On Hannah’s bucket list is visiting
Prince Edward Island, Canada to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Ergo, we awake at 4A in
early June in anticipation of our 570 miles of driving through a good chunk of Maine
and most of New Brunswick, Canada to PEI. (The name of Prince Edward Island was adopted in 1799
to honor then Prince Edward – the father of Queen Victoria. Edward was born to King George III, who was
best known for losing the Thirteen American colonies during the American
Revolution of 1776 and for a tenuous grip on sanity in his later life.) Our
theory on getting to distant places is to drive one monstrously long day, then
have multiple days at our destination with little or no driving. Though a distance greater than going from
York, Maine to northern Virginia, which we would do to see our daughter Molly and her husband Tip,
our travel today is on the wide open road with none of the congestion and traffic of
that southbound journey.
Two hours in, we change drivers in Newport, Maine,
halfway to the US/Canadian border at Houlton, Maine. Gassing up for $3.49 per gallon, we wonder how
gas companies can transport gas 150 miles inland and charge 17 cents per gallon
less here than in York. North of Orono,
Maine, the speed limit has recently been changed to a Rocky Mountain West 75
mph.
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| On I-95 north of Orono, Maine |
At Houlton, gas is 20 cents more per gallon at $3.69,
but it beats the $1.22 per liter price in Canada (to compare liters to gallons
multiple by 4 subtract 9, divide by 5 and add 32. [I may be confusing this with
going from Fahrenheit to Centigrade]).
At the border, the Canadian border patrol agent is smiling, which will
be a theme throughout our stay in Canada.
Ever polite and courteous, he wants to know about alcohol, fruit,
presents over $60, and how long we are staying.
We banter as Hannah mentions it’s our 40th anniversary; he chimes
in that he’s been married sixteen years and sends us on our merry way.
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| Canadian Border Station, Woodstock, New Brunswick |
Crossing the border, we enter the visitor center at
Woodstock, New Brunswick and get smacked by the ever-pleasant Canadian stereotype
again. Two delightful, engaging, and,
yes, smiling women answer our questions about biking in the province. Throughout our time in Canada, Canadians seem
to say hello first with a smile; stop their vehicles at crosswalks for us to
cross without glaring or tapping their foot; and just seem like they enjoy life.
Returning to our four-door Hyundai Elantra, we motor
down Route 2 through New Brunswick, a bilingual province, for the next four
hours. Highway signs have both the
English (roads and exits) as well as the French (chemins and sorties). Mileage is in kilometres, which as any
mathematician knows means you travel less distance than you do when measured in
miles. It’s a fact. Look it up. On four lane highways, we cruise by Moncton
and then Sackville with literally no one on the road. I exaggerate only slightly, but there are not
20 cars all day on this June 11th.
Okay I continue with the hyperbole, but there are very few cars. At Sackville, we hit two-lane Route 16, but
in these pre-summer season days we sail along at 65 on country roads with few
restaurants, gas stations, and motels. All
the better to make good time.
Approaching the 8 mile Confederation
Bridge from New Brunswick to PEI, I have no hydro-gephyrophobia
(fear of crossing bridges over water) as I did when
crossing the Seven
Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. I
think it’s because there are 3-4 foot concrete walls blocking the view
to the immediate sea below. There are
ample lanes for bicylces to cross, but we don’t see any. Back in 1991 when we took our kids to PEI; at the time there was a ferry from Cape Tormentine, NB to Borden-Carleton, PEI. We now cross the Northumberland Strait in
less than ten minutes and will pay $44.25 for the privilege/opportunity to
cross the bridge when we leave the Island.
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| Confederation Bridge from Borden-Carlton, PEI |
Consciously choosing to stay in Summerside, the smaller
of the two island cities, we are a mere 39 kilometers from our
destination. We settle on the Willow
Green Farm there as our B and B of choice.
Ironically, though Hannah ran a B and B out
of our house on Chases Pond Road from 1987-1991, we have only once previously stayed
in a B and B. Basically, we figured they
were too expensive. Not so in the
preseason of a PEI summer. At Willow
Green Farm, we have a queen room with a private bath with a sitting area with
two comfortable chairs for $70 per night. If we
stay three nights, the bill is $160, including daily morning breakfasts. Of course, we will stay three nights. The Quality Inn directly across the street
costs $114 per night. With no TV, the
room won’t feed my hyper-connected disorder to know what is on ESPN Sports Center at
any time of the day and night.
Settled in, we sit on a private deck, noshing
on apple slices, baby carrots, and cheese and crackers looking out to shaded
barn from the turn of the century and the family-size hayfields. Nourished, we head at 530P for the Confederation Trail
immediately behind our B and B.
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| Confederation Trail in Summerside, PEI |
From one end of the island to the other, this
273 kilometre former railroad is now a trail of crushed red stone that goes through
Summerside neighborhoods and allows for a lazy evening ride. Once in town, we find the 6.5 kilometre Baywalk along the water for our
biking pleasure.
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| Boardwalk of the 6.5 km Baywalk Trail |
Though we are before the season, Edwardians (my
guess at how they refer to themselves) are out taking an evening walk or or having some quality family time.
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| Baywalk Boardwalk & Companion Paved Bike Path |
After, in rocking chairs on the front deck of the Willow Green
Farm, we end the evening with a fine Malbec.
Hannah and I have hit vacation gold.
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