A day on an island…

 Happy Birthday Frank (John’s brother who lives in France) even though you’re probably reading this the day after your birthday! For those of you who don’t know Frank, he started the tradition of being born on a date with the same day and month number… Frank on 9/9; John on 4/4; Mary (Frank’s daughter) on 6/6.

Our day started with a trip to the very top of the island where wind generators create much of the power for the island. Years ago when John & I were here the towers looked incredibly tall. The ones in our county are just as tall so this time they seemed like no big deal. Back in the Suburban heading south (via our now usual routine of taking the wrong roads) we missed the Potato Museum. Potatoes have been grown on PEI since 1790.  Now over 88,000 acres of potatoes are grown, more than any other province. Not bad for the smallest province! The Cavendish company buys most of the potatoes from 80 PEI farms, 98% which are family run. If you visit try not to you drive by Cavendish buildings when you’re hungry. The smell of potato chips and French fries in the air will make your stomach grumble in anticipation.

On to Charlottetown. Judy had been lobbying for an ice cream sundae lunch so we headed directly to the home of Cow’s which makes the best ice cream in Canada, all from PEI dairies. We indulged with no regrets. (The photo has no relation to this at all. I took it because John & Judy’s family have always been active with their local fire department and they’re following this blog.) Then I was indulged and we visited the downtown bookstore appropriately named Bookmark so I could acquire a copy of “My PEI Cabbage Cookbook”. (I claim dibs on cabbage dishes in upcoming potluck gatherings.)

And now we’re at the PEI version of a resort complete with marina, pool, golf course etc… a BIG difference from our last trip when we were camping in Tilly the VW! (We must have gotten older.) Tomorrow we catch the 7 a.m. ferry to Nova Scotia.

Word of the day:  loodle-laddle or doodle-laddle or oodle-addle  =  “a deliberately humorous or evasive name given to an object”. (Sounds like a whatcha-ma-callit to me.)