Shopping with Goats and Dancing with Seniors: 24 June 2014, Tuesday

          Our first destination was the fine Dalvay by the Sea—a house that was built in the 1890s under the direction of a man named Alexander McDonald. McDonald spent most of his growing up years in Ohio, but after a vacation to PEI, he purchased land and arranged for this gorgeous summer home to be constructed. So as not to bore you with all the details of the history of this house, I will just cut right to the chase. Dalvay by the Sea is the very house that all Anne lovers know to be the White Sands Hotel—in which Anne recited, with such elegance and glory, “The Highway Man.” The home actually has been transformed into a hotel and fully functions as such today.

The next stop was a nice beach along the Brackley-Dalvay area. It is part of the PEI National Park. I don’t know the name of the beach, so I will just call it The Path of Shimmering Shells. We found it quite pleasant indeed, with its meager waves lapping gently into the shore. We were delighted to find that the tide was low and there were loads of shells that had been brought in and left for us to explore and adore. Explore, we did. We followed the path of shimmering shells on the soft sand for a good little while. After searching diligently for a shell bigger than the one Lara found yesterday, I found just the one. It was quite large and white. Lena wasn’t so much interested in the size of the shell as she was the shape, color, and integrity of them. She would only collect the most beautiful and interesting shells. Well, we collected many treasures, among which was a handsome piece of driftwood (which I spotted and retrieved just as we were exiting The Pathway of Shimmering Shells).

            Covehead Bay Lighthouse drew us away next. We walked out from the lighthouse and beach to a tiny island and got lost reading Anne of Green Gables for some time. All the while the wind was giving a very good effort, I must say. I’ve often felt the wind to be a nuisance, but now I realize that it’s really ever so much easier to imagine things when the wind blows. It just gives such reason to dream about all sorts of wonderful things.

We paid a visit to the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, where we were allowed the privilege to taste upwards of 20 different flavors of jams and jellies. Try them all we certainly did. But since our appetites could not be satisfied on preserves samples only, we scooted on over to the café and had a most delicious dinner there (and enjoyed a stunning view, I might add).

 After dinner we decided to check out the Village Pottery, PEI’s longest-running pottery shop, in New London. We have been anxious to get our hands on some good pottery but not anxious enough to give an arm and a leg for such pottery—yet. This village had some gorgeous pieces, but the prices turned us away pretty quickly.   
We weren’t willing to empty our pockets for some fine pottery, but goat milk soap was a completely different story. We were eager to get our hands on this soap (quite literally) as soon as we learned the truth about the commercial soaps we’ve been using. Suffice it to say that detergents and counterfeit soap ingredients have replaced what real soap is made of, and, frankly, I don’t know if I can ever use a regular old bar again. I daresay my traveling companions share the same sentiments. Well, we should have enough soap now to last us at least a year, and we were extremely relieved to discover that this goat’s milk soap can be ordered online with FREE shipping!  What a blessing. We were also fortunate enough to be able to sample goat’s milk, cheese, and ice cream. Thank goodness for goats in this world!

Which brings us to Eden’s gate, Peter’s jewels and Georgetown’s Ceilidh (kay-lee).

         Supper was chicken penne and pulled pork at Eden’s Gate. The food was very tasty and the service was great. The two sisters, one the chef, the other our server, were locals of Georgetown, and they informed us that the Ceilidh was to start at 8:00 and end at 11:00, with a lunch break at 9:30. I had been looking forward to this Ceilidh ever since Sunday, when the members at church told us about it. They painted a lovely vision of a party of live music and dancing, with a fun crowd of locals. They seemed ever so enthusiastic about it too.

 Well, we made a quick stop before our party to see some jewelry that was all handmade by a man called Peter. Boy, was he a character. His big mustache and round belly suited him just right. He was extremely friendly and joked with us the whole time. He very generously bequeathed some lobster pate upon us, which we may or nay not actually eat. He also somehow got me to buy a beautiful ring for a price much higher than my predetermined limit. Lara got a sweet necklace made of seaglass too.

When we finally arrived at the Ceilidh, we were very surprised at the scene before our eyes. We had entered what appeared to be some sort of event for senior citizens. Everyone within sight was at least half a century old and up, and they were sitting at tables lined up around the room. Despite these interesting observations, we continued into the hall and sat down at a table with two of these nice looking citizens. The music began shortly after we sat down, and then there was dancing. Oh, you wouldn’t believe but those old folks danced like nobody’s business. My stars, they were good! Our attitudes changed very quickly from confusion and skepticism to bewilderment and then to udder delight as we found ourselves out on the dance floor getting jiggy with it. It was absolutely a treat and we enjoyed the night thoroughly.