Day 9

This morning we had a continental breakfast. As we got onto the bus our tour guide for the morning (Astrid) was playing the accordion. Our first stop was a small fisherman’s village (North Rustico) where they taught us all about how to catch lobsters. (Or at least how the lobster traps worked) The lighthouse there was cool, and there was a fisherman there who was interesting as well (he looked so stereotypical it was almost unreal). The bus actually drove right on the beach to turn around, which he could do since it was low tide (and evidently did only because he was a local). While fishing for lobsters can’t be much fun – it isn’t a bad job – they said that they make about 80 to 100 thousand for 2 months of work. They can even get unemployment in the off months! Our guide also pointed out where and how the farmers farmed mussels.

Next we went to the Green Gables house from the Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. We saw Lovers Lane, the Haunted Woods, and toured through the house and barn. The gardens on the property were very pretty. In general the flowers were amazing all over the areas we were visiting. Lupins grew all over the place casting wild areas of grass with pink, lavendar and purple flowers. The place is located insode of Prince Edward Island National Park and we made several stops to look at the scenic vistas that the park contained.

Then we went on to the town of Rustico. Rustico was a period village where we learned about the history of the area and toured the church and bank. The stained glass in the church was beautiful. The area was host to the first automobile, and the first automobile accident in Canada. (The priest had brought the car from London).

We then went back to the hotel to pick up anyone who didn’t go out with us in the morning and had a free afternoon in Charlottetown. Charlottetown is the Capital City of Prince Edward Island. We ate at the Off Broadway Theatre in a private booth (the whole place was set up with booths like that) and had a fantastic meal. We drank a bottle of wine with lunch that was great, and topped it all off with a wonderful dessert. We did have a bit of a problem with the restroom door handle though... It kept falling off and was a bit of an adventure. After lunch we looked around downtown at the local shops, and then boarded the bus back to the hotel.

After freshening up we headed out for our lobster supper. Heather and I both decided to have lobsters, as did most of our group. The chowder and 60 foot salad bar was wonderful as well. George, our bus driver, took the shot of all of us with our lobsters! While the experience was fun, I think I prefer the lobster meat to come already away from the lobster, and Heather will stay away from the whole dish, but the experience was interesting. We checked out a local wool shop and went back to the hotel for the night.

Lesson Learned: Eating a whole lobster isn’t all its cracked up to be.