Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Maritimes Win Again

Readers will recall that my coworker, B, had a daughter who was married on PEI in Sept 08.

This year, a coworker named C, went to the Maritimes with her husband for a wedding anniversary. She consulted with me (and B) on places to go.

We both recommended Cape Breton. I'm always a little nervous to push PEI, but B wasn't shy. B especially suggested a meal at Inn at Fortune Bay, which hosted the wedding.

Well, C and her man had lovely weather and were blown away. Upon her return, she exclaimed that the Maritimes "just has to be the prettiest place in the whole world". They did love Cape Breton and PEI. I think they found the Inn to be a bit stuffy compared to the B&B's, but they had a good time.

I enjoyed the photos they brought back. It was good to see good red soil, the way God intended. In Ontario and elsewhere in North America, the soil looks sickly to me.

CC

ps. Interestingly, C didn't really understand the differences in locales. She assumed that I had been to Cape Breton many times, since it is so close. I think I've been there twice!

pps. Weird fact... A few people in St Louis call PEI by the name "Prince Edward". e.g. "When was the last time you were back to Prince Edward?"

I guess many people call an island by its first name, but this is highly weird for me because no one in the Maritimes would ever say that. It is either the full name, "The Island", or most commonly, "PEI".

2 comments:

Kevin said...

There were some annoying road signs in New Brunswick that declared "PE Island" at one point in time. Never did like those signs.

K. said...

The soil looks like the red dirt of Alabama. :) I had family there when I was young, and remember how strange the red soil seemed.

Etiquette lore has it that the "no white after Labor Day" was born in southern states with red soil. It was because when the rainy season started the red soil turned to red mud. Red mud was impossible to get out of white clothing or shoes, so it was recommended southern women not wear them or they'd be ruined. Somehow that was warped into it's current usage.