This past October, I spent two weeks exploring Prince Edward Island (PEI) and it was gloriously relaxing. While not quite as originally planned, I still had a lovely time, and the lovely people and scenery inspired me to think about coming again to explore more. But first, let me tell you about my trip, along with some recommendations from my experience.
I’m going to post several articles about my trip, based on location. First up, a (rather lengthy) post about Charlottetown.
Arrival into Charlottetown – Friday
We got to see some of the devastation of the trees from hurricane Fiona as we were landing. I’d never seen hurricane damage in person, but the damage to the trees reminded me of tornado damage (which I have seen). There were so many trees broken off about 8-10 feet up and sideways or completely pushed over, roots and all. Charlottetown airport is tiny but then, I’m used to Pearson in Toronto. I realized as we deplaned on the tarmac that I’ve never flown into a smaller airport as an adult. As I was traveling with just a backpack (carryon), I walked out and caught a taxi and about 10 minutes (and $22) later I was at my hotel. Easiest exit from an airport ever!
I was staying at the Hotel on Pownal, which is right downtown. Check in was quick, the clerk commented on my name – “Cindy” vs “Cynthia” – and told me that Cynthia is popular in her native Brazil but pronounced differently. It was a nice little personal touch to the check in process. My room was a nice (and clean), if standard, hotel room. I sanitized everything because you know me, I’m a bit paranoid still from the pandemic. This was my first time traveling with Lysol wipes, lol.
And then I headed off to dinner at Gahan House, one of the places that was recommended online which I wanted to try. They had nice beer – I had a flight as I love trying new beers, the “Originals” flight – and kind of blah fish & chips. A bit disappointing as a fish & chips lover but the beer was quite good. I would go back for the beer for sure.
Charlottetown Day 1 – Saturday
The next day dawned overcast and headachy, but I made it down to breakfast, which was a surprising feat (I’m so not a morning person). It was a nice continental spread with a couple of hot options except their only black tea was Earl Grey. There were lots of herbal teas, but I need black tea in the morning.
As it was quite windy, if 17 degrees, I grabbed my fleece before heading out to explore. First up, the Charlottetown Farmers Market, which was something recommended online as a place to check out, and I wanted to see if it was any different from the ones here. Luckily it was close by a Dollarama as the one thing I forgot to bring was deodorant and they usually have travel sized ones. Why is it that I always forget one thing? Luckily, it was something super easy (and not expensive) to replace.
The farmer’s market was nice, it was a mix of farm vendors, food vendors and artisans. There were a few items that interested me but as I was at the start of my trip/walk, there was no room for purchases. Then it was back to my hotel to drop off my deodorant (it was mostly on the way) before heading to the harbour to find The Chip Shack for some seriously good fries.
When I was doing research online for places to eat before I left, one of the places that was recommended by pretty much every website was The Chip Shack, which is a food vendor on a floating platform with a few other food vendors at the harbour. The fries were great, and I can imagine in the summer it would be super busy. The lady working was the owner, and we chatted a bit because for a while I was the only customer (there were others before and after me). I told her that her fries were amazing and were on my “must try” list for PEI as they were highly recommended online. I think she liked hearing that more than my tip. They were great and I’m definitely joining the legions of others in recommending fries at The Chip Shack – plus eating them outside on a floating platform was fun.
I wandered around the waterfront around The Chip Shack a bit before heading over to Victoria Park, which was another place to visit on my must do list. On my way, I randomly stopped at Beaconsfield Historic House to see what their hours were and found out I was just in time for their last tour of the day. It’s a beautiful old house with gorgeous crown molding, plus it had a Christmas cactus that was over 150 years old and tea service from the 1700s. The lady who was doing the tour was quite good, and as I was the only person on the tour, she happily answered all my questions. She said the tea service was rescued when the ship it was traveling on sank. The family lost almost everything but made sure to rescue the tea service when the ship went down as it was their most priced possession. I kind of agree with them because tea is essential. The tour guide was a transplant from Toronto because of pandemic (I met a few of those during my trip) and had done the same type of work in Toronto before moving to PEI. It’s kind of a bummer that I missed the fake seance that they were doing that evening, but it was already sold out. I totally would have attended. If you like history, it’s well worth a visit to Beaconsfield Historic House.
Afterwards I wandered Victoria Park, saw some cannons (yeah, the type that shoot cannonballs), learned some more history, and then wandered back to the hotel to decide where to go for dinner. Oh, and I saw my first PEI lighthouse too.
I decided to go with my one of the places I’d researched before arriving, Hunter’s Alehouse, which was more of a family pub than I expected. I had the fish & chips, which was good, and the service was friendly and attentive, although I found the beer came in odd sizes (to me anyways) – 15, 25 and 32 oz. An American pint is 16 oz and the Canadian one is 20 oz or why 15 or 25? The things that fascinate me…
Charlottetown Day 2 – Sunday
After breakfast, I headed down to the Wharf to find a bench to call home as it was a beautiful day – sunny and 20C – and I generally talk to my mom on Sundays. Plus, it was nice to simply sit and relax in the sun in mid-October.
I then headed out to explore the city some more. First up was Saint Dunstan’s Basilica, as I love exploring churches and cathedrals and such for their architecture. I expected it to be older given how gothic it looked from the outside, and there was gorgeous detail work on the inside as well.
Since it was such a gorgeous day, lunch was ice cream from Cows Creamery and yes, it did live up to the hype. Really good ice cream! I got the “messy bessy” which was chocolaty goodness with chocolate ice cream, moo crunch, Oreo cookie, and English toffee. I’m normally an ice cream-in-a-cup gal but it seemed appropriate to have it in a chocolate dipped waffle cone as this was my lunch. So good seriously, as was eating it outside on a bench in the sun in mid-October.
I then wandered around some more, exploring the Founders’ Food Hall & Market (a neat place to check out), Confederation Landing (a park on the water), and the historical downtown area. When I started getting hungry, I walked over to Lobster on the Wharf for an early dinner. I almost didn’t go there as it had mixed reviews online with some people saying it was great and the best place to get lobster, while others said it was overpriced and touristy. I decided to try it and it turns out both opinions were right. It’s definitely touristy and a bit pricy but the food was good, portion was a good size, and the service was good as well. I got the lobster mac & cheese, and it was delicious with a decent amount of lobster meat.
After dinner and a quick rest stop at my hotel, I headed down the street to the Ghost Tour ($20, ticket bought via the Confederation Centre of the Arts) starting location which was literally just down the street. It started and ended at different locations on Pownal, the same street as my hotel, which was super handy as I knew where I was (always useful when traveling solo). I LOVED the ghost tour; the tour guide was really entertaining, and I would totally recommend it for anyone visiting Charlottetown. The tour guide had stayed wonderfully in his grave digger personality throughout to the tour. I especially loved his stare downs as he was checking tickets. He wouldn’t tell us his name until he was sure that the “suspicious” people in the group – of which, I was one as the only solo attendee – took “the test”, which happened about a third of the way through the tour. The test was standing in the centre of the Irish settlers’ monument and speaking your name facing towards the Celtic cross, which produced a really odd echo vibration. As I was one of the “suspicious” I was tested (first) and it was a neat, if a bit unnerving, effect. The testing theory was that if you couldn’t hear the vibration, something was off about you. Interestingly, two of the stories were about hangings in the tour. I seriously recommend taking that tour if you’re in Charlottetown, and I’m not just saying that because I love ghost tours (which I do), it was fun and well worth the $20.
And that was my Charlottetown portion of the trip. Next up… Mount Stewart.
Rambles and Walks 