Moonshine & Prince Edward Island Tour

With this excursion you will travel along the Gulf of St. Lawrence side of Prince Edward Island. We’ll tour along the east coastal drive (Route 2) and stop to visit and view the spectacular dunes system and floating boardwalk at Greenwich. This site contains an extensive and fragile coastal dune system, wetlands and various natural habitats in which numerous rare plant species are found. Among the most spectacular natural characteristics to be protected at Greenwich are the unusually large and mobile parabolic dunes with their associated counter ridges or Gegenwälle. This phenomenon is very rare in North America.

Next, we’ll travel along the jutting coastline and pass through scenic fishing ports as we head for Hermanville. Here we will tour Canada’s first and only producer of potato vodka. While most commercial vodkas strive for a neutral character, this isn’t the case at the Prince Edward Island Distillery. Owners Arla Johnson and Julie Shore are coaxing the truest expression of the island’s unique terrain through a commitment to local ingredients, including using select island spuds for their internationally-acclaimed Potato Vodka, best enjoyed on its own. As one of the distillery’s slogans states, “I like my potatoes smashed, distilled and served on the rocks.”

Up next, we’re off to the eastern tip of the island where we will learn about PEI’s railway, view a recreated stations master’s office, visit the home of PEI’s miniature railway and see one of Atlantic Canada’s model train collections. We head next to Basin Head Fisheries Museum which is located near Souris and sits high on a bluff over-looking the Northumberland Strait. While we’re here, we’ll learn the story of PEI’s inshore fishery. You will have an opportunity to wander along the magnificent, white ‘singing sands’ beach.

This is the Moonshine Excursion, so we’re off to Rollo Bay for a visit to PEI’s first Artisan Distillery. During Prohibition (which reigned over the island longer than anywhere else in Canada), you needed a doctor’s note to get a drink from an approved government vendor. Today, locals and visitors come to enjoy ‘shine’ in broad daylight at the distillery’s distinctive fire-engine-red barn on the province’s eastern shore which comes complete with dramatic views of the Northumberland Strait.
Myriad produces spirits unique to PEI and the industry. You will be able to tour the distillery and witness strait shine collected right from the still. It does not happen anywhere else. Enjoy on site sales and tasting. This is a true PEI tradition.

As the day unfolds, we will be stopping for lunch. We will return to Charlottetown via a different route as we continue to sample a day in the life of an islander.