Episode #6 – Prince Edward Island

Confederation Bridge

Tug'n crossing "The Bridge"

Prince Edward Island—originally known as Abegweit—was home to the Mi'kmaq people for thousands of years before French explorer Jacques Cartier arrived in 1534. France claimed the island in the early 1700s, renaming it Île Saint-Jean. Following the Seven Years' War, Britain seized control, expelled most of the French and Acadian settlers, and renamed it St. John Island.

The British then divided the entire island into 67 lots and granted them to a small number of absentee landlords. Tenant farmers were forced to pay high rents, creating land ownership disputes that dominated the island's politics and economy for nearly a century.

During the 19th century, waves of Scottish immigrants settled on the island, and in 1799 the colony officially became Prince Edward Island.

In September 1864, delegates from the British North American colonies gathered in Charlottetown to discuss the possibility of uniting the Maritime colonies. An uninvited delegation from the Province of Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec) unexpectedly joined the discussions, broadening the scope of the conference and laying the groundwork for Canadian Confederation.

When Confederation became reality in 1867, PEI chose not to join. The proposed terms did little to address the island's land ownership problems or its mounting debt from an ambitious railway construction program.

PEI finally entered Confederation on July 1, 1873, after the federal government agreed to assume the railway debt and later passed the Land Purchase Act of 1875, helping tenant farmers purchase the land they had long worked.

Workers pulling "ice boats" across Northumberland Straight to deliver the mail in the late 1800's

Being an island, PEI was naturally isolated. To persuade it to join Confederation, the federal government guaranteed "continuous year-round steamship communication to the mainland." Delivering on that promise was no easy task. Early winter crossings were dangerous, with mail carriers rowing specially designed wooden iceboats through open water and hauling them across ice floes by hand. Over time, icebreaking steamships improved the service, followed eventually by Marine Atlantic ferries. Even then, winter ice frequently interrupted travel.

The challenge was finally overcome with the opening of the 12.9-kilometre Confederation Bridge on May 31, 1997. Stretching across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to PEI, it remains the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. Its gentle curves help keep drivers alert, while high side barriers reduce crosswinds. At the time, the bridge generated considerable debate. Critics feared it would erode the island's unique culture and overwhelm it with tourism, while supporters believed it would provide the economic stability PEI needed.

Ten years ago, while cruising the East Coast in our boat "Tug'n", we passed beneath the Confederation Bridge. This summer we crossed it again—this time in our GMC Sierra EV, towing Tug'n, our Airstream. Experiencing the bridge from both the water and the road made it especially memorable.

A pic of Confederation from our boat in 2016

Holiday Haven Campground, just outside Charlottetown, became our home base for exploring the island.

Our GMC EV truck with Tug'n and John & Teresa's Tesla and Airstream at Holiday Haven Campground

Our first morning was spent wandering through downtown Charlottetown. As PEI's licence plates proudly proclaim, this is the "Birthplace of Confederation." The city has done an outstanding job preserving its historic character through careful architectural restoration, pedestrian-friendly streets, adaptive reuse of 19th-century buildings, vibrant cultural programming, and beautifully maintained streetscapes.

St. Dunstan's Basilica

Victoria Row

Sitting near Province House, Charlottetown

Charlottetown's City Hall

Beautifully maintained antique fire engine

Historic Beaconsfield House

Beautiful grounds of Beaconsfield House

There is no shortage of historic landmarks, including Province House, St. Dunstan's Basilica, Beaconsfield Historic House, Victoria Row—with its pedestrian-only cobblestone street lined with shops and restaurants—and the attractive waterfront parks and boardwalks.

Lunch was at one of Richard's Seafood restaurants, famous for its lobster rolls. It did not disappoint.

Richard's Seafood

Divine lobster roll. If you think we are eating our way across the east coast, you may be correct...

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Who is this?

• An orphaned young girl
• Red hair in braids beneath a straw hat
• Headstrong and imaginative
• Forever finding herself in youthful adventures and mishaps
• The heroine of a 1908 novel that has never gone out of print

Anne of Green Gables, of course—arguably Canada's most beloved fictional character. I knew you'd guess it.

We visited Green Gables Heritage Place near Cavendish. This famous farmhouse inspired the setting for Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic novel. Montgomery herself grew up with her grandparents on a neighbouring property, while Green Gables belonged to cousins of her grandparents. She visited frequently, drawing inspiration from the house and surrounding countryside.

Green Gables

Gardens at Green Gables

Green Gables Kitchen

Anne's bedroom

Nearby woodlands became the basis for places she called Lover's Lane and the Haunted Wood. Although many locations were inspired by real places, much of Avonlea sprang from Montgomery's remarkable imagination.

Various actresses who played Anne 

Montgomery spent the first 37 years of her life in PEI before moving to Ontario after her marriage. Her connection to the island remained profound—19 of her 20 novels are set on Prince Edward Island.

Touring the house and grounds felt surprisingly familiar after seeing various movies, plays and television adaptations over the years. Parks Canada has done an exceptional job preserving both the property and the interpretive centre. It was truly one of the highlights of our visit.

Lucy Maude Montgomery

Another day took us to Orwell Corner Historic Village, an authentic living history museum depicting rural life in the 1890s. Original buildings include a fully stocked general store, one-room schoolhouse, church, blacksmith shop, community hall and working farm. Costumed staff demonstrate traditional skills such as butter churning, bread baking, ice cream making and horse-drawn wagon rides.

Serving up churned ice cream to visitors

Washing machine (I think)

Blacksmith's shop

The General Store

One room schoolhouse 

A few facts really stood out:

• In 1901, PEI had approximately 14,000 farms. By 2001, that number had fallen to about 1,800.
• Around 1900, daily life was powered by horses, lit by kerosene and heated with wood.
• Cash was scarce, but families produced most of what they needed to survive.
• The work was relentless and physically demanding.

The interpretive centre features photographs and personal recollections from Islanders who lived through that era, offering a fascinating glimpse into the realities of small family farming at the turn of the 20th century.

Lunch that day was at the Tipsy Farmer in Souris, where we enjoyed outstanding seafood chowder and fresh fish and chips. Finding the best seafood chowder on Canada's East Coast has quietly become one of our travel missions.

Tipsy Farmer Restaurant

Another Seafood Chowder contestant...

Continuing northeast, we stopped briefly at Singing Sands Provincial Park. The beach gets its name from its unusually high silica and quartz content, causing the sand to squeak—or "sing"—beneath your feet.

Unfortunately, the beach was so popular that day, with swimmers, families and children leaping from the footbridge into the warm, shallow water, that hearing the famous singing sand proved impossible. It was however and extremely beautiful setting.  

Singing Sands Provincial Park

For the young and young at heart

We also toured the Elmira Railway Museum. PEI constructed its railway system between 1871 and 1875 to overcome poor overland transportation. Eventually stretching 434 kilometres from tip to tip of the island, with numerous branch lines, the railway served Islanders well for nearly a century. Ironically, the enormous construction costs nearly bankrupted the colony, helping push PEI toward Confederation.

Rail lines and stations in PEI

Rail traffic declined rapidly after the 1970s, and the last train ran on December 31, 1989. Today, much of the former railway corridor has been transformed into the Confederation Trail, a wonderful network for walking and cycling.

At the island's eastern tip stands the East Point Lighthouse, a graceful 64-foot wooden structure originally built in 1867 by a local farmer, his two sons and a blacksmith.

East Point Lighthouse - beautiful setting

It has actually been moved twice. The first relocation came in 1885 after the wreck of HMS Phoenix revealed that marine charts showed the lighthouse in the wrong location. It was moved again in 1908 as shoreline erosion threatened its foundation.

Remarkably, it is the only surviving wooden lighthouse built in 1867. From its observation deck, visitors can watch the fascinating wave patterns created where the tides of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Northumberland Strait and Atlantic Ocean meet.

The waters just offshore are also famous for giant bluefin tuna. The largest ever caught weighed an astonishing 1,486 pounds and it was hooked just off East Point.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and we could clearly see Cape Breton Island on the distant horizon.

On our return to Tug'n, we stopped at Greenwich Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park.

Boardwalk across the sand dunes to Greenwich Beach

The all important grasses to help protect the sand dunes

Greenwich Beach

The park protects 60 kilometres of spectacular north shore coastline featuring red sandstone cliffs, white sand beaches and ever-shifting dunes. Established in 1937, it is divided into three sections: Cavendish, Brackley-Dalvay and Greenwich.

The boardwalk provides excellent views across the fragile dune system before opening onto an expansive white sand beach.

The interpretive centre highlights several vulnerable marine species found in the area, including great white sharks, leatherback sea turtles, Atlantic wolffish and winter skate, while explaining the environmental challenges they face.

We have been fortunate to visit a number of Canada's National Parks over the years. Their purpose is to protect representative landscapes from each of Canada's 39 terrestrial natural regions while maintaining ecological integrity and providing opportunities for Canadians to experience and appreciate these remarkable places.

Today the system includes 37 national parks and 11 national park reserves, representing 31 of Canada's 39 natural regions.

These parks are truly national treasures. Parks Canada, working closely with Indigenous partners, continues to incorporate Indigenous knowledge, respect ongoing land claim agreements and tackle growing challenges such as climate change and invasive species. It is an enormous responsibility, and one for which we are deeply grateful.

Departing PEI for Nova Scotia

Next up: Nova Scotia's unique and spectacular Cape Breton Island.

Episode #5: New Brunswick

Coastal beauty and controversy at Kouchibouguac

Our first destination in New Brunswick was Kouchibouguac National Park (pronounced Koo-she-boo-gwack) on the province’s eastern coast. This park protects a pristine landscape of barrier islands, sweeping sand dunes, and vibrant salt marshes. Its Mi'kmaq name translates to “river of the long tides,” reflecting thousands of years of Indigenous heritage.

On the Mi'kmaq Cedar Trail

Established in 1969, the park’s creation was unfortunately marked by heavy controversy. The federal and provincial governments forcibly relocated over 1,200 Acadian and English-speaking residents, many of whose families had relied on this land for generations. Following intense local protests in the 1970s and 1980s, Parks Canada eventually revised its policies. Today, the park actively balances ecological conservation with cultural heritage, providing visitors with opportunities to explore Acadian, Mi'kmaq, and early settler histories.

While staying at this wonderful 238-square-kilometre park, we hiked two of its gentler trails. The first was the Mi’kmaq Cedar Trail (which featured lots of mosquitoes!), and the second was the beautiful Kellys Beach Boardwalk. The boardwalk structure stretches across a saltwater lagoon and lively salt marshes with plenty of marine life and shorebirds. It ends directly at a massive 25-kilometre stretch of golden sand dunes that shield the coast from ocean waves. Kellys Beach boasts some of the warmest saltwater swimming north of Virginia, and plenty of visitors were out taking advantage of the gorgeous weather.

Kellys Beach Boardwalk

25 Kilometres of sand dunes

Salt water lagoon 

Later, our travel companions, John and Teresa, set up their camping gazebo and invited us over for a lovely outdoor dinner—thankfully completely free of mosquitoes! It is amazing how easily those modern gazebos pop up in just a few minutes.

Dinner with Teresa & John in the pop up gazebo

While at Kouchibouguac, we also made great use of our outdoor griddle. We cooked up a classic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes to mark my 74th birthday! Later that day, we used it to whip up Okonomiyaki (a savoury Japanese pancake packed with cabbage and thinly sliced beef). We are slowly but surely getting the hang of griddle cooking!

Birthday breakfast 

Shediac: History and the lobster capital

Heading further south down the coast, our next stop was Shediac. Originally a Mi'kmaq settlement, Acadians began moving into the area around 1749. Though their initial stay was interrupted by forced displacement during the French and Indian War, many Acadians eventually returned. Today, the town retains a vibrant francophone community, which makes up about 75% of the population.

Shediac holds a surprisingly prominent place in Canadian transit history:

• 1816: It became home to the first official road in New Brunswick, connecting the town to Moncton.
• 1857: The European & North American Railway established the very first railway in the Maritimes, connecting Shediac to Saint John.
• 1930s: Shediac Bay served as a vital stopover for transatlantic commercial flights, with Pan American Clippers utilizing the Pointe-du-Chêne Wharf for refueling.

Lobster Capital of the World: Lobster fishing is Shediac’s most famous modern industry, getting its initial commercial boost when William Blizzard opened one of the region's first processing plants. Today, Shediac proudly bills itself as the "Lobster Capital of the World"

Shediac's monster lobster monument

To make sure visitors don't forget it, the town features a massive, anatomically precise 90-tonne lobster monument. It welcomes over 500,000 visitors every year, making it one of the most photographed spots in Atlantic Canada.

To reinforce their claim to fame, the town hosts an annual nine-day Shediac Lobster Festival in early July, drawing over 30,000 visitors. The festival highlights include:

• Professional cooking competitions featuring local chefs.
• Lobster-eating contests.
• La Grande Table: The signature closing event where hundreds of guests dine together at a single, massive table stretched straight down Main Street.

Shediac Lobster Festival. Doesn't this look like fun!!

Sadly, the festival concluded just a few days before we arrived in town. However, we did manage to enjoy a fantastic seafood dinner at a local restaurant with John’s cousin and her partner. The food was outstanding, and the conversation was even better!

Dinner at the Blue Lobster with Teresa, John, Elyse and Stephanie

Yummmmm

Understanding the Irving legacy

You cannot travel through New Brunswick without encountering the legacy of the Irving family. As one of Canada’s wealthiest dynasties, they wield unprecedented economic and political influence here. Their relationship with locals is deeply complex—often described as a unique mix of dependency, gratitude, and resentment.

The Irvings have constructed a massive, vertically integrated empire that touches nearly every aspect of daily provincial life. They operate Canada's largest oil refinery, rank as one of the top five largest landowners in North America, and control operations spanning forestry, pulp and paper, agriculture (Cavendish Farms), shipping, shipbuilding, trucking, railways, and security. For decades, they even held a near-monopoly on local print media. Remarkably, the Irvings directly employ one in every 12 workers in the province.

Many locals view the family as a critical economic lifeline in an otherwise struggling region. Because the Irvings choose to live locally rather than fleeing to far-off tax havens, they actively reinvest back into the community—funding food banks, hospitals, public parks, and environmental projects. For thousands of New Brunswick families, an Irving paycheck has provided multi-generational stability.

On the other hand, critics point to the family's immense leverage over the provincial labor market, historically depressed regional wages, and outsized political clout. Residents have also raised concerns over industrial pollution compromising local air and water quality. Because the company is so powerful, some locals worry about professional or economic repercussions if they speak out against them. It is clearly a polarizing dynamic, but on balance, this outsider walked away with a positive view of their impact.

Natural wonders and illusions in Moncton

We took a wonderful day trip to Moncton, primarily to witness the famous tidal bore on the Petitcodiac River. This unique phenomenon is caused by the extreme tides of the nearby Bay of Fundy, which force a wave of water to rush upstream against the river’s natural current, completely reversing its flow.

The tidal bore was only a few inches as we were only a few days after a new moon. Imagine a 3' tidal bore with a full moon...

Notice the 20' to 25' high muddy shoreline

2 hours later the river is full of water thanks to the massive tide from the Bay of Fundy

The wave travels at a clip of roughly 10 to 13 kilometres per hour. Depending on the moon cycle and seasonal tides, the height of the incoming wall of water varies from a gentle two-inch ripple to a dramatic three-foot wave. As the bore passes, it transforms the empty, muddy riverbed into a deep, rushing waterway in a matter of minutes. The phenomenon is incredibly popular with river surfers and kayakers who try to ride the continuous wave for record distances. We joined hundreds of other onlookers lining the shores to watch and photograph the arrival.

While in town, we also visited Magnetic Hill, a baffling roadside optical illusion that has been a top tourist draw since the 1930s. I actually remember visiting this exact spot as a kid on a family road trip back in the early 1960s! The site creates an illusion that makes your vehicle appear to coast uphill backwards against gravity:

• The Setup: You drive your car down to the absolute bottom of the hill and shift the gear into Neutral.
• The Roll: As you take your foot off the brake, your vehicle immediately begins rolling backward, accelerating up the incline until you reach the top.
• The Reality: Despite what your eyes tell you, it is purely a gravity hill illusion. The surrounding landscape, obscured horizon line, and sloping trees trick your brain into perceiving a slight downhill grade as an uphill climb.

The Tesla screen shows we are rolling along at 22 kilometres backwards "uphill"

An Argosy travel trailer (cousin of the Airstream) converted to a food truck.

What the Magnetic Hill looked like in the 1950's (much like I remember)

Guess who?

Shediac's Parlee Beach Campground, where we stayed

Next Up: Prince Edward Island! PEI is the smallest of Canada’s ten provinces. While it has the smallest overall population, it actually boasts the highest population density in the country due to its compact landmass. Stay tuned...