The Traveling Idiots-Where The Tuck Are They Now?: PEI, Oh My!

According to google maps it's six hours (353 miles) from Ellsworth, Maine to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island (PEI). We made this drive Wednesday and I'm proud to say it took us closer to nine hours to complete it. The pride comes from not staying on the direct route but taking in a few of the many sights along the way. It was a few more miles and a few more hours but it's as much about the journey as it is the destination.
Our first and biggest diversion along the way came after we crossed over into Canada. We stopped for a picnic at Fundy National Park. The Bay of Fundy lies between the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is famous for having the worlds greatest variances between high tide and low tide. Now to some folks that may initially sound about as exciting as watching paint dry, however it really is a sight to see. 160 billion tons of water move in and out of the bay twice a day everyday. At one particular spot (Burntcoat Head) the range between high tide and low tide averages close to 50 feet. At low tide you can walk out and explore the ocean floor in places that will be well underwater at high tide. Unfortunately right now high tide is occurring in the early afternoon which is when we were there. So there was no exploring for us, but we did get some magnificent views along with a very nice peanut butter sandwich as the main entrée for our picnic!
http://pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/fundy
We then took the Confederation Bridge across from New Brunswick to PEI. The bridge is 8 miles long and if you're into obscure trivial facts it is the worlds longest bridge over ice covered water. Obviously in August the water isn't frozen but I would imagine it would still be a bit on the nippy side if you chose to dive in. The toll for crossing the bridge is close to $40 US. We were ready to pay but happy to learn that they only charge cars as they leave the island. When we go to leave we'll be leaving by ferry.
http://www.confederationbridge.com/about/confederation-bridge.html
Our first two nights on PEI were spent in Cavendish which is a coastal town on the eastern (Atlantic Ocean) side of the island. PEI is about 2200 square miles in size and with a little imagination it looks kind of like a handlebar moustache. It's fairly flat, with huge fields of potatoes, corn and various grains inland, and amazing beaches along much of it's shoreline. The population of the entire island is around 150,000 people. At this time of year the number of folks on the island is much greater than that although it still doesn't feel crowded.
We stayed at a small property that had both hotel type rooms and cottages.  It was named the Kindred Spirits Inn which to me sounded like a yoga retreat type of place. I quickly learned the story behind the name and thankfully it had nothing to do with yoga. Cavendish is the home of L.M. Montgomery who wrote the book Anne of Green Gables. In the fictional book Anne and her best friend described their relationship as "kindred spirits". I've never read the book so I'm no expert on the subject but it sounds reasonable to me. It was a very comfortable place to stay and the famous house with the green gables that served as inspiration for the character and the book was just a short distance away.
The beach at Cavendish is in one of the Canadian National Parks.  The beach had two very unique features. First the shoreline is sandstone so it is constantly eroding at a fairly high rate (3 feet per year). This makes for some very dramatic cliffs, outcroppings and even "holes in the rock". Second and even more unique is that the sandstone is red so the sand along the beaches has a red color to it.
One cool thing about the National Parks, they are celebrating the 150th birthday of Canada all year long and in honor have made admission free for the entire year.
Like the coast of Maine, seafood is king up here. Our favorite restaurant in Canada so far has been The Blue Mussel Cafe. The restaurant is located in the very small fishing village of North Rustico which is only about 8 miles from Cavendish. The mussel's as well as the lobster, scallops and fish seemed so fresh they were probably still swimming earlier in the day.   If you go there make sure you save some room for dessert. The Salted Carmel Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich was pretty darn good.
http://bluemusselcafe.com/
We decided that PEI not only stood for Prince Edward Island but also for "Practically Every Inch". While we haven't covered quite every inch we have covered our fair share of the island. Not ones to miss out on any oddball attraction we even went in the bottle houses. There were three "houses" on the compound that some fella built out of bottles. He had built a chapel and a "main house". Being a good Canadian he also had built a "tavern". Each one of the houses had close to 10,000 bottles that were used for the walls, ceilings and interiors.
http://www.bottlehouses.com/
We also enjoyed a small but very interesting museum on the history of the Acadian people of this region. The Acadian's were French people who settled this area back in the 1700's. It was very similar to the Cajun settlers down in New Orleans. As with most of the stories from back in the 1700's, the British had to get involved. They laid claim to this land and drove most of the Acadians out, however a few hearty souls remained. Later on more of them returned to reclaim their land. They have worked very hard to maintain their heritage here and seem to be doing a nice job. There are now 6 established French speaking schools on the island and their culture is taught and celebrated island wide.
http://museeacadien.org/an/
After Cavendish we made our way to our second destination on PEI, Charlottetown.  This happens to be the largest city on the island (38,000).  Even though the drive here was only around 35 miles we turned it into an all day affair with side trips to other beaches in the Prince Edward Island National Park. There was Brackley Beach, Dalvey Beach, and our favorite, Greenwich Beach with it's large sand dunes. We also went to a great lighthouse which was located on Panmure Island.
Charlottetown was hopping along the waterfront Friday night with folks enjoying a beautiful summer evening on the town. There was live music playing everywhere. It just had a "vibe" that we both really liked.
Saturday morning we were able to enjoy a nice walk along the Charlottetown boardwalk that combined some of our favorite things, a flat trail, waterfront with great views and plenty of benches.
The weather people accurately predicted rain for the afternoon which gave us a few hours of rest time, which is the best time. We were also able to get tickets to see Anne of Green Gables that evening. It has played in Charlottetown every summer for 53 years making it the worlds longest running seasonal play (you can stump your friends with that bit of knowledge). The play was actually very good and thankfully now I won't have to read the book. Two days ago I knew nothing about the story, now I'm an expert!
http://www.discovercharlottetown.com/
http://www.charlottetownfestival.com/en/show/2-Anne-of-Green-Gables-The-Musical
Next up. It's on to Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail!