Tag: prince edward island

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Cottage Life

What to do and what to eat in Summerside, P.E.I.

Photo by Vadim.Petrov/Shutterstock

Conveniently situated in P.E.I’s western region (and only about 20 minutes from the Confederation Bridge), you’ll find the second largest city on the island. Summerside is home to great food, fun activities, and shopping for cottage visitors, residents, and tourists.

Before planning your next P.E.I. adventure, here are some places to eat, play, and shop when you visit Summerside.

Where to eat in Summerside

Summerside boasts many delicious opportunities, and it’s not hard to find local Island fare or a tasty treat when you are in the area.

For your next meal, stop at Deckhouse Pub and Eatery for a lobster roll or visit Brothers 2, a restaurant that has been serving Islanders for 50 years.

Coffee and tea lovers will be able to spend time at Samuel’s Coffee House sipping on their favourite beverage or enjoying a bite to eat.

If you are looking for a treat, Holman’s Ice Cream won’t disappoint with homemade flavours galore, or stop by Kool Breeze Ice Cream Barn for a sundae or cone.

If you are taking food back home or to your cottage, Water Street Bakery and Deli has sandwiches and pizza, as well as baked goods such as donuts, date squares, and pies. Be sure to stock up before you head out of town.

Where to shop

There are many local shops to check out, including Spinnakers’ Landing. Conveniently located right along the shore, this boardwalk-style shopping area is filled with local shops and places to eat, and from time-to-time, live music and entertainment.

Another great place to shop is the Summerside Farmers’ Market (seasonally, on Saturdays) for local food, produce, meat, cheese, and hand-crafted items.

What to do in Summerside

The city is home to historic sites and buildings with museums to visit and daily tours to take.

You can also visit the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, a celebration of P.E.I.’s sports history and achievements.

One of the newer additions to Summerside is The Knot Beach Bar and Rentals. Rent kayaks or stand-up paddleboards for some on-the-water adventuring or rent their bikes to tour around. Afterwards, sit on their patio for a cold beverage by the beach front.

Get your tickets for the Harbourfront Theatre and one of their many upcoming musical shows, comedy acts, or special performances.

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Cottage Life

Our teens still love the cottage, and this is why

Photo by Qilin’s prance Filmmaker/Shutterstock

As a family who loves to travel, we’ve always enjoyed the experience of planning family trips with our kids, and that remains true now that they are teens. As they have grown, certain aspects of our trips have changed, but their love of family travel and the memories we create has remained. 

In a typical year, we rent a cottage on Prince Edward Island for our summer family vacation. This trip is filled with traditions that we have all come to love and repeat year after year. 

These traditions begin during the road trip itself. After about six hours of driving from our home in Orleans, Ont., we stop for lunch at the tourism centre in La Pocatiere, Que. It’s located right off Autoroute 20 on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. While there are fast food places nearby, we always pack a lunch and eat outside for this stop. We stretch, walk around, take pictures to mark the year, and enjoy the smell of the salt water in the air. While it’s a milestone that represents the halfway point for the first day’s drive, it’s also when it feels like the trip has really begun.

two teens sitting on a porch swing looking at the water at the rest stop at La Pocatiere, Quebec
La Pocatiere, Que. Photo by Rebecca Stanisic

Another cottage road trip tradition is when we finally arrive at the Confederation Bridge and leave New Brunswick to begin the crossing into P.E.I. Everyone is excited at this joyous moment; it signifies the end of our travel days and the beginning of our relaxing vacation. We look out over the glistening water (it seems like the weather is always beautiful when we cross), we sing a silly song that we made up when the kids were younger, and we celebrate the end of our journey with a famous Cows ice cream cone when we reach the other side. 

During our stay at the cottage, we have plenty of traditions that I know my teens want to continue. For example, the annual family soccer tournament, two vs. two, is a must-do event. Our makeshift soccer field always includes baseball gloves for goal posts, and we all enjoy a panoramic view of the water while we play for bragging rights. 

a teen looking out on the water from the family soccer field
The soccer field. Photo by Rebecca Stanisic

We also always look forward to having campfire dinners during our stay. We move the beach chairs to the fire pit, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, play music, share stories, and tell jokes. There’s something about the taste of that hot dog that beats all others.

The list of our family’s cottage traditions could go on and on. Even as our teens grow older, we continue to turn to many of them as a way to reconnect with each other and renew cherished memories that have become such an important part of our family travel adventures. These traditions are a way to track moments in time that feel familiar and like home, even when we’re away.

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Cottage Life

Cottage real estate region: North and South Shore, P.E.I.

Photo by RnDmS/Shutterstock

Waterfront property has long been something of an industry in P.E.I., and the whole province is smaller than the Greater Toronto Area, so we’re talking about a limited commodity. The first wave of construction was from the 1940s to the 1960s, and some of these rustic places may be available. A place one or two lots back from the water, with easy access to the beach, will be more affordable, while true oceanfront will definitely cost more.

The north shore (the Gulf shore) is more commercialized, especially near Cavendish, a tourist draw as the childhood home of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The beaches here are protected Parks Canada land. Properties in the vicinity, especially near the Crowbush golf course, come at a premium for P.E.I.

The south shore is somewhat less built up than the north and offers great swimming in the relatively warm Northumberland Strait. For bargains, check out both tips of the island, especially toward O’Leary at the western end. If the price for waterfront seems too good to be true, there’s one word to consider: erosion.

 

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Mobile Syrup

Xplornet to install high-speed fibre cable across PEI’s Confederation Bridge

Image source: Shutterstock https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sunset-confederation-bridge-bordencarleton-prince-edward-250426222

Xplornet Communications is launching a unique network expansion project in Prince Edward Island.

According to the press release, the internet service provider (ISP) plans to install a 15 km fibre cable spanning across the Confederation Bridge, linking PEI to the mainland.

The high-speed fibre would reportedly be the “first telecommunications cable to be placed inside the bridge’s utility corridor in nearly 25 years.”

As a result, Xplornet had to partner with Strait Crossing Development, the company that operates and maintains the Confederation Bridge.

Xplornet says it intends to lay over 600 km of fibre cable across PEI, connecting an estimated 20,000 homes and businesses on the island.

The project is expected to be completed sometime in early 2023.

Earlier this month, Xplornet provided an update on its high-speed internet expansion project in Haldimand, Ontario, announcing that 6,500 new locations in the region now had access to its broadband service

In September, the ISP launched Canada’s first-ever rural 5G standalone network in New Brunswick.

Source: Xplornet