Becky and Jarvis are getting hitched! And that means a road trip to Prince Edward Island, with stops in Edmunston, Quebec City, Ottawa and Kingston to site see, visit friends and attend Jill and Dave's wedding.
If planning a trip to PEI, I strongly recommend visiting http://www.tourismpei.com/about-pei and requesting a travel package. They will send you maps and brochures that will be helpful along the way.
We decided to drive so that we could camp along the way. We made it to Edmunston in 12.5 hours, and stayed at our pre-booked B&B Au Chalet.
http://auchaletbedandbreakfast.com/welcome.php?i=home
We had a top floor riverview room, and it was beautiful. Our host, who's name escapes me, was very knowledgeable and directed us to town to get some food. She had a DVD collection to be admired, and after a stroll around town, retired to our rooms for some R and R.
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| View from the Balcony |
Breakfast was delicious. She was very accommodating to my
gluten free requests, and made different breakfasts so my husband
wouldn't have to suffer. Booking in advance is recommended. She had to
turn people away at the door as she booked up very quickly.
Continuing onwards, we had an early start so that we could get to P.E.I before the wedding began. It was about a 6.5 hour drive. Many signs let us know we were in the East Coast. We weren't brave enough to try out the "McLobster."
Confederation Bridge really is something to see. Driving across was a little intimidating. It's free to drive over, but you pay about $40 to come back.
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| There's no turning back now! |
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| Almost all the way across |
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| The Beautiful red sandy beaches added such a contrast to the vibrant green shores. |
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We made it to Argyle Shore Provincial Park (the initial wedding ceremony location) in time to look around before changing.
Rebecca and Jarvis painted signs and posted them all over the island to help guests arrive safely. If only the weather would permit everything else from going so smoothly!
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| Beautiful Argyle Shores |
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| Enjoying the tiniest splash of sun before the storm! |
The wedding was supposed to be outside facing the sea, but the Island's unpredictable weather, forced an indoor wedding at the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown.
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| Even the rain couldn't dampen their spirits. |
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| Flip flops for all! Compliments of the bride and groom |
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| Midnight Nachos. Yum! |
We had a Bed and Breakfast booked for this night so that we could get ready for the wedding. We checked in, in between the ceremony and reception. I believe it was Dovern, a shabby little house on Grafton Street. The owners, Joan and Irwin, were kind and gave us keys to come and go as we pleased. I believe they were very reasonable considering, Regis and Kelly were in town, so everything was full!
Our first camp day was at Red Point Provincial Park which is on the East
side of the island north of Souris. It was about a 1.5 hour drive, and
we had pre-booked our campsite. This is a beautiful park, however it was
rainy and cold, so we didn't get to make the most of the beach. We
walked along the shore, and then watched a movie via laptop.
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| We climbed down to the beach and walked along the shore. The temperature was cold, but the water was swimable here. |
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| Too cold to swim:( |
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| We tried to use our car as a wind barrier. It didn't work when the wind direction changed in the middle of the night! |
The wind picked up, and our tent nearly blew away. We had to sleep in
the car. I would recommend camping at a site that isn't as high from the
shore. Red Point has sites all up on a cliff side, while beautiful, the
wind made it impossible to sleep. Investing in a good tent is key too.
Ours was old, and tall, so it did not fair well.
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| Open field style camping, with picnic areas. We cooked on our stove this night. |
I remembered at this point that I had left my dresses in the washroom at Argyle Shore before hastily leaving for the rain location of the wedding. We made some phone calls, and somebody found them. We had to drive back to pick them up. We drove along HWY 2, stopping in St Peter's Bay to kill some time before someone responded to me about the dresses. It was another rainy dreary day. We stopped at a small cafe called "The Sheltered Harbour Cafe" just outside of Souris off HWY 2. Very delicious lobster stuffed mushrooms, seafood chowder and lobster sandwiches.
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| We explored the Turret Bell gift shops waiting for the rain to stop. |
We past beautiful bright fields of yellow and green that glowed in the distance. We stopped to inquire and learned that the lemony fields were actually canola.
Potatoes are abundant here!
We retrieved my dresses and made our way to the Northwest end of the island, and to our site for the night Jacques Cartier Provincial park. The air and water were much calmer and we had a site directly on the beach. The water was murky and muddy, and what I would call a "food ocean." You can't see more than an inch in front, so you never know what "animal life" you may be swimming with. It got quite warm, so we were rather frustrated with the location, despite it's beauty.
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| Food washed up on shore from the "food ocean" |
Nothing beats the summer sky at night!
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| Having some fun with time exposure |
I became quite obsessed with all of the colourful painted houses.
We were meeting the Newlyweds and some friends in Cavendish today, which is on the Gulf of St. Lawrence side of the island, central. We drove through Summerside, and stumbled upon a Haunted Mansion. Given our obsession with Halloween, and all things spooky we decided to go for a visit.
Not so much scary as entertaining, but the rooms were set up and dressed with a tonne of detail. You walked through creaky maze-like hallways that led in all sorts of directions exposing diorama displays of morbid scenes. You got to be a fly on the wall, however sometimes those walls were thin, and the display came to life!
The outside grounds were also well decorated, with wooden arm and head shackles, scales, and several other poseable showpieces.
We made it to Cavendish Beach. It's beautiful sandy dunes, drifting into clear ocean water. Finally! But watch out for Jellyfish! They are abundant in these parts!
I had already visited Green Gables which is in Cavendish. Shay wasn't interested, so we skipped it this time. If you're a fan of the Lucy Maude Montgomery books, or the Sullivan Entertainment series, it's definitely worth a visit.
After some swimming and sunbathing we headed to New Glasgow with some friends, for their famous Lobster Suppers. This is a must. You pick out your lobster, and depending on it's weight, about $25 and up, you get your lobster cooked hot or cold, all you can eat mussels, bread, salad, soup, pop and dessert. And I am not exaggerating when I say 'all you can eat.'
Waiting to be seated after picking our lobsters!
We had one more night booked at Stanhope beach. It was a beautiful spot. A little buggy because it's in the woods, but the beach here is nice. We didn't get to enjoy it because it was late when we arrived, and we had to leave early to make it to Quebec City the next day. The fire caused us some trouble, as it was a little mailbox like stove instead of a pit, and everything was wet. Even with some borrowed coals from a neighbouring fire, we couldn't get it going.
Heading out in the morning, we made it across Confederation Bridge, and stopped on the New Brunswick side to take some pics.
Onwards to Quebec City!!
