What I’ve been up to in the last few days

Green Gables, Canada

It’s been a few days since I have had the time and inclination to sit down and write. So this will be a catch up posting.

First of all, the Anne and Gilbert musical was great on Friday night. It’s at a really intimate theatre with not a bad seat in the house. Anne does a great job and is a really strong singer. Gilbert is not as strong a voice but still was good quality. And for $40 for 5th row it was really good value.

My very good Ottawa friend, Nanci, has two sisters who have summer places on PEI. One is from Charleston, SC and she and her family have not yet arrived for the summer. The other one, Sheilagh, I have met in Ottawa. So when I ran into problems on the Confederation Bridge, my first day here, my natural inclination was to turn to someone I knew to help if necessary. Through Nanci, Sheilagh and her husband, Pete, immediately came to the rescue and offered to assist in whichever way necessary. Once I managed to limp into the Cavendish KOA, I went to unwind at their beautiful blue shingled cottage overlooking a huge bay at Oyster Bed Bridge for a glass of wine and some wonderful mussels for which PEI is so famous.

On Saturday, with Pete having headed back to their home in Toronto, I spent a lovely day with Sheilagh seeing the island from her perspective and even introducing her to some things I’d discovered.

We started at the Charlottetown Farmers Market, which like most has everything literally from soup to nuts and the quality of the artisanship, flowers, meat, veggies etc was very good. From there, we headed up to one of the most fabulous gift shops I’ve ever encountered, called the Dunes. If you’re ever on PEI, it’s a must. Then it was back to the north shore to the National Park and Robinson Island for a bit of a hike. It ended up being rather short since the mosquitos almost carried us away and I got whiney! They haven’t been too bad during the day in most places, but the trail here was more heavily wooded than most I’d been on. The National Parks have a lot of great hiking paths, and some longer paths for bicycles as well.

Lunch was next on the agenda and we tried out a great new pizza place in the Avonlea village complex, called Piatto Pizzeria. It was a perfect day to enjoy our tasty pizzas (and a unique drink) on the patio.

Poor Sheilagh was then forced to put up with the grand tour of the Cavendish KOA and my trailer before heading off to an evening Ceilidh in Stanley Bridge. I had seen this trio last week but was happy to go back to hear them again that night because Richard Wood was so amazing. This week’s performance was even better because the sold out crowd was more engaged than last week.

Sunday was spent doing some chores and relaxing and finally the weather was conducive to some beach time so I spent some time on Cavendish beach. Something about wandering along a beach that is good for the soul. Then I picked up some steaks and Sheilagh and I made ourselves a great supper.

Today, I realized that I can’t come to Cavendish, PEI without going to Green Gables! I was here with Gill when she was of the appropriate age, but was happy to revisit the memories. I have even started re-reading the LM Montgomery books I’ve read and look forward to reading the ones I haven’t yet.

This afternoon I think more beach time is in order, and then tonight there is a different group being hosted by the ladies of the Women’s Institute in Stanley Bridge so I think I’ll take in that Ceilidh.

Only tomorrow left before I start my way back to Ottawa, and have to deal with the Confederation Bridge again. I have to say my anxiety is growing, although in my head I know that it will be fine. So tomorrow will be spent getting the trailer cleaned and organized for the manufacturer appointment I have on Friday and then the return to Ottawa for a couple of weeks to get ready to head west.