Winnie had one more ferry ride in her future, as we planned to cross over to PEI, but this time, it was only a 75 minute ride. The day was beautiful and warm – spent the trip talking with a Nova Scotian, a very interesting history buff.

This weekend was the annual PEI International Shellfish Festival. How could we miss that? As predicted the weather was very wet and windy, but luckily, most of the activities took place in a huge tent. Shellfish prevailed – we started with a plate of mussels and melted butter – yummy. I then finally had the raw oysters I love so much. They didn’t even offer cooked ones!! They had a series of cooking demonstrations, all of which I attended, and got small tastes of the end product – more mussels and a yummy fried clam. A local chef whose restaurant specializes in mussels, was there much of the day fixing many of the dishes from his restaurant and giving away samples of each. I was his best audience member and ate lots more. It was really educational, and I think that mussels will be our staple up here! Poor Dick, who didn’t go to the demonstrations, finally found a sausage, just to fill up. This definitely was not his deal, and I told him that I now owe him one car show! We went to the finals to crown the maker of the best seafood chowder on PEI. There were ten chefs who had passed the first heat and there was some serious chowder. They handed out samples at the end – we got to taste two of them. Of course, heavy cream was a primary ingredient in all. They were delicious. Then there was the oyster shucking – the fastest time was 12 in one minute and two seconds. They were also judged by presentation – getting blood on a oyster was definitely a penalty! There was lots of good local music – these folks seem to be a lot like the Newfies. They have a great deal of pride and joy in being islanders, and are extremely welcoming and friendly.

We have been following the scenic routes all around the island – a lot of the roads are just enough inland that we don’t have the views we had in Newfoundland. It is flat with lots of farm land. Some areas have farm stands, which I enjoy, and we have eaten some good sweet corn. The weather has been spectacular – best of the trip. The place is very charming. We are staying in Brudenell Provincial Park – we have a lovely site by the water. There is a beautiful hotel and golf club on the property, so Oz and Linda enjoyed 18 holes yesterday. Later, we had a great happy hour (is there any other kind?) at a lighthouse, and came home to fresh mussels. Good day. There is an island wide bike trail – the Confederation Trail – that runs right by the campground, so two days we have taken it in a different direction. It is all rails to trails, so level. Yea!! This island really closes up after Labor Day (especially, we are told, near Cavendish – the Anne of Green Gables Land), so if you are into all the tourist things, better to come before that.

We don’t eat out a lot, but Linda brought a list of the best restaurants in the Maritimes, and when we have a chance we try them out. Inn at Bay Fortune was at the top of that list, and it just happened to be 20 miles from our campground. We decided that although we had celebrated our anniversaries separately, we probably should do it as a group as well (Linda and I can rationalize anything). The restaurant is in a large, previously privately-owned, house with beautiful flower and herb gardens. After drinks in the living room, we had dinner on the large enclosed wrap-around porch. The food was excellent – good food is so good for my soul!! It was a bit pricy, but not ridiculous, so if you like find dining, put it on your list.

This is a small island (about 175 miles across), so we are breaking it into three parts. It was time to move to the middle section and we were planning to park in the PEI National Park on the northern seashore. Unfortunately, when we got there, we were told that although the sites were big enough, they had an arbitrary rule that no rigs longer than 27 foot are allowed, and that all the other park campgrounds were closed for the season. It took several calls to find a private park close to the National Park, but success was finally ours. The seashore is beautiful up here with long stretches of sandy beach. We met up with Oz and Linda and rode our bikes to two short hikes. The Forresters are members of the Nature Conservancy, and do a lot of volunteering involving nature, gardens, and the environment, so are always interesting to hike with – they see things we probably would have missed. We ended the afternoon with happy hour on the beach.

The next day was pretty much perfect. We drove another leg of the scenic road that circles the whole island, going through scenic fishing villages, and discovering a fish market, which always excites me. In Brackley Beach, we found an amazing gallery and Dune Café. This almost all glass, 4 story modern building is filled with beautiful pottery (there is a large pottery studio on the second floor), blown glass, paintings, fresh flowers, wood carvings, clothes, furniture, and much more. The most intriguing part is the top floor, and the wooden spiral stairs that go on up to a glassed in atrium, and outdoor viewing deck. The owner, a potter, lives in a portion of the floor (not open to the public, although his deck with water pools is open). The admission fee to that floor is a contribution for orphans in Thailand. The main part of the top floor is decorated with all kinds of art, pottery, wall hangings, carvings, etc. from the Thailand area (most for sale) – it looks as though the owner may use it as a living room after the gallery closes.

The back yard is filled with dozens of Thai statues, a lily pad pool, fountains, and a large flower garden that keeps the dozens of fresh flower arrangements full in the garden. The bottom floor holds the Dune Café, with a Thai oriented (altho not exclusively) menu. It was still a bit early for lunch, so we decided to come back later. Before lunch, though, we had another stop on Linda’s list – The Cheese Lady. I love artisan food people, one of the few things I have missed on this trip. We arrived the cute little farm, where penned llamas and alpacas met us. They were very friendly and charming, until we didn’t live up to the expectations of one of them. He laid his ear back and hissed at us, big old yellow teeth bared. Kinda killed the moment.

I am not usually a big Gouda fan, but this stuff was good – lots of different kinds. Unfortunately, she only sells out of that shop, but we stocked up for happy hours.

It was time to go back to the Dune Café for lunch – a real treat. Do not miss this place when you go to PEI.

After another day of touring, and another lunch at the Dune Café (the next restaurant on Linda’s list was closed for lunch), we packed up and moved to the last “third” of PEI, the North Cape Coastal Drive.

Mill River Provincial Park was the only park left open, so the decision wasn’t hard. We drove to the North Cape Lighthouse, had a good lunch at the restaurant there, and toured the Wind Energy Interpretive Center. On the way south, we had to stop at another of Linda's culinary highlights - a cafe featuring Seaweed Pie. She is not the most adventurous eater, so was a bit wary, although determined. As it turns out, it was delicious. The magic ingredient was taken from Irish Moss, and is a thickener used in products that we use every day, i.e. toothpaste.

Sunset found us at the West Point Lighthouse which is really on the southern end. Linda, a photographer, was looking for a memorable sunset, and this one did not disappoint. The winds on the beach were high and it wasn’t particularly pleasant, so while our intrepid photographer clicked away, Dick, Oz and I found a sheltered place to drink our wine and eat our appetizers.

Dick and I had planned to stay another day to see Summerside, but were getting antsy, so headed to New Brunswick.