This was the day for traveling down red dirt roads.

Have a listen to Margie Carmichael’s song “Red Dirt Road”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5OWPEhT1Q&feature=share

Ponds Road Beach

Ponds Road is initially paved but it does become a red dirt road. Three families were there enjoying themselves. Seems like a nice quiet beach to take young children as it would be easy to watch them. And you’d have to as it’s unsupervised.

https://pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/ponds-road-beach

Here:

* dirt parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

Simon’s Beach

Stewart Point Road, where you’ll find Simon’s Beach, is another paved road that becomes a red dirt road.

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/simons-beach

This is a lovely private beach although a bit of seaweed today. I enjoyed it here as did a few others.

Here:

* a little dirt road parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

MacLeod Road Beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/macleod-road-beach

To get here you have to travel down a long red dirt road that gets quite rough towards the end. You park on the grass and then have to walk through the grass towards a Canadian flag to get to the beach. Glad they had the flag to show us where to go.

It’s a very nice quiet beach that I would have really enjoyed and stayed longer if it hadn’t been for the hordes of mosquitoes. I got soooo many bites. I itched all night.

Here:

* grass parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

That’s the end of our eastern beaches for a while.

Next week takes us to western PEI and it’s beautiful beaches.

Cheers

More PEI Provincial Park beaches.

Discovery: not all Provincial Parks are equal.

Word of the day: Mosquitoes

Pinette Provincial Park and Beach

What a disappointment.

https://wand-beachww.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/pinette-provincial-park-

The saving grace was what we saw just before the park. We were quite taken with this.

First of all, when you enter the park there’s no sign to tell you how to get to the beach. We entered and drove to the end of the entrance road where we found no designated parking-just a circular road.

And

we couldn’t find a way to get to the beach.

The washrooms were here but when I opened the ladies door the floor was covered with ants. 😮 I screamed and immediately closed the door. Richard had been in the men’s and said there were no ants there. Well he was right. There were no ants, but pretty disgusting washrooms.

As we were driving out of the park we saw, across the big playground, stairs to the beach. I guess you’re supposed to know this, park beside the road, and walk through the playground to the beach. Weird.

As you can see it’s not what I would consider a great beach.

Here:

* no designated parking

* primitive washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* playground

* picnic tables

For me, this was the best part. I saw several of these beauties.

This one was munching on parts of a huge mushroom.

Wood Islands Provincial Park and Beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/wood-island-provincial-park-and-beach

Here we found a huge park area but the beach wasn’t the greatest. There were little buildings to create a miniature fishing shanty village for visitors to explore plus an enormous green space to enjoy. A wonderful aspect here is its location. It’s right beside the Wood Islands Ferry terminal so if you time your visit correctly you can see a ferry arriving or leaving.

For lots of you I’m sure that would be very interesting, but having been born on PEI and travelled on the ferries more times than I can count, it doesn’t hold the same mystique. I spent most of my ferry rides leaning over the side trying not to throw up. 🤭 Pleasant right?

Here:

* grass parking

* washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* lighthouse

* swings

* small buildings

* picnic tables

Here’s some fun pictures.

Northumberland Provincial Park Beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/northumberland-provincial-park-beach

This was a lovely park/beach plus there’s a campground here too.

Here:

* lots of paved parking

* washrooms

* supervised beach

* metal stairs to the beach

* picnic tables

* playground

* campground

So today I showed you three PEI Provincial Park beaches we recently visited. You can see they are not all kept to the same standard.

I’m sure someone out there knows why.

But not me.

Yesterday we headed off to Charlottetown to do a few errands and have coffee/tea at Starbucks so we decided to include some beaches to complete our day.

Off we went across the Hillsborough River Bridge.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_River_Bridge

Turning onto Stratford Road we began looking for what we thought would be our first beach of the day, Tea Hill Beach.

What a pleasant surprise to find one before that.

Keppoch Road Beach

It was wonderful to see quite a few people enjoying the beach: kids playing on the sandbars while others were in beach chairs soaking in the sun, sand, and water. Great place to be on a hot day.

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/kinlock-beach

Strange thing about beaches.

In this booklet https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/ they call this the Keppoch Road Beach but the link for it says Kinlock Beach. Maybe that’s because it’s at the end of Kinlock Road. Interesting.

Here

* lots gravel parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

This beach borders on wetlands. I’m not a “birder” but I’m sure others enjoy this.

Not far down the road we found our next beach.

Tea Hill Park and Beach

This is a lovely huge park and again we found people relishing their beach walks while others were sitting in the park.

We chatted with a woman originally from PEI who moved away and was now back living on PEI. This was a nostalgic visit for her. She used to go to this beach a lot when she previously lived here. She told us we should really see this beach at low tide as it goes out quite a ways and seems like you can walk forever.

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/tea-hill-park-and-beach

Here:

* lots of paved parking

* washrooms

* picnic tables

* unsupervised beach

* very nice children’s playground

* volleyball court

* cricket pitch

Richard schooled me on a few cricket facts.

If you want more info on the PEI Cricket Association here’s their Facebook page. https://m.facebook.com/PEI-Cricket-Association-375538377835/

I think someone was amazed by the crab shells. Maybe they had never before seen them.

I found them laid out on a picnic table.

Over the next few days I’ll share the other beaches we saw.

Next week we’re very excited to turn our eyes to Western PEI to discover their fabulous beaches.

We’re having such fun with our summer beach adventures and hoping they’re inspiring you to create an adventure too – if not on PEI then around your own home.

Cheers.

On Sunday we had tickets for the Indian River Festival to see Tracy Cantin and Ironwood Quartet.

“Praised for her “full, gleaming sound” (Chicago Tribune), PEI’s own soprano Tracy Cantin “has it all – agility, power and dazzling coloratura” (Chicago Sun-Times), not to mention “vocal and physical allure, with interpretive intelligence and stage presence to boot” (Chicago Tribune). A recent graduate of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cantin won magnificent critical acclaim at Lyric as Berta/Il barbiere di Siviglia, has appeared with the company in Elektra, Rigoletto, Parsifal, and most recently in the title role of Donizetti’s demanding Anna Bolena, in which she replaced ailing super-star soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. “

http://www.tracycantin.com/

“The Ironwood Quartet is made up of four dynamic and passionate Canadian musicians: Jessica Linnebach and Carissa Klopoushak (violins), David Marks (viola), and Julia MacLaine (cello) (also originally from PEI), a quartet of curious musicians whose home base is Canada’s National Arts Centre.“

https://www.ironwoodquartet.com/

Indian River Festival is a must see whether you live on PEI or are just visiting. The church is spectacular, as is their seasonal concert lineup.

Visit their site to discover more.

https://indianriverfestival.com/

But back to my beaches.

We decided to incorporate some beaches en route to the concert.

Chelton Beach Provincial Park

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelton_Beach_Provincial_Park

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/chelton-beach

https://welcomepei.com/beaches/chelton-beach/

Although this is not the best beach we’ve seen it is nice and it seems extremely good for families, especially those with young children. The waves are small, the water is warm, and it’s easy to watch them in or out of the water.

Here:

* washrooms

* showers and changing rooms

* ample grass parking

* supervised beach

* playground

* picnic tables

* picnic shelter

* metal stairs to the beach

* surf conditions are stated

After Chelton we went to Seacow Head (I’ve lived here for so long and have never been) but there’s no beach there. Plus it’s down a very bumpy dirt road.

My poor car😢

But there is a lighthouse.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seacow_Head_Light

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=977

After we left we saw a sign saying Sunset Beach but we couldn’t find a public beach so it must be just for those who have cottages.

Cabot Park Provincial Beach

Since we were headed to Indian River we decided to make time and drive a bit farther to see Cabot Beach.

My kids would remember it well. We spent a lot of summer days enjoying this beach. And I do mean a lot. Along with PB sandwiches, crackers, and Kool-Aid in a yellow Tupperware jug. Oh the memories.

It has it all. Love this beach. Plus there’s also a campground.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabot_Beach_Provincial_Park

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/cabot-beach

Beautiful white sand and it feels like you can walk forever.

I bet my kids remember these rocks. We always used to sit on this part of the beach. There were less people and the kids had a super time snorkeling and playing in the sand.

Here:

* washrooms

* changing rooms

* extreme amount of grass parking

* playground equipment including swings, climbing structures, and teeter totters

* picnic tables

* supervised beach

* surf conditions are stated

I love when we spend entire days exploring our beautiful beaches but Sunday was especially nice as we combined the love of beaches with the love of music.

⛱🏖❤️🎼🎶

Can’t beat that.

Today I’m posting about two special beaches in Borden-Carleton.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borden-Carleton

http://borden-carleton.ca/

I’ve heard them called Front Beach and Back Beach but I’ve also seen them called Front Shore and Back Shore. I’m not sure what their official names are or if these are names just used locally.

This time of year we see Blue Herons on the front beach every day.

I really wanted to do a post last weekend when this celebration was happening.

But, sad to say, we had a lot of rain and didn’t get any beach photos. The activities still took place and everyone had a good time.

Front Beach

We’re so lucky.

We get to look at this beach everyday as Richard’s house overlooks it.

Neighbours have told us that years ago (over 25 years ago) this was a very popular beach.

At Crossings Cafe– a super place in Borden with friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere, plus great food and coffee etc. (https://m.facebook.com/CrossingsPEI/) we saw a book about Borden-Carleton that mentions the beaches. About the front beach it states:

“For many kids the front shore was the most convenient swimming spot. Gerry Coyle, in the 90’s, made a beautiful huge wooden raft for the children to use…Many recall that the water was the perfect depth at high tide and so on the warm summer days it was a busy popular spot…”.

Nowadays we see very few people in the water but more can be seen walking along the beach.

It’s such a delight to sit on either of the two decks and look at this outstanding vista. Pure heaven. Sigh.

Looking off to the right we can see Fisherman’s Wharf and behind it Marine Rail Park

http://www.gov.pe.ca/newsroom/index.php?number=news&dept=&newsnumber=1760

https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/National-Park/MarineRail-Historical-Park-141510089230363/

and then The Confederation Bridge”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge

https://www.confederationbridge.com/

Looking to the left we see more beach and the Borden-Carleton Jetty.

Back Beach

Breathtaking!

That Borden-Carleton book I previously mentioned also talks about the back beach.

” The back shore was, and still is a beautiful beach and at low tide it produces miles of sandbars to splash in the warm, sand heated, waters…At one point it had changing rooms and people would pack lunches and make the beach a full day event…”.

One last picture.

This is from a couple of years ago but I wanted to share it as it shows Abby (who died a year and a half ago) having a terrific time on her beach. Miss her.

As you can see Borden-Carleton has two beautiful beaches.

Come for a visit and see for yourself.

But first check the tide schedule as you’ll want a low tide.

Enjoy your week.

Wow. I can’t believe we visited 21 beaches in two days.

Here are the last of the beaches from our recent trip down/up east. But we’re not done.

Chad’s Road Beach

We saw this beach listed in the beach book and on the website (and it said it was a little gem) plus there was the beach sign on the road. i guess they were being quite literal when they said little. I have to say that it wasn’t much of a beach. Maybe that was due to it being high tide but to me it wasn’t great. Just my opinion.

Here:

* dirt road parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* small sandy beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/index.php?/things-to-do/entry/chads-road-beach

Fortune Beach

We found the Fortune Beach Road and decided to follow it to see where it would take us, assuming because of its name that we’d find a beach. We did. Yay. 🥳

So we called it Fortune Beach. Who knows if that’s its name?

It’s a small secluded white sandy beach. Sweet.

Here:

* small amount of dirt parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

Sheep Pond Beach

This beach has lovely white sand. Don’t you just love PEI’s white sand?

While we were there we could hear a whistle buoy. Neat.

According to dictionary.com a whistle buoy is a buoy having a whistle operated by air trapped and compressed in an open-bottomed chamber by the rising and falling water level caused by natural wave action.

Wikipedia states: The earliest use of Oscillating Water Columns was in whistling buoys. These buoys used the air pressure generated in the collecting chamber to power a PTO system that consisted of a whistle or foghorn. Rather than generating electricity, the PTO would generate sound, allowing the buoy to warn boats of dangerous water.

The sound here was quite prominent and continuous but I’m sure people eventually get used to it. We can occasionally hear the sound of a whistle buoy in Borden.

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/sheep-pond-beach

Here:

* small amt of parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* nice white sandy beach

Souris Beach

This is a well known beach for collecting sea glass but we’ve never had much luck.

An outstanding boardwalk overlooking the beach is used and loved by both tourists and locals. A beautiful spot to walk along or maybe sit on one of their lighted benches while enjoying the views.

There are restaurants, gift shops, and a large patio overlooking the beach. Simply smashing. We love it here.

The town of Souris is also the gateway to the Îles de-la-Madeleine ferry.

https://pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/souris-beach-gateway-park

https://sourispei.com/3-provincial-park-beaches-around-souris/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souris_Beach_Provincial_Park

Here:

* very large paved parking lots

* washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* beautiful boardwalk

* gift shops

* restaurants

* benches with lights

Little Harbour Beach

This is such a fabulous beach. Even in June there were people enjoying this stunning beach. We saw that strange bright green seaweed again. Thoughts on what it is?

Little Harbour Beach is located next to a bird sanctuary and we saw some very interesting birds while we were driving. Richard’s the one who’s really interested in birds. I’m not really a nature girl.

Here:

* lots of dirt parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* fabulous white sandy beach

* located next to a bird sanctuary

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/little-harbour-beach

That’s all the beaches from our recent trip to eastern PEI.

But we’ll definitely be back. There are so many more beaches here to discover and enjoy.

If we missed some of your favourites comment and let me know so we hit them next time.

Now off to other parts of PEI and their beautiful beaches.

See you soon.

Our eastern beach saga continues.

Sally’s Provincial Park Beach

A lovely white sandy beach is found in this park.

And is obviously enjoyed by others.

Love it when people are creative with nature.

This was another beach where I found great pieces of driftwood. Kathryn, my daughter, and I are hoping to do a summer project with driftwood. I’ll share when it’s done.

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/sallys-beach

https://www.tourismpei.com/search/OperatorDetails/op_id/5270

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/sallys-beach-provincial-park

Here:

* parking

* washrooms

* changing rooms

* unsupervised beach

* picnic tables

* boardwalk and stairs/ramp to the beach

Spry Point Beach

This beach is very close to Sally’s Beach and as lovely as Sally’s Beach is, we really liked this beach much better. It’s easy to locate as it’s at the end of Spry Point Road. Thus it’s name. (We’ve seen this a lot on our beach junkets.) It’s more secluded than Sally’s. Access to it is fairly easy but does require a short walk. You park here at the end of the road and then walk down that small hill to the beach.

When on the beach look to the right. Around that red cliff is where you’ll find Sally’s Beach. We couldn’t get there by walking.

I have to include more photos as it’s so beautiful.

Here:

* end of dirt road parking

* unusual entry

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* lovely white sandy beach

* secluded

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/spry-point-beach

There are so many beaches. Gotta love it. I have four more eastern beaches to show you from this journey before we head up west in search of more PEI beaches.

But we’ll be back here again so if you have a fav beach let me know and we’d love to visit it.

Happy Summer!

More eastern PEI beaches. Hope to do up west beaches very soon.

Georgetown Beach

I’m sure someone can tell me what he’s digging.

We had a short walk along the boardwalk and viewed the first harbour built on the eastern seaboard.

We were also here a few years ago during their Cloggeroo. They had lots of activities but if memory serves me right they also had lots of mosquitoes so if you attend bring insect repellent.

Here’s where you can find information about Cloggeroo 2019.

http://cloggeroo.com/home/

Georgetown also has a great little theatre. I’ve enjoyed many shows there in the past.

https://kingsplayhouse.com/

Here:

* gravel parking lot

* washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* boardwalk

* picnic area

* playground

* restaurant close by

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/georgetown-west-street-beach

https://www.tourismpei.com/points-east-pei/georgetown

Morrison’s Beach

I wonder who’s shadow?

Close to both Georgetown and Cardigan this beach is on Morrison Beach Road. Makes sense they call it Morrison’s Beach. 😉 There was a lot of seaweed when we were there. It seems it might be more of a beach for the cottage owners than for the public.

Here:

* very little road parking at the end of the road

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* cottages along the road

* more of a red soil beach than a white sandy beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/morrisons-beach

Brudenell River Provincial Park

The beach area had a lot of bright green seaweed. Anyone know what it is?

This is a large Provincial campground with many activities but I believe some of the activities are privately operated: kayaking, horseback riding, etc. We didn’t see washrooms but I would think they must have them.

This beach is also located next to the Rodd Brudenell Resort.

https://roddvacations.com/hotels/rodd-brudenell-river/

Here:

* large gravel parking lot

* unsure about washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* wooden stairs to the beach

* not a great beach area

* playground

* picnic tables

* lighted walking path

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/brudenell-river-provincial-park-beach-marina

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/brudenell-river

https://welcomepei.com/listing/brudenell-river-provincial-park/

https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11659

We walked over a connecting causeway to Brudenell Island and visited the pioneer cemetery. The cemetery consists of sandstone grave markers and a large commemorative monument which was erected in 1903. Beware of mosquitoes.

Annandale Beach

This is a small beach but I did find some nice pieces of driftwood. I’m not sure if people use it as a beach cause we were the only ones there but it’s always interesting to find small, unique beaches.

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/annandale-beach-and-wharf

Here:

* gravel parking at the wharf

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* small beach area

I’ll keep posting our beach adventures. Enjoy your day.

Seal Cove

Are there seals at Seal Cove?

You cannot imagine how excited we were to go to Seal Cove. We had been reading about this beach in a PEI Beaches book which said that seals could always be seen here.

Nope. I don’t think so.

I have no idea what the people who wrote the book saw but we didn’t see any seals.

We were so disappointed.

We did see lots of geese. We joked that maybe it’s name needs to be changed to Geese Cove. 😉 We had to be very careful where we stepped. Lots of geese you know what.

We did find one piece of white sea glass.

This is a campground but apparently they don’t mind if you go down to the beach.

Here:

* parking

* washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* playground area

* mini golf

* kids zip line

* campground

https://www.sealcovecampground.ca/

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/seal-cove-campground-beach

Poverty Beach

This is a nice long, white sandy beach. It’s on the other side of the harbour to Beach Point and is located at the end of Poverty Beach Road. That makes it a bit easier to find. We chose to relax here and enjoy our afternoon tea and cookies. Beautiful views. A few others were here also enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

Richard found a piece of green sea glass. 😊 A good day when you find sea glass.

Here:

* dirt road parking

* no washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* long sandy beach

https://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-to-do/entry/poverty-beach

St. Mary’s Beach

We didn’t think this was one of the better beaches on our travels but really, if you have a beach close to you, then go and enjoy it.

Here:

* road parking

* washrooms

* unsupervised beach

* campground

* swings

Panmure Island Provincial Park Beach

What a lovely long, white, sandy beach. Even in June there were over a dozen people enjoying the sun, sand, and surf.

https://welcomepei.com/beaches/panmure-island-beach/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panmure_Island_(Prince_Edward_Island)

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/panmure-island

Here:

* big parking lot

* unsupervised beach

* washrooms

* showers

* canteen

* little lookout to climb to view the beach

Panmure Island contains the oldest wooden lighthouse on PEI. Built in 1853 the 18 metre high lighthouse has four stories with a warning beacon on top.

http://panmureislandlighthouse.ca/

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=952

I should have gone to see it but I was tired after a long day of beach touring and decided to pass on it but I found this online for you.

One last beach look.

By now I just wanted to get back to Rodd Brudenell River Resort, have a hot bath, and relax. Oh and they have fresh homemade cookies fo4 their guests. Yummy.

I’ll have to return another day.

This beach is the second in our series Hidden Gems: beaches that seem hidden away (probably enjoyed mostly by local residents).

Launching Harbour and Beach

We first discovered this place a few years ago.

What an amazing find. Such a lovely harbour and so picturesque. A beautiful spot to walk around with many buildings and boats.

We saw quite a few boats fishing in the harbour plus we saw some returning and others leaving.

As we were walking around the wharf we decided to see what was at the front of the harbour.

Here’s a great picture I found online.

You can see where we drove in and where we walked. Walking around the harbour you can see the path we took towards our hidden gem.

Walking past the wetlands (seeing green herons and bald eagles) this was our view.

So lovely and so secluded. A true hidden gem.

Here:

* picturesque harbour

* portable potty

* unsupervised beach

* white sandy beach, not very long but very private

Simply loving our PEI beaches. Hope you are too.