Day 29 – Canada: PEI – Cavendish, Avonlea, Beaches and Lighthouses

Friday, June 26, 2009 – Day 29

We found a great Camping site right in Cavendish which was close to all of the “Anne of Green Gables” sites. The kids were excited to go swimming and we didn’t even leave the campground to go sightseeing until around noon.

Skip Avonlea Village Attraction

We headed out to what we were told was the best tourist attraction, the recreated village of Avonlea. In the village they recreate the story of Anne of Green Gables. In the morning Anne arrives by train and is brought to the village where there are a number of scenes recreated from the book throughout the day. I have to say that I was very disappointed and would not recommend visiting Avonlea. The village which consists of about a dozen buildings spreads out an hour long play into the entire day. It seems like they are trying to get people to stay the entire day when an hour or two would suffice. As fun as it was for the first hour or two, it interested our little children under the age of 8 more than our older kids who were not very excited to be there.

Beautiful Sandy Beaches of PEI
Following much too long of a time in Avonlea we headed to the Northern beaches of PEI. Wow, this was the highlight of the day.

We drove into the Prince Edward Island National Park and found a great place to park near some fishing shacks and an outdoor cafe. The site was complete with its own red and white old fashioned lighthouse. The kids were excited to play in the sand, jump off the bridge and splash in the water for a few hours as the evening sun kept us warm. I was surprised to see Teyauna, our 1 year old keep running into the cold water.
After some time getting sandy and some vitamin D sunshine we headed for one of the fish and chips shacks for some dinner just as they were closing at 6:30pm. I have to say I rarely like deep fried batter fish but this fish was absolutely amazing. It was fresh and there was more fish than there was fish batter!

Delta Prince Edward Hotel
After showering all of the sand off of our shorts and feet we jumped into our RV and headed to Charlottetown to rest at the Delta Prince Edward Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful hotel in the centre of the Charlottetown Harbor within walking distance to the city centre and action in the Harbor of the city. The views from our room overlooking the Harbor were also gorgeous and we felt pampered as we enjoyed two adjoining rooms. The first thing my kids wanted to know was, “Is there a pool?”, they weren’t disappointed.