Prince Edward Island
Before getting into the details of our stay in Prince Edward Island (PEI), first I give you this perfect road trip photo of Ben, who fell asleep while eating a donut, then woke up pleased to find a donut in his hands, which he then resumed eating.
PEI is best known as the setting for Anne of Green Gables, a sentimental, turn-of-the-20th-century, childhood-classic, coming of age story. It is also known for its red sand beaches, many of which are protected within the boundaries of PEI’s national park. Because of the draw of Green Gables as well as the beaches, the island is well developed, with lots of seaside vacationers and associated family-friendly activities.
We camped on the north-central coast, within the boundary of the national park in a community called Cavendish. From here, we were able to explore the Cavendish shore by bicycle, clocking in about 13 miles round trip, with stops to skip stones, and eat a picnic lunch with a nice view.
In the afternoon, we made the mandatory pilgrimage to the Green Gables property, which was not the author’s actual home, but is said to be the place that inspired her story. I forced everyone to listen to the first six chapters of Anne of Green Gables on our drive to PEI so they had some sense of the story and the characters. After about 90 minutes though, everyone in the car was ready to move on. Our visit at Green Gables was similarly short; a quick look around and we were on our way.
Perhaps that is for the best though, because the dog had managed to throw up the day before on our bed comforter. (I slept under a throw blanket and Eli slept with a towel). We needed to make a forty-minute drive to town to find a washing machine with the capacity for a blanket. Ray used the time to visit the only Sephora within a five-hundred mile radius, plus we had the chance to check out Charlottetown and have sushi for dinner.
The epilogue of this story is that the dog managed to barf on the comforter a second time after cleaning it, so our second full day in PEI once again included a visit to the same laundromat to repeat the whole process. These are among the most glamorous parts of traveling in a camper with your pet.
Anyway, about that second day: I declared it “Ray and Ben’s day of fun,” leaving Eli to put in a full day of work.
We started off with a visit to Island Hill Farm, a working goat farm that has tons of hands-on activities for visitors.
We had planned to just hang around the barns, enjoying the baby goats and baby bunnies, among other animals.
But, one of the staff asked if we’d like to stay to bottle feed the babies, to which we said of course, and got some extra-special time with them.
Following this, as mentioned above, we had to orchestrate our afternoon around the laundromat, so we went to the bookstore (Ben’s choice), and to buy a charm for Ray’s bracelet (Ray’s choice), and to get me a new pair of earrings as one of mine was lost on a hike last week (my choice).
We wrapped things up with a visit to the Sandspit Amusement Park on Cavendish Beach, which had all the feels of an old-school beachie boardwalk, but with 2023 prices. We treated ourselves to one of everything, including a ride on the ferris wheel and the mini-coaster.
The kids had their first go at Go-Karts, which Ray used as an opportunity to show me how ready she is for a learning permit and Ben used as an opportunity to crash into other karts.
That evening, we had breakfast for dinner – eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon (kid’s choice) – and Eli, Ben and I walked out to the beach to watch the sunset.
I definitely see the appeal of PEI. It’s what you’d get if you took the small-farm-feeling of Wisconsin, added gently rolling hills, and made it into an island, with beautiful rocky shores. We had such a great stay.
