Potatoes and Pigtails: Day 79 - Borden to Charlottetown PEI - And Then We Pedalled...... Cross Canada 2015

August 20, 2015

Potatoes and Pigtails: Day 79 - Borden to Charlottetown PEI

Hard to think there is an economy based on potatoes and this:

The driving force behind the PEI economy

It's potatoes in the fields and Ann of Green Gables everywhere else!

Seems to work though. We had a super relaxed day riding the confederation trail (hard pack old rail trail) all the way from Borden to Charlottetown. It probably took us about two hours more than taking the TCH but we'll take the no car option as much as we can.

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Just a terrific relaxed ride with Kirsten and Mark. We made it into the big city ofCharlottetown by mid afternoon, got cleaned up, and walked 600 m to downtown and a couple of big plates of 'buck a shuck' oysters and a cleansing ale. Gotta love this place.

Found out tomorrow is the big annual Charlottetown street parade. Should be interesting! Day off tomorrow, take in the parade, see some sights, eat some more seafood. Not a bad agenda.

Today at breakfast we booked our ferry to Newfoundland and we are starting to think about what day we need to book our flights home.

Whoa, where did all this come from? Still lots to see and ride, but the end point is becoming a finite thing now, not some ephemeral vision.

Back to the present ..... Just another wonderful day and we are looking forward to spending a bit of time in this historic (small) city.

Oh, and the results of the survey are in!

The Lobster squeaked in with a win due to the late beaking vote of Kim B. It was all tied up (with a conflicted vote from my sister leaning in favour of the lobster) when we met Everett at the Oyster bar. He threw his vote behind the fish and I was just about to call the game when Kim's unequivacol vote for the bug came in. That swung things back in favour of the lobster ...... But it was close. What I get from this is that whether it's a fish, a lobster or just a big anything by the side of the road, the people just want to see Kirsten on top of it. We'll keep doing our best to accommodate.

A couple of island boys making a woodpile beside the bike trail

The Confederation Trail runs the entire length of the Island. An collection of old rail trails made into a pretty nice hard pack bike trail. We road this all the way to Charlottetown

Kirsten and Mark with a classic PEI scene in the background

A pretty house and garden in Hunter River. We stopped here for a good lunch of fish chowder and raspberry & rhubarb crisp

Another busy intersection on the Confederation Trail!

Great plate of oysters at the Claddagh Oyster House. Happy hour $1 an oyster, can't go wrong!

A couple of pints and 40 oysters later this is how happy you get!

We met Everett from Cape Breton. He's doing a road trip back from the west. He worked in Lake Louise for a while so we had fun swapping stories about familiar places. He voted for the fish. Not officially in the guestbook log but I'm counting it!

Great view of the harbour. This is about 500 m from the main downtown of Charlottetown. This is a very relaxed and walkable place. Cars stop for people on foot or on bike. Nobody's in a hurry

Song of the Day:

If I Should Fall Behind .... Rose Cousins cover of this Bruce Springsteen number.

Rose is a PEI gal with a beautiful voice, and a Jan Arden like deadpan sense of humour. We've seen her twice in Canmore, just her and her guitar making beautiful music. Most of her songs are very introspective, and you could almost say sad, but she has a wicked sense of humour and is great to see live. Her version of Springsteens song is one of my faves.

Historical Monument of the day .... Wait till tomorrow, there will be no end of stuff to pick from.

A nice way to spend a Charlottetown evening

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 7,394 km (4,592 miles)

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