Cow becomes a Road Scholar!

Up the road we went again, this time to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in eastern Canada. I am not sure exactly when we got the bug to go to PEI, but once decided, we determined that this is too interesting of a place to go it alone. Who could take us around and educate us in the geology, history and culture of this island? Road Scholar came to the top of the list. https://www.roadscholar.org/ We signed up for the Best of Prince Edward Island, a seven day tour – perfect.

Adventure Cow (AC) is ready. He is hanging out in the back pack so he won’t be forgotten.

AC loved looking around Cow’s Ice Cream store in Banff; but here in Charlottetown, PEI, he is at the home of Cow’s. A Canadian ice cream chain founded in PEI in 1983. More about Cows? https://cows.ca/

AC and Linda got to play on the restored Charlottetown Fire Truck. To learn more about the Charlottetown Fire Department, click here: https://www.charlottetown.ca/resident_services/emergency_services/fire_department

Cow visited the Lt. Governor’s House in Charlottetown where he saw the garden dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Learn more about this historical, yet still in use house: https://www.lgpei.ca/history/government-house

Walking around Charlottetown is thirsty work. AC helps Andy locate a brewery with many tasty choices. To learn more about Gahan House click here: https://charlottetown.gahan.ca/about-us/

The next day, we all officially became Road Scholars. We had a lecture and a walking tour by a local expert: Cameron Macdonald (Cameron was as entertaining as he was informative) who then dropped us off for a private tour of The Beaconsfield House. Learn more by clicking here: https://www.peimuseum.ca/visit/beaconsfield-historic-house

Stanhope Beach. Cow thinks this is the ocean there is so much sand and water, but actually he is looking at the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To learn more about Stanhope Beach, click here: https://welcomepei.com/beaches/stanhope-beach/

Further back from the shore AC learns about the fragile ecosystems of the dunes and their grasses. Learn more about this delicate balance by clicking here: https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2022/07/protecting-peis-sand-dunes-footsteps

AC had heard how lobster traps work in a talk by tour leader Susan, but at The Preserve https://preservecompany.com/ he was able to test a trap out for himself.
Yes, it is very hard to get out of a lobster trap.
Learn more about Lobster fishing here: https://lobsterpei.ca/#:~:text=About%201200%20Island%20lobster%20fishers,is%20known%20as%20Setting%20Day.

AC loves to climb rocks. Here he is at The Preserve Company’s Garden of Hope. To learn more about the garden click here: https://preservecompany.com/blogs/gardens-of-hope

Oops! AC has fallen in the flowers again. He did not hurt them.

Here AC is at Cavendish beach. This section is not a sandy beach, the edges are cliffs that all folks in the area are told to be wary of, as they may crumble into the sea as you stand on them. To learn more about Cavendish click here: https://welcomepei.com/beaches/cavendish-beach/

The island tour, of course, includes a trip to Green Gables; the house made famous by the stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery. To learn more about this site, click here: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables

The grounds of the Green Gables Heritage Place include a hike on Anne’s Lovers Lane.

And, a walk through the Haunted Woods. The fearless, Adventure Cow was not afraid. To read the stories about Anne, you might want to check out Amazon. The books remain in print after more than one hundred years.
Click here: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Green-Gables-Complete-8-Book/dp/0553609416

A representation of an indigenous peoples camp greets visitors to the Greenwich Dunes Trail in PEI National Park. AC tried to be respectful of the artifacts, but just had to try on a new set of horns.
For an introduction to the First Nation people of PEI, click here: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/reserves-on-prince-edward-island

AC looks out over Bowley Pond as he begins the walk over the pond’s boardwalk toward the dunes.

Later AC joins with the other Road Scholars to climb the East Point Lighthouse. Here is gets a different view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To learn more about the lighthouse click here: https://eastpointlighthouse.ca/

AC also liked playing in the Lighthouse’s fog horns.

One of the great things about the Road Scholar program, was going places and hearing presentations that we just would not have found on our own. It is unlikely that we would have stopped at Basin Head Fisheries Museum, but with RS we did. The friendly tour guide was very accommodating of AC’s inspection of this 1800’s mail boat. https://www.peimuseum.ca/visit/basin-head-fisheries-museum

Another excursion was to The Robinson Family Potato Farm and warehouse. They farm 2,200 acres of crops rotated between potatoes, soy and barley. In addition to the fields, we also toured one of the warehouses. AC is standing in a section of the warehouse that will hold 1.5 million potatoes after the harvest. http://www.robinsons.pe.ca/companies/robinson/

Cow was able to participate in the Acadian Villages’ festival celebration. Acadians are French Canadians living in the south-eastern section of the island. Please click this link to visit the webpage and then watch the short video. It will give a small taste of the music we enjoyed that day. https://www.villagemusical.ca/

AC views the special lunch – it is ok, no beef here.

The Acadian dessert looks yummy; and it was, pastry filled with apples, raisins, and cranberries which we all made for ourselves with some excellent help from the friendly staff. The sauce is made from brown sugar, butter and vanilla. For recipes and more information about the Acadian people, click here: https://www.lacademie.com/acadian-foods/

The group had moved from Charlottetown to Summerside. Here the hotel was very close to a beautiful boardwalk.

AC does not understand what he sees here; is it a toy? No. Is it alive? No. It is part of a hands-on display at the International Fox Museum. Again, another place and another presentation we most likely would not have found on our own. Yet, the history of the fur trade is quite an interesting story. To learn more about the Fox Museum, click here: http://culturesummerside.ca/international-fox-museum/

In the distance is the Confederation Bridge. The longest bridge in the world over ice-covered water; it is an eight mile lifeline between PEI and New Brunswick and a marvel of the twentieth century. Click here for the Bridge’s website: https://www.confederationbridge.com/site/about

AC ends his adventures at the Marine Rail Historical Park where we can see the bridge up close and learn more about the making of such a bridge. This TripAdvisor site has quite a few pictures of the park. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1507275-d4916327-Reviews-Marine_Rail_Historical_Park-Borden_Carleton_Prince_Edward_Island.html

During our time on Prince Edward Island Andy and I enjoyed our adventures with AC, but somethings were not appropriate for small cows.

One afternoon we spent quite a bit of time on Lennox Island. This YouTube will give you some introduction to the Mi’Kmaq people: https://youtu.’be/6BVgUVdZaOM During our visit we were given tours and traditional foods of mussels, oysters, and bannock cooked over an open flame. While the food was prepared, volunteers gave all a tour of their museum and shared their personal, heartfelt, stories.

The bread is cooked under the coals of the fire in a cushion of extra flour which then must be removed.

Andy and I went to the Confederation Center for the Arts Museum during our free time. It has some interesting displays, this is the evolution of an artist; but no place for AC to play or pose. https://confederationcentre.com/artgallery/

And, based on the recommendations of many people, we spent an evening seeing Anne of Green Gables, The Musical. It presents the core of the story with plenty of singing and dancing and just a little bit of humor. Matthew was particularly well played – I still cried at the end. https://confederationcentre.com/whats-on/anne-of-green-gables/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmouZBhDSARIsALYcouqji8xYui41CjPzPd8T4F8U7NmbrQgUJoHeVMYTScs017NQDDMDG24aApzuEALw_wcB

It was a great eight days with great folks and excellent tours and presentations. We are very happy that we chose Road Scholar for this adventure and may choose to take another of their trips in the future. As for Adventure Cow, he loved it too. The Road Scholars were very welcoming to his brand of mischief and he was happy to make many new friends.

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