brad ordered the mussels....

 

...which he thought were better at a brew pub we visited a couple weeks ago and Suzanne had the pan-fried haddock which was a lot of spicy coating that over-powered the fish. The service was just okay and it felt a lot like it was a volume business. So we won't go back, but instead head to one of the many other great restaurants we have found in the past few weeks.

After lunch, we headed to the Deep Roots Distillery to try maple liqueur (yum!), coffee liqueur (tastes like Kahlua) and blueberry liqueur (think cough syrup). 

 

(More on Deep Roots Distillery another time...yup - that's a teaser!😉)

Prince Edward Island Day 21 ~ Robinsons Island and a Ceilidh!

It was supposed to start raining around noon today, so we headed out early and back to the Brackley Beach area of the Prince Edward Island National Park (which is only a 20 minute drive) to walk the 3.5km (one way) trail to Robinsons (not a typo; there isn't supposed to be an apostrophe) Island and then onto the 3.3km loop on the island.

It started off as a gravel road, though the road is only used by bicycles and pedestrians now.

 The views became more interesting as we walked along.....

 

Eventually we came up Robinsons Island ~ when it became part of the National Park in 1937, it was named for the Acadian family named Robinsons who farmed here in the 1800's. 

 We walked around the loop, enjoying a variety of views over the water....

 

We weren't quite done with the loop when we started to hear thunder and it started to sprinkle. As we continued our way towards the parking lot, some 3+ kilometers away, the rain started in earnest (as well as the getting-much-louder thunder and the occasional lightening flash). By the time we made it to our car, we were soaked (and starting to get cold).  At least our rain jackets ~ that we left in the car ~ stayed dry! 😂

 

Cold and wet, we headed back to our Airbnb for hot showers and hot drinks. We lazed the rest of the rainy afternoon away napping and reading. Good thing we napped, because at 7:30pm, we headed to a local community hall - the Benevolent Irish Society of PEI to listen to a traditional ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee)! 

We did not know what to expect, but the chairs were set-up.....

 ...and the performers came to the stage...

 

There was music and singing....

 

A step dancer....

 

 

At intermission, they served homemade treats - cookies, brownies, small cakes with hot tea and coffee!  

So it was an interesting evening.  We are glad we went and would, quite possible, go to another one next time we have the opportunity.😀 

Prince Edward Island Day 20 ~ Back to the Beach!

It was another sunny day today, so we headed to the Covehead Beach area of the PEI National Park. Of course, there is a lighthouse.....the Coverhead Harbour Lighthouse (built in1975, so fairly recent).

 

The beach, as with all of the beaches in this area, was lovely - wide with lots of walking space.....

 We waked in both directions, eventually making it to the small bridge.....

 

 

We hung out for a while, eventually deciding that we were hungry, so it was off to get lobster rolls at Richard's (yup - again😋😁)

 

It takes a long time to get your food at Richard's, so it is best to go when just a little hungry, not terribly hungry. (Although you will be very hungry by the time the food arrives.) It is (as with all of the Richard's Restaurants) a small place with limited seating, so while Brad waited in line, Suzanne joined a four-person table that already had a mother and daughter (from Ottawa) enjoying their lunch and after they left, two sisters (one from Ontario and one from Quebec) joined us. It was a very communal meal! 😁

When we got back to our Airbnb, Brad met the neighbor's cat through the window!  

 

It is supposed to rain the rest of the day today and all day tomorrow (last time we heard it was goign to rain all day, it didn't.....), so it may be a mellow day. Time will tell!!! 😎

 

Prince Edward Island Day 19 ~ (The Rest of) The North Cape Coastal Drive

We wanted to do this part of the North Cape Coastal Drive when the low tide at North Cape (the most northerly area in PEI) so we could walk on the reef where the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait meet. Low tide at North Cape was 12:02pm today and the weather promised sunny skies, so we set the alarm for 6am 😨 and were on the road by 7:45am! 

We first stopped for breakfast at the Alberton Bakery where we enjoyed a great breakfast! 

 

The bakery must be an old house, as the kitchen was an original kitchen and the woman cooking our eggs to order was using a stove and pans to cook the eggs.

 

Pretty much breakfast was eggs with bacon ~ and apparently one has to get three slices of bacon! 😂

 

Brad also ordered his favorite breakfast treat ~ a cinnamon roll. Before Suzanne could take a photo, he attacked it! 😏
 

It was a great breakfast and with full bellies, we continued onward!

 

Onward was the (underwhelming) North Cape Wind Energy Interpretive Centre...

 

However it is an interesting area as it is the northwesternmost tip of PEI......

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......and is where the longest natural rock reef in north America is found (extending nearly 2 km)....

 

 So we walked along the reef at low tide ~ meh. 

 

There was a lighthouse, of course....and a giant cell tower! 😂

 

We walked the area a bit, which also is home to many wind turbines (which fascinated Brad)....

 ...some lobster boats.....

 

...and seals......

  

We then turned south and stopped at Skinner's Pond Beach to walk the beach for a while....... 

 ...eventually making it back to the Airbnb about eight hours after we left.  

 

So we are glad that we explored this part of PEI, however we do not ever need to go back. 😎

Prince Edward Island Day 18 ~ Meandering Charlottetown (Again!)

We had hoped that today would be a beach day, but woke to overcast, drizzly skies and cooler temperatures. So after a lazy morning, we decide to enjoy the streets of Charlottetown once again and happened upon a cruise ship docked at their harbour.

 

This is the Holland America MS Volendam. We were curious about the itinerary, so an AI search later, we found out that there are approximately 1,430 passengers and about 600 crew. It is 778ft in length, about 2 1/2 football fields. Once the MS Volendam leaves Charlottetown, it  continues onto Sydney, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Portland, Maine, and ends in Boston, Massachusetts. 

We passed a cart that was offering free PEI oysters to the passengers as they disembarked (and anyone passing by, as we were offered some)...... 

 

 ...nope, neither of us like oysters, so we did not partake! 

 

After roaming the streets and checking out a few shops and enjoying the various architecture of the homes and churches, we ended up on Victoria Row ~ a (small) pedestrian only street with a few restaurants......

 ...and split a pizza for lunch. 😋

 

 We meandered some more and eventually went back to the Airbnb. So a quieter and shorter day than some, but all good as we have plans for a much longer day tomorrow. 

Prince Edward Island Day 17 ~ (Part of) The North Cape Coastal Trail

We decided to explore the southern portion of the North Cape Coastal Trail today starting with a yummy treat at the Knead and Brake bakery in Kensington....

 ...it is half bakery and half bike shop. 😵

 

 

While the coffee was some of the best we have had in PEi and the Cinnamon Kroll was great, the staff, eh, not so much. 

 

We then drove around aimlessly, just basically turning down different roads to see what was there...at one point (near North St. Eleanors), we came across a solar farm......

 

Eventually we found ourselves at Winchester Cape with views over the Malpeque Bay.....

 

One (of many) cool things we have enjoyed throughout our driving on PEI are seeing the many local community churches, such as St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church (built in 1836).....

 

We eventually stopped for lunch in Tyne Valley at the Tyne Valley Teas Cafe, which had great food! 

 

 

We continued north, checking out the Lennox Island First Nations area and eventually turning west and making our way to O'Leary, home to The Canadian Potato Museum....at $12 per person, we did not go into the museum, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a photo with a giant potato! 😁

 

We worked our way to Cedar Dunes Provincial Park, home of the tallest lighthouse on PEI, the West Point Lighthouse (built in 1875) standing at 67ft, 8in.  It now houses a museum and an inn. 

 

We walked the beach a bit....

 ...while Brad enjoyed his new favorite hobby ~ hunting for PEI sea glass.....

 

Honestly, the beach was underwhelming in this area - very rocky with lots of seaweed ~ there are way better beaches elsewhere on PEI.

 

We then made our way to the Cape Egmont Lighthouse (built 1883).....

 

 ....and the amazing views.....

 

Finally, as we drove home, we passed by the Bottle Houses and Garden (also in Cape Egmont). Again, we did not go in, but one can never pass-up a photo of a bottle made out of bottles (and mortar)! 😆

So a long day (for us). We left our Airbnb around 8:15am and were home around 5pm. There is still the northern part of the North Cape Coastal Trail to explore and we plan to do that in a couple days.