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Thanks to my horseshoe and/or angels, I completely lucked out (again) and arrived at the ferry 30 minutes before the next departure. I hadn't even thought to check the ferry schedule before I left - I was too occupied finding the most scenic route to get there. In hindsight, I am glad that I didn't because I think it would have rushed my journey. I wanted no part of times lines or schedules. I get enough of that in my real life. And after all, isn't life about the journey rather than the destination?
So I had just enough time to pee - grab some brochures about PEI and get ready for the ride. Although I'd been given lots of great tips about places to see and where to stay, I hadn't looked in much more detail. I would be arriving on the island around 4pm so I spent the ferry ride looking through my brochures and guidebook searching for my first destination.
One of my guidebooks stated that Eastern PEI is usually neglected by tourists. They raved about its quiet riverside towns and villages, tranquil beaches and stated that it felt much more like the "real" PEI than the other more common destinations. Of course I wanted to go there! There were a couple little towns not to far from the ferry and so I decided on Murray Harbour as my first night's stop. It was about 40 minutes away and then from there I could tour the rest of the East side the next day.
With my plans made I stood along the side of the ferry watching the lighthouse on PEI come closer and closer. A guy beside was determined to see a whale and every couple minutes would burst out, "Is that a whale? I think that's a whale! Oh maybe it's just the waves." I'm not quite sure who he was talking to although I have to admit that one of those 'waves' really did look whale-like so I shared in his excitement. The announcement was made to return to your vehicles and as I made my way to the stairs I tried to remember where I parked. I had just convinced myself there couldn't be that many spaces when I was realized there was more than 1 level of parking. At that point, I wondered if I would be the 1st person to not find their car and envisioned the line up of honking cars behind mine waiting to get out and start their vacations. Luckily I did find my car "phew" and followed the parade of cars off the ferry and onto the red-soiled road.
The East Bound highway was nice and quiet and full of rolling hills and farms. I made my way to Murray's Harbour and looked around the town. Marina, beach, restaurant … but where were the motels? I'd passed quite a few campgrounds, cottages and the odd Bed and Breakfast but I wasn't really set up for camping. I found 1 inn in town and walked inside despite the No Vacancy sign out front. I asked a woman for recommendations of where I might be able to stay and she just shrugged. She said there weren't really a lot of motels around here and handed me a list of B &Bs in the general area but confessed that it was pretty outdated. Then she suggested I stay in Charlottetown for the night.
Well, there was literally no room at the inn and I may actually have to sleep in a manger. The next listed town Eastward was Souris. It was about 45 minutes away and although my guidebook did not rave about the town, it did seem big enough to have a motel (but then again, so did Murray's Harbour). And it was right near Singing Sands beach which is one place I really wanted to go (who wouldn't want to see/hear sand that sings? thanks for the tip - Cathy!).
So still unsure of my next move I went back to the 'highway' which was really just a paved road in the middle of nowhere and approached a sign that read Charlottetown - left; Souris - right. It was the moment of truth and with barely any hesitation I made right toward Souris. I figured even if there wasn't a motel - a manger can't be that bad to sleep in… as long as I didn't wake up with a baby!
So giving a whoop I set off on the lonely highway passing farm after farm and eyeing up their barns.. just in case. I arrived in Souris just before 6pm and well, it lived up to my guidebook's review. I passed a motel but now I was greedy. I didn't drive all this way to stay here did I? On the other side (a minute down the road) of town there was a sign! "Singing Sands Beach Motel - 11km" I may have hit the mother load!!
11 km later, I drove past the Singing Sands Beach Motel. Yes, I drove past it. Not to worry - I was getting really good at turning around. I was just about to turn into the parking lot when I saw the next road sign indicating that the beach was just down the street. Desperate to feel (and hear) the sand and smell the ocean I decided that a couple more minutes wouldn't hurt. And I skipped by the motel again to make my way to the beach. You could tell it had been a busy day - cars were sprawled all of the parking lot/field and there was a lineup of people coming back up from the beach looking tired but happy from a day in the sun. Within a couple of minutes on was on the beach, shoes off and grinning as the sand sang (or at least squeaked) under my steps.
Okay now back to the motel! I got out of my car and the smell of food reminded it had been about 11 hours since my last meal. I walked up to the front desk and the nice gentleman confirmed that yes - they had rooms available!! He gave me a quick tour to show me my room, the great view and the swimming pool! Perfect!
As I was checking in I asked about the restaurant. "Nope, no food here." he replied. "If you're hungry, you'll need to go into Souris". Weird. I could clearly smell food. And I was in a room surrounded by tables and chairs… He followed my gaze and admitted that yes, there was a restaurant but it was closed. I was tempted to ask if I could just make myself a sandwich but he didn't come across as a man that would bend the rules.
So I drove back the 11km to Souris and stopped at the grocery store. I picked up a pre-made salad, chips, banana and yogurt. Since the liquor store was right next door, I decided to balance out this meal with a bottle of wine.
Back at the motel, I unloaded my gear and although I was starving, I was also dirty, sticky, hot and just plain gross. I put my salad and yogurt in the mini fridge, rummaged through my suitcase for my bathing suit and jumped in the pool. About a dozen laps later, I was refreshed!
I sat outside my room, wrapped in a bath towel on a plastic white chair eating my salad and drinking wine from a plastic cup (yup, I'm classy). What a great view! I could see the full moon rising over the beach and decided to put my half full cup of wine in the fridge, changed into clothes and went down to Singing Sands. There were about 3 other people remaining on the beach and they were getting ready to go. I could barely hear the sand singing over the waves as I walked over the lifeguard chair. I climbed up and just stared; losing myself in the sounds and views of the moonlit ocean. I debated opening my notebook to capture this moment in writing but instead I pulled out my jack-of-all-trades phone and opened up the poem I had written for Beth and Joe's wedding (have I mentioned that yet?). I sat in the chair basking in the full moon and read (shouted) the poem over the sound of the waves about 5 times to my ocean audience before heading back to my room for the night.
- comments
Beth Love this Erica - so great!!!!