Another day was spent exploring Prince Edward Island. We rented a car and drove to Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island province with around 54,000 inhabitants. Charlottetown was originally a French settlement called Port la Joie. It was renamed in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III after the island passed to Britain in 1763. It is the site of the 1864 Confederation Conference that led to the formation of the Canadian confederation, uniting what are today’s provinces of Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Interestingly, Prince Edward Island itself did not join the confederation immediately. Locals say that PEI joined a few years later as it needed confederate funding to finish developing its railroad.
The drive took us through rolling countryside with a colorful patchwork of pristine farm fields. Charlottetown is a pleasant town built around a natural harbor on the South shore of the island. It has red, iron-rich soil which makes it perfect for growing high quality potatoes.
While in Charlottetown, we connected with Bob, a local resident with whom Dan worked at Kodak Health Imaging some 20 years ago. It was so nice to catch up. After lunch, Bob showed us around town.
We continue to be so impressed with the kindness of people in this region. With all the anger, hatred and divisiveness going on in the world, it’s so refreshing to spend time in a place where people are welcoming, accepting, generous and peaceful. Today’s example: when we returned from our visit to Charlottetown, we found two trays of baked goods on our boat. Bill, a sailor (and prior club commodore and town mayor) with whom we’d had a brief chat, owns the Water Street Bakery in Summerside and left them as a gift.
Back in Summerside, we celebrated the Swiss national holiday with Jon and Cheri aboard True North. We decorated her as best we could, and everyone dressed in red and white. Some Gruyère cheese was found in a local supermarket and added to a special Swiss edition of the “chericuterie” board.
The Swiss national holiday is celebrated on August 1 each year, commemorating a military pact signed by four then independent cantons to help protect each other from Habsburg invasions. In recognition of our ties to Switzerland, True North’s sail number is 1291, the year the pact was signed (it also happens to be the postal code of our town, Commugny).
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