Travel Alert--Remember to take passports to any of the Caribbean, Central American, Mexican, and Canadian locations. Even children traveling with their parents need passports.


Prince Edward Island, a Canadian Maritime Province, once was called by its indigenous people "Land Cradled on the Waves"--and that is exactly what it is--a beautiful island cradled between the Northumberland Strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Atlantic Ocean. Although Jacques Cartier, French explorer, was the first European to find Prince Edward Island in 1534 and French fishermen frequented the island in the 17^th Century, Europeans did not permanently settle in the Province until 1720-1730. The French called Prince Edward Island the "Ile Saint-Jean," but the British renamed it to Prince Edward Island in 1799 after the son of King George III. Canadians view it as the "Birthplace of Canada" because the Charlottetown Conference, which initiated the Canadian Federation, was held on Prince Edward Island in 1864. Consequently, the culture and heritage of Prince Edward Island are a little bit indigenous, French, Celtic, Highlander, Irish, and British. Specifically, most of the population of the Province is of British decent (Scottish) and about 15% of the people are Acadian, whose forebears resettled in Louisiana. Both English and French are taught in the schools, but about 11% of the Prince Edward Islanders speak only French.

Visitors to Prince Edward Island should bring their passports, French-English dictionaries, bicycles, hiking or backpacking gear, binoculars for birding and whale watching, and golf clubs, because Prince Edward Island is a perfect vacation destination. Fishing and aquaculture are the economic base of Prince Edward Island. So, visitors need to be prepared for sampling its wonderful seafood and Maritime cuisine, especially the lobster, oysters, mussels, crab, herring, mackerel, cod, and bluefish tuna. Travelers to Prince Edward Island can access it by air and sea--and by driving over the Confederation Bridge, which is the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world. The Confederation Bridge is 12.9 kilometers and crosses the Northumberland Strait from Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island to Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. It only takes about 10 minutes to cross because the speed limit is 80 kilometers an hour. Although only motor vehicles can cross the Confederation Bridge, there is a shuttle for cyclists and pedestrians. In addition to the many picturesque provincial parks on Prince Edward Island, visitors can explore the Prince Edward Island National Park.

Throughout the island, there are campgrounds dotted among the pastoral terrain, white sandy beaches, and rugged peaks. Visitors to the Province really must circumnavigate the island, whether on land by driving, biking, and hiking or by sea either sailing or cruising. Besides Charlottetown, vacationers need to visit the quaint communities of:

v     Borden-Carleton
v     Summerside
v     O'Leary
v     Tignish
v     Kensington
v     Cavendish
v     Souris
v     Georgetown
v     Montague
v     Wood Islands
v     Belle River

The names of the towns reflect the cultural heritage of the Province. Prince Edward Island, like the other Maritime Provinces, boasts a fine educational system that includes the first professions. However, in Summerside, the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts of Canada is world renown. Students go to the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts from all over the world to study the Highland bagpipe and other disciplines. Travelers like to stop by the College to wander around the grounds to examine the Celtic arts and listen to the music. From Prince Edward Island, vacationers can catch ferries to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Some people take the ferry from Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick and the bridge back--and visa versa. Vacationers also can take the ferry from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia and drive to Sidney, Nova Scotia to hop on a second ferry to Newfoundland. See the other Canadian Maritime Provinces for other vacation ideas: New Brunswick Nova Scotia Newfoundland and Labrador Another interesting travel idea is to visit the state of Louisiana and compare its Acadian culture with that of Prince Edward Island