August 08-22, 2022

Our last three days in Cape Breton were spent doing some sight seeing adventures. We checked out the famous golf courses over in Inverness. These two courses are ranked the number 1 and number 3 golf courses in Canada, the Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs were $440 each plus $125 for the caddie, we passed but was fun to check them out. We had lunch one day at the Red Shoe Pub owned by the famous Rankin musical family. It seems like a small world when two couples pulled into our RV park close to us and started talking, what a surprise. They are from Poway, about 5 miles from Ron and Kathy’s house. We had some happy hour drinks and made plans to meet them in PEI for lunch the next week.

Off to our next adventure driving to PEI, crossing the Confederation bridge, this is an 8 mile box girder bridge which is the longest bridge in Canada and the worlds longest over ice-covered water. It was like driving over the Coronado bridge for 8 miles. PEI was everything that it was supposed to be: beautiful waterfront scenery, green trees, harbors, fishing / oyster / mussel boats and spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the water. We checked in to the Twin Shores RV park, this is an 850 site park that is family friendly with lots of activities for the kids. A beautiful beach walking distance from our space made for a perfect 4 mile walk in the mornings. A big surprise to us was that the Island has a huge agricultural presence, the PEI New Potato (the small red and white potato’s) fields dominate the island. These potato’s are freshly dug up each morning and sent out to the markets for a truly farm to table dining experience. We did a few MMT’s around the Island to explore the French River, Cavendish Beach and the famous Anne of Green Gables house. This was the authors house who wrote the book Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery was a very popular figure in this area. Golf at St. Felix Golf Course in Tignash was worth the drive to see this small town and have lunch at Our Family Traditions Restaurant, a local favorite. Drove out the the North End where a working lighthouse and beach is a popular attraction. The Malpeque Oyster Bar had the best PEI oysters in town, we had dinner there including mussels and chowder that were all great. MMT over to Charlottetown to check out the marina and have luch at the Cork & Cast on the dock overlooking the private yachts. The PEI Aquafarms processing plant and retail store proved to be a big hit, we were able to buy local PEI oysters and mussels to cook back at the rv’s. (see pics below) Ron and Pat are getting pretty good at shucking the oysters and Kathy and Glenna have the perfect way to BBQ them with Butter, garlic and parmesan over the top.

Pat and Glenna tried out the local fishing by booking us on a charter boat called the Green Witch out of Stanley Bridge marina. This was a 4 hour trip that did not disappoint, Glenna caught 8 fish including the biggest Altantic Cod on the boat. Pat only caught 7 so this made Glenna want to book another trip in San Diego when we get home. Plenty of fish to take home and the fish tacos for lunch the next day were a big hit with Ron and Kathy, we are all craving mexican food.

Caraquet is the home of the Acadian Heritage Village, we spent a few hours seeing how the Acadian people lived when they arrived back in the 1800’s. They had about 40 buildings, most were originals with a few replica’s. Local Acadians at each building would explain who lived there and how they lived. The local cheese shop was a nice stop to pick up some local cheeses and Pat bought a pair of socks, don’t ask. Cheese curds were the big item so we had to try them.

Next stop was the Distillerie Fils Du Roy in Petit-Paquetville, they advertise this as a Gin Distillery but they had more to offer. We had a tour of the facility then off to the tasting room where we tasted thier Micro brewed Pilsner’s, Vodka, Rum, Whiskey and the Double Gold medal Gin that put them on the map. Purchased a few items for future day drinking and headed back to camp. Pat and Glenna went on a 14 mile bike ride thru town and along the waterfront seeing beautiful beaches, boats out on a big sandbar, and enjoying the sunshine along the way.

We are still on the hunt to see our first Moose, so far all we see are the hundreds of signs on the roads warning you to be on the lookout for these large animals. We went out at dusk, had a picinic dinner overlooking large meadow hoping to see the elusive Moose. No luck on this journey but we are not giving up, better chance to see them at our next two stops in Gaspe and Cape Annie.

Stay tuned for more from Gaspe, Cape Annie and Quebec City over the next ten days before heading back to the USA into Vermont.

this guy was way faster shucking oysters than we are but we are getting better