Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani: Prince Edward Island 6/19-29/2015

Even though we experienced a fair amount of rain during our stay, we both so enjoyed Prince Edward Island (PEI). We camped our entire ten days on the island at the Cavendish National Park. We quickly became aware of how large the island is and realized that on return we will drive less and stay in various locations around the island.

Our first observation on the island is that Potatoes are king here. Everywhere we drove there were acres of rich red soil where potatoes are grown. We tasted many different kinds during our stay with names we were often unfamiliar with. All were tasty. While we very much enjoyed the lobster which is plentiful, our greatest indulgence while here were the blue mussels. The mussels we had are the largest and tastiest mussels we have ever enjoyed. At the Blue Mussel Café in Rustico, where we went to more than once, the owner told us that the secret to the taste is the freshness of the mussels. He shared with us how he makes 3 trips a day to the mussel beds in order to serve the freshest mussels to his patrons. The mussels were that fresh.

While on PEI we went to the Potato Museum where we learned a few new things about potatoes. The potato first arrived in England in 1586 during the reign of Elizabeth I. By the 1600’s it was still seen as mainly animal food. In 1664, following a year of great hunger, the Royal Society encouraged the cultivation of the potato for human consumption. The potato would not, however, be grown as a field crop until the mid-1700’s. In the late 1700’s Thomas Jefferson brought the French Fry home from Paris and it became a featured menu item at the White House. Potatoes are said to be a near perfect food. Together with whole milk (to supply vitamins A and D) they are said to supply almost all of the necessary food elements. The potato is a more complete protein than most food plants, including soy. It is rich in vitamins B and C, iron, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, potassium, and a number of trace elements. It is cholesterol free, high in fiber and relatively low in calories (about the same as an apple or orange). We found the Potato Museum to contain some very interesting information and left with our heads spinning concerning potatoes, and a determination to eat more potatoes in the future.

As we traveled around the island we grew to love the very green openness, varied landscapes and beautiful lupines that grow wild all over the island. The people of PEI are some of the nicest people we have met in our travels. They are always eager to share and it was common for us to have interesting extended exchanges with the locals. One local even gave us a very detail description of where their home was and encouraged us to stop in when we visit the island again.

The island we were told is not home to a huge variety of wildlife. While on the island, however, we saw many birds (including Osprey), a raccoon, rabbits and this beautiful fox. The island was once inhabited by both silver and red foxes. The silver foxes were hunted for their furs are thought to be mostly gone now. The locals told us that the fox that we saw (picture below) is an uncommon find as it is a hybrid of the silver and red fox. He was such a special treat to get to see!

Besides taking in the beautiful landscape and shopping the local farmer’s market twice while on PEI ,we also saw a fun show in Charlottetown entitled Hockey Mom Hockey Dad, visited various museums throughout the island, and saw many historic lighthouses and churches. Because there were so many historic lighthouses and churches, we will give each of these categories their own posting. One thing that we have found common place on PEI is that most museums included in their very reasonable admission, a knowledgeable young docent that would often give us a personal tour. We found these young adults to provide wonderful insights into the museum’s content. And these exchanges were two way, with them often interested in what we might have to share with them as well.

We visited Province House which is located in Charlottetown. While there is a major renovation going on of the house, there is an area set up to share their story of the birth of Canadian Confederation. In the 1860’s the Province of Canada consisted of the areas known today as Ontario and Quebec. The government of the Province of Canada was not running smoothly at this time. Some thought it was because of the two languages within the province (English and French). Leaders from Province of Canada felt that joining the other colonies may help to improve this situation. The colonies during this same time were in need of other markets to sell their goods to and Britain was finding that from such a distance it was costly to defend the colonies from American invasion. Britain also felt that the United States would be less likely to attack the Maritime Colonies if they were part of a self-governing country as opposed to being many separate British Colonies. It was sort of the perfect storm when the Providence of Canada convinced the politicians from the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland to consider a larger union. In September 1864 the parties assembled in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island to discuss the proposition of Confederation. Development went slow, with Confederation being finalized on July 1, 1867, establishing Canada as a country. On this date the country was split into four provinces: the Province of Canada being split into two provinces - Ontario and Quebec; the province of New Brunswick and the province of Nova Scotia. Newfoundland, which participated in the Charlottetown Confederation assembly, decided to remain a British Colony and would not join the Confederation until the late 1940’s. Confederation Day, July 1, is now celebrated as ‘Canada Day’ throughout Canada.

Built in 1877, Beaconsfield House was one of the most elegant houses in Charlottetown. This Victorian architecture inspired house was equipped with the latest of the day, including gas light fixtures. The attention to detail displayed in the house as well as the building materials used were beautiful to see. This home was an enjoyable home to tour.

When Father Georges-Antoine Belcourt arrived in Rustico he found a community in crisis. The Acadians were impoverished, uneducated. Forced to get expensive credit from local merchants for the supplies that they needed, they were caught in an exploitative debt cycle,. Many were so indebted they were at risk of losing their farms. Belourt realized that the people needed access to affordable loans so they could retain their farms and lift themselves out of poverty. He set about to create a people’s bank- The Farmers' Bank of Rustico. This bank was the first people's bank and it is credited with being the precursor of the credit union movement in North America. This bank operated from 1864 to 1894. The bank created its own currency with $1, $2 and $5 notes. Serial numbers were applied mechanically, the dates were filled in by hand and the notes were signed by both the Bank Treasurer and Bank President. They were accepted at other banks and each week a representative would ride into Charlottetown to redeem the Farmer’s Bank of Rustico Notes. Located on the same grounds as the Bank of Rustico is the Doucet House.

The Doucet House is an Acadian House built in 1772. It is the oldest house remaining in Rustico. It was originally built on Grand Pere Point but was later moved to be part of the Farmer’s Bank Museum grounds. Be sure to look closely at the outbuilding construction detail that shows construction without nails. This construction, while not pointed out by our docent, we found to be quite interesting.

Situated on the bluff overlooking the North Cumberland Strait, Basin Head Fisheries Museum tells the story of PEI’s historic inshore fishery. Our young docent gave us a good overview of the fishing history on the island and explained the many artifacts within the museum. It seemed sort of amazing to us that in the winter, years gone by, they would cut holes in the ice and randomly spear for eels. But eels were probably more plentiful then. The idea that lobster was a poor man’s food and people would spear randomly for eels, which were a delicacy, was somewhat hard to wrap our arms around. Basin Head is also the location of Singing Sands Beach. We tried the white singing sands out and yes, on a warm day with some imagination, if you shuffle your feet, the sand seem to sing you a tune!

Parsonage house, is a Victorian home built in 1878 for Mr. Pope and his wife. A copy of the deed for the land from the Government of Prince Edward Island to Thomas H. Pope for the sum of $2.00 is on display in the foyer. On July 10, 1884, the house was purchased by the Methodist Church for use as their Parsonage and was home to many parsons and their families over the years. Following church union in 1925, the house became the home for the Bideford United Church, until it was sold as a private dwelling in 1975. In order to draw more visitors, the museum pushes the fact that author Lucy Maud Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables) boarded here from August 3, 1894 until May 11, 1895 while teaching in Bideford No. 6 School. The notoriety of Montgomery has helped the draw for the house museum. For us, Teri decided to read Anne of Green Gables (the first in the series) and we learned how the book series is HUGE for Japanese girls, all of the books having been translated. The love from Japanese girls is so huge that a portion of the house has been set aside for the Japanese and we were shown many gifts they have received from Japan.

At the Parsonage house, we also learned about the United Church of Canada. The church was formed in 1925 from four Protestant demonstrations. It is the second largest Canadian denomination after the Roman Catholic Church. United Church of Canada

We hope you have gotten a small glimpse into this wonderful island we visited. With limited internet, we have been unable to research many things. But the island is fun, welcoming and beautiful and hopefully you can feel that from this post. And for us….we will eat more potatoes!