After enjoying a very brief stay in New Brunswick, we travelled to Prince Edward Island (PEI). This was partly because we wanted to experience Melissa’s ancestry, but also in an effort to stay ahead of the rain. (Spoiler alert: It caught up with us)!
The first thing that you notice after crossing the Confederation Bridge, is that PEI is “All Anne - all the time”. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though, because one of the attractions we did want to visit, was the house and land where Lucy Maud Montgomery’s fictitious Anne of Green Gables was set.
With Summerside as our base for three nights, we were able to find a long enough respite from the rain to travel up to Avonlea (now known as Cavendish). First, we visited the birth home of Lucy Maud Montgomery in New London, then the Anne of Green Gables National site. Both places were incredibly charming, with informative staff sharing their knowledge and answering all of our questions. We walked through Anne’s house and surrounding buildings, then hiked through ‘Lovers Lane’ and the ‘Haunted Woods’.
As mentioned, Melissa wanted to also learn a bit more about her heritage. We visited the Acadian museum in Miscouche, where we discovered that the Gallant’s (formerly ‘Hache’) were one of the original founding families sent by France to colonize what is now Canada in the mid-1600’s. With Melissa’s maiden name being ‘Gallant’, it was as if she were at home on the island, even though she had only visited once before, as a child. We discovered that the Acadian history is a very long and interesting one, and this heritage also includes Cajun’s who live in the southern USA.
The fishing industry is a PEI mainstay. This is demonstrated by the abundance of fresh seafood around the island. We had a chance to drive to Malpeque, (where the yummy oysters are from) and visit this working fishing village. We were also fortunate enough to sample some of these local delicacies at Carr’s Oyster Bar, in Stanley Bridge, PEI.
With our PEI visit coming to a close, we are taking advantage of what appears to be a break from the rainy weather this weekend… so we have taken the ferry from Wood Islands, PEI to Nova Scotia… and are settling into Cape Breton country for the next few days, before heading over to Halifax.
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