AirstreamTour: North to Prince Edward Island

Here we are again, still traveling, still in the northeast part of the North American continent, still enjoying our retirement. We are in Canada at the moment, specifically on Prince Edward Island. But let me back up and tell you about our adventures up to today.

We last left you in Maine - Great Pond, Maine to be exact. We took a day away from the wilderness to head over to Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. They are both located on Mount Desert Island, the third largest island on the eastern seaboard. Bar Harbor itself consists of six villages that incorporated as the town of Bar Harbor, but still maintain their autonomy for local affairs (confusing I know). The town therefore covers a total of 45 square miles!

The area was originally settled in 1763 and began life as a fishing village. Over time artists of the Hudson River Valley School discovered the area and began flocking to paint the landscapes. By the late 1800s wealthy “summer people”, such as the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and Astors, began visiting the area and building summer “cottages” of up to 50 rooms, not including servant quarters.

Summer “cottage”, now a hotel.

After a disastrous fire in 1947 that burned a 3-mile wide path through town, destroying over 250 homes, the elite left, never to return. But the town bounced back and became a destination for ordinary vacationers. It is a beautiful area, but has the feel of many small towns that live for the tourist trade: lots of t-shirt and kitsch stores, lots of art galleries, and lots of restaurants.

Downtown Bar Harbor

I did look up the local Aveda salon to get a haircut while we were there. (Suzi, thanks for the introduction to the Aveda system. It sure makes it easier to get consistent haircuts as we travel!) I asked the stylist about a good place for lunch and she recommended the Side Street Café. Boy, was she right! We got some really yummy lobster meals – a lobster roll for Heinz and lobster quesadilla for me. I’ve never been much of a lobster fan, but this meal showed me what all the fuss is about. The lobster meat was very clean and sweet tasting. Heinz also raved about his lobster roll (yes Jess, it was prepared like you said it should).

Lobster roll from Side Street Cafe

After lunch we drove into Acadia National Park. The entrance is maybe a mile from downtown Bar Harbor. The park started in 1906 when local residents started a land trust and was dedicated by Woodrow Wilson as a national park in 1916. It has since grown from the original 6,000 acres to 49,000, now encompassing nearly half of Mount Desert Island, a scattering of smaller islands, and the Schoodic Peninsula. Not having much time we first popped into the Visitors Center in order to collect the park stamp for our Passport Book, then headed out to the complimentary bus service and rode the 27-mile Park Loop Road. The road travels along oceanside cliffs and through mountain forests. We got to see some nice vistas, but in talking with another couple we discovered that this is a park better seen by foot. The park has 120 miles of hiking trails from easy to hard grades (one having an exposed 1,000-ft surface that is “practically vertical, recommended only for experienced, fit, and fearless adventurers”) and 45 miles of carriage roads. What is a carriage road you ask? Good question - we asked it too. Seems back in the day, 1913-1940 to be exact, John D. Rockefeller owned around 11,000 acres in the area. One of his hobbies was to drive horse-drawn carriages. He hired local workers to build an intricate network of roads and bridges 16-feet wide with generous crowns to keep them well drained so he could drive his carriages around his property. In the 1950s he donated the land to the national park. The park service has continued to maintain the roads for use by horseback riders, pedestrians and bicyclists. Unfortunately, time didn’t permit us to do any hiking since we wanted to stay on schedule and make our way to New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Acadia National Park

Back in Great Pond, the camp host generously stayed late to keep the clubhouse open so anyone who was interested could hang out and watch the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics. About 30 or so of us gathered around the big screen TV, watched, and tried to figure out just what the heck was going on! I don’t know about the rest of you, but most of us were underwhelmed by the spectacle.

Gathering to watch the ceremonies.

The next morning, right on schedule, we pulled out and headed yet further north. We drove along the Maine coastline to Calais where we crossed the international border into Canada. Once again this was a smooth crossing, a few questions, only our passports looked at briefly, and a friendly, “Enjoy your stay in Canada.” And just like that we were in New Brunswick – it took longer to fuel up the rig than to cross the border.

With that uneventful start to our stay we were off to MurrayBeach Provincial Park in the southeastern part of New Brunswick. The park is located by the tiny village of Little Shemogue and overlooks the Northumberland Strait. On a clear day you can see Prince Edward Island, a little over 12 miles away. We spent three days dry-camping here, strolling the beach, seashell hunting, watching the sunsets, reading, and napping. The spaces allotted to each camping site have to be the largest we’ve ever seen. In fact, they were so large that we had trouble figuring out where one ended and the next began. Quite a problem since the girls in the office told us to pick a spot and let them know what number we were in. But we finally decided on one and settled in with our noses facing the water.

Yes, that is ONE spot, from the picnic table on the far left to the road on the right to the road in front!

Sunset on day 1.

Sunset on day 3.

Big brother shows how it's done. What a classic summer shot!

We did take a drive up the Acadian Coastal Trail to Bouctouche. The region along the Northumberland Strait is one of four areas the French Acadians migrated to when the British evicted them from Canada in 1755 after the French and English War (known as the Grand Derangement in this region). Approximately 6,000 persons were deported. France, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (both independent regions at the time), and Louisiana (owned by France) were the areas most of the displaced chose. Thus, this was the origin of the Louisiana Cajuns, immortalized by the poem Evangeline. I felt right at home amongst names like Robichaux, Arsenault, and Landry. Bouctouche is a small town with several antique shops, some restaurants, a working fishing wharf, and its claim to fame…La Dune de Bouctouche.

La Dune de Bouctouche is a 12 km long sand dune preserved in pristine condition and the object of study by environmentalists and biologists at the Irving Eco-Centre. There is a 1.2 km boardwalk over part of the dunes so visitors can stroll and observe the land and bird life. In addition, part of the dunes is open as a public beach. But, no seashell hunting here! There is a box and sign at the exit of the Eco-Centre saying something along the lines of “…should you have forgotten to leave your seashells on the seashore, please deposit them in this box and we will be happy to return them to the beach…” – how polite! If you are a birdwatcher, this is the place for you. Up to 54 species of birds have been routinely spotted on the dunes in the spring and fall migration seasons.

Boardwalk on La Dune de Bouctouche

On the way home from Bouctouche Heinz gets a clamming lesson from a local.

Oyster farm, you see these in many of the smaller bays and inlets.

After our wonderful three days of laziness we headed out again, next stop, Prince Edward Island (PEI), the PEI National Park, and Cavendish Campground. We crossed over to the island by way of the Confederation Bridge. At 13 km, the bridge is one of the world’s longest. It is a toll bridge, but you pay the toll ($66 for 2 axles, $7.50 for each additional axle) on your way off the island. Of course, the other option for leaving the island is the ferry at Wood Islands to Nova Scotia ($112 for our rig).

Confederation Bridge

What can I say about Prince Edward Island? It’s a large island, 175 miles from tip to tip with a coastline that is 1,100 miles long (lots of inlets). The total population is 141,000. It has two “cities”, Summerside (population 15,000) and Charlottetown (population 35,000), and countless “towns” of 5-30 houses at a crossroads with maybe a gas station and convenience store at the larger ones. There are not many grocery stores on the island – we traveled to the two large towns for supplies. The three top industries are agriculture (mostly potatoes), tourism, and fishing.

The island has one heck of a publicist. If you check out the slick brochures and tourist information it appears that there is no end of museums, historic sites, festivals, amusement parks, etc. But, we have learned to read between the lines. Outside of Charlottetown the museums are tiny, most only one or two rooms in an old building, the historic sites are tiny buildings in even tinier communities, festivals consist of local seafood suppers, a dance with a local band, a few games to entertain the kids, a beauty pageant, and amusement parks with 5 or 6 rides and a splash pool for the kids - all geared toward support of the local community hall or fire station. Not many bells and whistles to be found here, however, if you are interested in kicking back on the endless beaches, riding a bicycle along the 400 km Confederation Trail, eating some great seafood, or playing a round of golf on one of the 22 golf courses on the island, then this is the place for you.

During our time here we drove quite a bit of the coastline, checked out a couple of lighthouses (there are 63 on the island, 9 open for tours), walked around downtown Charlottetown and toured Province House (where the island parliament meets and where the original meeting for Canadian confederation took place in 1864). We have picked wild raspberries and blueberries, biked along the beach, and learned to shuck oysters. In fact, we bought some oysters fresh out of the bay at Raspberry Point, considered by foodies to be some of the best and sweetest oysters in the world. We talked fishing politics with a local lobsterman (6^th generation), laughed with people complaining of the heat (low to mid-80s), and bemoaned the high prices of everything (20-40% higher than in the states on most items), and marveled at the taxes (16% sales tax on everything you purchase, including food).

Here is a photomontage of our stay on PEI.