Day 50 – Northumberland Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island (Thursday, June 25, 2015)
In the morning I met Steve, the host of Victoria Inn B+B. He informed me about the latest history of the unique town of Victoria, a town which I just stumbled on, and pointed me to the best route to take both on the island and on Newfoundland. He suggested that I travel west through Charlottetown, on to the Wood Islands, and take the ferry to Nova Scotia. I didn’t even know there was a ferry.
After breakfast I set off. The weather was excellent and the wind favorable and I made Charlottetown in good time.
I approached the downtown off the main road as Steve had suggested and spent time eating a lunch (of store bought food) in the park by the water on the southwest corner of the city. After lunch I passed a historic building constructed for tourists like me. I am intrigued by the history of the cities I visit and like to imagine what it would have been like for struggling pioneers years ago. But outside the building there was a notice “Closed on June 25”.
Not deterred I carried on toward the harbour doing my best to find directions to some history. After all I heard a bunch of guys got together to sign some important papers here in 1867. I ended up at a marina restaurant where the waitresses first directed me to the information center, and from there I found the location of Providence House.
Providence House as it turns out was closed for renovations. I can understand that they may want it fixed up for Canada Day. I’ll make that presumption. But I was disappointed. It’s likely the most significant Canadian place in my trip since I have by passed all the capitals. Regardless of the reason it was closed I couldn’t help but think that Canada has all grown up. Its history is becoming more irrelevant. It is a cynical thought. The country that now exists is the legacy of those guys who took the risk to act on their dream.
The cathedral which was also on the list of places to see was closed ’til 12:40pm. It wasn’t really important to me. Just added to the list of places that were coincidentally not open on the day or the time I happened to by riding by.
On the positive… the art gallery and the open outdoor spaces in downtown Charlottetown were quite nice.
Traveling from Charlottetown to the Woods Islands was uneventful. I followed the main road since the secondary roads didn’t lead me to where I wanted to go. The road was good but hilly with buildings sparsely scattered.
I arrived at the information center by the ferry at about 4:30pm. Had I known the last ferry left at 4:30pm I would have hustled and made it to Nova Scotia. Instead I bought some food at the cafeteria near the ferry dock and missed it. I settled on camping at the nearby Northumberland Provincial Park enduring mosquitoes.
