Green Gables and Red Dirt

Warning: This post has not been edited. I apologize in advance for grammar and spelling mistakes.

If you haven’t guessed the location of this blog post, you fail. But just so no one falls behind, I will explicitly state that this is about our adventures in PEI. And bear with me, this is a LONG story.

Our PEI adventures begin in Nova Scotia – much like another famous story about a girl (brownie points for those of you who understand this). From Pictou, N.S. we boarded a ferry that took us to the island. The trip across was pretty relaxed as Nicole and I wrote our postcards and drank tea that had an odd lobster-y taste.

Once we landed on the island we decided that our first stop should be Lord Selkirk Provincial Park. We chose this destination because it was close and we could make our lunch there – baked beans and pea soup, yumm! Well, we intended to just make lunch, but we ended up doing much more. You see, they had a laundry facility, showers and very accommodating park attendees. So what started as a quick hour-long rest became an afternoon of cleaning up. I had never felt so clean…

As we waited for the laundry, we decided to explore the small park. This is where I discovered that PEI dirt is red, FOR REAL. I know, everyone knows that the dirt is red but I underestimated how red it would actually be. I was expecting regular brown dirt, with maybe a reddish tint. Nope. I was impressed.

RED DIRT!

Moving on…

Heading on toward Charlottetown, I tried to contact a friend that was working there at the university over the summer. Unfortunately, she never responded. Believing that I had the wrong number, Nicole and I just decided to stop at UPEI anyway for the free overnight parking. It was at this point that I realised God loves me.

Laura LOVED Cloud 9.

Not wanting to give up completely, we decided to walk to the residence to see if maybe she would be on some kind of registry. We didn’t get that far… because we ran into her on the way! It was such a flukey incident that I still can’t believe it happened. But I guess being a small island helped a bit… but the luck of it all gets better.  Laura’s job only gives her one day off a week, and we had showed up the day before her day off! So we were able to go drinking that night, and then go out to breakfast together. So lucky…

After breakfast with Laura, we headed off to make dreams come true by visit Green Gables. Now, you have to understand I have been stoked to see Green Gables since the early planning stages of this trip. Knowing how much I hyped the place in my mind, Nicole was worried that I would be a bit disappointed by what we were to see. But she didn’t need to worry…

It was awesome! Sure, the house wasn’t too exciting – looking very much like the heritage home I worked at in Ridgetown. But it was cool to see the rooms made up to look like they belonged to the various characters of the Anne of Green Gables story. And the grounds around the house were what really interested Nicole and I. On the land surrounding the house, they recreated famous paths like Lover’s Lane and the Haunted Woods. Those were a lot of fun.

And, to make it an authentic touristy place they had a gift shop with lots of kitschy goodness. Among the paraphernalia was Raspberry Cordial (again, brownie points if you get this). Of course, we had to try some.  So we bought a bottle and split it. It tastes like melted freezie. Kinda gross actually…

With Green Gables done, we  stopped at a place on the beach to pick up postcards and experience some of the famous PEI beaches. But it was a cold, grey day so we didn’t stay long. So we headed out to the town of Cavendish to cross one last “must do” on the list…

Cow’s ice cream. Apparently it’s the best in the world. Our verdict: it’s ice cream. But I must admit, they have awesome branding and some of their flavours are interesting, with pretty creative names. Unfortunately, none of them come to mind right now…

After ice cream, we headed for Confederation Bridge. But before I write about that, I have to tell you how gorgeous the province is. At this point, the sun began to peak out and the skies were blue. The island is very green, with all kinds of fields and trees. It’s very picturesque. And the rolling hills are a pain to drive on, but they add something to the beauty of the place.

The drive through the country was a great way to end our time on the island. It really left an impression on me. But all too soon we were at the bridge. (For anyone travelling to PEI, everything is close on the island.) I was actually pretty sad to be leaving the island. We’d barely been there 24 hours, and there was still so much that could have been explored and seen. Sure, it’s a tiny island, but I think it has a lot to offer. I’ll definitely be coming back…

Confederation Bridge

 The bridge was an experience on it’s own. Confederation Bridge, I believe, is the longest in the world. And it’s a bit unsettling to think that you are driving ON the Atlantic. But it was pretty cool. At the end of the bridge we drove onto New Brunswick where we had a whole new set of adventures awaiting us.

-Julie