Our Founding Fathers are Missing

A road trip is a great holiday, but what I have to remember is that a road trip is more about time on the highway, and about less time to visit the local attractions.  I always say, it is not the destination, but the journey.  We are trying to cover a lot of territory in just a few days, which means that we can't get to everything we'd like to see, so it was a bit of disappointment today when our plan to visit Province House in Charlottetown went sideways.  Province House is where the Fathers of Confederation gathered in 1864 to bring together Canada East (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & PEI) and Canda West (Quebec & Ontario).  I may not have been a fan of Anne of Green Gables, but I have always been a fan of the Fathers of Confereration and the creation of our country, and I was looking foward to being in that space where it all happened. When we arrived at Confereration of the Arts Centre (Province House) expecting to visit the exhibit, we were surprised to see Province House covered with scaffolding with large panels surrounding the entrance.  After wandering around, we eventually found a temporary exhibit.  We learned that bricks used to build Province House were made from PEI red sand, and over the 157 years since the building was built, have slowly been turning back into sand.  The building is slowly crumbling and it is the scaffolding acting as an ecto-skeleton that is holding the building together while they do the repairs.  The building has been closed since 2015, and will be re-opened in 2022.  And here cometh the lesson - Do not buy second hand, out of date, travel guides. The Atlantic Canada guide, which we have been using, came out in 2015. 

 

Prince Edward Island is one of the prettiest places I have been to in Canada.  The scenery is lovely.  The rolling terrain, the ruby red earth, the emerald green potato fields, the golden tops of the corn fields - I could wax on a la Anne, poetically - but what really impressed me was how tidy everything is.  It looks storybook clean - not a bit of trash, refuse, garbage, old car, unwanted piece of furniture or debris anywhere. I have to wonder if there is a law against rubbish in PEI.  And for someone as OCD as me in the clutter department, Prince Edward Island is Heaven on earth.

We took the Wood Islands ferry to Nova Scotia, and the weather was on our side. Blue skies and sunshine.  We put our Atlantic Fiddlers CD on and we were ready to get on the Ceilidh Trail. First stop Port Hood at the Fiddlers by the Sea B & B.  Our host will be playing the fiddle for us at breakfast tomorrow! Tonight it was dinner at the Red Shoe Pub, which is owned by the Rankin sisters. This was on Ed's to-do list and we were not disappointed.  Delicious food, and Ed bought the t-shirt.

This stretch of the coastline passes through many small villages that I am sure have not changed much in decades.  It is the bastion of Celtic music and we have the CD's in the car to take us on our way.  Tomorrow we will be looping around the north end of Cape Breton on the Cabot Trail.  311 km, it will definitely be about the journey, not the destination.