Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

August 20, 2006

Welcome to Prince Edward Island ….. The Gentle Island

Prince Edward Island is Canada’s smallest and greenest province.  It is located in the region traditionally known as the "Maritimes". It is part of "Atlantic Canada" which is also home to the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. People in the know affectionately refer to Prince Edward Island as PEI and the friendly residents are known as "Islanders". The Island is approximately 1600 km (1000 miles) from Toronto, 1100 km (650 miles) from Boston, and 1450 km (850 miles) from New York City. Cradled on the waves of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Island is known for the vivid colors of its gently rolling landscape.  Prince Edward Island is surrounded by miles of sandy beaches and red sandstone cliffs, 29 golf courses and of course the lobster, there’s good reason to tarry awhile, as its sized just right for touring.  Visitors to the Island return home not only relaxed and refreshed – they often claim to have been transformed.

Agriculture is a major industry on PEI and much of its population continue to live in rural communities. The unusual red soil seems to be well suited to growing potatoes. Its potatoes and potato products are exported worldwide notably under the brands: McCain and Cavendish Farms. That red soil must be very fertile because everywhere you go on the Island you see beautiful gardens. Part of the credit must go to Vesey's Seeds of York, PEI. Vesey's has become a venerable institution on the Island selling "seeds for short seasons". They subject their products to field trials before they'll sell them. If you live in an area with a short growing season I'd strongly advised you to investigate Vesey's site. The gardens of PEI prove Vesey's know what they're doing.

Another major industry is the various fisheries. It has a significant lobster fishery, and its Malpeque/Caraquet oysters and blue mussels are widely regarded for their quality. If you want some oyster recipes try this link. Lobsters are plentiful enough here in the Maritimes that the McDonalds' offer yummy "McLobster" sandwiches in the summer months. I'll bet Ronald McDonald thought he died and went to heaven! They are so popular here that apparently some New England McDonalds thought it was a good idea and now also offer them. If you want a recipe so you can clone them at home try this link.

Tourism in recent years is growing. The Confederation Bridge, linking the Island to the mainland, was completed a few years ago. It makes the Island more accessible than ever. The bridge, seen above in the title graphic, is the world's longest bridge spanning waters that become iced over in winter. At 12.9 kilometers long it is an incredible engineering feat, especially impressive when you consider the heavy loads put on it by ice flows. You can still get to PEI by car ferry. Many visitors plan their visits so they can experience both the ferry and the bridge. The bridge has its own website; you can visit it here. Not to be outdone, the ferry has a site too; catch the ferry here.

Many people know P.E.I. from the novels of Lucy Maud Montgomery and her most famous character "Anne of Green Gables". The author developed the character through a series of novels. Anne Shirley, that character, is a freckle-faced orphan who is so appealing because, although she is a child, she sees the world with an infectious enthusiasm that the adults around her cannot subdue. She has more girl-power than the Spice Girls ever dreamed about. Lucy Maud Montgomery's work has been translated into 15 languages, made into at least eight films, two television mini-series, a musical, and inspired a television series. It has become a phenomenon in PEI. Each year at least 350,000 people visit the childhood home of the author. Many come to the Island expressly for that purpose and they buy alot of "Anne" merchandise - supporting a significant craft industry.
If you want an inexpensive copy of the book that started it all click here. If you enjoyed the Avonlea television series, you'll love the book as millions of fans do.

Festivals and Events

The weather is hot and the days are long here in Prince Edward Island. The month of August is filled with agricultural exhibitions, community festivals, heritage, music, theatre and more! Anne fans will want to take part in the annual Lucy Maud Montgomery Festival, an old-fashioned family event which celebrates the life and works of the Anne of Green Gables author. And Charlottetown will be filled with celebrations for Old Home Week and PEI Provincial Exhibition Daily family entertainment, a midway, livestock and 4-H displays, afternoon and evening harness racing at the Charlottetown Driving Park culminating with the prestigious Gold Cup & Saucer Race - and don't forget the big Gold Cup and Saucer Parade! August 18, 10 am - Street parade with 50 floats, bands and giant helium balloons. 

Armed with bib, plastic pail and a mile-high pile of napkins, folks come ready for a true hands-on Prince Edward Island dining experience.  There is no elegant way to eat lobster.  Its smack-down all-wrestling so customers on this island come prepared with the necessary tools of the trade.  Devotees of this delicious crustacean are not looking for elegance they are seeking succulence, and the flavors of fresh Prince Edward Island lobsters are legendary.

Finding out where they serve the best lobster depend who you are talking to, and pretty well everyone will get around to bending your ear if you spend enough of your summer here.  Not that there’s a shortage of fine dining opportunities here, places where silver lobster crackers and fine china flash reflections of soft candlelight.  These are posh dining spots, where the lobster is separated from its shell and grilled or poached in wine and butter.  Here you can wear your best white shirt and leave the bib at home.

Locals could well direct you to church to seek out the best lobster source.  The setting won’t prove very romantic, but then again if you’re after sampling the tastiest lobster dinner around, a church basement makes as good a dining spot as any.  St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church located in Hope River - 5 km from Stanley Bridge off Route 224  - has been putting on lobster dinners for almost a half-century, and you can’t argue with that record.

Each summer, the church serves more than 25,000 customers, mostly tourists, who make this spot their annual culinary destination.  Some diners come from as far away as Japan, where this quality lobster is a sky-high priced delicacy.  The St. Ann’s traditional feast features a seafood chowder starter and a small mountain of mussels to whet the appetite, followed by a freshly boiled 1.5-pound lobster with potato salad, all for about $27.  When you consider the price also includes a dessert of island-made ice cream and home baked rhubarb pie, the meal is a good deal in any language.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of the legendary carrot-topped whirlwind, Anne of Green Gables, once wrote of this island as a good place in which to be born and a good place to spend a childhood.  She didn’t mention the lobster suppers, no doubt taking that culinary presence for granted. Even the legendary Anne might be tempted to leave the comfortable shelter of her green gabled farmhouse to sample the delights of a plump P.E.I. lobster.

Note: For more information of Prince Edward Island, Anne of Green Gables, or lobster dining, visit www.gentleisland.com

Test your knowledge with lobster trivia!

1. How many lobster fishing seasons are there on Prince Edward Island?
2. At one time, lobster was considered very common and not at all the delicacy of today. How did farmers use lobsters?
3. Lobsters are fished using traps. What is the section of the trap where the bait is attached?
4. How do you tell the difference between a male and female lobster?
5. Most lobsters are greenish-brown in color, though occasionally ones will turn up in shades of blue, partly white or bright red. It's rare but it happens! Why?

See how much you know about Prince Edward Island lobster!                                                       1. How many lobster fishing seasons are there on Prince Edward Island?
There are two lobster fishing seasons each year, one in the spring and one in the fall.

2. At one time, lobster was considered very common and not at all the delicacy of today. How did farmers use lobsters?
Farmers often spread lobsters on their field as fertilizer.                                                                 

3. Lobsters are fished using traps. What is the section of the trap where the bait is attached?
The bait is attached in the "kitchen." The lobster enters the kitchen through a mesh tunnel that closes behind them.  

4. How do you tell the difference between a male and female lobster?
The body of a female lobster will have a red material or "roe" which is excellent for eating.

5. Most lobsters are greenish-brown in color, though occasionally ones will turn up in shades of blue, partly white or bright red. It's rare but it happens! Why?
These lobsters - those blue, partly white or bright red - have genetic defects in the pigment of their shell

Hartson Sager Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net