Accommodation: Rodd Charlottetown

The leaves are just beginning to change here on PEI, and as we boarded the bus for the day’s activities, we were able to see some of the reds and golds beginning to peek through.

Winters can be harsh on PEI with temps going down to 11 degrees and snow. Fortunately, hurricane season produces few hurricanes on PEI, but in 2022, hurricane Fiona swept through the PEI coast and left a lot of damage in her wake, not only eroding the coastline, but also toppling down trees in her path. We saw the damage as we drove by. The government arranged for large rocks to be brought in and placed along some of the coastline, to bolster the coast in the hopes they will stop more erosion from occurring.

A local guide joined us on the bus when we left the hotel and remained with us for the day. We first drove through Charlottetown, and saw the colleges, the historic buildings, and the shops. The town is quaint and the houses are colorful and interesting to see.

After touring the town, our first stop was to the Red Shores raceway where harness racing takes place. They were exercising the horses while we were there and we enjoyed watching them go by.

Our local guide talked about cultivating mussels and she showed us a sock that is made with a cotton poly material that fisherman use to place in the water to cultivate the mussels. A seeding practice first takes place to start the mussels growing on the sock. The socks are hung from floating rafts and then after a few weeks, the socks are brought up periodically to be cleaned of overgrowth and to remove some of the poorer looking mussels to allow the good ones room to grow.

We then visited The Anne of Green Gables Museum which is housed on the homestead property of a family called the Campbells, and is dedicated to the life and works of the author of the book Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

The museum has amassed many period pieces that Lucy writes about in her book, and it has recreated on the grounds, Anne’s Lake of Shining Waters, her Lover’s Lane, and her Haunted Path. There is a collection of the author’s belongings at the museum as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the museum and if you haven’t seen the series Anne with an E, or read the book, I highly recommend them both.

After touring the museum, we headed to the Raspberry Point Oysters company to watch oysters being graded and sorted. An employee of the company gave a very interesting talk about oyster farming, and how this PEI company sends oysters far and wide for folks to enjoy.

I love oysters, but given the warming of waters thanks to global warming, and the increase of the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which can make humans sick or even be fatal, I opted not to sample any. The bacteria has not been confirmed in the general population of the Maritime provinces, although it has been isolated from shellfish in PEI. The bacteria is spreading north, so why take a chance.

We then walked along the boardwalk of Cavendish Beach. It was a sunny day and the salt air smelled so good.

We had lunch at a local restaurant. I had potato pie which was outstanding, and Allan had potato crab cakes which he said were also very good.

PEI is known for its delicious potatoes. The climate and the rich red soil, which is full of nutrients, combine to make PEI a leading potato producer in Canada.

Allan and I had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and then treated ourselves to ice cream cones at Cows. According to the internet, “Cows was named “Canada’s best ice cream” in a survey of readers of Reader’s Digest and named one of the world’s top 10 places to get ice cream by Tauck World Discovery. We have to agree! Delicious!!!

Raceway

Sock used for mussels to grow on until harvest

At the pier

Another lovely day

Visited the Anne of Green Gables museum

This is not where the author actually lived, but is rather a recreation of the period and the home from when she was a little girl.

You can just picture this bedroom as the room where the character Anne would have lived with her aunt and uncle in the book.

Beautiful garden

Raspberry Point oyster farm

Oysters being graded

At the beach

Potato pie

Allan had crab cakes

St Dunstan’s Cathedral Basilica, a Roman Catholic landmark with Gothic Revival architecture. The cathedral is filled with hundreds of angels, proclaiming the Catholic belief that angels exist and serve as protectors from God and that every believer in the Catholic faith has a guardian angel protecting them.