Travelogue: Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island

The month of June is precisely why I wanted to get the Street Side Front Porch project behind us during the actual One Room Challenge. Somehow, every year, I say yes to everything this month, and then it all goes bonkers. Naturally, I do not realize this until I am in the middle of it. That’s when I tell myself; I am never doing this again. Nice try, Stacy.

I’ll see you next year, June. <June laughs>

I am my own worst enemy.

While there were many things I wish I had said no to this month, traveling to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with my daughter, mom and sister was not one of them. Today’s post will be a little off-topic, but hopefully interesting nonetheless.

This vacation put a giant check mark on my travel list. Ever since I was in my twenties, I have kept an informal list of places to see, and PEI has been on it for years.

Of course, like many, I first became acquainted with this area via Anne of Green Gables. Admittedly, I never read the books, but I watched and loved every television and film revival of Anne. (Yes, even Anne with an E.) However, while I watched, I often found myself looking past the actors towards the stunning scenery of PEI. I wanted more.

When we lived in California, a trip to that part of the world, seemed well out of reach. Once we moved to Western New York, it suddenly felt like a possibility. By plane, it took us about a total of six hours with layovers, to reach Halifax. Just for fun, I googled the distance by car. A straight through trip to Halifax is 18 hours!

During our vacation, I posted a few iPhones photos on Instagram, but I also took quite a few with my good camera to share here on the blog.

To get to PEI, we took a short ride on the Wood Island Ferry with our car tucked safely underneath. The ferry dock is about two hours from Halifax.

There is also a land bridge on the northern end of PEI, but the ferry was the most direct route to where we were going.

We stayed in Charlottetown, and the first night we had tickets for Anne and Gilbert The Musical. I won’t lie. I was a little worried about seeing this show. The big show called Anne of Green Gables the Musical at the Guild didn’t open until the following week.

The set of Anne and Gilbert was super low-tech, and the theatre was tiny. The vocals in the opening scene started off a little shaky, and I gave my sister a sideways glance. Uh-oh. However, once the actress who plays Anne stepped on the stage, I was into it. We all were. Rebecca Parent as Anne was brilliant. The small theatre allowed us to see all of the actors’ facial expressions, and it felt like we were on stage too. The show had just opened for the season, so perhaps that shakiness was just new-season jitters. The story was sweet, and the songs were catchy.

The next day we headed to Cavendish to immerse ourselves in all things Anne. It is worth noting that everyone is capitalizing on the success of Anne of Green Gables, and there is a fair amount of kitsch on PEI. My sister used her guidebook to wade through a lot of that so we could make sure to see the places that interested us the most. I’m not opposed to a little kitsch, but our time on PEI was short, and we needed to stay focused.

First stop: Green Gables Heritage Place

Green Gables belonged to cousins of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Anne books. It is the house that LM Montgomery thought of as she was writing about Avonlea. Her cousins were brother and sister, and they lived together in the house. Sound familiar? Although Anne is a fictional character, there were other parallels with LM Montgomery’s life.  Lucy Maud’s parents died when she was a baby, she stayed on the island to take care of her grandmother instead of marrying her sweetheart right away, and LM herself was a bit of a drama queen when she was describing her life on PEI. I quote:

“Oh, I felt that I belonged there – that I had done some violence to my soul when I left it.”

Simmer down, Lucy Maud.

LM Montgomery used the word “violence” to describe these types of situations more than once. She must have felt things very deeply. The author was also prone to using many words when a few would suffice. Anne was clearly the peanut butter to her jelly.

The Green Gables Heritage place included a house tour (pictures below), gift shop (of course), and restaurant.

For an added fee, we took a walk through the Haunted Wood trail (referenced in the books!) to the LM Montgomery home site.

All that remains of her home is a stone foundation, but there is a small interpretive center and bookstore nearby, operated by her descendants. The orientation spiel was given to us by the great great great grandson of LM Montgomery’s grandparents. He did a lovely job.

We intended to stay in Cavendish our second night, but there was a power outage in town, and there were very few places to eat or stay comfortably without power. So, we headed back to Charlottetown.

During our stay on PEI, we also saw the Point Prim lighthouse which is the first and oldest lighthouse on the island.

In Charlottetown, we took a self-guided tour through St. Dunstan’s Basilica which opened in 1907.

We arrived about an hour before mass, and people were already sitting down to get centered and pray. One gentleman who observed me taking photos called me over to say, “They just don’t make them like this anymore, do they?” 

No, they do not.

After the Basilica, we took a short walk off a long pier (vs. a long walk off a short pier).

We were pleasantly surprised by a smack of jellyfish hanging out by the docks. Yes, I googled what to call a large group of jellyfish. This blog aims to entertain and educate.

Our time on the island felt too short for me, and I want to go back. There are 63 lighthouses on PEI, and we saw two of them. I would like to go back with a camper and bikes. I picture a slow week or two exploring every square kilometer of the island, and I want to drive across the land bridge. Also, the Festival of Small Halls sounds terrific. We were too late for tickets.

 

During our trip, which started and ended in Halifax, we saw a few more notable sites.

Peggy’s Cove:

and

The Halifax Public Gardens:

Often times, after traveling to many of the locations on my travel list, my curiosity is satisfied, and I never return. Prince Edward Island, Halifax, and Cape Breton (which we missed) are going right back on the list. I cannot wait to go back.

I realize that looking at travel photos can be a bit dull, so thank you for indulging me. If you have any questions or experience traveling to this part of the world, please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.