Cape Bear to Wood Islands
While most of my visit to Prince Edward Island this past summer involved lounging around on beaches, reading, I did manage at least one new drive. At first, the plan was to cover the southeastern coast of the island, from Cape Bear to Point Prim, in a single day. But after a late start, and finding more to see along the way than we'd bargained for, we embraced the slower path and broke the drive into two days instead of one.
Our first stop was Kings Castle Provincial Park. The park has a slightly rundown charm, with statues of fairy tale creatures hiding along various paths through the woods. I pretended to be the world's goofiest Cinderella before heading out in search of the Big Bad Wolf. We left just as a birthday party of elementary-aged girls rolled in, all balloons and pink tutus. The magic is real!
Next, we headed for Cape Bear Lighthouse. The lighthouse is situated amongst a piney forest, right by the edge of the water. The property used to host a Marconi Station, and was the first land station to hear the SOS call sent out by the Titanic on April 14th, 1912.
We continued west along the shore
and ended up making another unscheduled stop as we passed by Rossignol
Estate Winery. Like most Canadian wineries, Rossignol has a long list of
fruit wines. The winery is owned and run by a husband and wife team (winemaker and a doctor, respectively) who enjoy
painting and traveling
the world in their spare time. Not a bad life. The wines aren't bad either, with some interesting blends featuring unique French-American grapes like Marechal Joffre and Lucie Kuhlmann. On the fruit side, the Maple Wine and Creme de Cassis were incredibly sweet and flavorful.
Our last stop for the day was Wood Islands. While most of PEI's restored lighthouses have a small museum attached, this one was especially comprehensive and interesting, featuring exhibits on rum-running, ghosts, and sea glass. As the sky started to get cloudy, we watched as the evening ferry from Nova Scotia pulled in, and decided to save the rest of our route for another day.
PEI was literally the first place I ever dreamed of visiting (I read a little too much Anne of Green Gables as a kid). I even had a 'savings account' dedicated to a trip there. Yet, somehow over the years I never managed the journey. I loved seeing your pictures - it looks gorgeous! Oh and it has fairy tale characters, so I want to go even more now:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Emiko! That's so cool that you had a 'savings account' for PEI - good habits start young, right? Anne of Green Gables was my point of reference for the island when I was growing up too, so I was thrilled my parents chose to build a house there. It's a beautiful place in a quiet, gentle way. You should definitely go, and visit Green Gables!
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