Prince Edward Island is fantastic. Criss-crossed by 2-lane roads (which sometimes turn to gravel unexpectedly), ringed by beautiful sand beaches and red cliffs, abundant in fresh seafood, as idyllic and pastoral as you can imagine. We arrived a day later than expected due to our van maintenance delay, but this was still the most relaxing part of our trip so far. We definitely left with plans to return, rent a cottage by the water, and vacation for real.

Our first night in PEI, we arrived at Stanhope campground in PEI National Park in time to swim (it was hot and humid that day!) and do a bunch of laundry, deep into the night. Not everything is swimming on beautiful sand beaches, but we do try to include that whenever possible. The campground was basic, but beautifully situated, right across the road from a pleasant swimming beach. The road along the water there had a lovely bike path all along it, too. We arrived on Friday and made plans to get up and explore during the day on Saturday, but Morgan didn’t feel great that morning, so we decided to make it a down day. It wasn’t as hot, but still quite humid. I spent some time messing around with watercolors, and enjoying time in our campsite, then rode my bike up the road to another beach, along a trail through the woods, and back (with swimming at both ends— lovely!). Then we got showered and ready because Saturday night was one of our biggest planned splurges— dinner at The Table in New London, PEI. 

The Table deserves its own paragraph (or two). It deserves its own post, really, but I’ll try to keep it short-ish. This restaurant/dinner experience was created by a young chef who designed it to be an entirely Canadian evening. Every ingredient is from Canada — so there is no black pepper, no lemon or lime, nothing that doesn’t grow here. The music is all Canadian, the wine is all Canadian, and even the dishes you eat off of are made by a (Canadian) friend of his. He’s developed local substitutions for many of the ingredients, such as capers made from dandelion heads, which he cuts and cures all winter, or anchovies that are made from local smelt, or a dehydrated part of a local tree that stands in for pepper. It’s amazing and creative and you can tell he just loves doing it.

The dinner is in an old church, which is a beautiful space. There were about 20-30 people there in all, seated at our own tables in the spacious open part of the church, with an open kitchen at one end, and a wine cellar up above the kitchen. The meal is 7 courses, uniquely created each week according to what is fresh and available. Many of the ingredients are named for the people who grew or produced them, mostly on PEI, and sometimes further afield in other parts of Canada. Every course was phenomenal. Like, some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. The halibut course, in particular, was our favorite— he coats it in a thin layer of dehydrated potato (think instant potato flakes, but created on site) before he fries it in “more butter than you care to know about.” Oh my goodness gracious. I can’t even describe it. Every flavor was amazing, every dish came together perfectly, and I would go back to PEI just for another of these meals. Of course I had to be that person and take pictures of each course…

The next day, Sunday, we headed to Green Gables, because of course we did. Both of us grew up with Anne, and the new Netflix interpretation is one of the things I’ve most enjoyed watching in recent years. After visiting and learning more about Lucy Maud Montgomery, I maintain my position that she would have appreciated the updated storylines, and that it is true to the spirit and feeling of Anne herself. I was surprisingly moved by what I learned here, including the sadness of Montgomery’s life story and the magic she cultivated despite that. Side note — we have since been listening to Anne of Green Gables while driving, and the book definitely holds up and has gained meaning with time. The version we downloaded from the library includes a forward from Margaret Atwood, who asserts that the story is as much about Marilla’s experiences and growth as it is about Anne’s, and I’m amazed how true that is. The narrator of this version is also wonderful. I highly recommend revisiting this funny, moving, magical story.

We spent the rest of the day driving the West part of PEI, all the way up to North Cape, which was a beautiful drive where we imagined all the farms we would buy and old farmhouses we would live in. We also had another lovely cheese picnic on another lovely beach. It was VERY foggy at North Cape. We drove back down to our new campsite for the next two nights in Cabot Beach Provincial Park. I’d been sorry to leave Stanhope, but our site here was phenomenal. We had a site right in the corner of the open field of campsites, with views of the ocean and even some red cliffs all around. We got there just before sunset and had a lovely evening cooking dinner outside, setting up our campsite, and watching the ocean. We decided it was too nice to leave, so we spent most of the next day there— enjoying the views, visiting the beach and swimming, and getting a little more downtime. Our neighbors there were both teachers from Maine, who we really enjoyed meeting and talking with, too.

Monday night, we went to Sou’West, a restaurant on the water, where I got to eat some delicious PEI mussels before leaving the island, then ventured into Charlottetown to see Anne of Green Gables — The Musical, which has been running pretty continuously since  1965. It was a fun condensed retelling, with well-cast actors for most characters, and generally a good time. My only gripe is that it made me cry way too much when the Really Sad Part happened. I blame how well it was cast, which meant I was very attached to the characters.

I guess I really enjoyed my time sitting around the campsite and such, because I took VERY few pictures on Prince Edward Island, despite it being such a beautiful and unique place. Oops. Here’s one more picture of us by a lighthouse at sunset.

On Tuesday, our time in PEI had to come to a close. It was somehow a jam-packed time, despite being some of the most relaxed days of our journey so far. We didn’t see as much of the island as I had initially planned, but it was so nice to have some time to relax, swim, paint, and enjoy a vacation from vacation. 

I fear I’ve fallen quite far behind in my writing and posting, but I will post again very soon and get us caught up!