Wow – what a great last day we had on the island.
We went to Greenwich National Park in the morning. They have quite the nice interpretative centre, which I think is fairly new. They had trails that went to the coast, but they were about 4.5 km. one way and then back, so we didn’t have enough time to hike them. We took the shorter trail that took us to the beach. Wow…..it was sunny and hot and surprisingly the water wasn’t as cold as I would have thought. Even though Bob didn’t have his swim shorts, he still went in. The rest of us went in up to our knees. There was quite a few jelly fish swimming around so Bob didn’t stay in too long. lol. It was very different here from most coasts we have seen in PEI as there was no red soil. It was sands and dunes here. It actually reminded me of Florida. We were on the open ocean and it was a gorgeous morning.
We learned some things at the interpretive centre. One that foxes burrow down into the sand dunes to sleep, have their babies, etc. Also we learned a bit more on mussel fishing.
Greenwich Beach was beautiful with really nice sand!
They had great outdoor showers and facilities.
We had an afternoon and evening planned by John…….and oh, what a great day we had! He along with his family/friends planned a lobster dinner in Souris at Silver Threads Seniors Centre, followed by a Ceilidh in the evening. We met a lot of really nice people. I ate the best seafood chowder and lobster I have ever had. You couldn’t get a more fresh lobster than what we ate (straight from the sea!) and it tasted so different and so much better than I have ever had. I can never again order it from a restaurant in the Hamilton area. Hopefully we come back to PEI soon!
St. Mary’s Church in Souris was built in 1838. A gorgeous building!
We had drinks at John’s house in Souris. We met Willy who is a golden retriever – believe it or not. We think he looks like a Irish setter. He would bring his rope to you and want you to throw it again and again and again. Funny I whipped it behind me once and it got stuck on the shed roof. I felt so bad as he went around and around the shed perplexed, until we finally got it down for him, and then the game continues.
The have a Ceilidh every Wednesday in Souris so we lucked out. Pronounced kay-lee, the word descends from the Old Irish céle, in Gaelic literally translating as “visit”. Today you can count on a ceilidh being music, lots of dances, lots of involvement, and a fabulous, fun night out.J
Sarah, John’s niece went fishing the day before with John’s son John, just down from our cottage. Sarah caught a big seabass (pictured here). John’s sister Margaret put some of it in the chowder along with lobster. It was the best seafood chowder I have ever had.
Yum Yum and Yum!!! I ate 2 bowls of chowder and 2 lobsters!! I rolled out of the hall with a full and happy belly!
After dinner we went for a walk on the beach in Souris. We thought we would look for sea glass. It is such a big thing that people do – hunt for sea glass and we found out when we went down, some get really serious. Some come with pails and shovels and come and dig down. I found a few tiny pieces of sea glass but that was all. They have a big sea glass festival in Souris each year.
Wow……John and his son John were the best!! They sing and play really well together. We started off with a fiddler, guitar, harmonica, singing, dancing. It was a great night.
The Ceilidh was over at 10:30 a.m.. On the way back to the cottage we stopped at young John’s to pick up fresh cleaned Sea Bass that he caught yesterday, and some cajun breading. Sadly we have to leave PEI tomorrow. But we are heading to Nova Scotia. Thankfully I know that I am going to have some really yummy fish for dinner!!
John told us about the world’s largest tuna ever to be caught by a pole was 40 years ago just down the road from the cottage we stayed at. This world record still holds. Incredible! Check it out on line.
Just before we left this morning John shared the Swamp Lady of PEI story, which is part of Canadian Ghost Stories. Lol…..he waited to share it after we stayed just down the road from the swamp, like less than a km. I thought I heard some tapping on the bathroom window one evening, I am sure it was her!
Our 3 nights on the island have flown by and we are sad to say good-bye. But we will be back for sure!! John was the best host. We saw and did a lot in the 2 full days that we were there.
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