First swim of the summer
I have been on PEI for quite a long time and I have somehow managed to avoid the Blooming Point part of the province up until Sunday. I suppose it is a testament to the beauty and variety of PEI’s beaches that I have never had to search out Blooming Point and have been able to do very well with the other beaches.
On the suggestion of friends we went to the beach on Sunday. We were too many for a single car so we broke up into two vehicles. Since we needed directions, one person who knew the beach we were heading to went in each car. After a brief stop to get a snack (mmmm, bagels) we were off to find the beach.
My car got lost.
Some minor miscalculations provided the car I was driving with a scenic tour of the northern part of PEI. While very scenic, it tended to distract from the purpose of the adventure, namely going to the beach. We spoke to several very nice people (including one person who went into her house to rouse her father to get directions) and remained quite lost. The kids had a rest. One fell asleep. We drove.
Normally this problem could have been solved with a number of things.
- a map
- a cellular phone
- knowing the name of the beach
- being less cocky about being able to find said beach with none of the above
- a sense of direction
- sense in general
As I said, we had none of these things. But the drive was pretty and we got to see some lovely trees … and dogs.
We finally hit upon a set of directions from a gentleman in a Tracadie Bay restaurant. We were a mere six kilometres and two left turns from the beach–yeeha. As we finally drove to the beach amidst the ever-growing number of familiar landmarks (including the previously mentioned trees and dogs) we met the other car coming from the beach to find us. Apparently they had put in over an hour and had gotten worried. We all turned around and went back.
It was great. The water was cool (not terribly cold–we swam and played in the surf) and we had a few snacks to eat afterward when huddled in blankets in the dunes. Good location, good company, and good times.
