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| Crystal Beach, Malpeque Bay, PEI |
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| Crystal Beach PEI |
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| Crystal Beach, |
Day 14
Two weeks and 4400 miles later we crossed the 13 kilometer bridge to Prince Edward Island with the setting sun a blazing orange ball in the cloudless western horizon as we drive suspended above the waters of Northumberland Straits. This is as far East as we will probably ever get on this Continent and it was a long time coming.
In the darkness we stumble towards our first campground a little dismayed that our timing will require flashlight search and guidance once we find the darn place. We eventually do, an oceanfront spot, and are told to cut just cut across a grass field. They did not mention that it rained heavily a couple of nights ago. So we slip and slide into place after asking a neighbor to remove his truck from our spot. Friendly but tense exchange of intrusions.
Too tired and dark to do anything but fry up a couple of dogs, gulp some rum and crash.
Ah Prince Edward Island. Tomorrow we begin our serious sea food search for Malpeque oysters and Atlantic lobsters and perhaps some Acadian fare as well. I don’t think I can eat more than one lobster at a time but something tells me I might just try.
I’ll let you know how sick I get.
Day 15
The morning arrives with me looking out at the Atlantic with nothing between us and Europe except for Hog Island on the far horizon. Time to start planing for the day. I think we will stay away, if we can avoid it, from all the brouhaha about Ann of Green Gables and all the tourist traps associated with the place where that lovely story was written.
We moved to another part of the Island heading for a spot hopefully not so crowded. The countryside is just as idyllic and bucolic as one has imagined this island would be. Well preserved and seemingly freshly painted little wooden churches are everywhere. The land gently rolls into valleys of forest or farm fields with late summer wheat a golden tan and tight rolls of hay sitting like sliced sections of lime colored jelly rolls fill the fields ready for bucking. With the blue skies and sparkling bays a storybook picture is completed. Every lawn is mowed. No matter how large or small, wealthy or modest,
every lawn is neatly mowed and emerald green. It must be an ordinance.
We were headed to the north central part of the island to another camp spot called Vacationland near Brackley Beach when we spotted another sign to an area above Rustico Bay and decided to check it out. It turned out to be one of those serendipitous decisions. The camp opened up onto a large grassy plateau with wide open spaces and no crowds. There was an airstream parked at the entry, another relatively new and long one, 36 feet, that served as an adjunct to the registration office. There was also an airstream just setting up. What was going on here? It turns out that this place was on some sort of airstream watch list as quiet, uncrowded, and airstream friendly. Needless to say the owner was happy to see us and said that all airstream travelers were charged a flat $25.00 for a full service site. He then had us follow him to a site with reasonable privacy. The site was so level I did not need to make any adjustments.
We signed up for two nights and could not believe our fortune, until later. There is always a later. The breeze was soft and warm and wafted through the entire trailer. Again it is so relaxing to come in early and set up calmly and even have time for a little clean up and maintenance of the truck and trailer.
We spent a lot of time going over local tourist brochures trying to plan our lobster and sea food excursion. Hard work.
There is even a bar that serves New Orleans style po boy oyster sandwiches. I’ve read about them enough in James Burke novels with Dave Robichioux and Clete Purcell eating a lot of them between crime busting escapades!
I’m ready to climb onto the memory foam bed with sheepskin cover and a down comforter and bolstered on three sides by a dozen pillows and three screened windows to let the smooth Prince Edward Island sea breezes drift through. We try to at least sleep in luxury!
Oh yes the “until later’” the park was next to a drag race strip hidden by trees. We only heard them for one night and they did stop at 8:30PM.
See you tomorrow.
8/31/10
Notice the new calender heading? The Day1 thing seemed to rigid and marching and made me feel like if I missed a day it would be all too obvious and punishment must follow. What kind of a vacation would that be. I am amazed at the disicline of writers sitting down each day to face that blank medium with writer’s block overlooking one’s shoulders. Fortunately, I’m just talking here, no pearls of literature.
Been here at Bayside for a couple of days now just kicking back. We went poking about
Rustico Bay shops and spent a little time soaking up sun on Rustico Beach. There is something inherently different between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. The Atlantic seems a little harder, a little more metallic, definitely colder. Nevertheless the fine reddish sands peculior to PEI were warm to bare feet too long confined.
Our search for lobster lead to the conclusion that its just a huge tourist thing and we might be better off waiting for Maine. The whole Ann Of Green Gables Thing is the major industry here spawning roadways, bridges, Bosum Buddy Cottages, Kindred Spirits Shops, Amusement Parks with roller coasters and water slides, Mathew’s Carriage Rides and Avonlea Villages. It permeates everything. Make it whle you can from whatever the source of inspiration. Like televanelaists making it off God. And still we come. Looking for what was some essence of innocence..
And... that PoBoy Oyster sandwich!
Some kind of search has to go on.
We are thinking about pulling up hitch and going to Nova Scotia to try and reserve a multi day spot before the Labor Day Weekend crowds. Looking forward to trying out the new inflatable kayak and poking about some of the historical maritime museums and waterfront dives in Lunenburg and Halifax and of course the famous Peggy’s Cove.
Brother Patrick says that the price of beer may be so high here as a result of levies and taxes to try and stem the drunken brawls in Halifax pubs! Right, we know how that works as a deterrent. Gambling ? drugs? anyone....
Just heard. Possible cat4 hurricane headed for Nova Scotia by Labor Day. Hm, don’t think I want to be in a rolling tin can in 60-100 k winds. Just a little kink in planning.
Run for the hills and off this flat island or find something to hunker down behind? Then there is the possibility that it will all ease up. Ease up, my choice as always.
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| New & old lobster pots PEI |
All anybody wants to talk or think about is the coming of hurricane Earl. It is hot and stifling today, perhaps the calm before the storm. It has been dowgraded to a cat 2 and is still scheduled to land in a couple of days. We will leave tomorrow and head a litttle ways inland.
We went into Charlottetown to the Merchant Men’s Pub to finally try the locally vaunted po boy oyster sandwich. Arghhh, another Canadian culinary bust! Why do I keep trying? Why do I keep hoping? Why did I spend $20.00 for a sandwich and one beer!! The sandwich, at least the New Orleans style ones as described by author James Lee Burke’s protagonist, detective Dave Robichoix, should have been brimming, piled, with oysters , onions and sauce. I opened this suspiciously flat bun and looked down upon 5 flat niclkel sized thangs evenly spaced on the bottom bun with enough space around each one to drive a shrimp boat through! “ Lets not crowd them morsels folks! Them’s special PEI ersters eh, you betcha”. They were so small that one managed to make a break for it and slipped between the buns to fall on the floor between my feet. I couldn’t believe it. I now had this huge flat dough boy reduced to .20 cents worth of nickles! I looked at the one laughing up at me from the floor and of course I wondered. Does the 10 second rule apply in a restaurant? Pathetic thought, I let it ride and finished my flat bun with paper thin tomatoes and one leaf, also pressed flat, of lettuce, and sensed an occasionl hint of something vaguely seafoodlike and nursed my glass of ice water. Why
do I try?
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| Charlottetown, PEI. Home of the Poor poor po boys. |
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| East Point Light House, PEI |
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