It’s true. There’s a Subway on almost every street corner. And not the metro kind of subway, but the fast-food restaurant of the sandwich variety. That’s great and everything, but… why Subway?
The second lesson of the day is that when it rains in PEI, everyone freaks the freak out.
My alarm tried to go off at 4:30am but I said NO WAY and turned it off until 5am. Not much of a difference, but I needed that extra half an hour. I packed up all of my things, attempted to make coffee, cleaned up the coffee that had overflown, and went on my way! Headed to Prince Edward Island with a full tank of gas and five hours on the clock, I didn’t even need to stop once until I got over the Confederation Bridge and onto the island.
It was SO foggy in the morning. For a while it was just foggy over the water and on the mountains so it wasn’t an issue as far as sight while driving, but eventually it closer and while it still wasn’t awful, it wasn’t great. Good thing it was still before 6am and there were only about three other people on the road. It was beautiful, though, when it wasn’t in my way.



I pretty much had to retrace my steps from when I went from Alma to Cape Breton, because you have to pass through New Brunswick to get to the island. It would go from being super foggy to super clear to super foggy in a span of one minute.
Things I saw/noticed/laughed at:
- A yard full of Simpsons characters cutouts. I wish I had stopped to get a photo, because it was just so unbelievable (literally; I bet you don’t believe me).
- Crows have such long legs…
- A boat named “Just Another Bill;” no, Bill! You’re a special Bill! There’s no one else like you!
- Everyone waves at you from their car as they’re passing you… Meanwhile I’m blasting “Fuck You.” Canada is way too nice for me.
- The sign leading the way to “Marshy Hope”
- The sign leading the way to “Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park”
- The sign warning against “Church Traffic”
- I’m hungry… Why do I always force myself to leave before the free breakfast???
- “Tasty cinnamon buns are here” at this gas station
- “Korean pulled pork is here” at this Subway
- SO MANY COWS — I wonder if I’ll ever be able to see cows and NOT have some audible reaction (“AWWWWWW” “OH MY GOD, MOO YEAHS!!!!!”).

A REAL LIFE FARM WITH REAL LIFE COWS
I made great time and arrived on the island around 10:30am; the moon was still in the sky. I checked out the visitor’s center first, grabbed a bunch of brochures, and headed to find a place to eat.
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Before I left for this trip I had ordered this book off of Amazon: http://amzn.to/2a8VTeM
It has come in handy on multiple occasions these past few days, since I have so little time yet SO much to see — it has helped focus me, showing me the best of the best so as not to waste any time. I only had one day on Prince Edward Island, so I wanted to be sure to get the most out of it.
One of the suggested scenic routes on PEI was one that takes you from the end of the Confederation Bridge (beginning of PEI) to Rocky Point, making a few stops along the way.

My first true stop, for breakfast/lunch, was Victoria by the Sea. It was so cute! I walked around a little when I first got there, but it was still super foggy. It’s also Sunday, so unfortunately a lot of the little shops (including a Theatre Bookstore that I was VERY interested in) were closed.




Rolling hills, distant mountains, a dock, a beach, and the cutest little houses and shops, this little town has it all. I had brunch at a cute little seafood restaurant on the bay:

The view from my table
So like… I’m just going to leave this here.

Brunch.
Oh, and this.

The aftermath.
Is there any other way to live life?
After that life-changing meal I stopped by the Lighthouse Museum down the street (the oldest lighthouse still standing in PEI) and then made my way to Island Chocolates… did you expect anything less?




I tried to leave without getting anything; I really did.
By the time I had eaten and gotten my chocolates the fog had lifted, so I took another quick walk around Victoria, marveling at the view.


The tide was so high (“the tide is hiiighh but i’m hoooldin’ on”) that it was came halfway up the stairs that led down to the beach!
After soaking it in a bit more, I went on my way. My next stop was Port-la-Joye//Fort Amherst and the Blockhouse Point Lighthouse. Fort Amherst is a National History Site in PEI; a park that commemorates the first permanent European settlement on the island.




This selfie stick is the best thing that has ever happened to me


But about two minutes into the hike it started to thunder in the distance so I got the heck out of there — and just in time.

It soon started to POUR
And, as I mentioned above, these islanders have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO IN THE RAIN. The road conditions were awful; why an island is allowed to have such poor storm drains is beyond me. The streets were flooded with puddle after puddle. Luckily for me it didn’t rain for that long, because Shamanda is pretty low to the ground; I would have been sunk.
I decided to turn off the GPS (my phone) and just follow signs/sights that looked interesting. I had a general idea of what I wanted to see, but never stopped myself from accidentally discovering something and pulling over to investigate more. I ended up in Charlottetown, the capital of PEI; IT WAS SO CUTE. I couldn’t get enough of it; I never wanted to leave.




St. Dunstan’s Basilica




Province House



City Hall



Victoria Row

THIS IS A REAL PLACE WITH NO FILTER
I even happened upon a little concert:
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Hopping back in Shamanda, I decided to turn on the island radio for a little bit — some classic 80s throwbacks put me in a great mood.
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Next up was Green Gables, the inspiration for L. M. Montgomery’s novel “Anne of Green Gables!” The house itself was so cute, with each room laid out as it would have been in the novel. The grounds were in full bloom and the farm was equipped with saddles, hay, and even a fake cow that scared me to DEATH when I walked by. It was so fun!





Anne’s room

Sewing room!






Scared me to death
This was especially fun for me because I was in the play a while back! I don’t remember it much (it was kind of boring, if we’re being honest) but one thing I do remember (I played Diana, Anne’s best friend) was having to play drunk after drinking raspberry cordial. If you look closely at the picnic table pictured above, you can see Diana’s cordial still sitting there.

That killed me.
Next I headed towards Cavendish Beach but ended up stopping in New Glasgow instead. I found some beautiful gardens and then made my way to this INCREDIBLE cafe/art gallery/shop.

Gardens of Hope





Thank you, random lady who could only speak French

Landscape on the drive to the Cafe/Gallery

This place was so cool. I didn’t take any photos of the inside because it felt odd and I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to, but here’s the link to their website so you can get an idea of what kinds of things were in there: http://www.dunesgallery.com
One thing I did have to document were these art pieces made from rolled magazines (there were also frames and mirrors made from the same material):

There was also a beautiful rooftop garden and lookout, which was so calming, especially because I was the only one up there at the time.

Rooftop garden // “Muse Garden”



Spiral staircase leading down from the lookout to the rooftop garden
I somehow walked out without buying anything (a little too out of my price range but probably SO worth it; ah well) and then finally headed towards Summerside, where my B&B for the night was waiting! The woman who runs the B&B came out to greet me as I walked in; Man, did she like to talk. She was an absolutely LOVELY woman, but it had just been such a long day, I just wanted to flop down on the bed and never get up. Instead, talk talk talk talk talk.
My favorite part of our exchange, though, is that when I asked for dinner recommendations, she told me to go to Wendy’s.
Wendy’s.
I didn’t go to Wendy’s. Instead, I ended up at a little seafood restaurant on the cute little Summerside boardwalk. There was about a 25 minute wait so after putting my name in (which the hostess spelled “Dasiy” — really? My name is NOT that hard to get right), I explored a little bit before sitting down.

Summerside boardwalk

My restaurant!



Reminds me of the ship paintings in my house, except ours are better.

It was finally time for dinner and I ended up sitting upstairs right across from Bill and Hillary Clinton in thirty years:


O, Canada
It took the waiter a while to come over to me… when he finally did he asked, “Waiting for a few more are you?”
HA.
“Oh, it’s just you?”
I ordered some yummy crab cakes and a caesar salad. I’m sure gonna miss this fresh seafood!!!

After dinner I made my way down to the beginning of the boardwalk (that happened to be right next to the Wendy’s I was told to go to) to watch the beginning of the sunrise, but there was a huge family there so I decided to head to a nearby beach to watch it from there, instead, where I could wade into the water (wasn’t much of a swimming beach — very shallow).






Ah, much happy (until I got my first mosquito bite of the trip MOMENTS from a clean getaway).
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The last stop before heading back to the B&B was for some much needed soft serve.

I apologize for my crazy eyes — I was overcome with joy and excitement
My B&B was cute! Very rustic… not my design taste/aesthetic, but it was very cosy! The doll on the bed (even Poohie didn’t get along with her) and the Jesus stuff on the bedside table (not to mention the older couple sitting on the common room couch singing hymns together) were just a little much…

B&B entrance




(Not to offend anybody; Jesus is just not really my style.)
I tried to write this post last night, but… boy was I sleepy and I had another long drive the next morning, so I decided to give up and just SLEEP. Still only got about five hours of sleep, but that’s okay because up next is Rimouski, QC! Time to ~relax~ before heading back to civilization!
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