Some Thoughts about Travelling and THE BEACH!

August 20, 2026

Charlottetown Harbor

I've been thinking about travelling a lot today. I left Cleveland a little over a week ago.  Until I came to Charlottetown, I had been staying in a different hotel every night and driving around six hours every day.  Getting to ferries on time in order to keep travelling.  And weathering the usually small disappointments of unmet expectations and trying to keep a positive outlook.

I realized today how important it is for my travelling rhythms to stay somewhere for three nights.  To not have to pack up every day. To have the luxury of sleeping in, instead of getting up early for ferries. To be less of a slave to my itinerary and the already-paid-for hotel rooms.

This morning I woke up ill at ease.  I got up, put the "do not disturb" sign on my hotel door, and allowed myself back in bed for the morning.  I didn't really need more sleep.  I needed time to come to terms with my sense of being out of control, and not liking that feeling very much.

Part of the joy of travelling is NOT knowing everything, and letting events surprise you along the way.  And I have a pretty high tolerance for allowing surprises to happen, because they often open up pleasant opportunities you wouldn't have planned for.

But this morning, I was grumpy and ill at ease about the mechanical status of my car, and how little control I have over how it's going to behave over the next week.  So far, so good, still no warning lights.  But what if it stops on me in the middle of nowhere?  What if that happens without a VW mechanic in sight?  These are reasonable concerns, and it's hard to let them go-- to say, well, IF that happens, I will find a way to deal with it, and afterwards, continue my vacation.  I bought travel insurance, so cancelling hotels would not be the worst thing to happen.  And aside from my cat sitter, it's no big deal to anyone if I have to come home a day or two later than planned.

I KNOW this, but it's hard to just say "fa la la," and keep enduring the small annoyances of travelling without them adding up to a big grumpy snit.  Like the day I spent dealing with becoming marooned on lumber roads, after which I hiked in the Fundy Provincial Park later than planned due to said marooning.  I was counting on the guidebook's info that my hotel in Moncton, New Brunswick has a restaurant, and when I finally got there at 8PM, was told, well, no, it does not have a restaurant, and most of the nearby restaurants had already closed their kitchens on that particular Tuesday night.

Or yesterday, walking the wrong route for a long time before discovering my mistake, and having to throw my itinerary to the wind because of all the time that mistake cost me.  Or today, walking what appeared to be two miles around the Charlottetown harbor boardwalk, expecting shops and restaurants promised in the guidebook, but finding none, and continuing that two miles in the hot sun, dehydrated, hungry, and tired until I could stop somewhere and get some water.  It turns out I wasn't walking in the right area for the shops, but I didn't know that.

After that, I was ready to throw the towel in for the day.  I stopped and had an iced Vietnamese coffee and a chocolate chip muffin in an air-conditioned coffee house.  After cooling off and hydrating, I went back to the hotel and considered taking a nap.  My itinerary had a whole day of sightseeing planned for today, which would have amounted to driving all day and didn't sound appetising. But there was a beach less than an hour away, Cavendish Beach.  Could I bear driving an hour to get in some beach time?  I decided to give it a try.  The sun had come out; I took the top down on my trusty VW and began the drive.  I was very glad I made that choice.  The countryside was gorgeous!

I got to the Beach Park and was waved in without paying for a pass (perhaps because it was after 3PM?), parked in a lot, hauled my beach chair over my shoulder, and walked the boardwalk to the beach.  It was packed with people, which is not usually my speed.  Was it worth walking with tons of people and sitting on the beach with tons of people to feel the Gulf of St. Lawrence on my feet?  I decided that it was. I staked my small claim with my chair within the flowing waves on the beach and let the waves wash over my feet.  At one point my shoes went away with an eddy, and a lovely blond child caught them and brought them back to me.

There were a lot of people, but I could close my eyes and listen to the surf.  And watching the kids dance in the sand around the surf was pretty delightful.  At about 5PM the crowds had diminished, and I decided I had soaked up enough sun for the day.  So I packed up and went back to my car, hoping to find a place to eat dinner on the way back.

A Rare Moment when the Beachie Hordes were Out of my Camera Range

The drive back to Charlottetown was filled with more beautiful countryside.  

Once I got into town, I ignored my GPS for a bit and saw a restaurant I'd been interested in, but was outside of my walking distance from my hotel.  I pulled into a parking place at precisely 6PM, which is the time of day when the parking meters stop needing to be fed.  (!!) The restaurant, called Slaymakers and Nichols Gastro House and Pub (named after some Charlottetown Circus connection I no longer remember), had been noted in my guidebook to have good food and a fun atmosphere. I got a place at the bar and ordered BBQ pork ribs and Mac and Cheese.  The pork ribs were delicious.  I was not fond of the cheese combination in the Mac and Cheese, so I left it on my plate.

Which goes to show, this entire day was a roadmap of what I had been musing about travelling and my inner ability to roll with the punches.  Giving up control and allowing surprises to happen.  Being honest with myself about my feelings regarding lack of control, and trying to manage them so I don't ruin my own vacation.

Tomorrow, the ferry and back to Nova Scotia!