Still on Prince Edward Island

As previously reported, we stayed in yesterday while "showers" managed to fall all day.

Today the prediction was for "rain" - and rain it did.  All day...

That, of course, did not keep us from exploring the island, so we set out

to see what kind of wine is produced on PEI.

The Matos Winery is owned by winemaker Jaime Matos and his wife Heather.

We tasted, we liked, we bought a bottle.  It will never make it back to the states

since we have begun the 4pm ritual of a glass of wine.  

As they say, "It's 4pm somewhere!"

We had a lovely visit with Jaime and Heather.  Heather recommended some restaurants

to the four of us.  Driving into Charlottetown we missed a turn and ended up in front of the 

Old Triangle Irish Alehouse - one of her recommendations.  We stopped for lunch

and had a great meal.  So much for cooking.  Ed eats cereal and I have yogurt tonight!

We headed out in the rain to visit a place that produced Gouda cheese.
Aren't the four of us adorable as we prepare to taste a myriad of Goudas?!?!

She started us off easy with plain.  Then we moved on to garlic, red pepper, mustard,
cumin, smoked, and on and on.  They are wonderful from plain through the entire tour.
Each of us purchased a favorite and we moved on.

The Sun Came Out!!!
We drove to North Rustico which just happens to have the best bakery on the
island.  Fresh from the oven rolls, breads, and pastries.
O.K.  We bought these little mini apple tarts with butter crust, chunks
of apple, and lots of cinnamon.  I'd be posting a photo of them, but I can't...

North Rustico has a perfect boardwalk that leads to the wharf area.  Fishing boats
can be hired from here, there's a gift shop, stacks of lobster traps, chowder cafes...

....and a light house.  Finn and I are sitting on the porch.

It's so nice to have the sun shining after 3 days of rain.

It was recommended to us that we not miss the musical production of

"Anne and Gilbert."

Expensive tickets, spirited and very young cast, great costumes, lots of

songs and dances, a lot on the hokey side, but lots of fun.

While we were in Charlottetown waiting for showtime, Ed

got involved in a discussion with this man.  I don't know how long

he talked before he realized it was a statue....

There are statues all over Charlottetown.  The cutest are the six

inch tall mice sitting in all sorts of places.   

Driving along the coast, we came on this view of part of the Confederation

Bridge with just a few lupin along the road.

We are heading to Halifax in the morning across this very bridge.

We finished our visit to PEI with a salmon and bratwurst BBQ
complete with some new mosquito bites.  Perfect.

And the adventure continues...

Prince Edward Island - Part 1

We've arrived on Prince Edward Island via the Confederation Bridge. 

It opened in 1997 and is approximately 8 miles long.  It's quite an engineering marvel. 

We arrived on the island for free, but we will pay about $65 in tolls to get off.

Checked into New Glasgow Highlands Campground

and found our campsite.  What a beautiful and immaculate place this is!

This is what the surrounding area looks like:

Ed's birthday was on June 22nd.  The campgound owners baked him a 

chocolate cake.  There's that Canadian hospitality again...

This is how Finn and I helped him celebrate.  We also

provided one his favorite dinners.  I think he is a happy 67 yr. old.

PEI is rolling hills, pristine  and manicured, red dirt (they even sell t-shirts

dyed in the red dirt.  I'm considering one that reads,  "older than dirt.")

So picturesque...

The country is peppered with craft people and artists.

This is just an example.  Signage warns they are just ahead.

I've been taken by the lupin.  It's everywhere, in pinks, yellows, and mostly blues.

A perfect place for lunch along one of the coves.  Lobster rolls, chowder, salads...

It's fun to be traveling with friends Jean and Ken MacLean from Scarborough, ME.

They met us here and will tour much of Nova Scotia with us.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Anne of Green Gables series, 

grew up on PEI.  Anne is spoken of as though she was a real person
and not a fictional character.  The Green Gables house is a national park.  The stories are based on this house.

Touring the house:

Me as a "mature" Anne:

The coastline is also a national park.  It was cloudy this day which

makes for a wonderful sky. 

Dalway-by-the-Sea

This lovely hotel is a pre-1900 Queen Ann Revival.

It's inside and owned by the national park.

We were warmly welcomed when we entered,...

 ...and spoke with the the couple who

are managing the hotel.
 Kinda didn't want to leave..

The big city and capitol of the province is Charlottetown. 

It boasts 35,000 people and all the chain stores one could desire.

The is the harbor.  There was a cruise ship in today full of Americans.   

St. Dunstan's Basilica

A gothic Catholic church near the harbor.

Province House, built in 1847

It accommodates the provincial legislature and administrative offices.

This very special room is the Council Chamber Room.

It's the very room where 150 years ago this year a vote was taken making

the decision to consolidate all the British independent colonies 

into the Dominion of Canada.  It took 3 more years to work a constitution.

There's a huge celebration planned for this summer.  We saw some of the preparation.

The PEI representatives meet twice each year in this room,

The House of Representatives.

The National Park guides are all bilingual high school students working a summer job.

We were greeted with "bonjour" or "welcome."

They had all studied their facts very well.

We are halfway through our visit on PEI.  We needed this time to relax, enjoy and 

explore the beautiful surroundings.  We are in the midst of several days of rain (and mosquitoes) so have opted to have a day of music and wine at "home."

More on PEI later...

Quebec-Is it really a province of Canada?

Heading east we drove towards Quebec City.  Our new friend Paul had routed us directly to 

Exporail in St. Constant just outside of Montreal.  Ed paid the entry tariff and Susan crossed the road to get a haircut.   There was plenty of room to play fetch with Finn.

This is the biggest railroad museum in Canada.  It covers mostly Canadian National railroads which operated in the Eastern provinces.  St. Constant, though a small town, was the center of rail commerce.  It has an extensive track system.

This building is the main portion of the museum.  It may be modest looking, but don't let that fool you.  Ed thinks it may have been the station.

The backyards of the main building are filled with rolling stock, diesel locomotives, and miscellaneous rail history.

The Dorchester 

1840 circa English locomotive

(See description below)

Inter-urban rail cars, early 1900-1960

1914 G.E. electric train 

1914 4-6-4 built by Montreal Locomotive Works, 

a major manufacturer of Canadian steam and diesel locomotives. 

A Royal Hudson, 1938

Semi-streamlined, 4-6-4 owned by the C.P.R., built by Montreal Locomotive Works

These locomotives were in service 1937-1960.  Four are in museums.

King George VI visited Canada in 1939.  This train transported him across Canada.

1924 2-10-2 CNR locomotive (A real big mama)

Called the Santa Fe because this wheel arrangement was first introduced on

the Santa Fe Railroad.

A secondary hanger that houses some real treasures...

...holds a special engine.  

The Dominion of Canada, LNER Class A4, 1937

These were super fast trains used in England for passenger service.  

35 were built.  The Mallard, one of this group, broke the world record for steam traveling

126 mph in 1938.  The record still stands.

This locomotive was shipped to England and spent two years with five other of its kind

celebrating the 75th anniversary of the world speed record run.

It has just returned to Canada and will be placed in an honorary site in the main building.

Another Royal Hudson.

View inside the cab showing a mechanical stoker

1886 Canadian Pacific 4-4-0.  A North American classic.

And so ended a very enjoyable and enlightening tour of Exporail.  

A must for train enthusiasts. 

Our tour on the way to Prince Edward Island took us through Quebec and New Brunswick.

A couple observations:  in Ontario and New Brunswick all signage on the highways reads first in English and then in French.  In Quebec signage is only in French.

Proud Canadians fly their country's maple leaf on homes, businesses, parks, etc. in all but Quebec province where the provincial flag is flown showing a fleur de lis.   

We did not see maple leafs flying.

We asked ourselves:  There are less than 6 million people living in Quebec province.  Is there

any chance they could make it as a country on its own although they are the 

second largest economy in Canada???

We learned just how long we can manage "boondocking."  Three nights!  Using a 

little water conservation and thought we did fine.  We broke the trip to PEI into 3 days and spent nights at a truck stop, at a visitors center parking lot in Hartland, N.B. under the worlds longest covered bridge...

...and at a casino.  While we were in Hartland we toured a potato chip factory.

Yup!  We're having a good time.