Beautiful, Bucolic Prince Edward Island

PEI is a checkerboard of farm fields and woodlands…

surrounded by lovely coastlines. Since the island is only 139 miles long and between 4 and 40 miles wide you are never far from the sea.

They are known for potatoes, lupines,

and mussels.

Provincial roadways can turn to gravel…

and the capital, Charlottetown, has no sky scrapers. Here you are looking at Charlottetown across the harbor from the site of the first European settlement (French). The embankments are from Fort Amherst which the English built here after they defeated the French.

There are no really wild places but one thing Prince Edward Island has lots of is groomed walking/bike paths.

We saw them everywhere, and they appear to be well used…

and well made. This path wound on nice gravel through this wetland to the bridge and beyond.

On one three mile loop we saw fields (we think this is barley),

woods (unfortunately this sole stand of sugar maples was badly damaged by Fiona),

and a vista that included a pond in the foreground and the dunes of the shoreline behind.

I have wanted to visit Prince Edward Island ever since I read Ann of Green Gables years and years ago. Now that I’ve been here I think it turns that old adage on its head. It’s not an exciting place to visit but it sure would be nice to live here.