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Monthly Archives: March 2011

PEI Cycling – travel the trails in Prince Edward Island

Posted on by Posted in The Confederation Trail .

Traveling the Trails in PEI may mean, pedaling, walking, or jogging across what was once a railway line.  This abandoned railway line will take you through quaint villages, around wetlands, and alongside shining waters.

 

A Confederation Cycling Guide publication will be helpful with your cycling vacation. The guide will introduce you to participants of the Cyclists Welcome Program (organizations and business that take cyclists into consideration) noting accommodations close to the trail, maps, and needs.  It is a waterproof handy guide that has a fold out map.  Order a cycling guide to be mailed to you.

Often I see travelers on the trail standing by with this cycle guide in hand mapping out their route and taking the time to plan their next stop.

Yesterday I did a little arm chair cycling trip and made a grand discovery.  Although the Visitor’s Guide suggests;  ”For touring enthusiasts, just get on your bike and start pedalling.”  I suggest you get on your phone and start calling.  When I called three accommodations in Central PEI they have either closed, moved, or don’t operate a B&B accommodations any longer.  I suggest B&B because that is the type of accommodations found in touring regions of the Trail. It is in Charlottetown and Summerside that you will find Hotels and Motel type stays.  Looking further I noticed the exits of the trail are not always a spot where a person can locate food, water, or a bite to eat or a place to stay (better left for another post).  I called four places in the guide and asking them where on the trail they were and at which exit of the trail their business was?  All four places learned that the trail had exit markers  at each km point and thanked me for the information and found it useful and said they would check out the exit they are at to help with cycling plans.

Confederation Trail Map

 

Legend: (km / miles) are road distances, Cyclists Welcome Program, attractions, (trail marker exit).

North Cape, Windmill Farms Attraction, Irish Moss Interpretation Centre

(9.3 km/ 5.5 miles) East Point, East Point Lighthouse Attraction


Garden of Spring on PEI

Posted on by Posted in PEI the Garden Province .

Welcome to my garden of Spring.  I’m an impatient waiter for Spring. I have  already been in the garden taking pictures of the first signs of Spring.  Most of my gardens are covered in snow right now but I’ll be planning while the snow is melting and so should you.

March is like a daily guessing game in my gardens.  How much snow will melt today? Can I expect any warm days? When is the rain going to start?  About the only real thing I can look ahead to is that Spring will be here and March will pass. Now is a good time to think about what seeds you are going to start, and make markers for the seedlings. Think about pruning your shrubs and making sure all your tools are ready to go for those few nice days.  After prepared ready-ness it is a waiting game, being in a gardening zone 6 we have a bit of a wait yet.

Here is my Spring Garden on PEI, I hope you enjoy.

A morning Chickadee

Chickadee

A few Spring Snow drops

Spring Snowdrops

First ones out, make the day

 

Spring has sprung

Snowdrops before they open

snowdrops about to open

Tulip stops by

tulip pushes up

 

A crocus to close the day

A crocus to close the day

It always amazes me how, when the ground is frozen these little strong sprouts keep popping out.  Do you see any signs of Spring in your garden yet?

xo cindy

Confederation Trail, Riding & Hiking PEI Rail

Posted on by Posted in The Confederation Trail .

Hiking or Cycling PEI’s Confederation Trail is a slow adventure across the Island’s tip to tip route. The trail will take you to exploring History in Charlottetown or Summerside city, or tour to the many ocean beaches. The view of a countryside on a slower pace and easy on the budget vacation for the summer seems the right thing to do.

Confederation Trail PEI

The Confederation Trail in PEI was the first of the provinces Trans Canada Trails to be completed in the year 2000. The tip to tip trail was once the Rail Line across PEI. The incline never being of a high altitude makes the trail manageable at the same time challenging for the long distance cyclists.

trail surface in PEI

The Confederation Trail in PEI
It’s 400 km surface is crushed stone and a graded surface, some spots are soft in the Spring or after a heavy rain fall. With a no vehicle policy in the summer this trail takes a top destination for hiking and cycling (order a free guide) in PEI. The tip to tip trail being 270 km beginning in Tignish around the west end of the Island of North Cape, going through the centre of the Island and up to Elmira near the East Point. Shorter routes named branches reach several parts of the Island making the total surfaced trail about 400 km long.
The Trail passes through;

  • O’Leary
    • Potato Museum, and Mill River Provincial Park Campground
  • Wellington
    • The old Mills Park and Interpretive Centre
  • Summerside
    • Spinnakers Landing, Mulberry Motel
  • Kensington
    • Kensington Rail Yards, The Home Place Inn and Restaurant
  • Hunter River
    • Irving Gas bar, By The River Bakery, New Glasgow Country Gardens, Heart of the Island B&B
  • Winsloe
    • Rest stop (picnic tables) The Trailside Bed and Breakfast, Grandma’s Afternoon Tea Room & Gardens, Island Made Gift Shop, Wi-Fi Spot
  • Mount Stewart
    • Hillsborough River Eco Centre, Crane’s Landing B&B
  • St. Peter’s
    • St. Peter’s Landing, Rick’s Fish’n Chips, Tir Na Nog Inn

Other branch trails lead you to:

  • the heart of Charlottetown
  • the waterside communites of Souris, Georgetown, and Montague
  • the Confederation Bridge
  • unconnected sections run through Murray Harbour to Iona
  • a short branch to the Wood Island Ferry

For a small island most of Prince Edward Island is covered in farmlands and narrow county roads a lot that are unpaved. Cycling the trail means you want to do a little planning to find local stores and bed-and-breakfast or a spot to get a bite to eat.  Even a long cycling journey such as biking the island from tip-to-tip can be done with a little planning.  Be sure to pick up a ribbon at one end and hand it in at the other end for a certificate to show you did a tip to tip journey.

The Confederation Trail in the Fall

When your trail guide arrives be sure to check the routes you will be taking and examine the guide as it even marks most of the sections in distances, as well as how hard of a terrain it can be.  Many places are marked in the guide giving you a range of places to stay and things to do as well some activities along the way.

MacQueen’s, Charlottetown, 902-368-2453 (bike rentals, bike tours, and shuttle service) be sure to take note of the number in case of an emergency or flat tire.  Helmets are mandatory here on PEI, and most bike rentals come with a lock, helmet, water bottle, maps and information. Some journeys could be further than others so plan ahead and always have an extra few granola bars, water and a rain coat for those rainy biking days.

Well I suppose, you might have enough information about the trail to cycle most or parts of it.  I know I got on a bike last year after 18 years and although some day I might think of going tip to tip for now I’m only up to 9 km. Do you ride? Are you planning on riding the trails in PEI some day?

Till next time, this is granny  ~00~

SpRING BeachCOMBing

Posted on by Posted in Beachcombing .

black beach glass

Find Beach Glass

It’s March 21st and the Spring fever has hit, time to go to the beach.  Prince Edward Island is known for the miles of beaches and the picturesque scenes it offers.  However, it also offers hidden treasures that come ashore that have been rolled over the rocks by the waves of time; SEAGLASS. So lets go on a hunt; follow along.

Pull out the PEI map and take road less traveled.

pei road less traveled

It may lead you to a road not traveled, don’t let that stop you.

road not traveled

 

This looks like it might be the right spot.

rocky point

Is that sea glass I see off in the distance?

sand beach

 

No, just more rock, but wait, I found my first piece of Spring Glass, I mean beach glass.

first piece of seaglass

Well I think this place has a different purpose so we will move on.

Getting ready for lobster fishing

Back up in the truck and we are moving on to another location where we can get down close to the beach.  We left this morning with a map and a lunch.

moving on

 

We are going to have to work to get to our next location.

blazing the trail

 

PEI mud, just part of the experience!

pei red dirt

 

That PEI red dirt took us right to the beach glass after all.

beach glass

 

I believe I’ve lined my pockets with nuggets.

Treasures, that have come ashore – good job I had my treasure map.

mermaids tears

 

Well the adventure is over and it is time to return home.

muddy roads

 

A true beachcomber in my eyes spends day in day out on the beach in search of seaglass.  I hope to retire one day, on the beach, and walk with the morning sun in search of sea glass treasures.

PEI is surrounded by beaches and beach-combing is a hobby for most and a job for others.  People have many uses for seaglass, some put it in a jar on the coffee table, others use it in a mosaic, glued around a picture frame, in your vacation scrapbook for PEI, around a glass dish with a candle in it, pressed into cement and made into a garden stone. The most popular use for beach glass on PEI is for jewellery making. Precious pieces of glass are wrapped with silver-wire and used to make pendants and other jewellery that are wearables.

Have you gone beach combing? I have always wanted to find a glass fishing ball but feel I might be getting too old to find one now.

Granny   ~00~

The Island Scrapbooks Anne of Green Gables

Posted on by Posted in Crafts .

L.M. Montgomery kept scrapbooks all her life in addition to her letters, poems, short stories and journals.

As I turn the pages and look at the style of scrapbooker that L.M. Montgomery my imagination is telling a story.  I hear the thoughts in my mind as I see pieces of scrap fabric, splinters of wood, and yellowed paper invitations.

LMM scrapbook page

The story begins to unfold.  At a mature age of 14, I see her standing in front of many onlookers.  Her pastoral dress is handmade from recycled woolen grey material and she wears it proudly.  Ready to recite she stand steady straight and tall. The first words won’t come, embarrassed she runs out of the church and down the two wooden cracked steps and stops short of an oak tree, beneath her feet a small patch of pansies.

Her scrapbooks have a few bits pasted into them of splinters from those steps, pieces of material, a large oak leaf and a beautiful pansy. This can all be seen from her scrapbooks that are around the Island today.  In the Birth Place of L.M. Montgomery in New London her scrapbooks are on display.

A collection of her work is displayed in a recent published book, “Imagining Anne.”

 

Her Island scrapbooks from the years 1893 to 1910, provide a revealing look into her world and her inspiration during the period when she created the beloved character of Anne Shirley, while living in Atlantic Canada as a college student, teacher, and writer. In celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables,  Montgomery scholar Elizabeth Rollins Epperly has selected and annotated more than one hundred pages of these scrapbooks to produce a beautiful gift book for Montgomery readers, history buffs, and scrapbook enthusiasts.

granny ~00~

 

 

Changes to “Anne of Green Gables”

Posted on by Posted in Anne of Green Gables .

The words to the opening song are, “Anne of Green Gables never change.” However the festival had announced plans to re-invigorate Canada’s longest running musical last year.

Changes proposed for the Charlottetown Festival production of Anne of Green Gables this season will proceed as planned.

Anne of Green Gables the musical

Charlottetown’s The Guardian news reported today that they had also announced that the last of the show’s original creators, Don Harron, would be writing a new scene.

The changes did not include new musical arrangements or new costumes but did include changes in a number of areas relating to the design of the production, its direction and its casting.

The festival executive director David MacKenzie said Wednesday that it is a bold new direction for the festival and the authors and their families after 46 successful years with Anne on our stage.

Changing any icon is a challenge and this process certainly was no different. (some words taken from The Guardian)

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Each year I make my way down to the Confederation Centre and see Anne again.  Nothing changes and it is the best musical and the part where Matthew dies brings me to tears each year.  I’m looking forward to the opening this year as the years before and I’ll watch for any changes I might notice.

The musical “Anne of Green Gables” plays this year in the Confederation Centre from June 28 to August 31, 2011.

Be sure to get your tickets early, they are selling fast.

~cindy

PEI – Pack your bags

Posted on by Posted in First Timers .

Summer is around the corner, and so is PEI so why not pack your bags?
An Island full of magic that comes alive during the summer months.

For my first peiblog Post I’d like to introduce you to the Tourism Visitor’s Guide. A Free 207 page publication full of adventure, history, sights, tours, places to stay and fun things to do mailed to your door ordered from a click of the mouse.
Take in one of PEI’s Authentic Experiences and come, be an Islander for a day.


PEI Beach

The Island may be small but there is room for us all, come and play PEI see what Island fun is all about.
~cindy