Dear PEI, I forgive you the two days of rain after a perfect day at Basin Head

It’s raining again, as the old Supertramp song goes. But that’s okay! This vacation’s soggy start has been completely redeemed by an absolutely rain-free lovely adventure up around the easternmost tip of the Island yesterday. There was a charming miniature railway ride, there was a picnic, there was a beach, there was climbing on sandstone rocks, there was beach combing and sea glass: all of our favourite things about PEI. THIS is the vacation I have been anticipating!

We started with a loop up the Points East Coastal Drive from St Peter’s Bay, where despite the forecast for a mixture of sun and cloud, we were spattered by an intermittent drizzle. By the time we made it to our first destination, the Elmira Railway Museum, the clouds had given way to (gasp!) patches of blue sky. And SUNSHINE!

East Point and Basin Head-2

Trains haven’t run on PEI since 1972, but back in the day the Elmira station was the easternmost terminus. The 250+ km of rail have been torn up, save for a kilometer or so near the station, and most of that distance has been converted into a bike and walking path called the Confederation Trail, so the Elmira Railway Museum also marks the eastern end of the trail.

We didn’t pay the nominal fee for admission into the museum itself, but after having fun last year on the miniature trains at the Cumberland Museum, I knew the family would be tickled by a ride on the miniature trains. I had no idea that the ride would be as long as it was, or as charming. It’s seriously worth the drive out to Elmira if you are the least bit interested in trains. If you go, get the second train for half price deal.

East Point and Basin Head

As everywhere else on the Island, we found the locals to be charming and chatty and very kind to the littlest travelers.

Speaking of easternmost points, our next stop was just up the coast to the East Point Lighthouse, “where the sun rises and the tides meet.”

East Point and Basin Head-5

It was a perfect spot for a picnic lunch, although I wish I’d noticed the picnic tables built in to the shape of a ship before we settled into this one. Watch for it if you picnic there!

East Point and Basin Head-3

I think I was more excited by the patches of blue sky than the (admittedly impressive) view from the Lighthouse, looking out to where the Gulf of St Lawrence meets the Northumberland Strait, with Nova Scotia off in the distance. (You can see I’m having fun with my fish-eye lens for these photos. It’s great for big panoramas!)

East Point and Basin Head-4

And then, it was off to one of our very favourite places in PEI, Basin Head Provincial Park. Funny, last year when we visited Souris and the kind folks at the FlavourShack recommended it to us, I was a bit iffy on a beach visit because the skies has been cloudy and the breeze cool. We went, and had an amazing time. Now I’m convinced that Basin Head is some sort of meteorological bubble, because again the rest of the Island was gloomy and coolish, but the beach was perfect!

East Point and Basin Head-6

Okay, so the water was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g and maybe a little more full of jellyfish than we would have liked, but Lucas went all-in and the rest of us waded and we all had a great time.

East Point and Basin Head-11

We explored the sandstone cliffs at the far western edge of the beach this time, as we hadn’t had time to do that last year.

East Point and Basin Head-7

East Point and Basin Head-9

East Point and Basin Head-10

More fun with the distortion from my fish-eye lens. If you look closely at about 1 o’clock on the rounded line of the horizon, you can see the ferry to the Magdalene Islands. I love this photo!

East Point and Basin Head-8

At one point, I handed off the camera to let Beloved have a play with the funny effects of the fish-eye lens.

East Point and Basin Head-14

East Point and Basin Head-13

And when we’d had our fill of a beachy afternoon, we packed up and headed down to Souris for dinner. Of course we stopped by Chef Michael Smith’s FlavourShack while we were there! By lucky coincidence, the same lovely photographer from Chef Michael’s team who took my favourite family portrait from last year happened to be there this time as well, so she took our FlavourShack Family Portrait 2015:

East Point and Basin Head-16

All that plus ice cream, seafood chowder and pockets full of sea glass? Hello PEI of my heart, it’s so lovely to see you again!

Photos of the day: Victoria by the Sea in the rain

Our vacation theme so far seems to be that old 70s classic, “Raindrops keep falling on my head.” It has rained pretty much consistently since we got here. Yesterday morning was cloudy and grey but temporarily not raining, with rain in the forecast for the afternoon, so we planned a little visit to the picturesque village of Victoria by the Sea for the morning, and capitulated to the idea of two dry hours in the Cineplex for the afternoon.

Of course, by the time we arrived in Victoria by the Sea, it was raining. Still pretty though!

A rainy day in Victoria by the Sea

If you look really close, you can see Simon in the lighthouse window. Here’s a close-up of Lucas in the same spot.

A rainy day in Victoria by the Sea

It has looked like this pretty much since we arrived. Gorgeous, verdant rolling hills and a leaden sky.

A rainy day in Victoria by the Sea

And then you turn around and PEI charms you again, this time with a plaque honouring Prince Edward Island’s BIGGEST TREE.

A rainy day in Victoria by the Sea

I mean, how can you not love a place that gives props to the biggest tree? And you need rain to grow trees, right? Verdant fields look yellow and crusty with no rain, and no potatoes can grow without rain.

We didn’t stay long in Victoria by the Sea. Patience frayed right about here, and we hopped back in the car to double back to Charlottetown for a movie. It was not our finest day on PEI, but we did have a lovely dinner at one of our favourite places. Red’s Corners near Montague might not look like much from the outside, but it is the best family restaurant on the Points East Coastal Drive, in our estimation. And hey, the forecast for today seems considerably less grey. There may even be a peek or two of sun, although it’s not supposed to warm up to much more than 20C. At this point, that sounds like an amazing forecast! BEACH DAY!!!!!

Photo(s) of the day: evening walk on the beach

I knew managing expectations was going to be an issue on this trip. After a year of anticipation, planning, scheming and endless hours of dreaming, this vacation had a lot to live up to. And the Universe has a wicked sense of humour. I shouldn’t therefore be surprised that the weather that was hot and sunny last year has been cold and rainy this year, with more rain in the forecast, and the “beach front cottage” does indeed have a view of (a few inches of) the water – but you have to walk almost 15 minutes to get to it. So I will admit to having spent most of the first 24 hours here adjusting my expectations accordingly, googling “things to do in PEI when it rains” and admitting to myself that a rainy, cold day on PEI is still better than a sunny warm day at the office.

We’re coming around on the cottage, which you might call “quirky”. The kitchen has no oven, only an oversized toaster oven, and needed some help from Dollarama to round out the amenities. The upstairs is more of a loft than a floor, and you can see daylight between some of the floor boards, and some previous cottager has caulked the edges of the window screens by stuffing kleenexes around the frames to keep the swarms of hungry insects out. It has, to use Beloved’s term, a certain rustic charm, and really only suffers in comparison to the spotlessly clean, modern cottage we stayed in last year near Murray Harbour, which was right on the water. So what we gained in location with relation to the rest of the Island, we lost in proximity to the beach and the character of the cottage itself. And really, that would not have been a problem as we were intending to spend our entire vacation moving from one beach to another – except for the weather forecast. Oh I know, forecasts are unreliable at best, and there are two or three days out of the dozen remaining that look good, and hey, think of the money we’ll save on sunscreen!

We did make it to the beach, even though we had to drive to get there, and then walk a path through a patch of wild roses and shrubberies. And the ocean is always awesome.

An evening stroll at St Peter's Harbour

This is the mouth of St Peter’s Bay where it opens to the Gulf of St Lawrence. In the photo below, you can see the dunes of the Greenwich section of PEI National Park across the other side of the bay.

An evening stroll at St Peter's Harbour

I don’t know whether it was just a bad night for them or if it’s the location but we saw dozens and dozens of jellyfish. Yuck!

An evening stroll at St Peter's Harbour

At the mouth of the bay, this is all that remains of an old wharf.

An evening stroll at St Peter's Harbour

Our curiousity about the old wharf and the dune on our side of the bay drew us on a longer walk than we had anticipated, and we looked around and realized we’d be racing both the incoming rain and the loss of daylight on our walk back to the car. Finding the path back from the beach through the roses would have been an adventure with only my iPhone to light the way! We bid a temporary adieu to the ocean and hustled back along the shallow bay as the tide crept in.

An evening stroll at St Peter's Harbour

Today’s forecast also calls for a cool and rainy day, so there may be movie in our itinerary. But rain or no rain, there will be exploring, and red dirt roads, and rolling green hills, and kids trapped in the car against their will as their parents speculate “I wonder what’s down that crooked little red road?”

And it will be awesome!

Photo of the day: Family and friends in Fredericton

We finally made it all the way back to PEI today but I have to tell you, even though we’ve been scheming for more than a year to get back, the finest part of the day was spent having a lovely visit and wander through Fredericton with my sweet friend Sue and her daughter Miss M. After a quick breakfast on their back deck, we wandered down to the riverfront to this gorgeous old train bridge that has been converted to a pedestrian bridge.

Very photogenic, yes?

Family and friends in Fredericton

And the people are pretty darn cute, too!

After we took this photo, we wandered through the most excellent Fredericton farmer’s market. I wish we would have had longer to browse – it was easily the most busy, intriguing farmer’s market I have ever seen.

I have to tell you, the only reason we stopped in Fredericton was to visit with Sue and Miss M, but I was completely charmed by the town. Beautiful, colourful houses on leafy streets, gorgeous riverfront walk, artsy vibe and that amazing farmer’s market? I could easily see us happy in Fredericton.

Alas, we had but a brief window for a visit, and then back into the car we piled. Can I take one moment to tell you how spectacularly awesome the boys have been on this trip? I swear we could drive half way to the moon and they’d not complain. They barely even bickered. It’s a road trip miracle, brought to you by headphones, candy crush and Spotify offline.

And then, as the day faded in the gloaming, we had the chance to make our way back to the ocean that has called so quietly, so persuasively and so relentlessly over the year since we last visited it.

Finally, the ocean again.

Hello ocean. I missed you. Goodnight…

A photo posted by Danielle Donders (@dani_girl) on

It’s good to be back where my soul feels at home.

Planning for PEI: Stalking Chef Michael Smith redux

You might remember that last year when we visited PEI, we spent a fun day in Souris stalking our family’s favourite celebrity chef, Chef Michael Smith. It was one of our favourite days in PEI, even though the chef himself was not actually even in the country at that time.

At the Flavour Shack

We continue to be big fans of Chef Michael. We record back episodes of Chef at Home on the Food Network and watch them in little binges, adding to our culinary repertoire. I think it’s fairly safe to say that more than two thirds of the meals I feed to my family have some influence from Chef Michael, from techniques we learned on TV to his cookbooks to the recipes on his website. Any time I want to try something new, the first thing I google is to see if Chef Michael has a recipe, because I know our family likes how he puts food and flavours together.

You might have heard that Chef Michael and his wife Chastity recently bought the Inn at Bay Fortune, where Chef Michael worked his first job as a chef and hosted his first TV show back in the 1990s. I love how he describes the FireWorks dining experience put on at the Inn every night:

In so many ways, The Inn at Bay Fortune is a return to our roots but also a firm step into the future. We’d be happy to have you come aboard for the ride! In 1992 I began my chef’s career behind the Inn’s stoves. Cooking in this beautiful place defined my career forever and now I get to do it again. The world has changed a bit in the last 20 years though, and fortunately so have I. Where once I tried to be creatively provocative, today I’d rather build a fire and share simple, honest flavours. That’s what Fireworks is all about. Join us for our nightly feast and you’ll see what I mean! This year is all about a fresh start for the Inn. We’ve worked hard to imagine a shared experience at the table that starts with our farm and finishes with flame. We’re excited but there’s lots more to come… Our goal is nothing less than creating Prince Edward Island’s leading country inn. In the years to come you can expect a renewed focus and solid investment in world-class amenities. We’ve got lots of ideas and look forward to sharing them all with you.

You can see where this is going, right? Ordinarily, I’d scoff at the idea of bringing the boys to what is certainly priced as a high-end dining experience. However, after more than a year of making his recipes, I think we’ve developed a bit of a taste for his culinary style. And this doesn’t seem like your ordinary bone china and linen napkins experience. When I heard that they had a half-price-for-kids rate, I was further reassured. When I framed it as an early birthday gift to me from the family, it didn’t seem quite so extravagant an expense – I am, after all, worth it. 🙂

We made the reservations this week for our second-last evening in PEI. There’s no guarantee, of course, that Chef Michael himself will be there, and I’m quite sure that I’d be starstruck into silence even if he were – but we sure are excited about going!

Planning for PEI 2015: Day tripping

One year ago today, we arrived in PEI:

Prince Edward Island - day 1

*happy sigh*

We’re still a few weeks away from embarking on our PEI 2015 adventure, in that delicious time when you can actually start thinking about all the things you want to see and do, but before the panic of packing and attending to all the forgotten last-minute details.

I think the thing we are most looking forward to during our PEI vacation this year is exploring. It was our favourite part of the trip last year. There is something delicious about turning down a random road and wondering what’s around the next bend.

The Points East Coastal Drive site lists eight suggested routes for easy PEI day trips, conveniently arranged by subject matter. Like bays, beaches and boats? How about lighthouses? Or maybe a vineyard and distillery tour is more your speed? I love the chatty, colloquial but richly detailed nature of these articles – it’s like having an Islander as your navigator, pointing out things that only the locals know.

Speaking of Islanders, how fun is this? Tourism PEI has launched a program called Ask an Islander. They’ve engaged several PEI personalities to be ambassadors, including Chef Michael Smith and photographer Dave Brosha. I love this idea, and keep going back to the site to see the new questions and answers as they are posted.

Have a favourite PEI day trip to share? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Disclosure: Points East Coastal Drive is a sponsor of this blog. However, my love affair with PEI is 100% genuine and I’d be happy to talk your ear off about the Island any day of the week.

Planning for PEI: Five places we must revisit

Yay! I’ve been biding my time through a long cold winter, but it’s FINALLY time to kick it into high gear in planning for PEI in summer 2015! Next week we can say we’re going next month. And if you think I’m excited, you should hear Lucas – he asks at least once a day how much longer until we go.

I honestly can’t tell you what we’re more excited about: revisiting favourite places from last year, or discovering new ones. For today’s post, here’s five places we loved so much that we know we’ll be going back again.

1. PEI National Park at Greenwich

Adventures in PEI

We loved this part of the Island so much that we chose a cottage in the vicinity for this summer. Pastoral dunes, marram grass, calm waters, red rocks… I swear, I feel calmer just thinking about it. During our 2014 visit, we only had time to hang out on the beach for a couple of hours. This year, we’re planning on exploring the interpretive centre, the dunes and the boardwalk. And I found this awesome list of fun activities at the Greenwich, Cavendish and Brackley parts of the park. Sandcastles, beach detecting and a discovery dome? Yes! And there’s even geocaching. We’re pretty excited about the time we’ll be spending in PEI National Park!

2. Souris and Chef Michael Smith’s Flavour Shack

At the Flavour Shack

Although Souris is a little bit off the beaten path, it was one of the main areas we considered when renting a cottage this year. It’s a delightful little town with everything you could want, including one of only two Tim Hortons on the eastern half of PEI. Of course we’re looking forward to returning to Chef Michael Smith’s Flavour Shack. After a year of inviting Chef Michael into our home two or more hours a week as we PVR and watch archival episodes of Chef at Home, I feel like we know him personally! And here’s a not-so-secret: there’s great beachcombing and seaglass hunting right behind the boardwalk where the Flavour Shack is perched! If you like sea glass, be sure to check out the Souris Lighthouse – they have a big exhibit of sea glass and lots for sale in their gift shop.

3. Basin Head Provincial Park

Souris and Basin Head PEI

Our cottage is about a five minute walk from miles of white sand beaches, but we’ll still make the drive out to the far northeastern tip of the Island to revisit Basin Head beach and its famous singing sands – probably more than once! Last year the water was cold but lively with waves, and our visit to Souris and Basin Head was my favourite day on PEI. I might even let the boys jump off the famous bridge and let the river current carry them out to the salt water of the open sea — maybe just once! There’s a fisheries museum there too that we missed last year. That will be definitely worth checking out!

4. Green Gables House

Cavendish, PEI

We’re still working our way through the Anne of Green Gables books. We’ve made our way to Anne of Ingleside so far, which we’ll probably finish in time for our trip. I would have thought that one visit to Green Gables would have sufficed to satisfy the boys’ curiousity, but to my delight all three said they would like to go back this year. It’s a lovely, low key way to spend a few hours.

5. Cows Ice Cream

Souris and Basin Head PEI

Okay, the photo above wasn’t actually Cows ice cream – we weren’t exclusive in our ice cream choices on the Island. 😉 But the Cows was the best, and the boys (and their ringleader Beloved) have been talking about Cows ice cream and going on the factory tour we didn’t take last year all winter long. We may also find it in our hearts to sample ice cream from a few competitors while we’re there. You know, just to make sure that Cows is in fact the best on the Island. And we’ll quaff a bottle or two of Anne’s Raspberry Cordial while we’re at it.

Other places we’re looking forward to revisiting: Peter Llewellyn’s Shoreline Designs in Georgetown, the lighthouse at Panmure Island, Rick’s Fish and Chips, Boom Burger in Charlottetown… so many great memories, and so many new ones waiting to be made!

Points East Logo 1Most of the places mentioned above are on the Points East Coastal Drive, our favourite region of PEI. If you’re looking for ideas, inspiration or accommodations for your PEI vacation, check them out!

In my next post, I’ll talk about some new places and events we’re looking forward to discovering for PEI 2015!

Disclosure: Points East Coastal Drive is one of our bloggy sponsors. However, if you’ve been around at all this year, you know my love of PEI and my excitement to share it with you are 100% genuine!

Welcome our new bloggy sponsor: Points East Coastal Drive in Prince Edward Island!

You won’t be surprised how thrilled I am to welcome our newest bloggy sponsor: Points East Coastal Drive in beautiful Prince Edward Island! You don’t have to go very far back in my archives to see how madly in love we fell with PEI, and working with Points East Coastal Drive seemed like a perfect partnership – and gives me another excuse to talk about how amazing PEI is all the livelong day.

When we were planning our summer trip to PEI last year, we didn’t know anything about the Island. However, a bit of research revealed that the eastern side of PEI was a little more rural, a little more laid-back, and with an old-fashioned charm. In fact, the cottage we chose near Murray Harbour was at pretty much the south-easternmost point of the Island, and we spent the vast majority of our blissful week exploring the villages and attractions along the Points East Coastal Drive.

All of our favourite spots were in the Points East Coastal Drive region. Panmure Island:

PEI revisited

Basin Head:

Souris and Basin Head PEI

Georgetown:

Adventures in PEI

St Peter’s Bay and PEI National Park at Greenwich:

Adventures in PEI

And of course, Souris:

At the Flavour Shack

We loved everything about this region – the red dirt roads cutting through rolling green fields, the breathtaking coastlines, the friendly and welcoming Islanders. And when we booked our 2015 summer vacation, we knew we wanted to stay in the Points East Coastal Drive region.

If you’re considering a summer getaway this year, I can’t say enough good things about the Points East Coastal Drive and the terrific resources they have to help plan your vacation. Need a place to stay? They have a list of accommodations as well as some package deals. If you’ve already booked your cottage but are looking to plan your adventure (this is my favourite part of vacation planning!) check out the day trips and discovery drives.

Or you could do what we did: choose a loose destination or direction, and follow the happy starfish signs along the road that map the Points East Coastal Drive to guide you to your next adventure!

Want more information? You can order a free Points East Coastal Drive Tour Map and the Prince Edward Island Visitor’s Guide from the Points East Coastal Drive site. And can I tell you that the printed map is the Best! Map! Ever! We love to explore and hate to take the same route twice, and this paper map was 1000x more useful than any app. In fact, crumpled and marked with coffee stains and sand and sunscreen though it was, it remains one of my favourite souvenirs from our trip last summer.

Hey, I just realized we’ll be arriving in PEI exactly three months from today. Time to get serious about our vacation obsessing planning! 🙂

So, who else is going to PEI this summer?