The Central Coastal Drive highlights two different touring regions. The Red Sands Shore region is full of culture, outdoor adventure, and small villages. Green Gables Shore is bursting with beautiful beaches, lots of golf, and of course, Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery! These two regions will give you a peak at life on Prince Edward Island, and just how amazing it can be.
The town of North Rustico...The village of North Rustico (status changed to a town on November 16, 2013) was founded circa 1790, around a small natural harbour along the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast. The region was home to a remnant Acadian population who fled British capture and deportation during the Seven Years' War although English, Scottish and Irish settlers moved into the area during the remainder of the 18th century and throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The name Rustico comes from Rassicot, who was one of the first settlers from France.
Cavendish is a resort area on the northern shore of Prince Edward Island, in Canada. It’s known for the beaches and cultural sites of Prince Edward Island National Park. The park's Green Gables Heritage Place, which inspired L. M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables” novels, includes the Green Gables house and several museums. The ruins of Montgomery’s family home also lie within the park.
25 July, 1883. Thanks to a weekend of violent storms there is a heavy sea running. A few farmers watch with astonishment as a magnificent sailing vessel, driven by a mountain of canvas, slams onto the Cavendish sandbars. The air is alive with the sound of snapping wood and shrieking metal.
Marco Polo made here last landfall.
Marco Polo was built in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1851 by James Smith. Many were quick to dismiss the unusually shaped ship, but her innovative design combined the speed of a clipper and the cargo capacity of a barque. The vessel's maiden voyage silenced her critics as she sailed from Saint John, New Brunswick to Liverpool, England in fifteen days, a record time. Marco Polo spent the next fifteen years as a passenger carrier on the lucrative Liverpool to Melbourne, Australia route, where she set many speed records and carried thousands of immigrants.Once dubbed "Queen of the Seas" and "Fastest Ship In The World," by 1883 the Marco Polo was well past her prime, working as a lumber carrier for a Norwegian firm. After a bout of stormy weather in the Gulf of St Lawrence she began to take on water and to avoid sinking in deep water was driven ashore here in Cavendish. People from the community opened up their homes and hearts to the stranded sailors.
In 1990, the career of Marco Polo was declared to be of national historic significance by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. A monument and plaque were erected in Saint John, New Brunswick to commemorate the building of the great ship. What remains of the Marco Polo lies in shallow water not far off this shore. The wreck must be left undisturbed if we are to preserve this fragile and important piece of our heritage.
A straw hat, red-haired braids and a pinafore define Canada’s most loved fictional character, Anne of Green Gables. Meet the head-strong orphan and re-live her youthful escapades and mishaps within the memory-filled rooms of her home – Green Gables – where images from the blockbuster 1908 novel blend with the real life experiences of local author Lucy Maud Montgomery, who drew inspiration from the idyllic farmstead and its red woodland pathways.
You look very cute with your bonnet in the buggy. lol
ReplyDeleteThanks...LOL!
DeleteBeautiful coastline. You look like you would fit in on an episode of Little House on the Prairie in that buggy!
ReplyDeleteHAHA....don't I indeed! Too funny!
Delete