We spent ten days in Cape Breton and loved every minute of it, but it was time to move on. We now headed towards Prince Edward Island to learn about the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote Anne of Green Gables and its sequels. Denise read these as a teen and Fred has now discovered them, courtesy of “Anne with an E.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_(TV_series))

We went to the Prince Edward Island National Park in search of a campsite for three nights and were happy to get a site at the centrally located Cavendish Campground.  There was a delay before we could take possession so we headed off to the the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Site, which is part of the National Park.  There we viewed a house dressed like Green Gables, as described in the book, and furnished appropriately. 

We had arrived in Cavendish at the tail end of a large music festival and lots of people were attending that so the Green Gables site was not packed with people.  People were photographing “Anne” sitting under a tree with her knitting!

We then headed down the Haunted Wood Trail towards the site of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s grandparents’ home.  The building is long gone and we declined to pay to visit an open field.  But then we made a serendipitous find – the Post Office.

Lucy Maud Montgomery served as assistant postmistress for many years. (http://cavendishbeachpei.com/members-operators/cavendish-post-office/) Still a functional Post Office, it houses a small museum set up as a post office of that era, filled with exhibits and memorabilia. 

Arguably a more authentic display than the Green Gables recreation.

Back in the parking lot, we stopped to admire a mother Osprey and (greedy) chicks.

Continuing our themes of music and history, we headed next to the Acadian Musical Village in Abrams Village, where we hoped to eat a lunch of traditional Acadian food and hear some Acadian music.  (https://www.villagemusical.ca) On the way, we stopped at the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, where displays and a video gave us additional  historical context for the various Acadian expulsions by the British during the Seven Years War.  (http://museeacadien.org/an/)

Unfortunately the restaurant at the Musical Village was overwhelmed with a very large group so we were unable to eat lunch there.  Fortunately, there is always food in the camper!  But we thoroughly enjoyed the music by the group Gadelle.  (https://www.facebook.com/rootsmusic/) There was a difference in the style with more singing of old French songs, though many similarities remained, especially in the fiddling and the foot stomping.

 

On our final day we assembled the bikes and discovered the Homestead Trail from our campground.  It was a pleasant ride, along the bay and through farmland. We concluded with a ride down to the beach.  It was so windy that it was unpleasant but there were still a lot of people on the beach.

Denise would have liked her picture by the giant potato at the Potato Museum but we did not happen to pass by it (and it was not that important).  Who knew that potatoes were such an integral part of the PEI economy though? We passed field after field of them.  Prince Edward Island reminded us a great deal of England, only an England with more firs than deciduous trees and much larger fields.

Time to head north again, back into New Brunswick, heading towards the Province of Quebec. We stopped at the Confederation Bridge Park to view the bridge and try not to be blown away (by the wind or the view) as we took a photo or two. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge) The bridge itself is simply amazing, in length, height, history, etc.