Prince Edward Island is the "Land of Anne". Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born, lived and wrote “Anne of Green Gables” here.
Other facts are: In 1534 Jacques Cartier is the first European to land on the island, later named Ile Saint-Jean. In 1758 Britain gains control of the island and deports Acadian settlers. In 1799 the island is renamed for Queen Victoria’s father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. In 1864 the “Fathers of Confederation” meet at Charlottetown to discuss a Canadian union.
In 1873 Prince Edward Island became Canada's 7th province and its smallest. In 1997 the Confederation Bridge links Prince Edward Island to the mainland. PEI has a population of 135,294 and is 2,184 square miles. The capital of PEI, Charlottetown is Canada’s birthplace. PEI’s motto is “The Small Under the Protection of the Great”. License plate motto is “Canada’s Green Province”. The Province Flower is Lady’s Slipper, and Tree; Red Oak.
After 5 hours and 213 miles we drove over the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island and arrived at Bayside RV Campground at Oyster Bed Bridge (in the Cavendish area of PEI.)
BAYSIDE RV CAMPGROUND
We had a bad impression of this place when we first entered. We saw rows of permanent trailers, and the outbuildings looked pretty bad. And they were bad. The comfort station had a row of private showers that were in awful shape; filthy and old. The area for the overnighters was nice, however. Those sites are in an open field that is green and level. The sites are spacious and you are not crowded in by your neighbors. But we found out on our 2nd night that this RV park was next door tro a race track and for 2 of our 4 night stay we were entertained with the roar of race cars in the early evening for about 3 hours. We will not be staying here again.
CAVENDISH AREA
This area is the home of the “Anne of Green Gables”. Green Gables stuff is everywhere. Every store has dolls with red pigtails for sale. The area is also very green with scenic landscapes and the area is dotted with art galleries and craft studios, especially glass and pottery. We stopped at a lot of these galleries and saw the beautiful creations of the local crafters.
ANNE of GREEN GABLES
Green Gables Heritage Place is a farm house in Prince Edward Island National Park. In the late 1800’s, this farm was the home of David & Margaret McNeill; cousins of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s grandfather. As a girl, Lucy visited this farm often and played in the woods and the grounds surrounding the farm. Lucy later made this farm famous as the setting of her novel “Anne of Green Gables”. The farm house and outbuildings have been restored to the Victorian period and the farm house is furnished in the late 19th century style.
We spent some time exploring the house and grounds. We did a short hike on the walking trail behind the house; an area that “Anne” referred to as the Haunted Woods.
We spent some time exploring the house and grounds. We did a short hike on the walking trail behind the house; an area that “Anne” referred to as the Haunted Woods.
Lucy was born on this Island in 1874. She was raised by her grandparents in Cavendish after her mother died. She never lived in this farm house, but she lived with her grandparents just down the street. The house Lucy lived in was also the town post office during that time. She lived half her life here and this is where she wrote Anne of Green Gables. Today the house is gone, but a duplicate was built on the same site and is currently the post office as it was back then. 
CHARLOTTETOWN
Charlottetown is the capital of Prince Edward Island. The Island was settled as a French fortified post called Port La Joyce in 1720. Charlottetown was named after Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. Today Charlottetown is a commercial and educational center. It is a big city with major industry and shops such as Wal Mart, Sears, Home Depot and even a Michaels. We checked out the downtown historic area. It was mostly restaurants.
We ate at a place called Dundee Arms Inn & Restaurant. It is a Victorian style house with a very nice outside patio. It was chilly, but we ate outside anyway (we were the only ones).
POINTS EAST COASTAL DRIVE
We drove along the scenic Points East Coastal Drive and visited two lighthouses. The East Point Lighthouse is located at the most eastern point of the Island. It was a beautiful drive with gorgeous scenery of rolling hills dotted with quaint homes and farms and great views of the Atlantic Ocean. The scenery is also dotted with art studios and galleries.
I bought a small pottery tray where the profits would benefit their local Breast Cancer Society.
We did not drive the whole Points East Coastal loop drive. Too many miles and we did not have the time. We did half the loop and then turned inland to return ‘home’. We stopped at this roadside market and bought some fresh fruit, mini pumpkins for decoration and the best berry pie you ever tasted. That pie lasted three nights.
Our next destination is Nova Scotia. But to get to Nova Scotia we have to go back into New Brunswick after crossing over the Confederation Bridge. We wanted to visit a zoo in Moncton, New Brunswick. Since it was on our way to Nova Scotia, we made an overnight stop there. By the way, when we drove over the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island, there was no charge. But you pay a fee when you leave PEI. It cost $42 for a passenger car. For us, with our trailer, it cost $58. ($59.50 U$).
After 2.75 hours and 106 miles we arrived at Stonehurst Trailer Park in Moncton, New Brunswick.
MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
Moncton is a large town with a population of 64,128. Shipbuilding and railroads made this town the transportation hub of the Maritime Provinces. It borders the Petitcodiac River and Nova Scotia is on the other side of this river.
Moncton has two natural phenomena; Magnetic Hill and the Tidal Bore. Magnetic Hill is an area where you drive ‘down’ a hill, put your car in neutral and release the brake, the car moves backward up the hill. This is an optical illusion from the surrounding hillside sloping away from the road makes it look like you are going uphill, but you actually go downhill up the hill. The Tidal Bore runs up the Petitcodiac River. Twice a day the river basin rapidly fills with water and within an hour the bore passes 28.3 million gallons of water and the water level rises more than 25 feet. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to visit either place. Instead, after we settled into our campsite, we spent the rest of the day at Magnetic Hill Zoo.
STONEHURST TRAILER PARK
This is a fairly nice place. At least the bathrooms and showers are better than the last place, but not by much. The park has mostly permanent residents. The area for overnighters is not bad. This is another place where the sites are on an open meadow that is level, but no trees. But the sites are spacious and it is quiet during the day and dead quiet at night.
MAGNETIC HILL ZOO
This is a very small zoo, but a very nice one. It is 40 acres and home to 400 animals representing more than 100 species from around the world; lions, jaguars, bear cubs, wolves, zebras, camels, lemurs, hawks, pythons, etc. But no tigers, rhinos, hippos, or elephants. The zoo has a nice layout with woods and gardens. It is off season so there were no attractions such as zoo talks or animal feedings, and all the concession stands were closed. The place was almost empty. It is open all year, but there were not too many visitors this time of year.
Burchelli Zebra
Przewalski Horse
Burchelli Zebra
Przewalski Horse
We found a Costco near by and stopped to get some bottled water. We also bought the 5-disc DVD pack of Anne of Green Gables. Ever since we visited Prince Edward Island and saw Green Gable stuff all over the island we wanted to watch the movie again. So now we have something to entertain us on those evenings when we have no TV.
The next day we drive into Nova Scotia. This will be our last stop in the Maritimes and our last stop in Canada.
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