Down East with the Cousins

Jeff,

If you get to PEI via the bridge you can go left (north on Hwy 2) out to the "bitter end" of the island.  It is known as the North Cape.  It's a point way out into the water, great to wander around the point itself.  We also took our toad and back tracked a few miles to see stuff on the side roads.  Also a nice restaurant and plenty of room for a boon docking free night of camping.  We did that and the next day drove back into town (Charlottetown) to see the city sights and so forth.  We did it this way and loved it.

JerryF

Ed:

We are up fairly late, site 47 in the second row.

Jerry:

We may do that. Ron mentioned a campground on the beach just after he came off the bridge I am trying to find also.

Today we drove a short 70 miles to Shediac, NB located on Shediac Bay on The North Umberland Straits between NB and PEI. Shediac claims to be the Lobster Capital of the World and home of the largest lobster (shown above).

We'll be here a couple of days while we explore the New Brunswick coast along the North Umberland Straits to the north of here. This afternoon we took it easy and walked down to the town center after Jeff washed m/h and car. We missed the lobster festival which was held last week but had lobster for dinner that we purchased cooked at a local lobster across the bridge from our campground.

Tomorrow will be a full day traveling north and then possible meeting RVing friends Ed & Donna who live in Halifax but spend their summers at a camp here in Shediac.

I don't know what you've got planned, but the boardwalk in Buctouch is a nice couple of hour stroll along a sand dune between the Nortunberland Straight and the Buctouche River.  If it nice there, raining here in Halifax, Parlee Beach would be nice.  As for us, I'm not sure what time we'll be back, it may be as early as 7:30 but it's out of our control.  We'll make contact when we do get there.  If you can stand deep fried food, Shediac is also known for it's Fried Clams.

Ed

Jeff

If it is still there, we enjoyed staying at a campground right across the river from Charlottetown, Southport RV Park. On the river facing downtown. take the first right after crossing the bridge from Charlottetown to the ferry. Don't miss Annie of Green Gables, The Musical. As good as any on Broadway.

Jeff Cousins said:

...We then drove up to Moncton to stock up at Costco, have lunch and visit Magnetic Hill, a Moncton landmark that is probably overrated but seems to be on everyone?s list of must-see sights. The hill gives the illusion of driving down the hill for a few hundred feet and then, with the car in neutral, pulls the car back ?up? the hill....

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Sounds just like Spook Hill in Lake Wales, Florida.  ;D

Today we headed northwest from Shediac to visit the NB Acadian Coastal Region including Bouctouche and Richibuto.The first stop during a brief but heavy downpour was a soap factory (Olivier de Soaperie) where we were entertained with a lighthearted lesson on making soap and all the cures it could provide.

From the Soaperie we stopped for lunch in Richibuto as we toured the coastal roads stopping to see fishing harbors, lighthouses, and mussel farms.The entire area reflects the Acadian culture that has persevered and is now displaying its identity in modern New Brunswick.This is an area from which the British exiled thousands of Acadians after victory over the French in Canada.

One of the coast's major attractions is the 12 kilometer long La Dune de Bouctouche that is now an Eco Preserve sponsored by Irving Oil of New Brunswick. A 2 KM long boardwalk has been constructed to minimize the impact on the fragile sand dune eco system that was an interesting hike after lunch. The Dune is alive with life including its trademark Blue Herons that feed off the estuary side of the dune.

We returned to Shadiac for dinner at Captain Dan's out at the outer harbor, enjoyed some of a community concert downtown and then returned to the campground just in time to meet Ed and Donna Grober, Canadian RVing friends from Halifax whom we met this spring at the rally in Nashville TN. Ed and Donna have a summer cottage here in Shediac and we spent the evening enjoying their suggestions for the rest of our trip to Atlantic Canada.

We got back to the m/h late this evening and will leave in the morning for PEI.

Jeff, good photos - especially the building mural.

ArdraF

I wonder if these building murals are unique to Eastern Canada. Here's a mural we saw in Old Quebec City.

We saw murals like that in Prince Rupert.  Not quite as elaborate.

Tom:

While the Acadian murals were striking they are not unique; Topponish WA is known for its 70 murals that decorate the downtown area.

Here's a mural in downtown Milwaukee, WI.  Yes, it's a mural, there are no windows in that side of the building.

The murals are all great!  In the one in the link Tom posted to Quebec City, can you imagine painting something like that?  I always admire someone who has that kind of talent.

ArdraF

I always admire someone who has that kind of talent.

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Ardra,

My artistic talents are non-existent. When I was in grammar school, my art teacher once told me "son, you'll never make it through life". Maybe he was right  ???

Murals are quite common in Atlantic Canada, there is a large one on a retaining wall on the way to Shubie Park if you decide to stay there in Dartmouth.  Often the municipalities or local business associations encourage them as opposed to graffiti.  Hope you got to do what you were planning today and made it to PEI.

Tom, I'll bestow upon you an "Honorary Art Degree" right here; simply for having an outstanding knowledge in Art appreciation as exemplified by selecting the Old Quebec mural for our appreciation.

Congratulations,

carson FL

LOL Carson, the honorary art degree is duly accepted with thanks.

Tom:

This discussion has me watching for murals; here are what I found in the past three days:

I have been getting behind on posts so will try to catch up tonight:

Friday: Prince Edward Island

Our motorhome is parked 37 miles from Shediac if you have a boat! We drove down the NB coast to the Confederation Bridge that connects PEI to the mainland over the 131 foot deep Northumbeton Strait. This small island of 138,000 residents is the smallest of the Canadian provinces and is known as the gentle island.

Built over three years and completed in 1997 the bridge replaced a ferry system that had been PEI's only connection to the mainland. The eight mile long bridge is the longest span built over ice covered waters. Tolls are collected one way as you leave the Island and are $41.50 for a car and $83.00 for the m/h and CRV.

After being disappointed with the campground we had made reservations for at Hopewell Cape Jeff is determined to check out the campgrounds before committing ourselves. The first try at this has worked out very well; we are parked on the water at Crystal Beach Campground in Summerside with a beautiful view of the Gulf of St Lawrence side of the Island.

Saturday: Potatoes, Bottle Houses, and Seaweed Pie

We headed out at 9:00AM this morning to tour the west end of PEI known as the North Cape area.

Just north of Summerside is the Cape Egmont area, part of the heavily Acadian west side of the Cape. At Cap-Egmont are the Maisons de Bouteilles (Bottle Houses). A hobby of resident Edouard Arsenault the three houses are constructed using over 25,000 bottles of every color and description. Another truly Acadian touch to the tour.

Just up the Cape from Cap-Egmont is the very Irish community of Oleary which was in the middle of the Potato Blossom Festival. Jeff's upbringing on a potato farm in northern Maine was all the reason we needed to visit the Oleary Potato Museum and spend an hour or so learning of the potato's migration from South America to the western world. PEI has developed several virus resistant varieties of potatoes and is one of the world's leaders in potato exporting.

A great part of the museum is the display of vintage potato farming equipment that leads to the displays of PEI's potato products.
Our next stop was the Cedar Dunes Lighthouse that is now a museum and Inn. The several floors of the lighthouse tower offer rooms as well as the restaurant and gift shop built in what was the lighthouse keeper's quarters. As we continued north the red clay cliffs of the Cape appeared and we enjoyed a 30 minute drive to the northern tip of the Island at North Cape.

Miminegash was our next stop to learn about seaweed harvesting on PEI. Irish Rose is a local variety that grows on the shallow reefs around the island and are commercially viable because of their 60% by weight content of carrageenin, a thickening agent used in foods and other products like shampoo. The Seaweed cafe offers Seaweed Pie made with carrageenin and cream over angel food cake and topped with fruit filling.

We had a lunch of lobster omelets while enjoying the view of the North Cape at the Wind and Surf Restaurant, recommended by RVing friends Jerry and Ardra Fitzgerald who were here a few years ago. We walked off lunch along the cliffs and around the Canada Wind Energy Research Center located at the Cape.

Our trip back south was along the Gulf of St Lawrence side of the Island that seems to be predominately English in flavor and is peppered with farms that reach down to the waters edge.

Our next stop was Green Park to visit the Wooden Ship Museum and Yeo House.PEI was a shipbuilding center beginning in the 1700's. Sailing ships required large amounts of timber in construction and PEI was blessed with vast timber tracts. Sailing ships from PEI sailed to the world's ports and the shipbuilding industry provided PEI with important jobs and exports. The demise of wooden ships after the American Civil was finally ended with construction of the last ships on the island just after WWI.

The shipbuilding industry created great wealth on PEI and the George Yeo family was but one example. His shipyard at Green Park as well as the large finishing yards in England were one of the Island's largest. The home he built for his large family just behind the yards is a beautiful museum of the life in 19th century PEI.

Dinner was back in Summerside at wharf side and for a change did not include lobster, fresh local oysters and halibut for Jeff and salmon for Sue.