Off to the Gables

Biking Day 3:
33.28 miles, 1709 ft ascent, 5 hrs. 21 min.
Daily Drena: Sunsets

Another early morning, but we slept well, having passed out after yesterday’s ride. Breakfast was down in the common room at a table of 10 in the country style, where we met the other guests staying at the B&B. They were all Canadians staying a number of nights at the B&B. Breakfast was served by our very chatty hostess and her husband who made us pancakes. We each got three very cute little pancakes with some delicious raspberry sauce, along with a slice of kiwi and orange. They were promptly gone in less than a minute. Thankfully my eyes alighted on some cereal in the breakfast nook and after three bowls I was at least partially satiated, so we headed back to Summerside to start the day.

Backtracking our route from yesterday, we went back into town as we had read about a fox museum, so wanted to check it out. It was housed in the old armory building from World War II, which was fairly small, but full of information on the black and silver fox trade, which started on the island. It only lasted for maybe two dozen years before the market became inundated and crashed, but an interesting story nonetheless. As we came out of the museum and were getting ready to head off again, we were approached by some older ladies all wearing red hats. Apparently, there was a scavenger hunt going on and they were looking for some non-islanders to give some pins to as part of it. So, we were presented pins by two of the ladies and had our photos taken with them then were off on the Confederation Trail once more.

Our next stop down the trail was just before Kensington where an ice cream shop popped up and obviously needed some taste testing. After some soft serve cones and some chicken fingers to shore up the ol’ bellies, we moved onto Kensington proper. At the old train station, they have converted the area into a cultural and shopping hub of cute little restaurants, a local co-op artists gallery, and a souvenir store. A very clever usage of the old train station and by far the best little town we’ve been through in terms of interest.

Back on the trail, we headed through the now hilly landscapes to Emerald Junction, then broke off and headed up the roads to the Cavendish area.

After a hot slog up and down the hilly roads, we stopped just past the Stanley Bridge area, at “The Swimming Rock”, where locals have for years relaxed, picnicked, and swum in the waters of the protected bay. The red rock of the cliffs and the irish moss made for some pretty photos.

By this time, we were quite tired so made the last final push into Cavendish proper. As the roads became busier, cars began passing us faster and closer, and we started seeing amusement parks and shopping malls, I already knew Cavendish wasn’t for me. One thing of interesting note though was a number of old Model Ts that folks were driving around town. I’m not sure what the occasion was, but it was neat to see them driving about. After the familiar routine of shower, nap, and power up, we grabbed a bite to eat across the way and then decided to walk on over to the Green Gables Heritage Place, which is the reason everyone comes over this way. It had closed around 5pm, so we had the whole site mostly to ourselves, so wandered around and took a few photos. The grounds were quite beautiful and consisted of some barns, the original house (restored), a number of gardens, and a few walking paths.