Mon. Oct. 7  Where the Farm Meets the Bay

Up at 7 for a great walk along the water. We were back at 8:15 for breakfast in the dining room with Peter and Bill. We planned our day to do the Green Gable Scenic Drive along the north central coast of PEI and met at the car at 10. We stopped at a local coffee shop for a cup to go and wended our way to the beginning of the drive. 

Kensington seemed to be a good sized town and after that, for several miles, we saw rural areas, farms and a few small fishing villages along the coast where the farms meet the Bay of St. Lawrence. We stopped in Malpeque and spoke to a fisherman who was filling long nylon nets with spat (mussel seed); the mussels grow in the nets for 4-6 years before they are ready to be consumed. In French River we stopped for a photo op of the small, brightly colored fishing village.  We saw a lighthouse or two, took a walk along a beach in PEI National Park where the sand has a red tinge and the dunes are pretty high. 

At Stanley Bridge we found Carr's Seafood Restaurant, famous for its oysters so we stopped there for lunch. The oysters were delicious and the waitress who opened them gave Bill and Peter a lesson on an easier way to do it.  A side road took us to an interesting artist's gallery where Peter bought a framed painting typical of this area of PEI. 

At the other end of the National Park we found a cute lighthouse and a pretty tame fox. It seemed like he was posing for a photo!  We also found the shabby chic Dalvay-by-the-Sea National Historic Site, mansion built in 1895 by a former president of Standard Oil. Apparently his heirs squandered the inherited money and they, the granddaughters, sold it to the caretaker for$486.57, the amount that was owed for back taxes!  And then in 1938 it was sold to the government so the park now uses it as a hotel. The place is HUGE but was closed for the season so all we could do was look in the windows!

By this time we were almost back to Charlottetown so when we arrived back at our B&B, we played some cards, walked to a pizza place for dinner and then back to the B&B for the Red Sox game and bed!