travel dates: July 13-17, 2018
I was on the RV Atlas podcast awhile back talking about our stay on PEI, so you can head over there and listen for even MORE PEI info.
I knew two things about Prince Edward Island when we started planning this trip: Anne of Green Gables is from there, and there’s a lot of golf. I was somewhat but not overwhelmingly interested in the first thing and not the least bit interested in the second, so it was hard to know how much time to plan there. And…we ended up planning four days but then leaving a day early to spend a little more time at Fundy National Park instead, and I think that, for us, that was a good decision. But not because PEI isn’t lovely, because look at this:
We stayed in the Cavendish area for our three days. We’d originally planned to do a day trip to Charlottetown, but then everything we’d planned to do in Charlottetown had closed since our guidebook was written. We decided to take this as a sign to spend more time in Fundy. So three days was just about perfect for Cavendish (and one of those days was a fairly lazy day for us), but we certainly could have spent more time exploring the rest of the island. Cavendish has a reputation for being super touristy–sort of a Canadian Pigeon Forge. Given this, I was expecting a more over-the-top collection of cheesy tourist attractions. You will find those here, but it’s fairly understated as far as these things go, and we found plenty of natural beauty and uncrowded beaches to keep us happy.
I’ll talk in another post about our experience staying at the Cavendish campground at Prince Edward Island National Park; in this post I’ll talk about things we did outside the campground.
By the way, isn’t PEI pretty?
Green Gables Heritage Place
I’m fairly certain that there are no national park sites in the US that pay homage to fictional characters. And yet Anne of Green Gables is so beloved in Canada that Parks Canada runs this site where one can tour Anne’s house (or, more precisely, the real life house on which Anne’s fictional house was based), walk through the woods described in the books, and even meet Anne herself.
All of the kids except Abe had read Anne of Green Gables, yet I think he was the most charmed by the experience (he was also probably closer to the target demographic…at least of the planned activities). I suspect we spent a lot more time here than the average visitor; you certainly can spend two hours or so here and leave without feeling rushed….but we spent pretty much the whole day, with just a return to the campground for lunch. Admission is $7.80CDN for adults, free for kids up to 17, or free with a Parks Canada pass. There’s a new Visitor Centre now that wasn’t open yet when we were there, so I imagine it’s an even better place for a visit now than it was when we were there.
So what did we do with all our time here? First off, it’s important to note the the season is basically July and August, and there’s much less going on outside of those months. We joined in on a site tour, which are offered in English and French several times a day, and learned all about the history of the site and the house and its connection with the Anne books.
After the guided tour, they turn you loose to do a self-guided tour of the house, which is set up to look just like it’s described in the books. Abe had an Xplorers book he was working on, and it involved a small scavenger hunt in the house.
There are a couple of short trails with names that will be familiar to Anne’s fans: there’s the Haunted Wood Trail and then Lover’s Lane, part of Balsam Hollow Trail. We went with the latter, which, at .8 km was an easy and pleasant loop through the woods and along a stream.
Of course, we tried on some Anne wigs:
But probably the thing that kept us hanging around all day was the full schedule of activities they have going on during the summer. We did Field Day with Miss Stacey, wherein Anne and her teacher took the kids around and taught them about some of the plants growing in the area:
And then (with a different, afternoon version of Anne) we did a Sunday Picnic, complete with ice cream making and old-fashioned games. This is when we learned that Abe is not very good at sack races. But he stuck with it! He gets knocked down, but he gets up again!
Avonlea Village
My outdated guidebook told me that Avonlea Village was basically a mini theme park, complete with costumed Annes, live performances, activities, and an admission fee. But we arrived to find that Avonlea Village’s campy glory days are over, and now it’s just a lightly themed (and free) outdoor shopping mall, where you can choose from a number of different restaurants and touristy shops and walk the streets of Anne’s fictional village (burgers in a church, anyone?)
We were a little disappointed by the lack of costumed characters, but we did enjoy some surprisingly good pizza at Piatto Pizzeria (by far the best pizza we had in Atlantic Canada, but, frankly, the competition wasn’t very stiff).
Sandspit Amusement Park
You can’t drive into Cavendish without spotting the rides from its pair of roadside amusement parks, which means, if you have young kids, that it will be very hard to drive out of Cavendish without spending some money at at least one of them.
Abe spent his first couple of days in Cavendish asking repeatedly to ride the roller coaster he’d spotted, so we finally took him there for a little while on our last morning. The good news is that you can buy individual ride tickets at Sandspit, so it’s possible to spend a couple of hours there without spending a fortune. Particularly if your older kids–the ones who are more jaded and have several Disney trips under their belts–decide to stay at the campground and play computer games while you take their little brother.
It turned out Abe wasn’t tall enough for the roller coaster he’d had his eye on, but we did find a few other rides for him, and he left happy. This is not a spot for big thrills; it’s a small collection of off the shelf rides that will appeal to younger kids but probably not excite older ones. But Abe certainly had fun, and it did not cost a fortune. Incidentally, there are a ton of similarly touristy things to do in Cavendish: mini golf and small waterparks and the like. This was our lone indulgence along those lines, so I can’t comment on any of the others.
Cavendish Beach
PEI is known for beaches (as one might expect from an island), and Cavendish Beach is one of the most popular. It’s also right next door to Cavendish Campground and just a short walk or bike ride away. We stopped by here during our big bike ride day and then came back again one evening after the crowds and the heat had waned.
There’s a snack stand and restrooms here, so a good place to settle in for a full day of beaching, if that is your thing.
Biking the Gulf Shore Way
There’s a paved bike path that runs along the shore, and we spent a day biking from the campground out to North Rustico Harbour and back. The ride is around 10 kilometers each way and, contrary to what you might expect when biking by the ocean, there’s a good bit of elevation change. The kids remember this as an awesome day. Dave and I remember it as an awesome but challenging day. But worthwhile.
There are plenty of places to stop along the way and explore the shoreline.
We ended up at the beach in North Rustico:
And walked into North Rustico Harbour for lunch and to explore a little more. We enjoyed the fish and chips at On the Dock Eatery and the guy playing spoons outside:
And then the long ride back! Hills!
Hiking the Homestead Trail
The Homestead Trail is a 6.5 km for bikes and hikers that starts at Cavendish Campground and winds through marshes and wildflowers for an easy, pleasant stroll.
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