Going back in time to PEI

After a four hour drive (including 13 km on the Confederation Bridge) we arrived in Summerside, PEI,  to spend the afternoon with our friend Michael who grew up here and just happened to be visiting his mother the same time as we took this trip. Michael took us on a whirlwind tour of his childhood and his family's history, going back many generations. We learned that Michael's parents are of Acadian heritage and he has hundreds of cousins still living here. What an excellent way to get the feeling of this special rural island!

Art, crafts, churches and graveyards, woollen mills, fisherman's docks and seafood lunch were highlights of the afternoon.

Some of the churches were open so we could just go in and admire the lovely interiors. The door latch here is from a very old church.

Every church has its graveyard and they each have different feelings. 

The most evocative one was right at the shore's edge. This is an Acadian Catholic church and Michael's relatives are buried here.

We headed to Murphy's dock for lunch at an unimposing little restaurant that served fabulous fish and chips. 

Just beside it was a row of faded wooden fisherman's sheds that caught my eye. They look like they've been here for at least 100 years.

Then it was off to the woollen mill where Michael wanted to buy a blanket. MacAusland's has been around for a while, wouldn't you say? This machine looks like something from the Industrial revolution. The mill started in 1870 and they've been creating yarn and woolen blankets since the 1930s. 

Here's a sample of their undyed yarn, and Michel and Harry with the new woven wool blanket.

The funny thing is that my cousin Jacques from Saturna Island sends wool from their sheep to this mill to be woven into blankets for sale. Small country--even if it is 5,000 miles across.  There's a definite connect from PEI to Vancouver Island. It's like they're the bookends of the country. But in Prince Edward Island it feels like we're living in a long-ago time.