Wednesday, August 28, 2024
We arrived at Charlottetown at 9:00 but our tour was not until 1:45. While Chuck slept in, I got a latte and walked around the ship’s promenade. I took some photos and listened to the musician channel his inner Jimmy Buffet. I may have been his only audience as most people were rushing into the visitor center to start their day in Charlottetown.
The last time we were in Charlottetown we took a food/history walking tour of the historic area.
Today our plan was to see the countryside of PEI. And you can’t see the countryside without a stop at the Anne of Green Gables farmstead.
Google stock photo
HAL Tour Description: Explore PEI — Canada’s tiniest and perhaps most charming province, famous for its red earth and white beaches.
A panoramic drive takes you through the historic streets where the Charlottetown Conference led to the Confederation of Canada. Enjoy picturesque views of the rolling hills as you head through the countryside to the North Shore.
You’ll stop at Green Gables — the farmstead that inspired the setting for L.M. Montgomery to create her beloved tale of a red-haired orphan, Anne of Green Gables.
Visit Prince Edward Island National Park to savor incredible scenery, and you will pass through pastoral farmland en route back to the ship in Charlottetown.
We ate lunch in the Lido before getting ready for the tour. We packed our rain gear because it was getting very overcast, and rain was predicted around 2:00.
The bus was comfortable, and the guide was enthusiastic. She told us a lot about Prince Edward Island and some of its famous residents including Lucy and Lucifer – two ducks who for many years laid their eggs in the grocery store parking lot and would get police protection while they sat on the eggs and then a parade when the ducklings hatched, and the family made their way back to the pond.
Of course, it started raining just as we arrived at the Green Gables farmstead. There were a lot of Anne of Green Gables fans on the bus. I have to admit I don’t remember ever reading the books. I was more of a Nancy Drew girl myself. I was mostly interested in the tour to see the countryside. I was definitely in the minority.
However, I enjoyed learning about the author and seeing the house furnishings. I was disappointed that it was raining so hard that exploring the gardens was out of the question. We got an hour at the house and museum, but the docents move you through the house pretty rapidly and the museum was small so, in my opinion, we were there 30 minutes too long. But, if we had a chance to go through the gardens, an hour would have been about right. Who knows – maybe I will read the series to see what I missed.
On our way back to Charlottetown, we did a short drive through the National Park. It was still raining so we didn’t leave the bus and my photos out of the rainy bus windows were poor. Would be nice to spend more time there.
We got back to the ship right before “all aboard” time. Since it was a HAL tour, I was not concerned that we were cutting it close.
After a late night yesterday and a long day today, we ordered room service and stayed in for the evening. It is nice that HAL still offers a pretty extensive room service menu that doesn’t require an extra charge. It took about 30 minutes to arrive, and the BLTs were hot and fresh. So good, I forgot to get a photo. Sigh
Tomorrow – Cruising the St. Lawrence River
