Today is Prince Edward Island day! With just a short 4 hour drive away to my parents, the shortest part of the trip awaited.
After a typical buffet breakfast at our hotel (my wife was very disappointed with the lack of danishes), we packed up and walked over to a store that caught our eye the previous evening… Scoop & Save.
The store was a mish mash of toys and games, imported foods and candies, kitchen utensils and kitschy collectibles, with only a small smattering of bulk items.
We skulked off with some Jelly Belly Beanboozled candy (if you haven’t played this game, you have no clout), and then it was off to visit Giant Tiger #31.
When we were done spending money there, it was time to scoot out of New Brunswick.
We rolled through the rolling hills for what seemed like an eternity, past the CFB Gagetown (secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of some fighter jets or a UFO crash controversy), stopped for a washroom break at the quaint little Cape-61 restaurant/gift shop/bakery, and finally whipped through the picturesque and swampy Cape Jourimain.
On to the Confederation Bridge, completed in 1997, it links mainland Canada with the beautiful island of Prince Edward, it is the world’s longest ice-crossing bridge at 12.9km. A beautiful view of the choppy Northumberland Strait on either side, to the left you see the northern divide between PEI and New Brunswick, and to the right you the southern swing between PEI and Nova Scotia.
After an extended drive across the bridge (the driver in front of us seemed to think it was a bridge for sightseeing and not driving) we finally landed!
We browsed the cute little shops of Borden-Carlton, ate some cheap deep-fried fare (again, food blog fail), and decided to get-along-little-doggy.
The drive from the bridge to the North Cape was nice until we hit the construction at Summerside (if you’ve never been to the Isle, you don’t know what you are missing as Summerside is a pretty little town – or at least it was 5 years ago. Then again, most PEI towns are pretty…), so it made the final hour of the drive seem like three. But we eventually made it to our home for the next few days, the small fishing village of Northport.
My parents treated us to some real island grub, pizza and subs and ice cream and before we called it the night, the boys took a nice walk down to the fishing pier, being acosted by every Islander we came across (mostly because of my parents little dogs – my wife calls them my little sisters), and eventually headed back to the house to fight over the beds and tuck in for the evening.
On to day #4. Stay tuned!
While you are at it, it would really help if you could help us extend our trip… and maybe help us get home.