The Wandering Bulgar: PEI and all things Anne

Friday (August 16) was a short day: We rode about 60 miles to the ferry terminal, waited for the ferry, crossed over to Prince Edward Island, and then rode 20 miles into Charlottetown, where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch, and found a motel. The ferry ride took an hour and a half or so, and was very smooth. PEI was showing itself off - the weather was beautiful and we rode by well-kept farms and through pretty countryside. After lunch we rode through downtown Charlottetown, which reminds me a bit of a small version of Victoria, British Columbia - grand stone public buildings and churches, and lots of trees. This is homecoming week on PEI and yesterday was the Gold Cup Race, a horse race that draws in many people who take up motel rooms. Fortunately, we were early for a change and managed to find a room at a Canada's Best Value. This is the same chain as America's Best Value, with which I've had such bad luck in the States that I said I'd never stay in one again - and I have very low standards. (When I traveled with the kids when they were young they thought that a Motel 6 was luxury accommodations.) Fortunately, the Canadian version of America's Best Value is much better - we've stayed in two and they were both fine. Since we were early I had time to do a laundry while John and Dan checked out the Smuggler's Jug, a pub in the motel basement that was patronized almost exclusively by locals - I guess the building itself has been there for some time and certainly wasn't always a chain motel.

This morning we rode north and west through more lovely PEI countryside that included more farms, rolling hills and then the St. Lawrence Gulf. We stopped in Cavendish at the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Site just as it opened at 9. There's a small museum and theater, a large barn that contains implements and explanations of late 19th century farm life, and the green gables house itself, which was actually owned by Lucy Montgomery's aunt and uncle when she lived nearby with her grandparents. (The house, like most farm houses of the time, wasn't painted when Lucy Montgomery was growing up, but the ivy climbing on the outside walls made it look like the gables were painted green.) The house has been restored (and painted - with green gables!) and decorated like a typical, prosperous farmhouse of the period. We also walked on the haunted woods trail to the site of Lucy's grandparents' house. By the time we left the parking lot was about three quarters full and there were people all around. The museum and grounds were very tasteful, but just a quarter mile up the road is the Avonlea Anne of Green Gables mall, with any number of shops, restaurants, and even a water slide. The area around Cavendish is very lovely and would be a major tourist destination even without the Anne of Green Gables connection - I can see why Lucy Montgomery wrote so fondly of the area.

We rode around the western side of the island, and then across an eight mile causeway back to mainland New Brunswick. After that it was pretty much a straight ride up to Campbellton, New Brunswick, where we are spending the night before going into Quebec tomorrow. We are farther north than we've been and there are fewer farms, fewer people, and more forests.

Prince Edward Island was a surprise to me; for some reason I expected a smaller, more touristy place that didn't have much going for it except the Anne of Green Gables connection. However, Charlottetown is a working city with a quaint downtown, but also normal sights such as the Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and other big box stores that were near our motel. The countryside is beautiful, and the whole island looks to be quite prosperous. A couple of people we talked to mentioned the July and August tourist season, so I expect that the weather the rest of the year isn't quite as clement as it was when we visited.