We spent a total of 12 days on Prince Edward Island, but we were so busy I didn’t get a chance to complete any blogs so now that we’re home, I’ll catch up where we left off. When we first arrived in PEI there was an issue as the ferry went to pull into the harbour. A fishing boat had a buoy marker fall overboard and they circled around to pick it up right in front of the ferry, so the ferry had to slow down so as not to hit them. When we went to disembark from the ferry the attendant warned me the tide was low and to drive slow exiting and sure enough the arms on our bike carrier did drag a bit due to the slope. PEI has 63 lighthouses, so we decided to visit Point Prim lighthouse first before heading to our Harvest Host location for the night. As we drove to the lighthouse, we saw a fun fishing buoy decorated tree and we started to see all the wild Lupin flowers that were in full bloom.
The Point Prim Lighthouse was built in 1845 and was PEI’s first lighthouse. It is the 3rd tallest on the island at 60’. Because of its age, unique architecture, and preservation, it is the only PEI lighthouse to be designated “Classified”, the highest heritage level awarded. We were lucky enough to be able to climb to the top inside the lighthouse as they are doing a major renovation and had just started on the lower level. The following week it was going to be closed for a period of time. The lighthouse is one of the few round brick lighthouses in Canada and in later years they wrapped it with wooden shingles to protect the brick from deteriorating. However, the shingles had to be constantly painted so in the new renovation they are using shingles that have been dipped in paint with 3 coats in advance so they are hoping that will last much longer. The Point Prim property was originally 9 acres but due to coastal erosion from climate change has been reduced to 3 acres so several efforts are underway to try to protect the shoreline. As we climbed to the different levels inside the lighthouse they had museum displays setup. It was interesting seeing some of the different colours of light lenses as we had found a ribbed blue section like the one on display when we were hunting for sea glass. The Point Prim lighthouse was used on the 20-dollar silver coin in 2023 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of PEI joining confederation.
We did a bit of back tracking to get to our HH location that night called Double Hill Cidery. The server really had a polished presentation to explain all the ciders and since we were staying overnight, we did 2 x flights of 3 to try their 6 different products and purchased 2 of them.
On Saturday we did some further back tracking (but distances are never that far in PEI) so we could spend the whole day exploring the largest city, Charlottetown. Since it was Saturday, we were able to find parking for the RV in a government building lot beside Victoria Park and close to the Beaconsfield Historic House. Unfortunately, it was closed due to an event so we couldn’t do the tour.
Then we started doing a walking tour of the historic downtown and harbour areas seeing, the Irish Settlers Memorial to honour the 10,000 Irish settlers who immigrated to PEI, Dundas Terrace apartment building built in 1890, the marina, the Lovelock sculpture by the conference centre, and the Gainsford House built in 1833 and one of the few buildings to survive the downtown fires of 1866 because it was brick.
Further along the harbour they had some very detailed display boards that explained the critical role Charlottetown had in the formation of Canada. Charlottetown’s role in Confederation begins with the Charlottetown Conference of September 1–9, 1864, the first formal meeting that set Canadian nationhood in motion. Delegates from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island originally gathered to discuss a possible Maritime Union, but representatives from the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) arrived and successfully shifted the agenda toward creating a broader federation.
The meetings—held in Province House—were a mix of political discussion and social events that helped build trust among delegates. Although no formal transcript exists, letters and accounts show that Maritime leaders abandoned the idea of a smaller regional union and agreed to explore a larger national one.
The Charlottetown talks led directly to the Quebec Conference (October 1864) and later the London Conference (1866–67), culminating in the British North America Act and the creation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
A funny anecdote about the event was that the circus was in town when the politicians arrived so not only did they not get any sort of welcome, but the hotels were so full of circus goers that they had to sleep on the ship they arrived on because no rooms were available.
After Confederation Birthplace Commemorative Park, we found a tourist information centre and the agent was incredibly helpful about things to do not only in Charlottetown but on our whole planned itinerary for PEI. He was surprised and seemed very pleased that we were going to spend a full 12 days on the island. We left with all sorts of maps and brochures for the things to see and do. By now we had built up an appetite so chose the Peake’s Quay restaurant with a view of the harbour. We had the calamari appetizer, and I had the fish cakes with an excellent salad and Sharon had the lobster roll with a Caesar salad.
After lunch we carried on with our walk and went by the old Bonded Warehouse that was used every Monday morning in the early 1900’s to display the dumping of alcohol confiscated during prohibition (so sad ☹). Next was St. Dunstan’s basilica where a wedding was just about to start. There was a statue of the two John Hamilton Grays that attended the Confederation Conference having a lively debate. The Great George Hotel was on the corner across from the basilica, so we popped into the lobby to look around and see the photos of some of the famous people who had stayed there. Another block down was the actual Province House used in the Confederation Conference, but we couldn’t tour it as it is under renovation. Around the corner was the Confederation Centre of the Arts where Ann of Green Gables the musical was playing. We didn’t see the show but we wandered around the art displays and they had a display with Plankton created from discarded material, fishing lines and beads so of course we had to get a picture of that since our RV is named Plankton😉From the arts centre we continued through the historic streets, and it started to rain a bit so we picked up the pace. Once back at the RV we took a drive through Victoria Park before heading out of Charlottetown.
That evening we were staying at Northumberland PP, very close to where the ferry had arrived the day before. One advantage of booking our campsites early is that we had a front row campsite facing directly over the water. After getting setup we went for a walk along the beach looking for Sea Glass (found a few pieces). As we got to the southern point of the beach, we were surprised to see that a group of around 30 Harbour sales were sunning themselves on the rocks because it was low tide. Also around the corner was a Blue Heron working on catching his dinner. Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time to see incredible wildlife!
For our 3rd day in PEI, we decided to start with a tasting at the nearby Rossignol Winery but since it didn’t open until noon, we had a leisurely morning and just checked out of Northumberland PP at 11 am. We were the first to arrive at the winery but soon there were 2 other car loads even before the server arrived. We tried 3 whites, 2 reds, and one Rose and our favourite, surprisingly enough was the white called Rogue Wave as it had been aged in old bourbon barrels.
As we drove around the island we tried to take all the small roads that were closest to the coastline instead of taking the main roads. Our next stop was Cape Bear Lighthouse and Marconi Station. Cape Bear Lighthouse is the 8th tallest lighthouse at 41’ high. The first light was setup in 1865, but the first actual lighthouse was built in 1881, and the current lighthouse was built in 1976. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph station was built adjacent to the lighthouse in 1906, and it was famous because in 1912 it was the first station to receive a distress signal in Canada from the sinking of the Titanic. We decided to take the guided tour to the top and it was just the second time the young girl had done a tour, but she had her sister with her to help with any facts if she got stuck, she did a great job.
Further along the Southeast coast we came to Murray Harbour, and we could see that all the lobster fishermen had brought in their traps now that the season was over in this zone. Next, we came across Kings Castle PP which was a day use park setup for families with displays for many of the children’s fairy tales. There were several kid’s birthday parties going on since it was Sunday afternoon. Lastly for this day we went to Panmure Head Lighthouse which was constructed in 1853 and was the second lighthouse built on PEI. It was the first wooden lighthouse and the first octagonal shape. It was electrified in 1958 and automated in 1985 and was 58’ tall.
We returned along the causeway to get to Panmure Island PP where we were staying that evening. Again, we had a nice site directly along the water since we had booked early. We went for a walk along the inner harbour and then across the causeway to the sandy beach. Further along the beach were some beautiful red sandstone cliffs and of course we found some more sea glass. When we went to return to our campsite a really fast-moving fog had rolled in and completely covered the causeway. Back at our RV we were shocked to see that the hood was covered with hundreds of black flies, no cooking dinner outside tonight!
We continued working our way along the PEI Eastern coastline and our next stop was Montague. There was a hot sauce store named Maritime Madness, so we stopped in to try the hot sauces. We sampled a dozen or so of their products and purchased 6 of our favourites to get the 10% discount. One hot sauce Sharon tried was way too hot for her so the clerk gave her a fun custom labeled water bottle that said, “Tongue Rescue Kit” (zoom in on the photo to read all the jokes). We parked in the downtown area and wandered around the town to see the sculptures, the harbour, the craft market in the old train station, and then went to Bogside to have a flight of beers (not great).
The tourist office agent had told us about a sweet shop in Georgetown called the Maroon Pig, so we drove out that way but unfortunately it was closed. Then we visited Sally’s Beach PP and did some more sea glass hunting. Before we left we had started watching a TV show called Andy’s East Coast Kitchen Crawl where he would go to shops and restaurants to try East Coast food and then finish the segment by making an East Coast dish. He had mentioned a shop called Oh Fudge in Souris where they make fudge using mashed potatoes to replace the milk or cream. We went to the shop, but it had closed a few minutes before we got there. However, the lady saw us looking in the window and came to the door and opened for us. She said she had been incredibly busy after the TV show aired and she said she uses chocolate instead of sugar to make the fudge. We bought a mixed flavour box and absolutely loved it. You can order it online in Canada but not during the summer when the shop is too busy to handle the orders.
We were staying at Red Point PP that night and again when we checked in we had one of the best campsites as we could see the water out our front window. As it turned out the site beside us also had an LTV RV, so we met Duane and Tish from Nova Scotia with their 2025 LTV. They will be going to the Fall rally in Winkler Manitoba, so we were telling them about the rally and about traveling along the Lake Superior shore. After dinner we went for a walk along the beach, and you could definitely tell why they called the park Red Point.
The next blog will continue our PEI journey.