Introduction to Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island (PEI) may not be the world's leading manufacturer of relaxation, but it's certainly a major distribution center.

Visitors soon realize there's something about the richly colored landscape of azure seas, henna-tinged cliffs capped with purple, and green farm fields that trigger some obscure relaxation hormone, resulting in a pleasant ennui. It's sometimes difficult to believe that PEI and boggy, blustery Newfoundland share the same planet, never mind the same gulf.

The northerly coast is lined with red-sand beaches, washed by the warm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Swimming here isn't quite like taking a tepid dip in North Carolina, but it's warmer than one in Maine or New Hampshire, farther south down the eastern seaboard. Away from these beaches you'll find low, rolling hills blanketed in trees and crops, especially potatoes, for which the island is justly famous. Small farms make up the island's backbone -- one-quarter of the island is dedicated to agriculture, with that land cultivated by more than 2,300 individual farms.

The island was first explored in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, who discovered Mi'kmaq native Canadians living here. Over the next 2 centuries, dominion over the island bounced between Great Britain and France (who called the island Isle-St-Jean). Great Britain was awarded the island in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris; a little more than a century later, the first Canadian Confederation was held at Charlottetown and resulted in the creation of Canada in 1867 (though PEI didn't actually join the new confederation until 1873).

The island is compact and its roads are usually well marked. It's difficult to become disoriented -- but you should try. Whether you're on bicycle or traveling by car, it can be quite pleasurable indeed getting lost on PEI's back roads.

This island is still steeped in the slower pace of an earlier era; milkmen still make their quiet rounds, and you return soda bottles for refilling, not only recycling. Gas attendants cheerfully pump full-serve style and wash your windows without your needing to ask. Indeed, the island's population has only grown from 109,000 in 1891 to about 140,000 today. Take your cue from this comfortable cadence and do yourself a favor: Schedule 1 or 2 extra days into your vacation, and make absolutely no plans. Yon won't regret it.

This section is divided into the counties that trisect the province. They're easy to remember: They rise in order of royal hierarchy -- Prince to Queens to Kings -- in the direction of England.

One final note: The island has, somewhat remarkably, managed to retain the bucolic flavor of a century ago, and pockets of sprawl are still happily few. But the handwriting is on the wall, especially in the central part of the island. That handwriting reads COTTAGE LOTS FOR SALE. These sorts of signs have been springing up in ever-greater numbers in the alfalfa and potato fields, and in coming years more and more of the island is certain to be claimed by subdivisions, luxe resorts, and malls.

The sooner you can visit, the better.

Who Is This Prince Edward Guy, Anyway? -- Prince Edward Island is named for Prince Edward Augustus (1767-1820), who was the son of King George III of England. A strict disciplinarian, Augustus rose swiftly through the British military ranks and was posted to Halifax in 1791 with the elite Fusiliers unit; his rise continued, until he was promoted to the position of official commander in chief of all British forces in North America in 1799 -- a post he seems to have held for only 1 year. After returning to England, his career languished, and his retirement as a duke to a Devonshire cottage seems to have been his ultimate undoing: After a walk in the cool mists, he caught a cold or pneumonia and expired at the age of just 52.

However, Edward's true lasting claim to fame occurred only after he married very late in life and his wife bore him a daughter, who was less than 1 year old when he died. Because Edward's father and uncle did not have any other surviving grandchildren -- by legitimate wives, anyway -- she became, by default, the Queen of England. (Get an encyclopedia if you want to understand the rules of British succession.)

In 1837, Prince Edward's daughter acceded to the throne, and she would preside over one of the most impressive expansions of empire in world history. We remember her today as Queen Victoria -- the face that launched an era.