Wednesday Oct 3, 2018 – Charlottetown, PE

Today was another gray, windy and very wet day as I wandered around the Charlottetown area. The breakfast at the hotel was rather sad so I drove down the road and found locally run Sam’s Family Restaurant which served up a huge, great tasting breakfast at a modest price in a simple, but comfortable setting.

When I left the restaurant the rain seemed to be easing so I continued to my only outdoor destination with the rather long title of Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site, recognizing the Mi’kmaq, French and English settlers who occupied the area over time. There is nothing left of the communities or fort, except overgrown earthworks, but, since I was the only visitor, the guides in the visitor center did a great job of explaining the importance of the events that occurred here. The French were the first European settlers and they traded with and maintained a formal friendship with the Mi’kmaq who had used the land for at least 10,000 years. However, after Louisbourg fell for the second time (see this post), so did Île Saint-Jean (now PEI) and about 3,000 French and Acadians were forcibly deported in 1755 by the British. Some of the deportees tried to go to Virginia but, being Catholic, were denied entry and eventually made their way to Louisiana (in Spanish hands at the time) and founded the Cajun culture.

My guidebook listed Province House National Historic Site of Canada, which is where the Canadian Confederation (unifying Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada) was negotiated in 1864, as a “must see”. The building is undergoing major restoration and is closed until at least 2020 so I visited the temporary Confederation exhibit installed at the nearby Confederation Centre of the Arts.

My final stop of the day was at St. Dunstan’s Cathedral Basilica near Province House. This church is the fourth one built here (in 1916) after fires destroyed the previous three. By this time it was absolutely pouring so I decided to give up on sightseeing and was back at the hotel by 2:30. I spent the afternoon planning the next few days, based on current weather forecasts, so we’ll see how that works out.

The commemorative monument at Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site marking the Acadian deportation. This was, literally, the bight spot of the day as the rain was very light while I walked the site and read the information boards. Normally, you have a great view of Charlottetown’s harbour in the background.

Warren Cove Front Range Lighthouse is right on a small red-sand cove but this was the only viewpoint where the light is visible.
St. Dunstan’s Basilica is also a National Historic Site.
The inside of this large Catholic cathedral is quite simple.
I had not seen a boat in a cathedral until today.