The Great Canadian Road Trip: Prince Edward Island Part 3

Lobster is the crown jewel of the Prince Edward Island seafood industry. On an annual basis, Prince Edward Island accounts for almost 20% of Canadian lobster production.  So a trip to P.E.I. would not be complete without eating lobster.  Scott and Tyler love lobster.  Hannah, Alex and I have had lobster before with mixed results.  We agreed that we would give it a second try.  We had lobster twice while on the island.  The first was at a restaurant - Fisherman's Wharf.  The second time, we bought lobster from the local fish market and had it at our cottage.  We all agreed that it was probably the best lobster we have ever tasted . . . but Hannah, Alex and I were happy to finally get our hands on a hamburger once we left the island!

Our last night in PEI, we  bought lobster (already cooked) from the local fish market and just ate them at our cottage. 
The lobsters were about $8 a piece.  Since I so rarely buy lobster, I don't know if that is a good price or a bad price.
 It is cheaper than Red Lobster.  That is all that I know.  (They didn't come with free cheese biscuits though!)

Alex did not want a lobster for the second night - he opted for mac and cheese.
He bought this stuffed lobster from the gift shop with some money he had.

I have never seen so many lobster traps in my life.  You could buy one for $7. 
Scott really wanted to buy one.  I can't imagine trying to pack that in a UAB shipment or an HHE shipment. 
And it wouldn't really go well with my Mexican & Ukrainian decor!  So we left PEI without a lobster trap.

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Prince Edward Island Part 2

We spent the bulk of of our time at Prince Edward Island in Cavendish, a small resort area along the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  We stayed in a two bedroom cottage near the water.  We delighted in lazy days at the sandy beach and evening strolls along the sand dunes and red sandstone cliffs.  It was breathtaking in every way imaginable!

The sunsets were really a sight to see.  This picture does not do it justice!

My children are weird sometimes.  They were trying to cast giant shadows on the rocks.

Hannah wanted to take a romantic photo of us on the beach.

These foxes were EVERYWHERE.  They were not afraid of people at all.

My children kept "rescuing" jelly fish that washed up on the shore by transporting them to this pool.
They did this for hours.  After the jelly fish were "healthy enough", they would return them to the ocean.

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Prince Edward Island Part 1

Have you ever read Anne of Green Gables?  Have you seen the movie?  If you haven't done either, you should do one or both immediately!  For both Hannah and I, visiting Green Gables House, walking through the "Haunted Woods," and exploring Avonlea Village was thoroughly enjoyable.  And the boys did not complain either!  The book just came alive in ways we had not thought possible.  We loved it.  I had taken a copy of the book with me to read on the beach.  It was almost magical to read Anne's words while surrounded by the beauty that inspired Lucy Maude Montgomery to write the book in the first place.  So here are our favorite photos from our visit to Anne Land . . . and because I am a total nerd, I've interspersed my favorite quotes from the book among the photos!

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about?
It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."

“Which would you rather be if you had the choice--divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?” 

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if
you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.
It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”

“I've loved you ever since the day you broke your slate over my head.” 

“It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable.” 

"Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing."

“It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically,
but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?” 

“When you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile.” 

“But the worst of imagining things is that the time comes when you have to stop and that hurts.” 

“The world looks like something God had just imaged for his own pleasure, doesn't it?” 

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Quebec

I've been waiting to visit Quebec since we found out we were moving to Toronto.  Since the State Department never seems to indulge any of my fantasies of being posted to France, Quebec seemed like an appropriate alternative (at least until I can fund my own European vacation).  I was not disappointed.  I thought Quebec was truly one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.  I just loved it.  I think I walked around in a daze for most of our visit repeating phrases like "so beautiful," "just amazing," and "stand there so I can take your photo."

And just so you know, I'm breaking the "no more than 10 photos" rule that I made in my last blog entry.  It is my blog so I can do what I want!

Our time in Quebec can be divided up into two parts:

Part 1:  The Citadelle of Quebec

The Citadelle is an active military institution located within the walls of Old Quebec.  They have an elaborate "changing of the guard ceremony" which also includes the Citadelle's mascot, the famed goat "Batisse".  The kids were very impressed with the guards who did not move no matter what you did.  They seemed like statues!  One of the more interesting parts of the tour, was listening to the guide explain the significance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I.

Part 2:  Old Quebec

Did I mention that Quebec was a beautiful city?  Old Quebec is the reason why.  Scott had previously served a TDY at the U.S. Consulate in Old Quebec.  Talk about a great location!  The Consulate is directly across the street from Chateau Frontenac and the Saint Lawrence River.  Sign me up!  I don't know how exciting the job would be, but looking out your window at the sites of Old Quebec and enjoying French Crepes for lunch everyday would make an assignment here well worth it!  Since we spent our 18th anniversary in Old Quebec, Scott surprised me with a ride in a horse drawn carriage after an amazing dinner of Cheese Fondue, Chocolate Fondue and French Strawberry Crepes.  It was very romantic - even if we did have three kids with us!

The U.S. Consulate is the corner building with the American flag.