Borden-Carleton

After crossing the Confederation Bridge, likely your first stop in Prince Edward Island is in the town of Borden-Carleton. The bridge was completed in 1997, and vistors are welcomed to the Island through the "Gateway Village" section of the Town. 

The Mi'kmaq called this area Pastue'kati, meaning "A place where seacows are plentiful." It was settled by Scottish immigrants in the early 1800s and became a transportation hub when a permanent ferry service was established. 

In 1995 the town of Borden, originally incorporated in 1919 and named for Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden; amalgated with the community of Carleton. At the time the town of Borden demoted itself to a community, but in 2012 rejoined the ranks of townships as Borden-Carletown. Currently the town's population is 788, fitting nicely into the "tiny-wee" category of my completely arbitrary classification system of town population size. 

1. Selfie with the town's welcome sign: The welcome sign for Borden-Carleton is found along the highway about a kilometre outside the "Gateway Village" area which most tourists are familiar.

2. Visitor's Centre: Arriving on Prince Edward Island, the Information Centre located at the entrance of Gateway Village offers loads of info on all the sights and sounds that you'll find on PEI.

3. Museum or heritage centre: The Borden-Carleton Interpretive Centre is closed (too bad, it does look like an interesting building). However, in the park behind there are a number of placards discussing the history of the Town, the former ferry service and the Confederation Bridge.

4. Explore a public space: Took a stroll through the Marine Rail Historical Park where you'll find a lighthouse and excellent views of the Confederation Bridge.

5. Local restaurant: While visiting Lone Oak Brewery I enjoyed a delicious apple and cranberry salad at The Abby, a restaurant located in the same building.

Lone Oak Brewery

6. Locally produced spirit: You don't have to go far to find good suds in Borden-Carleton, otherwise known as the home of Lone Oak Brewery. I have enjoyed many of their beers over the years, but have a particular affection for their South Shore Sour - a very tart sour beer that's not for the faint of heart.

7. Art in public places: There were a few sculptures around Gateway Village, but I was particularly impressed with the cross-section of a bridge span found in front of the Information Centre. Names of many of the people, businesses and organizations who built the bridge (including my uncle, Bernie Bryden, P.Eng) can be found engraved there.

8. Town Swag: While there are quite a few tourist shops in Borden-Carleton, I couldn't find much Borden-Carleton specific swag. However, I did settle on a wooden Confederation Bridge yo-yo, because yo-yos are awesome. Although since it's wooden there's a high probability that it can be weaponized, intentionally or otherwise.

A little bit of trivia: The Confederation Bridge is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. It spans a 12.9 km across the Northumberland Strait connecting Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, to Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick.