We’d arranged with George Larter (PEI Guide and Drive Service) to pick us up from the inn after breakfast and shuttle us to Cavendish. He was right on time and had his grandson, 7&3/4 year old Jett, assisting him today. They loaded our bikes onto the trailer and we set out.
Cavendish is not easily bikable from Charlottetown (at least not by us) because there’s not a bike trail to that location and the roads are heavily traveled with little or no shoulder. Plus, we wanted to maximize our time, so a shuttle out and back was our best bet. We enjoyed the 40 minute ride and George dropped us off at Cavendish beach with instructions to call him when we wanted to be picked back up and returned to Charlottetown. He also had some great suggestions for dining options that the locals enjoy. He’s a wealth of information about PEI in general having lived and worked here for many years.
Our route today took us along the north shore of the island from Cavendish to Dalvay-by-the-Sea. Most of it was on dedicated bike trails that followed the coast. The bike paths we used today were part of the Prince Edward Island National Park. The scenery was gorgeous and the bike trails were mostly paved with some boardwalk trails.
Almost immediately, I was able to see the Lake of Shining Waters, as Anne of Green Gables called Mcneill’s pond, named for one of the three Scottish families that founded Cavendish. The bike trail goes right over the pond on floating platforms.
The trail along the coast is beautiful and the weather was delightful. Sunny and warm but certainly not hot. The bright blue skies were the perfect backdrop.
We never tired of the coastal views!
George had mentioned that today was the end of the lobster season, and we could expect much activity on the docks and wharfs. We rode through a beautiful section of trail in the village of North Rustico.
North Rustico was where the first Acadians settled in 1790. The village of 810 people are mostly direct descendants of the original Acadians. There are currently five Rusticos on PEI! They are North Rustico, South Rustico, Rusticoville, Rustico Harbour, and Anglo-Rustico. I guess you have to be pretty specific about which town you call home! They had a nice welcome sign on the harbour trail and the trail led directly to the wharf. I was actually surprised we were allowed such access to the wharf, because it was a beehive of activity and definitely a workplace. Lobster boats were streaming to the dock with their loads and tractors and front-end loaders were busy unloading the traps. We walked right along side the boats and watched the work.
Though they were busy with the day’s catch, they seemed to enjoy showing us their haul. We left the wharf and the bike trail and switched to the roads for 10-12 miles. But before we left North Rustico, George had told us about a little roadside stand that sold lunch. We climbed a hill from the wharf on Route 6 and soon found the spot George had described. We would have missed it altogether without the recommendation, because it was a tiny little shack as nondescript as could be. It was hardly noticable at all.
There were two menu items. Fish and chips and clams and fries. There may have been 3 menu items because I think you could just get an order of fries. The little shop is operated by one man who does the order taking, the cooking, and serves as cashier. In a separate little shack, his wife is busy cutting fries. They only serve PEI grown potatoes hand cut into fries.
We decided we’d better order one of each. Clams for me and fish and chips for him. It was delicious! We had seating out back at picnic tables in the shade, and there were several people already eating even though it was early. There was one mason jar of salt, that someone had modified by punching holes in the metal lid, and one bottle of vinegar. If you needed salt for your fries or vinegar for your fish, you’d just walk over to the table of the people that had used it last and ask to borrow it.
After our lunch, we continued on with our ride that took us along the shoulder of Route 6 all the way to Brackley Beach. We were on the road for 10-12 miles riding on the wide shoulder. We don’t love riding on roads, but sometimes it’s necessary to see everything we want to see. Drivers are cautious around bikers here, and courteous enough to move as far away from us as possible when passing. We rode more hills today too with long climbs followed thankfully by long stretches of coasting.
The hill behind me in the photo below does not look very impressive, but it was a long, hard climb. I made it to the top, and took a little rest, just to take a picture of course, lol.
We took a short detour down a side road (at George’s recommendation) and saw the oldest church and house on the island and the oldest bank in North America. All at one location!
The church was built in 1838 by Acadian craftsmen. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church still in use on Prince Edward Island. The three bells in the tower were cast in Sheffield, England. The door is unlocked so visitors can take a look at this historic church.
Right next door to the old church, is Farmer’s Bank of Rustico. The bank was the first credit union in North America, and was the model for all credit unions to follow. It was the brainchild of Father Belcourt, who was the priest at St. Augustine next door. In December of 1859, Father Belcourt arrived at St. Augustine to take over the parish. He had been a missionary among the aboriginal people of Manitoba for 30 years before arriving at Rustico. He had a heart of service for the people, and immediately recognized the desperate poverty of the Acadians. They were being unfairly treated by English settlers, paying high interest rates for loans, and having to give an unfair percentage of their crops or goods as collateral. It was a difficult cycle to break. Father Belcourt set out to help improve the lives of the Acadian residents. During his 10 year tenure in the parish, Father Belcourt started a library, a school, a band, and a bank giving the Acadians the tools for a better life. He also started an adult study club with the aim of improving adult education. One prerequisite of the study club, that met weekly, was that one abstain from alcohol in order to be a member. He’d seen first-hand the affects of alcoholism in his previous parish and wanted to protect the people of Rustico.
He was a man of many talents and built everything from boats, furniture, musical instruments to buildings, using his skills of carpentry, design, and mechanics. Always looking for ways to improve the area, he imported the first “horseless carriage” to Prince Edward Island, and was later involved in the first car accident.
Today, the old bank building houses a very nice museum, and I was given a private tour of the museum and the oldest house in PEI, which is right next door. I was the only visitor and my tour guide was a college student working at the museum during her summer break. She did a great job and told me her first cousin lives in Kentucky!
We soon left route 6 and got back on the coastal bike paths of Prince Edward Island National Park for the rest of our ride. We cycled to Dalvay-by-the-Sea.
We have reservations for dinner at Dalvay-by-the-Sea tomorrow night. Today we just took a look at the outside. I’m very interested to see the inside, as Will and Kate spent part of their honeymoon trip here!
We turned back toward Covehead lighthouse to eat dinner at Original Richard’s. We timed it just right and missed the long line that usually fills up the parking lot. We’d arranged to be picked up there after dinner. We both ordered the lobster roll and PEI fries. The pictures do not do it justice! We ate it on the deck overlooking the long line that had formed. Also the wharf was very busy with the last of the lobster boats heading in. Another gorgeous day on PEI!
Deb Cooks and Bikes 
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