The Great New England Road Trip: Days 27-30, Prince Edward Island
Day 27: Crossing Into Canada
We were very sad to be leaving Acadia National Park for good, but at the same time, we were excited, and a little nervous, about crossing into Canada! We packed up the camper, said our farewells to our friends, and hit the road for a very long drive.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Maine, we stopped at a gas station that also had a little local general store. Even there, we managed to find a little excitement. Some of us had gone inside while others were still outside when the car at the pump next to us suddenly sped away - with the gas nozzle still sticking into the car!
People started yelling and honking and waving frantically for the driver to stop, but the driver apparently didn't notice any of it and simply drove away, ripping the hose right out of the gas tank. Thankfully, there was some sort of safety mechanism that allowed the hose to disconnect, because otherwise things could have been much worse. Even more thankfully, while we were still at the station, the driver came back, and when we finally left, we saw them working things out with the management.
Before too much longer, we realized we were about to reach the U.S./Canada border. After the different reports we had gotten from other people, we were understandably curious how the crossing would go.
Turns out, it was extremely anticlimactic.
They basically just looked at our passports and waved us through. They didn't even ask what food we had with us! And just like that, we were in Canada!
The road afterward was lonely but absolutely beautiful. After some of the bumpy, loud, congested roads we'd traveled on this trip so far, this peaceful stretch was a welcome change.
We talked about stopping at Fundy National Park, home to the famous Bay of Fundy and its enormous tides. The tide can change by as much as 53 feet! But we'd ultimately decided against stopping. We'd heard that parts of the area can be extremely muddy, and with so many littles along for the adventure, we decided that perhaps we didn't need that particular kind of excitement. 😂
As we drove along the highway, something caught my eye. Since researching the Bay of Fundy, the strange, muddy-looking bank along the water was immediately recognizable. It looked just like the pictures we had seen! Then we realized that we were literally driving past parts of the Bay of Fundy. A little farther along, we got an even better view, and we were thrilled! We thought we wouldn't get to see much of the bay without actually visiting the park, but here it was, stretching out before us!
And then we saw something even more unusual.
A strange, smoky-looking mist seemed to be rushing toward the road from the bay. At first we thought we were imagining it. Then we thought it might be a cloud or smoke. But the whole thing looked so strange that I finally looked it up.
It was Fundy fog!
The phenomenon has to do with warm air meeting the cold water, which is constantly being churned and stirred by the enormous tides. Whatever the exact science behind it, we were beside ourselves that we actually witnessed it.
Not long afterward, we passed a port city with massive apparatuses unloading shipping containers from barges arriving from overseas. There were hundreds—maybe thousands—of containers stacked everywhere. From a distance they looked like enormous piles of colorful Legos spread across a gigantic landscape.
A little while later, we decided to make one last grocery stop before crossing the bridge to Prince Edward Island. Being Americans who weren't entirely sure where else to go, we did what Americans do: we stopped at Walmart.
Except this was Walmart in Canada. So technically, we had stepped into a Walmart in a foreign country. 😂
And it was surprisingly different! We weren't expecting the food aisles to feel so unfamiliar. There were completely different foods and products than what we're used to seeing back home. One of the most memorable sights was sugar cane pieces that were practically as large as some of the kids!
Before heading out for our next adventure, Caleb brewed a pot of coffee right there in the parking lot. He is always prepared for tea or Walling Mountain Coffee whenever the road calls for it.
Then it was time to cross the bridge to Prince Edward Island. It stretched ahead of us, something like seven miles long, and everyone was excited to cross it. By this point, the sun was setting, and as we climbed onto the bridge, Prince Edward Island slowly came into focus right before our eyes in the glowing evening light.
It looked like a place with so much scope for the imagination, And perhaps this journal is about to get a little more wordy now that we're headed into the land of Anne of Green Gables.
Day 28: Anne’s Country
We woke up to the sound of the Atlantic Ocean. Standing in the doorway of our camper, we could see the water. It wasn't long before we were all out walking along the beach and taking in the beauty of the island.
The shoreline here was unlike any beach we'd visited before. It's amazing how many different forms a beach can take. Here on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, the water was incredibly clear and the waves were surprisingly calm, at least on this particular morning. But the water seemed to have a reddish hue, not because of the water itself, but because of the red rocks and sand.
Prince Edward Island is famous for its red soil and red rocks. This was particularly amusing to us as Alabamians because red dirt in South Alabama isn't exactly something people brag about. Here, though, the red earth is part of the landscape's beauty, and it really is beautiful.
Another fascinating thing was the way the beach changed beneath our feet. Even though the shore was mostly sandy, there were enormous slabs of red rock right in the middle of it. One moment you could be standing on soft sand, the next on a huge slab of rock, and the next on a bed of pebbles mixed with fist- and foot-sized pieces of red stone. Farther down the beach, and even right behind us, red banks and cliffs rose from the shoreline, giving the whole scene layers and dimension.
After a slow morning of regrouping and wandering back and forth to the shore, it was time for Charlene to don her dress and for all of us to head out to one of the many L. M. Montgomery sites around the island.
This whole part of the island can be a little confusing.
If you've ever read the Anne books or watched the movies, Anne probably feels real to you. So naturally, you come to Prince Edward Island expecting to find the real Green Gables where Anne lived. Except Anne wasn't a real person. And Green Gables wasn't a real place. And yet there is an entire tourism industry built around both of them. How does that work?
Well, the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, really did live here, and many of the books were inspired by her own life and experiences. So various houses where she lived, visited, or found inspiration have become museums and historic sites.
One of the most famous is the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Site. The house there actually belonged to Montgomery's cousins, whom she visited periodically. Their home greatly inspired her description of Green Gables, so the house has been carefully arranged to give visitors a sense of what Green Gables might have been like.
There's just one problem. It doesn't look anything like the Green Gables house in the iconic movie.
Part of the reason is that the time period of the story was changed when the movie was made in the 1980s. The movie's version of Green Gables reflects a different period and style than the 1880s house that inspired Montgomery's books. So, if you ever come here, you'll have to sort all of that out for yourself.
From the house that inspired Green Gables, we could also walk to the area where Lucy Maud Montgomery actually grew up with her grandparents. The house itself is gone now, with only the foundation remaining, but there's a cute little bookshop nearby.
We also visited the places set up to represent Lovers Lane and the Haunted Wood. If you've read the Anne books, you'll know exactly what those names mean.
And then came another important literary experience: Raspberry cordial. Bottles of raspberry cordial are apparently a major Prince Edward Island tradition, and, if you've read the books, you know why. Granddaddy treated the entire crew to some at the heritage site, and no one got drunk. Again, book reference. 😂
On the way back to camp, we stopped for another Prince Edward Island tradition: hand pies. These delicious little flaky pies fit right in your hand and can be stuffed with everything from potatoes and meats to curries, fruits, and sweets. Everyone enjoyed this new treat.
And later that evening, what else could we possibly do but settle in with Granddaddy and Grandmommy and watch the iconic Anne of Green Gables right there on Prince Edward Island? It felt like the perfect ending to the day.
Day 29: Bikes, Apples, and Kites
It was time to hit the trails with our bikes again. We've had several bike mishaps along the way on this trip, and we'd been getting a little discouraged about the bikes in general. But on the way into Prince Edward Island, we'd stopped at a store where Caleb picked up another cable that he thought he needed.
This morning, his dad helped him install it, and suddenly - voilà! His bike worked! So, we set off on one of the many bike trails around the island.
If you like to bike, this is the place to come. It was wonderful to be able to ride straight from our campground and immediately hit the Ocean View Trail.
We ended up riding almost 20 miles along the coast, passing the iconic sand dunes and red cliffs of Prince Edward Island. We eventually made our way to North Rustico, where we saw another of the island's many lighthouses and stopped for coffee and tea at a local shop.
On the way back, we stopped at a massive red rock formation along the ocean. I'm sure it has an actual name, but unfortunately I don't know what it is. Whatever its name, it made a perfect spot for a picnic.
Best of all, everyone's bikes were working so much better! It was finally an enjoyable bike day, and the scenery was spectacular.
When we returned that afternoon, we headed out with Caleb's parents for another island tradition: apple picking! Apples are a huge part of Prince Edward Island, along with agriculture in general. The island produces millions of pounds of potatoes every year, but apples are everywhere too - both in orchards and growing wild.
After apple picking, it was time to hit the beach. The late afternoon sun was still warm, so some of us went swimming while others played in the sand. Then Grandmommy and Granddaddy surprised everyone with kites!
There always seems to be a good breeze, or sometimes a downright strong wind, here on the island, and the kites behaved beautifully. Well... almost all of them.
One kite apparently developed a mind of its own, flew away, and sailed straight into a tree across the campground. A certain child apparently decided that if the kite was going up the tree, he should go up there too. He seemed to fly away with it and nearly climb the tree after it, but thankfully we caught up with him and got him back down as quickly as we could.
After dinner, Granddaddy baked some of the apples we'd picked and served them with ice cream, And then we watched the second half of Anne of Green Gables. It was another very Prince Edward Island kind of day.
Day 30: Finding Anne’s World
Granddaddy woke everyone up with a big pile of pancakes and bacon, so breakfast was a treat from the very beginning. We enjoyed our scrumptious breakfast while listening to the Atlantic Ocean nearby, and then it was time for another bike ride.
This campground has probably been one of the best we've stayed in so far. The ocean is right outside our door, the facilities are nice, and there are bike trails literally everywhere. I'm still not entirely sure how they all connect, but I'm pretty sure you could bike just about everywhere on this island.
Today we headed in the opposite direction, taking the Homestead Trail Loop, and it exceeded our expectations. The day before, we'd spent most of our ride surrounded by stunning ocean scenery. But today's ride felt completely different.
It felt like we had ridden straight into an Anne of Green Gables movie. We passed ponds and ocean views. We saw a bald eagle. We rode through rolling fields of crops and flowers, past wild apple trees, and through a forest grove that seemed exactly like what the Haunted Wood of the story might have looked like.
All of us agreed. This ride really made us feel like we had found Anne's country, and it was beautiful.
As soon as the ride was over, we packed up the car and headed down the coast in search of Dalvay-by-the-Sea, which appears in the Anne movies as the setting for the White Sands Hotel.
Dalvay-by-the-Sea is truly large enough to be a little hotel, but it was actually built as the summer home of one of Rockefeller's colleagues back in the day. The foyer alone was an impressive display of the wealth and style of the time. It was fascinating to see Dalvay-by-the-Sea in person. Of course, movie angles really do change things, and you have to use quite a bit of imagination to figure out how they managed to get some of those movie shots.
After Dalvay, we headed into Charlottetown to experience the big nearby town from the Anne books. Of course, Charlottetown is much bigger today, but it was fun to walk around part of the historic district.
We say fun, but it felt like everyone was practicing for our upcoming time in Boston. Our practice did not go particularly well. We had to remind ourselves that we'd already completed a seven-mile bike ride and driven down the coast that day. Otherwise, we might have abandoned the Boston idea right then and there. Everyone was tired. Keeping the whole group moving while staying out of the way of other tourists was a challenge. Somehow, we still managed to have a good time and even picked up a few little souvenirs.
On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company. We tasted and purchased some preserves and were hoping to eat in their dining room overlooking the beautiful, sparkling river and rolling hills. Unfortunately, they'd just sold their last three-tier dessert tray of the day. Some of us were pretty disappointed. But by then, we were also exhausted, so we decided it was probably time to head back to camp.
After dinner, we walked out to the beach one more time to watch the colors of the sky change as the sun began to set over the ocean. And as we stood there watching the evening settle over Prince Edward Island, it felt like the perfect ending to four very full days in Anne's country.
