The Destinators

South central PEI

As we drove across the beautiful and brilliantly engineered 8-mile-long Confederation Bridge between PEI and the mainland, we were entering PEI with a few time constraints – tickets to a show on 8/8, meetup with friends on 8/14 and don’t visit PEI National Park with its legendary crowds on a weekend – and a list of things we wanted to visit. Oh, and we had forgotten about the Canadian long weekend and so arrived just in time for that. Working up a schedule with all these constraints required a bit of creativity. (Check out PEI on our travel page in you’re interested in just how much creativity…)

There was was only 1 item on our list in the south central part of PEI. However, given our driving routes to work around the constraints we got to explore this area and found a few gems.

The east side of PEI

By PEI standards (I wish to stress that this is an important qualifier here), the east side of the island was quiet, laid back, and less touristy. It was also geologically different – again, by PEI standards – hillier, more trees, fewer huge flat farms. According to locals (and backed up by the Potato Museum), we learned that the soil on the west side of the island is perfect for large-scale agriculture, while on the east side… not so much. There are farms, to be sure, however the east is also home to some forestry and a few sawmills. As on the west side, there are lovely red beaches and cliffs along the shore, and lots of lighthouses, along with the agriculture and fish processing.

PEI’s west coast

From the north coast we set off to explore the west coast of PEI. The drive was quite pretty as we passed miles of tidy, colorful potato, corn and wheat fields. Relatively flat with rich red soil, it seems every bit of land that is not used for a house, a church or a music venue is used for agriculture. Taking back roads as much as possible, we also passed through bunches of tiny towns, a handful of big ones, and more of the red coastline’s alternating cliffs and beaches.

Prince Edward Island National Park – the north coast

One of Parks Canada’s primary goals is to protect the ecology and culture representing 39 distinct natural regions across the country. Toward this end, Prince Edward Island National Park was established to include some of the most endangered and incredibly beautiful areas of the north coast of PEI. The park consists of three sections, each with controlled access points allowing for public access to these very popular attractions while minimizing stress on the fragile ecosystems that made them so incredible in the first place.

So long, Nova Scotia

We’re so glad we had the chance to come back and visit the rest of Nova Scotia. It’s a relatively small province with a lot to offer. We got to know more about the Fundy side where in addition to experiencing the unique natural phenomena related to the world’s greatest tides, we observed and learned about the agriculture – farms, vineyards and orchards – as well as food processing, manufacturing and craft beers. The Atlantic side of Nova Scotia, most favored by early European settlers seeking colonization and fish, has a number of historical remains and reconstructions, battle sites related to this period and the long tradition of fishing, seafood processing, marine shipping and craft beers. And tourism. Nova Scotia does tourism well.

Stan Rogers Folk Festival: Stanfest 2026

A young folk artist whose musicianship and songwriting skills had gained widespread recognition across Canada by the early 1980s, Stan Rogers was well known and celebrated for his traditional-sounding songs of Atlantic Canada, the Great Lakes and the prairies. Returning home from a festival in Texas in 1983, Stan lost his life in an airplane fire at the age of 33.

About a dozen years later a group of folks got together in Canso, a small and remote fishing town on the south coast of Nova Scotia, where they put on a folk music festival to honor Stan and his music. Fans came, the festival was successful, and it has become an annual event which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

The rest of Cape Breton, part 2 – the Fortress at Louisbourg

The Dauphin Gate entrance to the fortress

Friends Mark and Linda said – insisted, even – that we had to visit the Fortress at Louisbourg. Ok, let’s put it on the list. They said we’d spend a day there. We had doubts about that, however within our first 10 minutes on-site we found ourselves wondering if we should spend two…

We learned in our introduction that the Fortress at Louisbourg is a fortress, not a fort. A fort is a fortified military structure (or a site with several structures) for defense and protection as well as housing soldiers and military equipment. A fortress is a whole town protected within high, defensible walls, not just for soldiers but for business people, families, shops, offices and all that, as well as a garrison for soldiers – a 1700’s version of a gated community (with an exceptionally robust resident security team). The fortress was built in 1713 to prevent attacks on the town from the sea. However, the French lost possession of the fortress to the British twice, once in 1745 and again in 1758, both in attacks from the land. Between the two turnovers, the French regained possession of the fortress in a treaty settlement. Both times, the residents of the town surrendered without a fight and were deported back to France.

The rest of Cape Breton, part 1 – Isle Madame and Saint Peter’s

After landing in Sydney, NS from Newfoundland in 2023, we visited the northwestern section of Cape Breton that features Cape Breton National Park and the Cabot trail. While there, we visited most of the attractions and hike just about every trail. That’s only about half of Cape Breton. Here’s the other half…

Fundy National Park

The Bay of Fundy from the high point of the plateau near Rossiter Hill

Established in 1948, Fundy National Park was New Brunswick’s first national park. Fundy is focused on protecting a sample of the Maritime Acadian Highlands region of Canada. It’s well known for its dramatic tides, rugged coastline, deep river valleys within the rolling highlands, being at the transition between the mostly deciduous Acadian forest and strictly coniferous boreal forest. Also, waterfalls. Lots of waterfalls.

People only started to settle the area now comprising the national park in the 1820’s, mostly because it was not a particularly inviting place to live. Growing food was tough with poor soil, short and cool summers, and long harsh winters. However, trees grew well in this environment so logging and lumbering became the predominant industries. The best easily accessible trees most sought for shipbuilding were soon depleted, pollution of the rivers contributed to a decline of fish that spawned there. Fewer wooden boats were being built, and as technology changed the boats used more steel and less wood, further reducing demand for lumber and causing the decline of logging and lumbering in the area in the 1920’s. Fundy National Park has made restoring the ecosystem after a century of damage from logging and dams a priority.

The Edge of Fundy, part 2 – Chignecto Bay

Although we were still on the shore of the Minas Basin, our first interpretive centre/museum stop heading north was all about… dinosaurs? Ok, yes – and the tides that help to uncover their fossils. The Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro has close ties to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs of Chinecto Bay (both are UNESCO World Heritage Centres), so let’s just start there.