Breadcrumb Trail Links
Travel Local Travel International Travel
Get to know PEI through its people
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Article content
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – This is a province that’s justifiably famous for its seafood and gentle scenery. The beaches seem to go on forever, and the lighthouses are a charming throwback to a simpler time.
But it’s also the people that pull me back to PEI; warm and welcoming locals who are quick with a smile and delighted to share a story or two.
Article content
On my most recent visit I pulled up in front of Shoreline Design, a jewelry shop on the bay in whisper-quiet Georgetown. A fellow with wind-blown, salt-and-pepper hair and the bushiest of moustaches was pulling a long rod out of what I took to be a kiln. I was thinking pottery, but as I got out of the car I heard him call out “Pizza’s ready!”
Advertisement 2
Article content
Two minutes later I’m chowing down on a nicely charred slice of veggie pizza in the back room of his design shop, where a couple of women are hunched over tables, designing the latest earrings and bracelets to put on display out front. The salty smell of the ocean is mixing with the smoky smell of the pizza.
tells me he fires up the oven once a week and dishes slices out to staff and customers. He says it definitely takes visitors by surprise. “I also call out and say hello when people walk in to the store,” he adds with a grin. “If I scare someone, I know they’re from Toronto.”
Llewellyn ran a seafood company in a previous life, and also worked as an agricultural consultant. He later got into jewelry and pizza-making, and also making chocolates. “What can I say? I’m type A,” he says with a shrug.
He also was in Newfoundland on 9-11 and helped make breakfast in St. John’s for more than 150 stranded airline passengers for three days, using two eight-inch frying pans and a gas stove. It was a revelation to the stranded visitors, seemingly unaware of Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada hospitality.
Sunrise
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
“They were surprised. It was like, “Why are you doing this?”
His answer? “Because it needs to be done.”
A boozy place to spend the night
A couple hours later, my wife and I find ourselves on a dock at Nellie’s Landing Marina in the tiny village of Murray Harbour. We’re to spend the night sleeping in a giant (from the outside, anyway) wine barrel on a dock at the landing, which is owned by partners Jen Smith and Cal Fraser.
Smith explains they bought a house next to the dock from a U.S. pilot. They later bought the marina, and then a houseboat they saw on Kijiji.
“We became friends with some people from around Windsor, Ontario. They had these wine barrels that they wanted to run as an AirBnB, but the municipality wouldn’t allow it, so we bought them.”
I ask how they met, and am regaled with a story that I probably can’t tell in full in a family publication.
“I was at kind of an unofficial high school reunion at a restaurant in Charlottetown one night,” says Fraser, a fisherman/lobster man who has the beach boy look of a kid from Malibu or Tofino. “I was recently separated/divorced and was drinking at the bar. I suddenly felt I needed to get out of there.”
Advertisement 4
Article content
He called a cab and walked outside to climb in. But a group of young women had beat him to it. Being separated and all, Fraser decided he didn’t mind sharing a cab with six women, and they all trundled back to Smith’s house. Rooms being scarce, Fraser at the end of the night opted for a spot in Smith’s bed.
Her cousin was spending the night, along with her cousin’s daughter and a friend. The next day they asked who Fraser was.
“Oh,” says Smith, “he’s our cousin from Boston.”
At this point Fraser is shaking his head and laughing. There’s more to the story, but some details are best left to the imagination.
Biscuit-cooking lesson
That night we slip over to Murray River for a chowder and biscuit-cooking lesson with Paige and Christine Hart, a young couple who bought an old general store in town and now run a cooking school and event space, with a B&B in the works.
Paige tells us they met at the University of Prince Edward Island. She was a former lifeguard and was thinking of a career as a funeral director but got interested in cooking through Christine, who has worked at restaurants in Canmore, Banff and elsewhere.
Advertisement 5
Article content
Their storefront is like something out of a design magazine. Christine gives us lessons in slicing our carrots, celery and potatoes (always use a sharp knife; most cuts are caused by a dull knife that slips) and then shows us how she cooks them down in butter. She adds a splash of white wine, a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper. She then adds flour and cold, homogenized milk before letting the pot simmer for 45 minutes. The seafood goes in at the last minute, lest it overcook.
Paige is the baker of the two and shows us how to make divine biscuits. She grates cold butter into the flour and then adds grated cheddar, showing us how to knead the dough gently so it stays soft. The end products are both simple and splendid, and we dine at an elegant table in the main room.
Christine and Paige do several types of cooking classes, including pasta night, pizza night and chowder/biscuits. They also do wedding and special events, as well as advance food orders by phone.
Confederation Trail
The next day we take a bike ride on the Confederation Trail with Ruth De Long, who works for PEI parks. She’s an engaging woman who regularly does biking trips with friends in different parts of the world.
Advertisement 6
Article content
“We call ourselves the Autumn Sisters, because we’re in the autumn of our lives.”
As we leisurely cycle the hard-packed gravel trail between St. Peter’s Bay and the Marie River, De Long tells us she’s ridden all 273 km’s of the Confederation Trail four times, and that she usually does it in five days. I suddenly feel the need to pick up our pace.
I admire a pretty garden and worry about the deer eating the flowers, but De Long says there are no deer on PEI. And no bears.
As we head back to the bike rental place my wife looks down and sees two small potatoes rolling across the road. “Now that,” she says, “is a PEI moment.’
45 Steps
That night we bed down at 45 Steps, a beachfront “Culinary Inn” that opened last year. Owners Barbara Hasenbohler and Thomas Range (she’s from Switzerland, he’s from Germany) bought the property after falling in love with PEI on a visit some years ago. But COVID delayed their ability to get to Canada, and they weren’t able to open until July of last year. Alas, in mid-September came Hurricane Fiona, which did considerable damage to the property.
Thomas takes the orders at dinner, serves the wine, does laundry and cleans the rooms. Barbara handles the cooking in the lovely, modern, open kitchen. For dinner we had perfectly cooked scallops with a balsamic glaze, salad and a fine rhubarb cake that uses her grandmother’s recipe.
Advertisement 7
Article content
The beach is just, well, 45 steps down a metal staircase that was being repaired when we visited, and the rooms are bright and clean; with a Nordic/beachy style. “We didn’t think PEI needed another Victorian B&B,” said Barbara.
On our last full day on the island, we stop in the seaside village of Souris (pronounced Surrey) and dine on lobster and fresh tuna poke bowls at a casual roadside spot called The Poke Shack.
We chat briefly with the woman being the counter, who says islanders and visitors seem to enjoy the dish.
“When I took the job, I didn’t even know what poke was,” she adds with a laugh.
Our last night is the renowned FireWorks Feast at celebrity chef Michael Smith’s Inn at Bay Fortune. After a tour of the farm, Smith stands in a grassy area behind the inn and greets his visitors wearing a dark-blue apron over dark shorts, with tan running shoes and bright yellow socks with red cherries. He talks about the oysters and pork tacos and other treats we’re about to try prior to our six-course meal, and tells us to try the various hot sauces with our tacos.
“I could host a seven-day convention just about hot sauces,” he says with a laugh.
Prior to the insanely delicious and beautiful dinner, chef Smith salutes the crowd with a short speech, talking about how lovely it is to share a meal together after a very long pandemic.
That’s for sure.
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation