Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown

This morning we decided to have a bit of a relaxing morning. It is nice to be in one place for a while where you don't feel rushed to get going in the morning. Being a sunday, and of the long weekend, many thing are closed today.

We wanted to head down to downtown Charlottetown for a wander around and take advantage of the quiet of a sunday morning. A stroll

through old town isn't complete without a Starbucks Coffee in hand.

Beginning in 1864, colonial politicians, known as the Fathers of Confederation, met and negotiated the terms of Confederation at conferences in Charlottetown, Quebec City and London, England.

The “Canadians” sailed to the Charlottetown Conference on 29 August 1864, aboard the Canadian government steamer SS Queen Victoria. The conference was already underway and discussions for Maritime union were not making much progress. So the Canadians were invited to submit their own proposals for a union of all the British North American colonies. The idea swept the board, and the glittering idea of a united country took over.

Their work resulted in the British North America Act, Canada’s

Constitution, which was enacted by British Parliament. At its creation in 1867, the Dominion of Canada included four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Between then and 1999, six more provinces and three territories joined Confederation.

Charlottetown has become quite the cruise ship port. They anticipate 94 cruise ships to visit the port in 2018 alone. With the increase cruise ship traffic they are beginning to initiate development plans for increasing the port terminals surrounding the downtown.

Here are a few fun cruise ship facts for Charlottetown in 2018:
1 - The first cruise ship to visit The Port of Charlottetown will be the Veendam and its 1350 passengers and 568 crew members on May 2 and the last ship will be the Silver Wind with its 296 passengers and 210 crew members.

2 - The Port of Charlottetown is the marine gateway to Prince Edward Island. As the busiest common-user marine terminal facility in Prince Edward Island, the port welcomes the bulk of cruise business to the Island as well as sand, gravel, petroleum products and agricultural fertilizer.

3 - Nine first-time calls are on the books for the cruise ships.

4 - More than 110,000 passengers are expected in 94 cruise ship visits, a 28 per cent increase over the 2017 season.

5 - The port had hoped to pass the 100,000-passenger mark in 2017, but several visits were cancelled due to weather and a speed limit imposed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect endangered right whales.

We took a stroll down George Street, coffee in hand. Great George Street was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1990 because of its strong associations with the birth of this nation.
The Charlottetown Conference was held at Province House, the historic seat of Island government, and sits at the end of Great George Street.

Since 1864, Great George Street has retained its original colonial plan, its close association with the water, and its regular ascent to the central square and seat of government at Province House.

While the street remains anchored to the Confederation Era with roughly one-half of its buildings dating from that period, the surviving later buildings testify to the evolution of the streetscape over time.

One of the most famous buildings is the Great George Boutique Hotel. It is a small family run hotel that goes above and beyond when it comes to hospitality. It is the place where all the famous people stay when they come to town. I think it also has some significant history relating to the times of the Confederation.

After a tour of downtown we headed to up to the Charlottetown
Farmers Market. It is just north of downtown and right beside the the University of PEI. It has a dedicated building and runs all year long on Saturday's. Today is is filled with fresh farm produce, food stalls, artisans and unique shops. The busiest shop (beside the food stalls) was the florist, making up gourd centrepieces. They could hardly keep up. The best part is that it is a dog friendly environment. Great market!

After the farmers market we headed to take in the Points East Coastal Drive. This region boasts 13 golf courses, 50 beaches, 6 lighthouses, 34 historical and cultural attractions, more than 100 restaurants, 12 provincial parks, 6 Scenic Heritage Roads and a national park.
We drove through Orwell and Belfast. Orwell is home to the Orwell Corner Historical Village. It is a similar place to Heritage Park where staff are in costume and the buildings are filled with everyday life from the 1800's.

Belfast is home to The Chuckwagon Farm Market and Belfast Corn Maze. It is a small community farm stand that has a corn maze, kids play place, games and all sorts of family fun. It also has a small restaurant that serves up country styled meals and for the thanksgiving holiday they are doing special turkey meal for $10.00; smoked turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and brussel sprouts - and more than a person could eat. What a great tip from our hosts!

Tomorrow is our last day and I think we may head back up to the north coast for some more exploration.