Rainy Day in Charlottetown?
The weather report for Charlottetown was 70% rain. In the morning the skies were blue as a dry wind blew over the campsite sucking up all the moister. The sky quickly grew grey and cloudy which lasted perhaps two hours. As the breeze continued to blow, the clouds drifted eastwards out over the ocean. The day has been sunny, warm in 70s with blue skies. So, much for rainy day plans.
The Teardrop Camper
I’ve been mostly sleeping in a tent at night. It takes about an 90 minutes to get everything setup. Friends have suggested that I should get a smallish type of camper. The Subaru Outback certainly is capable of pulling a small camper. This morning, I woke and saw that my neighbors had a teardrop camper. Mike and Beth from Ontario were gracious and gave me a complete tour. It is so light that they can pick it up and move it. For me the advantage is that setup would be so much faster and the car would have a lot less stuff. This would be a great alternative to what I’m currently doing.
The only downside that I see is that I’d have something tagging along behind me.
Mid-19th Century Canadian History
I’ve been fascinated by Charlottetown as the birthplace of the Canadian Confederation and how the timing of the American Civil War played into the fears of Canada being invaded by The United States and being annexed. Several things played into these fears. There were some in the French speaking part pushing for Canadian territories to join the states. The British had sided with the south during the war and there were fears that the North might retaliate. The North had a massive army close to the board. There were additional fears that the British wouldn’t step in to stop any incursion by the Americans. They had fought enough battles with the former colonies. Also, shortly after the war, The United States purchased the Alaskan Territory, an indication of America’s desire to further expand. There were calls at the same time by leaders in the US Congress to do exactly what the Canadians had feared. All these events and more, led to first conferences on unification and Canada becoming a separate country.
Prince Edward Island is called the “Birthplace of Confederation”. Wikipedia states, “Prince Edward Island hosted the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 to discuss a union of the Maritime provinces; however, the conference became the first in a series of meetings which led to Canadian Confederation in 1867.”
Here are some of the better web articles that I read concerning the feelings of Canadians towards their southern neighbor in the mid-19th century. This was fascinating reading for me because I wasn’t aware of this history:
https://opentextbc.ca/preconfederation/chapter/14-3-confederation-as-a-cure-all/https://thecanadaguide.com/history/the-19th-century/
I probably spent way too many hours reading about this history. I wish I had room in my car for another book.
Charlottetown Library Learning Center
I keep talking about this center but it is absolutely a perfect place to relax, watch the world go by, read, work on the computer, have well prepared coffee and grab a sandwich. It is situate a block from the art museum and across from The Brown Block.
As I was sitting and reading in the back area of the library, a student near me received a call. He was speaking German. He was discussing some issue with rent with his apartment in Germany. Later a friend of his came in and they greeted each other. His friend sat down and they continued to chat.
His friend is Hesham, a musician and student of software. They were talking about Hesham’s music. I chimed in and said I’d be interested in listening to the music as well. We talk for a little bit and I learned the Hesham was from Lebanon. I said that a lot of good programmers come out of Lebanon. I told him I liked live music and he made a few suggestions were they had good live music in the area. The one I remember is Hunter’s Ale House. Unfortunetly, there were no bands playing while I was in town.
Confederation Center Of Art
I spent some time in the gallery. It was nice to see local Canadian Artists. The following piece was in the entry way on the bottom floor. I couldn’t find the artist. It appears to be stainless steel nails in a form. The background is part of the display and I would assume this piece is a permanent part of the collection.
There was a video exhibition by Glenn Lewis called “I Won’t Take Your Hand Monsieur Manet, I Haven’t Washed In Eight Days”, 2008. This is a video presentation with 24 fountains shown in two rows of 12. As the video progresses, Manet is shown washing his hands in a fountain and then moving to the next fountain. It is very cleverly done. The brochure states, ‘… the artist ritually “washes his hands of modernism” and its narrative of progress and innovation, while also advocating for a return to the vision of Cézanne as a source, a sort of “watery spring” of renewable creative energy and attitude toward the world.”
Glenn Lewis: I Won’t Take Your Hand Monsieur Manet, I Haven’t Washed In Eight Days
The woman in charge of the gallery is a very lively individual. I asked her when I got there if there was a place I could store my bag. She said, “Honey, you can put it right here with that purse. It isn’t going anywhere without me.” She knew all the pieces very well and gave me some good feedback. When I finished my tour, shortly before closing, she had me sign the guest book. We continued to talk for a while. She told me she was 70 and she knew she didn’t look 70. She had survived cancer several times. She was some small percentage Portuguese and the Mi'kmaq (the indigenous tribe from PEI).
Her mother had lived a long life into her 90’s. The week her mother died, her mother had her hair and nails done. Her mother got dressed up and asked her to take her to her favorite restaurant. When they got home, her mother told her she was going to lay down on the couch and die and that’s what she did. It reminded me of the film, Little Big Man, where Old Lodge Skins goes off to die at the burial grounds. She probably would have talked for a while longer, but she realized it was already closing time and she had some thing to cleanup before leaving. She wished me a pleasant stay and safe journeys.
The following is a piece that I passed on my way out of the gallery. I would love to know more about the artist and what the subject is. Again, I couldn’t find the artist’s name or the anything about the piece.
Modo Yoga
I had such a great experience with the first yoga class two days ago, I decided to take another class. This class started at 7:30 pm, which for me is unusual except in large cities. I was surprised that there were over 20 people in the class as well. This was called a Modo / Yin class. I’m not exactly sure what Modo is other than it seems to be hot yoga (95 F) with some Hatha yoga movement. It’s not strenuous. Yin is a practice that addresses more the ligaments and tendons and less the musculature. The poses are held longer as well (e.g. 4-6 minutes). In this class, there were only a few Yin poses and they didn’t get into the deeper expression of a traditional practice.
In the end, I walked away feeling very relaxed. I used the showers which for me is always welcome.
If you’re traveling to Charlottetown, I would highly recommend spending some time at Modo Yoga. If I were on one of those large tour ships, I would get off, and either go to a yoga class or get a massage and use the spa.
Lone Oak Brew Pub - Milky Way
I had been told that Lone Oak Brew Pub was really good. It’s located about 20 minutes outside of town. It was about 9:30 when I got there and they told me they had stopped serving food. I hadn’t eaten since 12:30 and need some food. The Pub looked like fun, but unfortunately I didn’t really get to imbibe.
If you’re outside the downtown area of Charlottetown, restaurants close at or before 9 pm.
I made my self a meal at the campsite and called it a night.