Prince Edward Island & New Brunswick
13-14 July 2018
Friday we drive to Caribou and take the ferry to Prince Edward Island, our second province on the Canadian trip. We settle in peaceful Charlottetown, for only one night and a day, but really enjoy this small capital of just 40,000 people. Alex loves the cow-inspired merchandise at the local ice cream shop, "Cows" -- reputed to be the best ice cream in the world! We take a bus tour of the town - could have been shorter, it is a very nice town but not a lot to see! We do see their world-famous harness racing track, and the houses and waterfront are impossibly lovely. Great food, we have some very nice drinks downtown; and on Saturday morning, after hitting the downtown location of Cows, Alex discovers a hobby store that has a collection of Magic cards! They also have a copy of the discontinued-but-newly-reissued game "Talisman" which Gordon buys on the spot... Perhaps the highilght of our Prince Edward Island visit is on our way out when we stop to visit the perfectly preserved Beaconsfield Historic House.
We drive across the insanely expensive PEI - New Brunswick bridge, and out final day in Canada sees us in our third province. Driving across the province, we stop at Saint John to see the famous Bay of Fundy tides (the largest in the world). Here is a natural phenomenon of the the "clashing waters" where the freshwater St James river pours into the Bay. The tidal cycle is such that at low tide, the river runs into the bay, at high tide the bay into the river; creating eddies an whirlpools where they meet. We end the evening in the border town of Saint Stephen, enjoying a nice meal at a microbrewery, where you can sit on the terrace and gaze at the USA across an unprotected border. We depart Canada the following morning after a perfect final Canadian breakfast (pancakes and maple syrup, yum!) and the obligatory hard time at the tiny USA border crossing.
