Sunny and Warm

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 – This was the first truly warm day we have had since we got to PEI. It was nice the day we arrived as well as Sunday (sunny and 60’s); however, then it rained on Monday, and Tuesday started out rainy and remained cool. Today it got to the mid-70’s. It was a perfect day to dip my toes in the ocean, and lucky me – we had some beach time on the schedule!

So, oddly enough, Prince Edward Island is an actual island. In case you aren’t familiar with the location of this Island, let me help you out. PEI is in Atlantic Canada, east of New Brunswick and north of Nova Scotia. It is separated from mainland Canada by the Northumberland Strait and is found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Longitudinally speaking, the city where we are staying now is a little south of Duluth, MN. It is a smallish island (in area, slightly larger than Delaware). With all the little inlets and peninsulas, there are many miles of shore, with beautiful red sand beaches and also white sand beaches. We have mostly visited the red sand beaches up to now on this trip. On this day, we saw some fabulous white sand beaches. Don’t get me wrong – the red stones and sand are two of my favorite aspects of PEI – but I am also impressed by how different the white sand beaches felt in comparison. It felt like we were in a different place altogether, but we could still see red sand shore nearby. Crazy.

On this day, we took a couple of central sections of our “Points East Coastal Drive”, first to the west and then to the east. We drove along the shore and followed the route on our map. Our first stop was St. Peter’s Harbour beach. It was surrounded by dunes and featured an expansive stretch of white sand. I had my shoes off within a couple of minutes and enjoyed my time in the crashing waves. 

Our “featured stop of the day” (in other words, some place I really wanted to see) was the Greenwich National Park. After a paying a small admission fee for a day pass, we ate our lunch and then started on the trail through the parabolic dunes, a very rare and fragile ecosystem. They have built a boardwalk, a section of which is floating, to take tourists through this area with minimal interference with it. I had seen pictures, and I really wanted to experience it for myself. Wow! It was totally amazing. I loved every second. Words don’t do it justice, so I will just have to make do with my second language – pictures!

After Greenwich, we cut across the island to do the eastern section of our route for the day. We enjoyed some more harbor and beach views and somehow ended up at an ice cream place. We must sample all local ice creams – it’s our duty!

We relaxed in the evening, a common theme for our vacation. Of course I wandered on our beach a bit as well, as the evening was so pleasant. The views did not disappoint. I love it here!