Day Five

Out the door at 8:30 after a hot shower in the smallest shower stall in the biggest bathroom I can remember. This old farmhouse is 109 years old. I arrived at the bridge in a misting rain that cleared up by the time I reached the other side. The bridge crossed the Northumberland Straight separating the mainland, New Brunswick for Prince Edward Island(PEI) and a 12 mile ribbon with an arched high section near the PEI end. There was an excellent Info Center & gift shop in a fairly new village complex right at the end of the bridge. It was reccommended that I could take the coast road to Charlottetown and on to the Ferry. Along the way I stopped and took a walk out to Fort Amherst (English) that once controlled the port of Charlottetown. Then stopped for lunch in Pinette at a diner. Jackpot! The special of the day: Lobster sandwich with sweet potato fries. Believe it or not, the fries were better than the lobster. I rapped up half the sandwich for the ferry and took off, concerned about the time. Arrived at the ferry with time to spare. When I saw the ramp up to the second level of the ferry, I began to worry the old Money Pit had met her match. The ramp was a steel grate material that was steep and had several sections. I made a running start and hoped that I wouldn't drag bottom. No problem. The ride was smooth & I spent the entire hour & a half talking with an older couple and their son ,from central Canada, The son had obviously arranged the trip for his dad's 80th birthday. Once off the ferry, I was directed to a visitors' center. There I made a reservation for tonight in Port Hastings on the Straight of Canso. This is a mining town & not scenic at all. Tomorrow I plan to do the Cabot Trail and catch the ferry in Sydney for Nova Scotia.