PEI: Confederation bridge to potato fields
Sept 7-12 inclusive
The 12.9 km Confederation Bridge takes us to PEI. The bridge is an awesome sight, stretching off into the distance and then curving off. It is an engineering marvel.
Prince Edward Island is 54% farmland; thus we have seen lots and lots of potato fields, as well as corn, and hayfields. The soil here is red due to iron oxide. The rocky shores and cliffs are red rock with red sand beaches. The better beaches here are powdery white sand (Cavendish, Brackley Beach, Basin Head).
The coves contain scenic fishing harbors and villages like other parts of the Maritimes. We are also seeing lots of blue jays – they are very shy so we haven’t got any photos. We are seeing Amish buggies and farms about. We saw a man driving his wagon through fields pulled by 3 huge trotting horses. Lots of workhorses seen in the fields around the Montague area.
Highlights have included the Bottle Houses at Cap-Egmont. It seems Edouard Arsenault visited the Glass Castle in Duncan, BC, near our hometown of Victoria. He was inspired to create his own version!
At the Canadian Museum of Potatoes, we learned a lot about potato farming and ate the most delicious french fries. As well, we had seaweed pie. The seaweed part is in the cream. Irish moss (a type of seaweed) is harvested in PEI using workhorses and tractors. This is used as a stabilizer in ice cream, dairy whitener, and skin moisturizers etc.
We stop at Green Gables, the site where the Green Gables books are set. It seems LM Montgomery did not live here, but visited her cousins as a child, formulating ideas for the books.