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Prince Edward Island: Day 1

We started the day with cloudy skies, guaranteed to turn stormy. However, since most of the day was dedicated to travelling from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island, this wasn't too bad. 

Our first task was to pick up our rental car from Enterprise - in hind sight, we could have called them to pick us up, but the 30-minute walk was mostly downhill. I think we got upgraded, because we ended up with a Buick compact SUV instead of a standard issue sedan. Leather seats, heated steering wheel, sun roof, button-press ignition, ... pretty sweet. Only downside is gas efficiency, but gas prices are way cheaper, ranging from 122.9 to 125.9!

After grabbing a quick bite, refilling cash in our wallets, and checking out of the Airbnb, we were off! 

Along the way to PEI, we made a stop at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site, in spite of the torrential downpour. Even in the rain, walking along the beaches of the Bay of Fundy beside sedimentary rock more than 300 million years old was pretty incredible. Unfortunately, we didn't time our visit with a tour, so we didn't get any insider tips for spotting fossils, but I think we managed to find a few specimens embedded in the layers of rock! It is mind boggling, imagining that the land we walked on was the same land that dinosaurs roamed, almost untouched. Craziness. Oh, and their tiny cafeteria had legitimately yummy soup to help warm us up after the walk!

From Joggins, we headed towards Confederation bridge. I was so excited to drive across the world's longest bridge, and one of the greatest engineering achievements constructed during my lifetime! I think I'd hyped it up too much in my head, because when we finally drove onto the bridge, with our surroundings clouded by the storm, it wasn't quite as impressive as I'd imagined. It was clearly well built, such that the drive was almost boring - no bumps, no inconsistencies, and no visual distractions. We had to double back towards the bridge after we finished crossing to get a look at it from the side. It was only then that we noticed the columns supporting the bridge added some architectural nuance.

By the time we got to our Airbnb in Charlottetown, I was exhausted from all the wet-weather driving. We still had to eat though, so after a brief rest, we hopped back in the SUV to Richard's - a local favorite for seafood. We stuffed ourselves silly with a lobster roll, deep fried scallops, and deep fried giant clams. Would I go back? Maybe not - my preference is not to have my seafood deep fried, but it was cooked to perfection for those who do prefer battered food.

From Richard's, we drove through gorgeous pastoral scenery to Prince Edward Island Brewing Company for some thirst quenching beer. After all the fried food, this was the perfect end to the night, capped off with a handful of surprisingly sweet wild blueberries.

No more long travel days until Wednesday! Hooray!


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