This year our winter trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama started a bit differently.

Richard left PEI Friday, Dec. 13th, arriving in Gulf Shores safe and sound on Sunday, Dec. 15th. We kept in close contact and when he knew the town where he’d be overnighting I went online and booked his hotel. Worked out very well except for one itty, bitty error on my part. His second night I made a mistake in the date. Oops.

Thank goodness for confirmation numbers. 😅 Whew! All was fine in the end.

He’s all settled in, been to the library and checked out some books, set up his post office box, got our gym memberships, and has been back to the fitness centre for yoga etc. all this week. 👏 Bravo Richard.

We FaceTimed on Sunday after he was in the house. Ooo jealous. It was warm and sunny. I could hear the waves crashing in the background. 🌊

To refresh your memory this is our vacation house while we’re there, showing the view from the road to the house.

And here is the other side. Such a looooooog walk from our deck to the beach. Haha. Just kidding. We really couldn’t be much closer could we.

Now these are last year’s pictures but you get the idea. Richard gets to enjoy all of this at the moment.

Me? I stayed on PEI as I love Christmas 🎄and all its traditions. I’m spending it with my family. Love to have a full table of family and friends for Christmas dinner. 🍗

On Jan. 4th I’ll be flying down to join him. Until then I’m filling my time with lots of hot yoga classes, treadmill, gym, and last minute Christmas organization. Plus searching online for a choir to join while I’m there. 🎶🤞🏼

I’ll chat again once I’m on my way there.

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄 And Happy New Year too. 🎉

Lovin’ this summer weather and the PEI Beaches.

Heres the end of our “up west” beaches.

Northport Shore Road Beach

As we travelled down this dirt road we weren’t sure about using this as a beach but then we noticed others had been there so we decided people come to this beach area.

There was a lot of seaweed but we did find some white sea glass. Score.

Here:

◦ Dirt road

◦ Dirt road parking

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Red sand

Gordons Shore Road Beach

Heading to Tyne Valley from Northport Shore Rd. we spotted a dirt road that led us down to this spot.

There’s a small area with camping trailers but it didn’t seem like a public campground. Maybe they park for the summer. There were lots of vehicles parked here as well as quite a few boats.

If you look closely you’ll see a floating yellow rubber ducky and a green/blue/white inflatable.

Here:

◦ Dirt road

◦ Dirt road parking

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Playground

Then off to Tyne Valley for a mid afternoon meal at backwoods Burger.

This should certainly be on your list of restaurants to visit.

https://backwoods-burger-craft-beer-cookhouse.business.site/

https://www.facebook.com/backwoodsburger/

It was our first time at Backwoods Burger but it definitely won’t be our last.

We loved it – fun atmosphere, friendly staff, great prices, and delicious food.

If you haven’t been then you must.

Cute spot, both on the outside and the inside.

Interesting menu.

Richard had “return of the mac” with a side of coleslaw. It was enormous! 😮 As I like spicy food 🌶 I ordered “the j express” (minus the crispy onion straws) on a gluten free bun and it did not disappoint. Delicious. The best gluten free bun I’ve ever eaten. 🥰 Those of you who eat gluten free know how difficult it is to get a good gluten free bun, let alone a great one. The meal was so good we ate it before we remembered to take pics. Next time.

Hats off to you backwoods Burger. We’ll be back.

Off to our last beach of the day.

Green Park Provincial Park Beach

http://www.greenparkcampground.com/

http://www.greenparkcampground.com/historic-yeo-house-and-shipbuilding-museum.html

https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1259

The road leading into the park is lovely. You drive under a canopy of trees. Delightful.

For you history buffs you’ll be interested in The Shipbuilding Museum and Historic Yeo House located here.

http://www.greenparkcampground.com/historic-yeo-house-and-shipbuilding-museum.html

http://www.peimuseum.ca/index.php3?number=1043063&lang=E

Sorry I can’t describe them as we didn’t visit. It had been a long day of driving and we were looking forward to returning home. Another time.

We did drive down to the beach.

Here:

◦ Grass parking

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Washrooms

◦ Laundry

◦ Playground

◦ Picnic benches

◦ Metal stairs to beach

◦ Kitchen shelter

September on PEI is usually nice and warm so that’s when we’ll be finishing up our PEI beaches.

Cheers.

Wow! What a beach!

Yesterday I posted this picture to give you a hint about today’s hidden gem. Anyone guess it?

This is probably a much better clue.

Donahue Beach

What a great discovery for us!

Now it’s not like ‘we’ discovered it because there were a few other people on the beach too and I’m sure lots of people know it, but it was new to us and it was fabulous.

A long expanse of white/red sandy beach that seemed to go on forever.

This is definitely one of my favourite PEI beaches so far this summer.

It was a beautiful hot day and this beach seemed to be calling to us “Come enjoy a walk”. So we did.

Look what we found nestled amongst some stones. Isn’t it beautiful?

And as we walked we found more sea glass, more than I ever expected.

Lovely little sea gems.

I put them all on the sand so you could see our collection from only a half hour walk. So pretty.

Here:

◦ Two lane dirt road

◦ Dirt road parking

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Absolutely outstanding beach

◦ White/red sand

I hope you get a chance to drive up west and enjoy this beautiful beach.

I’m glad we did.

I invite you to click follow to receive timely updates, select like to show your love and support, share this post on your social media site, and /or comment in the box below. Thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

Cheers

Up west again.

During this latest trip we had more difficulty finding beaches. I think PEI could do a much better job of identifying the beaches on the western end of the island so they can be located and enjoyed by visitors.

Judes Point Beach

https://northcapedrive.com/explore/judes-point-tignish-run/

We missed this one on our first “up west” beach exploration. We found it by driving down Judes Point Road and then onto Founders Lane. I love visiting the various PEI harbours. I especially love the different storage buildings at the harbours and how each harbour has their own unique way with them.

Here:

◦ Dirt parking

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Reddish white sand

◦ Nice beach

I mentioned this is my last session of “up west” beaches posts and I promise this will be my last time.

Why do so many of these beaches have vehicles on them? You can tell by all the tire tracks. I really haven’t seen this anywhere else on PEI.

Kildare Beach

We were almost to Jacques Cartier Provincial Park when we saw this unnamed little dirt lane. When I asked the woman on the beach what was the name of the beach she just said that we were in the Kildare area so I’ve called it Kildare Beach. Lucky us we even found a piece of brown sea glass. I don’t usually find much sea glass on the north shore.

This appeared to be a beach that sees some parties. There were lots of empty cans and bottles as well as remnants of burned wood. You’d think the partygoers could have taken their trash with them.

Here:

◦ Dirt lane

◦ Grass parking

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

Then just down the road was this provincial park.

Jacques Cartier Provincial Park Beach

https://www.tourismpei.com/provincial-park/jacques-cartier

https://www.tourismpei.com/search/en/OperatorDetails/op_id/2197/

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

This a spacious park with a large area of grass parking and a lovely boardwalk to the beach.

We sat at one of the picnic tables by the water and had a relaxing cup of tea while enjoying the sun and sea.

In the park is a statue of its namesake, Jacques Cartier

with commemorative plaques.

There’s a terrific playground with lots of interesting play equipment and I even got to steer this ship, imagining I was on board with Jacques Cartier. It brought back memories of a show I performed in one summer with the Circus Tent Children’s Theatre at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. I believe it was called Captain Thunder. I remember part of my costume was a red and white striped T-shirt with each stripe sewed on separately. I had to dance the sailor’s hornpipe. What wonderful times: getting paid for doing something you love and making lifelong friends. 🥰

To get off the ship I went down the slide. So glad I didn’t get stuck. 😂

This is another PEI beach that is wheelchair accessible and has water wheels too.

PEI is to be commended for this.

Today there was a lot of seaweed on the beach. Hopefully that’s not always the case.

Here:

◦ Large grass parking area

◦ Washrooms

◦ Showers

◦ Supervised beach

◦ Changing rooms

◦ Playground

◦ Campground

◦ Picnic tables

◦ Wooden boardwalk to the beach

◦ Metal ramp for wheelchairs

◦ Water wheels

◦ Laundry facilities

◦ Activity Centre

◦ Picnic shelter with electric outlets, electric lights, and a counter with sinks and running water

Now for a little taste of tomorrow’s hidden gem?

Any ideas what it will be?

I invite you to click follow to receive timely updates, select like to show your love and support, share this post on your social media site, and /or comment in the box below. Thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

Cheers

Boy! You really notice changes when you haven’t visited a place in a while.

That’s how I felt about Cavendish beach when we went this summer.

Cavendish National Park Beach

https://cavendishbeachpei.com/

https://www.tourismpei.com/green-gables-shore/cavendish

https://welcomepei.com/destinations/cavendish-pei/

Remember there is an entry fee.

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/visit/tarifs-fees

Cavendish has really grown in attractions.

There are many things to do in Cavendish:

* Green Gables Heritage Place https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables

* Avonlea Village http://avonlea.ca/

* Sandspit https://www.sandspit.com/

* Shining Waters Family Fun Park https://www.shiningwaterspei.com/

And these are just a few of the many attractions. I spent lots of time at the last two as these were popular destinations for our end of year elementary school trips.

But my all time favourite spot for taking my children was Rainbow Valley. What great times we had there. Sadly it’s no longer there. It’s missed.

Even though there are so many things to do in Cavendish I think that the beach is still the main draw.

Now I haven’t been to the main beach in Cavendish in years so of course I saw changes here as well.

Maybe it’s my aged memory but it appeared to me that the entrance to get to the main beach had changed. Maybe those of you who go regularly can comment and enlighten me on this.

There’s a wonderful new boardwalk leading from the washroom /changing room buildings to the beach. It’s really wide to allow for less of a bottle neck of people heading to the beach and to accommodate, bikes, and wheelchairs. Great to have the handrail too.

Here you can see a station here you can wash off the sand after leaving the beach. They might have to make some changes or additions to bottom of this as we saw a toddler slip and fall even though his mom was right there. Careful. Slippery when wet.

The boardwalk even has two pergolas with picnic tables. What a great addition.

In the following photo you can see the pergola and in the background is the old boardwalk to the beach. Glad we able to catch that before it’s torn down.

The beach has included wheelchair access to the water as well as water wheels. Nice to see such inclusivity. Sorry. Forgot to get a pic of the water wheels.

Something I’ve never seen before is a covered pergola right on the beach. Impressive.

It was a lovely afternoon so I was surprised there weren’t more people on the beach.

Here:

◦ Paved road

◦ Lots of paved and grass parking

◦ Washrooms

◦ Changing rooms and showers

◦ Supervised beach with two surf guard stations

◦ Piping Plover Canteen

◦ Yoga on the beach on Wednesday plus many other activities

◦ New boardwalk to the beach

◦ Shower stations for cleaning off sand

◦ Two pergolas with picnic tables on the boardwalk

◦ Water wheels to get to the beach

◦ Covered pergola on the beach

Lots more to see.

Cheers.

Onward and upward. Two more beach postings.

In Cavendish we first went onto the road leading to the Cavendish National Park Campground. It had been a very long time since I’d been down this road. I was super disappointed that we couldn’t find the road that my family used to take when my children were young. There used to be a dirt road that would take us to a beach called The Sandspit. I remember it so fondly. It was an amazing beach and we had such great times there. We’d pack a cooler with peanut butter sandwiches, (peanut butter and crackers for my daughter who didn’t like sandwiches), a box of Ritz crackers, a jug of Koolaid, and any other snacks we could find at home. We’d often be there several times a week.

One occasion stands out in my memory. We were at this beach on a very hot summer day. My daughter was probably 3 or 4 and followed her brothers everywhere. They went running up the sand dunes so of course she followed. Then we heard her screaming. And I do mean screaming! The sand was so hot it was hurting her feet. David took off, scooped her up, and carried her back down. She was ok. Funny the things you remember.

Sad I couldn’t find that beach.😢

We did find a beach in the campground.

Cavendish National Park Campground Beach

We found this beach in Section D of the campground. You could get to the beach from two locations. One part was supervised

and the other part wasn’t.

The campground seemed to have lots of campers. Great to see so many people enjoying a PEI summer visit. As there was a bit of public parking I’m assuming people can just come and enjoy the beach. Just remember you do have to pay to get into the National Park.

https://www.tourismpei.com/search/OperatorDetails/name/CavendishCampgroundPrinceEdwardIslandNationalPark/op_id/2186/

Here:

◦ Dirt roads

◦ Dirt parking lot

◦ Short walk to the beach

◦ White sand and red rocks

◦ Washrooms

◦ Supervised beach (and an unsupervised one)

◦ Picnic shelters

◦ Picnic tables

◦ Water Stations

Our next stop was the main beach at Cavendish but I’ll post about it tomorrow as there’s a lot to tell.

Instead I’ll pop to our last stop that day on the way back home.

The Swimming Rock

https://centralcoastalpei.com/listing/731/Swimming-Rock

This is located in Stanley Bridge. I remember it well.

When I was young I’d spend a week every summer with my grandmother in Margate, PEI. I’m smiling as I remember running around with the baby pigs, trying to catch the barn cats (they were very shy), collecting eggs from the chicken coop, cooking toast over the kitchen stove (the best tasting toast ever), and sleeping in one of my grandmother’s magnificent feather beds. 🥰 Now I was not a farm type girl. My mother used to tell the story of me getting my socks wet when I was there and I wouldn’t wear the socks my grandmother gave me because they didn’t match. Hmmmm. Guess I was a little fussy?

During those weeks I took Red Cross swimming lessons with my cousins at the Swimming Rock.

Of course things have changed a lot since those days.

A lot of stairs down to the beach.

More red sand than white.

Here:

◦ Dirt gravel parking lot

◦ No washrooms

◦ Unsupervised beach

◦ Benches

◦ Picnic tables

◦ Gazebo

◦ Wooden stairs to beach

◦ Red sand and rocky beach

Coming from Cavendish to here there is no advance sign indicating that this beach is up ahead – just the sign right at the entrance. Therefore you have to slow down very quickly to make the turn into the entrance. This can cause problems if there is traffic behind you. The truck behind me was not happy and let me know it. Beeeeep Beeeeep

Another issue that I think should be corrected is again about signage. If you’re driving towards Cavendish from Stanley Bridge there’s no sign indicating this beach. Again just the one at the entrance and it faces the opposite direction. Strange, but an easy fix.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the main beach at Cavendish.

Cheers.

I’m posting early today.

🎶 Heading to Charlottetown to perform with the Monadnock Chorus from New Hampshire in their performance of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living. It’s at 7:30 this evening at Park Royal United Church. Good will donation. 🎶

https://www.monadnock-chorus.org/upcoming-performances/2019/8/14/60th-anniversary-tour-performance-st-andrews-nb-slxcj

https://www.monadnock-chorus.org/

Such a glorious piece of music. I couldn’t find a recording of the Monadnock Chorus performing it but have a listen to this one.

https://youtu.be/9o_SRseFSZI

Now back to my beaches. 😊⛱

On our way from North Rustico to Cavendish we found these two smaller beach areas.

MacKenzies Brook (Beach)

Now the sign reads MacKenzies Brook but there is a beach here, plus an interesting rock formation. There’s a wide dirt path but quite steep to the beach. It obviously doesn’t detract beach goers as we did see others on the beach.

Here:

• Off road paved parking for five vehicles (four already parked there)

• No washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• White sand beach but lots of rocks

• Wide dirt path but it’s quite steep to the beach

• Benches

MacNeill’s Brook Beach

Here:

• Large paved parking area on side of the road

• Wooden stairs to beach

• No washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• Picnic table

• Benches

• White sand beach

Sharing more beaches tomorrow.

Cheers

North Rustico

During our cat sitting weekend I mentioned we had gone to Fishheads in North Rustico. When sitting on their deck this is your view.

I debated about including this beach. But since it is separate from the main beach I thought I would. You can decide if it’s a beach.

It’s a very small beach area. You often see vehicles parked on the sand. But they have to be careful and not remain when the tide is coming in. I’ve heard stories of people coming back and finding their vehicles in water. Oops. That’s not so nice to find.

Another beach we found just as you enter the North Rustico National Park entrance is called:

North Rustico Beach – Rolling’s Pond Outflow

This is a sweet spot and lots of people were enjoying the beach. Love the flowing brook, plus the added bonus is you can walk down to the North Rustico National Park Beach if you’re so inclined.

Here:

• Paved parking lot

• Wooden stairs to beach

• No washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• Beautiful white sand beach

Driving from here towards Cavendish National Park Beach you’ll find:

Doyle’s Beach

This is a small beach but some people seem to love these smaller, less popular spots.

Here:

• Paved off road parking, enough for four vehicles (and three were taken when we arrived)

• No washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• A rough path to the beach

• Lovely white beach

• Kayakers, swimmers, and kids on the beach

Tomorrow I’ll share more beaches we found on our way to Cavendish.

Cheers

Up and around the northern tip of PEI.

North Cape Beach

There is so much to see at North Cape plus the addd bonus of a beach. Red cliffs are at the very top of the Cape but down a bit there is a beach.

Lots of people were on the cliffs and the shore, but sadly we didn’t see any seals.😢

https://northcape.ca/

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

This area offers so many amazing things. Everywhere you looked there were Inukshuks. Traditionally, they were used by the Inuit in the north as directional markers. An Inukshuk in the shape of a person signifies safety, hope and friendship. These stone sculptures were also important for navigation, as a point of reference, as a marker for hunting grounds, or to denote a food cache. (This is what I read online.)

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuksuk-inukshuk

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

https://www.weegates.com/inukshukcorp/InukshukStory.htm

Long reef stretching approximately 2 km offshore that is the longest natural rock reef in North America where people can walk during low tide.

https://northcape.ca/longest-natural-rock-reef-in-north-america/

A natural phenomenon occurs here – the meeting of the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Here:

• Large parking lot

• Washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• Gift shop

https://northcape.ca/north-cape-gift-shop/

• Restaurant

https://northcape.ca/wind-and-reef-restaurant/

• Wind Energy Interpretative Centre

https://northcape.ca/north-cape-wind-energy-interpretive-centre/

https://weican.ca/

• Black Marsh Nature Trail

https://northcape.ca/black-marsh-nature-trail-2/

https://www.tourismpei.com/search/OperatorDetails/op_id/5196/

Sea Cow Pond Beach

We were driving by and saw this harbour and thought there must be a beach but we couldn’t find a sign to tell us what it was. Thankfully we met a young couple just leaving who told us its name.

Love this photo. Ready to roll.

Another beautiful beach.

Here:

• Paved parking

• No washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• Beautiful white sandy beach

Myrick Shore (Ladybug Beach)

We were super excited to get to this beach. It’s a wonderful beach but there’s also another reason we were excited.

This beach has had a great deal of attention due to the lady bug lady’s reputation for leaving lady bug painted rocks on the beach.

http://www.peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/article_bb24129c-9255-11e7-a736-574bd60e9acd.html

https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/community/ladybug-lady-mysterious-stone-artist-gaining-quite-a-following-214933/

Boo 😢Hoo 😢 No rocks for us. I was so disappointed. We even went down to the beach next to the harbour but none there either.

We did find this. The photo do not even come close to showing how large this was. Enormous!

Oh well. Hopefully someone was luckier than we were.

Here:

• Paved parking lot

• Washrooms

• Unsupervised beach

• Nice small quiet sandy beach

• Swings, slide, picnic tables

• Gift shop

• Canteen

Off to visit Rustico and Cavendish next.

But we’re not finished with the western part of PEI. We’ll be back.

Cheers

A continuation of our cat sitting Rustico, PEI weekend.

I love visiting North Rustico. They have a terrific boardwalk and much more. A couple of activities are deep sea fishing and kayaking.

Here you can see Blue Mussel Cafe

https://bluemusselcafe.com/

and On The Dock Eatery.

https://m.facebook.com/onthedockeatery/

I’ve eaten at Blue Mussel Cafe. It’s extremely popular but has long waits. I’m hoping to try On The Dock Eatery this summer.

A few years ago we went to yoga in the park every week all summer. We’d go for a walk on their lovely boardwalk, eat a little picnic in the park, watch the osprey nest, and then do our yoga class. I enjoyed it immensely. It was so nice. But- if you’re doing yoga on the ground you do get bugs on you so after the first class I remembered to put on insect repellent. That was a huge improvement. I’m not a bug enthusiast. 🦟🕷

So this weekend we took our usual drive down to the boardwalk area. There’s a new spot Fishhead Company Store. It’s quite unique and lovely to sit outside and enjoy a beach view. This photo is of the back where you sit on the deck. There’s no where inside to eat. It’s next to a cute gift shop Seagulls Nest Gift Shop.

https://m.facebook.com/Fishead-Company-Store-1942573955800025/?__tn__=%2Cg#_=_

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-fishirts-replica-lighthouse-1.4771534

Richard had a coffee and an oatmeal cookie. I had a chai latte and a gluten free cinnamon roll. Very good. The ladies are super friendly.

From here we walked over to the beach.

North Rustico National Park Beach

I love this beach. It’s not as busy as others but still has beautiful white sand and it’s lovely to walk.

I have to say though that this beach has me totally confused. First I’m not sure what to call it. It’s listed differently on various maps. Some say North Rustico National Park Beach while others say North Rustico Beach. Or is it both? Does one end and then the other begin? I have no idea.

You can walk to it several ways: crossing the road down past Fishheads (that’s the way we’ve always gone in the past plus there’s a lovely little beach area that you pass through to get to the pathway to the main beach), from partway down the boardwalk and crossing the street to a continuation of boardwalk, or driving through the National Park entry and then turning right and continuing down the dirt road and parking in the dirt parking lot. Sooooooo – the first two ways you don’t have to pay the park entrance fee and the last way you pay. It boggles my mind.

As we were walking onto the beach this guy was painting. How cool.

This a beautiful white sand beach. We’ve walked it many times. Others were also enjoying it. Beautiful.

Where do you think these stair lead?

We found out.

They lead to the washrooms, changing rooms, and the parking lot.

Where are the washroom signs?

There are none.

Does that seem appropriate or helpful?

Now I do admit that if you drive here by the National Park entrance then you’d park in the lot and see the buildings, or if you walk to the beach from mid boardwalk you’d see them. But if you walk to the beach from the end of Harbourview Dr. which is how we saw most people walking to the beach, you wouldn’t. At least that’s the way I see it.

We had seen on the news that there were dolphins here a few days ago. But not this day. Too bad. I’d have loved to have seen that.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-rustico-beach-mammal-swimming-waves-water-1.5239095

Here:

• Parking at the Harbour, or on the road, or a dirt parking lot depending on how you are going to the beach

• Supervised beach

• Washrooms but not indicated

• Changing rooms but not indicated

• Beautiful white sandy beach

We visited more beaches while there. Keep watching.

Cheers.