August 17th and 18th

After a little blogging I joined the Goddards, Tim (dad), Sally(mom) and Kate for breakfast. Today was a civic holiday in PEI called the Gold Cup and Saucer which was started in 1962 to promote harness racing. We missed most of the parade or at least the huge inflatable objects that had to be filled with air rather than helium since there is a world wide shortage just like Fresca. The only good float was a beer company who had people in the back of the float drinking.

We went to the Parliament building called Province House built between 1843 and 1847 and has been the parliament building since that time. It is more famous of course for one of the early meetings between Canada and the Maritime colonies about confederation. We watched a very boring 17 minute video which basically told us nothing was written down and the partied for 5 days. The building is worth a visit especially to see how small the legislature is.

All this history made me hungry so went to Churchills pub which serves and mixture of English and Indian food which you can get in combo. I had butter chicken with home cut fries which was excellent. Apparently the food network did an episode here though I have never seen the food network.

Kate has some business to take care of (she is going to McGill in the fall for Law) so I went for a walk around and ended up at the yatch club since I wanted to get down to the water. There was a restuarant on the second floor of the building with a stunning view of the harbour. I had a drink and watched the waitresses battle it our for tables. Actually it was really one who was being the problem and she was arguing with all of the other staff. It was totally embarrassing and unprofessional but she seemed to win out as when I went to pay the others had left.

Kate picked me up after and we grabbed the dog and went to Tracadie Bay where they were renting a cottage. All around most of the island is kind of sandy bluff which we had to take a ladder to get down to the red sand stone beach. The water was only knee deep for a good 50 meters and was very warm though I didn’t venture further. Out on the ocean side is naturally formed sand dunes about a kilometer or two away which is a protected area for wildlife. From time to time a big storm breaks up the dunes but some had grass and trees. Kaylie the dog loved the beach since she got to chase a few birds. On the way back we stopped for ice cream at a local farmers market/dairy place called Jewels.

The next day I took my bike into MacQueens Bike Shop which did a phenomenal job on my bike. The chain was toast again but they also replaced the cable that has been nagging m all the way across Canada. I needed a haircut but everything on the map was closed so I headed back to Kate’s. I also needed some toileteries and pulled into a drug saw where I saw out of the corner of my eye OT hair cutters (http://www.othaircutters.com). The nice girls at OT Christie and Kristan where able to get me in and cut my hair. They also donated $5 each!

Friends of the Goddards came in for a visit and Sally put on a full on Lobster dinner. We even ha d blue potatoes in the potato salad. Oh and worth mentioning, other than a few things all of the food comes from the island and is fresh. They have a very busy farmers market in town which Kate and visited in the morning where I had a chocolate covered croisant. The dinner was excellent but dessert was even better. Basically cream puffs with the whip cream separate. You cut the pastry in half and then applied as much whip cream, melted chocolate or strawberry sauce as you felt necessary.

I can’t the Goddard’s enough for their hospitality. This is really my last planned rest stop before finishing my journey to St. Johns. Though small PEI has a lot to offer!