Adventure 537: Tour of Prince Edward Island/Post K

A couple of Would Be Annes

No trip to PEI would be complete without at least a drive by of the many shrines and amusements surrounding the famous fiction, Anne of Green Gables. That's Anne with an E who famously said, "My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes." We were a little more hopeful today as we spent several hours after breakfast just driving on the backroads. We cruised along one of the coastal provincial parks; we frolicked through the dens and dells, gazing with appreciation at the neat and tidy homes, the farms, the seaside rental cottages, a few stately homes, a few old light houses, and at least two golf courses where the hearty souls were attempting to master the thirty knot winds. "Keep it low, fellas", I yelled, as I imagined a stray sphere ricocheting off our wind shield. The most fun we had, other than our Anne of Green Gables stop, was circumnavigating several coastal loops. Each loop took us off Route 6 down and around the coastline and back again to Route 6. We looped South Rustica; we looped Rustica Harbor; we loop Rusticaville; and we would have looped North Rustica if the road hadn't been closed to through traffic. All the while, we were tucked warmly into our American rental car because not only was it quite windy, it was also quite cold (Below 60 degrees). We're wimpy Americans, not hearty Canadians, you know, Eh! We arrived back at our cottage by the sea, snuggled in for an afternoon of Netflix. First, we watched a movie about the legendary Robert the Bruce called the Outlaw King. While quite bloody and violently realistic, all of us mentioned the music. In several scenes, groups of Scots were singing. The women sang when they salted the fish; they sang when the men left for battle; they sang to comfort the children. The men also sang. They sang as they marched; they sang as they built battlements; they sang in a great joyous chorus after their victory. Since we now have a little context born of our experience with the Ceilidh, these musical interludes, which softened the movie considerably, left an impression on us. And of course, we followed that movie with a couple of episodes of Anne with an E. For dinner, Judy and I made our favorite Jacque Pepin soup recipe, made from the fresh vegetables we bought at the Farmer's Market yesterday. A sunset dinner seemed the perfect way to spend our last night on Prince Edward Island. Tomorrow, it's back to New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy  In the meantime, life remains good, especially today.

 We look a little like a Scottish potato farmers, don't you think? 

 No life guard on duty. Swim at you own risk.

 The pounding sea obviously batters the land.

 This strong man was riding across the full brunt of the wind.

The entire island's soil is so iron laden, it's literally red.

This is St. Augustine's, the oldest Catholic church on the island.

 Simple vegetable soup served with gruyere cheese and thick slices of toasted potato bread.

Good night to you, Dear Sol. We'll bury our hope in the faith that you'll rise again tomorrow.