When we first talked about going to PEI, we googled around looking for fun things to do there. Of course we found lots of things from the board of tourism, etc. - but I personally really enjoy travel videos, so I often look on youtube. So, low and behold, the first results are spoofs of real videos which are just as funny. Indeed, "Beaches!" became the joke of our trip - but they do have some good beaches.
And, they have Anne. You can't go to PEI without making a trip to Green Gables. There actually IS a lake of shining waters! And I think somewhere I read that you could take a buggy ride with a Matthew Cuthbert look alike. Sadly, we did not do that.
Oddly enough, one of the coolest things on the trip was an Acadian church and graveyard in Prince County - I forget the town name. It was on the south side and overlooked the water. I don't think I've ever seen such a striking graveyard - between the waterline and the white tombstones, it was all very tranquil. Most of everyone buried there seemed to have the same family name over and over again - most being Gallant, Arsenault, and Richard - the young man working at the church that day said it's all been the same families living there for many generations.
Another highlight / my favourite part was the Joggins Fossil cliffs on the Bay of Fundy. You can actually see fossilized tree stumps embedded in various parts of the cliff! The cliff is still eroding so new pieces are frequently being uncovered. From what I can remember, the cliffs are famous for having the first closest evolutionary fossil record of a water to land lizard.
We saw quite a few different museums & exhibits about the Acadians - but this small replica house in the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens was my favorite. The house seems very Dutch - which isn't that surprising when you see all the dykes built all around the bay for farming. It seems like the perfect sized house.
We finished up our trip in Halifax which was a great little city. This bakery was part of the Hydrostone buildings that were put up quickly after the 1917 explosion. It was a fun neighborhood to walk around - in the past I'd always been a bit 'meh' about anything made from concrete (take Boston's city hall for example...) but these buildings definitely changed my mind - concrete is awesome!
