Day 12 - Tuesday July 11 - Georgetown, PEI

Charming Downtown Charlottetown

Today was our only full day on PEI so we wanted to make the most of it. And we did!

After a simple breakfast we packed up and headed about a half hour East to the beautiful white sands beach of Panmure Island provincial park. The beach I s a short, narrow strip, maybe 3-5 km long and about 500m wide connecting Panmure Island to the mainland. Unlike most PEI beaches that sport reddish sand, Panmure is pretty white, and while the sun Threatened on-and-off all day the wind was low enough and the temp high enough to make it a pleasant dip. Gord discovered the fun of a surf at this beach, and spent much time digging 'traps' and searching for 'treasures'.

When we arrived at about 10:00 it was virtually empty, but when we decided to head out,Marius 4 hours later, it was quite packed. We used the bathroom at the beachside grill, each got ice creams, and headed for the car. A perfect summer day already.

A lovely walk from the small parking lot at Panmure Provincial park - a white sand gem on the Island's East coast.

Beach baby!

Making an epic sand castle! And G found a large collection of 'treasures' from which he picked two to take home - ask him, I'm sure he'll show you!

From Panmure we headed to Charlottetown. We wanted a nice meal and thought we might have time to enjoy a city park first (the playground at the cottage was barely fitting for the title -  a single swing and splintery slide), so we headed for the familiarly named Victoria Park in downtown Charlottetown. It was supposed to be Oceanside and with a large playground and splash pad. 

We nailed it! The kids grabbed a few extra minutes of nap and we headed for the Oceanside playground. There were four different structures and a good stiff breeze to keep the heat stroke and bugs at bay. Gord met friends and invented some great games while we let Hannah drift in and out of sleep and T was able to nurse her. The place was busy, but big enough to keep from being crowded! 

This place was delightful. That fish was 'fish island' and the slide felt 30 feet tall at the top!

 The Oceanside splash pad at Charlottetown's version of Victoria Park did a fine job of cooling off the man before we cleaned up and headed to downtown for a classy dinner.

We settled on Merchantman Fresh Seafood and Oyster House because it was supposed to have great ambiance, a family friendly vibe and sustainable seafood options! Theresa had her first plate of mussels ever (a big success), the kitchen angels indulged Gord with s feast of plain white rice and cucumbers, the local beers flowed my and I broke my meat fast. Yup, I decided to break with tradition and indulge in the local crab legs. It's an odd feeling, and perhaps a poorly thought out plant for a vegetarian, having to tear apart the carcass of my dinner, but I pushed through and enjoyed the drawn butter and sweet meat. It wasn't life altering, and I'm not reconsidering my life choices or day-to-day, but it was good. More importantly the experience was terrific and we would recommend the Merchantman to anyone. 

Enjoying a wonderful meal at the Merhantman in downtown Charlottetown. Terrific food, atmosphere and service.

Veggie shame.

After dinner we decided to walk off our indulgences by heading to down to the wharf. We enjoyed to scenery and the people watching, and maybe even enjoyed a Cows ice cream for the bargain. All in all it was a full meal on Charlottetown's streets. 

Gord and a Stork. What else can we say?

The sign was familiar. But it was all meat!?

On the drive home the kids fell soundly asleep and the hills streamed by. It was no problem since we were having to fire tonight, having been scared off by the skitters the night before. Tomorrow we were leaving PEI for Nova Scotia, our ferry for 1:00 was booked. But it didn't bother us to leave, we were able to fit in a perfect PEI day! Fun, food, salty sea...just perfect. Bring on Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island!