20020522

May 22, 2002

Day 13

Start: Southport RV Park, Charlottetown, PEI 
End: 
Miles: 0

The low last night was 40f, high today was 66f under beautiful sunny skies in Charlottetown.

After breakfast in the little house overlooking the harbor, we took the propane bottle to the local home store for refilling. 

We re-installed it in the trailer, then hit the road to view PEI.

There are three “trails” the province’s tourist folks have mapped to help visitors look at island places. We chose one (the “Heron”) and followed it to the north shore. Then we looked at the beach on that side. It was fairly sandy, but just looked terribly cold to me.

Following the trail, we went through the area in which lived the author of “Anne of Green Gables” and many other books. She’s a big thing up here. The area has a number of money-tourist separators (most not yet in operation this season). In season, it might be hectic here, but right now it’s quiet.

We lost the trail for a bit, then regained it in Kensington. I took pictures of the old train station and last locomotive that form the centerpiece of a small business area. PEI had a railroad for many years, which died when automotive travel increased. One of the small businesses here was a liquor store (all booze is under state store control here), so I bought a couple bottles of wine and some beer.

Then we headed northwest, off the Heron trail, to the small town of O’Leary. This province is teamed with County Monaghan in Ireland, since many of the settlers came from there. In O’Leary, we found another train station and photographed it.

But the real reason for the visit to O'Leary was to tour the Prince Edward Island Potato Museum. It is said to be the  only museum devoted to the potato in this country. It was easy to find because there’s a 15-foot tall potato outside.

The museum is interesting and probably tells you more than you ever wanted to know about the spud. It goes through potato history and the spreading from one country to another (it started in South America). It shows the state of the potato industry, regarding nutrition, business, export/import, and so forth. Then there’s a section on how seed potatoes are developed, tested, and controlled so that one seed potato is exactly like the next for a given variety.

We had lunch in a local restaurant, a sandwich and fries (they give out large, large, amounts of fries up here). A group of three older cars from Ontario pulled in behind us – a 1952 Pontiac, a 1955 Chevy, and a 1963 Buick. They were all in nice shape and had a lot of people looking at them.

We wandered on, now on the “Ladyslip” trail, generally following the water back toward Charlottetown. When we got there, we parked downtown and wandered the streets, looked in stores, and looked at the government buildings. 

We stopped at the Old Dublin Pub for an ale and to sit for a bit.

Then, back to the trailer to store our goodies and rest for a moment before going out for Italian at Sirenella’s. I had an antipasto of cheese, prosciutto and olives, then a linguine and sausages with red and bell peppers and onions. Dolores had the minestrone, then the special for the night – a lobster with scallops, a shrimp, and mussels. The house wines were quite good.

We returned to the little house then to take it easy, and for me to get this out by e-mail. Dolores tried a shot of the skyline of Charlottetown into the setting sun.

Tomorrow, we’ll do some of the east end of the island province.