The Huffman's Maritime adventure: July 27 (day 88) to July 31 (day 92)

Our first stay on Prince Edward Island was a nice campground near the ferry at Seal Cove that was recommended by new friends at the Nova Scotia Bluegrass Festival. We visited Panmure Island and were planning to move up the east coast, but decided to move directly to the area around Prince Edward Island National Park on the north coast when we learned that rainy weather was in our forecast. We spent a couple of nights at a busy park close to the north beaches of Prince Edward Island National Park – a great location with a 15 minute drive to downtown Charlottetown.

Sites around Prince Edward Island

Michele’s niece, Caroline, gave her a copy of “Anne of Green Gables,” a famous book by L.M. Montgomery, and she read it during our journey east. The fictional book is set on Prince Edward Island where the author lived, so one of our goals was to see the musical based on Montgomery’s book. We weren’t disappointed. We also visited Green Gables National Historic Site, which was the setting that inspired Montgomery in writing Anne’s story. Anne of Green Gables is an icon in this part of the world and the tourist industry has taken full advantage of the popularity of Montgomery’s works.

Green Gables National Historic Site - inspiration for Montgomery's novels

We also visited sites around Charlottetown, the site of the first meetings of confederation in 1864 which lead to the creation of Canada in 1867. Interestingly, Prince Edward Island did not like the terms of the articles of confederation and did not join the confederation until 1873. Nevertheless, the people of PEI celebrate their role as pivotal in the creation of this country. This is a beautiful island, with harbor and farm scenes common. PEI is much flatter than some of the other Maritime Provinces and from all appearances is somewhat of the bread basket for the others, especially kilometer after kilometer of potatoes. Rolling hills of farmland with small communities and sweeping seaside views are common.

From our last camp at Twin Shores we drove to Maleque for an evening ceiledh at their local community hall. Ceiledh’s are local music gatherings often with musicians dropping in for a few licks. This one was more formal with a band comprised of an uncle, his nephew, and the nephew’s son and brother-in-law. Foot stomping with the Irish music was a must at the hall that held about 100 folks and was bulging at the seams. It reminded me of a legendary Cape Breton fiddler we heard about whom folks called “stompin John” because his energetic fiddling and foot stomping required him to bring his own plywood piece to keep his foot from literally stomping a hole in the floor of the stage.

Some local step dancing talent

A fun take on the 50-50 drawings we commonly see at festivals and rallys

Tomorrow we’ll be leaving Prince Edward Island which concludes our visit to the Maritime Provinces. We’ll begin our journey west toward home, with a few stops along the way.