I got into PEI by way of the fairly new one billon Canadian dollar bridge. The bridge is 7km long… it’s really and impressive bridge for lots of reasons, including be subjected to winter ice flows, but I’ll let you look up all the cool engineer stuff yourselves.
The evening I got in I met him at a Tim Horton’s where he was already meeting a friend for coffee. Later that evening we headed to Dooley’s Pool Hall to shoot some pool with some of his friends and have a beer or two. It was a great introduction to some really cool friendly people, exactly what had been missing in Quebec City. I was already loving the couch surfing thing.
After a hour or so of playing pool I followed him home and got settled in. Patrick’s mother had already made up a futon bed for me, complete with a blanket on the floor for Tucker. Sooo sweet! It was late though so I wouldn’t actually met her until morning. Since it may sound strange, Patrick had moved back home to help take care of some family business for a while, I think it’s great that his family is cool with him continuing to host couch surfers. In fact as I search for couch surfers I’m finding a surprising mix of couch surfers and couch surfing hosts. They come in all ages and living situations just friendly people willing to offer what ever they have to offer. More on that some other time.
In the morning Patrick’s generosity didn’t stop when he offered to make me breakfast, pancakes and eggs. All I can say is the man makes some wicked good pancakes!
Since I was there on a weekend and Patrick wasn’t working he was able to take the day to show me around PEI on a driving tour. What a great tour it was, he took me to corners of the island I never would have found on my own. I was so amazed at what a better experience it was to be able to nag out with a local than I ever would have had on my own. We visited lighthouses down dirt roads, beaches of all sorts, and toured downtown Charlottetown. One of which was the building where the signing of the confederation of Canada occurred on PEI. 
After grabbing a beer in town we headed back to Patrick’s home where Patrick again cooked for me, this time some fabulous spaghetti in spicy alfredo sauce. What a guy! I decided to try couch surfing on a whim and it turned out to be such a fabulous experience, such wonderful people. It all made me realize the couch surfing isn’t really about a free couch to sleep on, oh I’m sure it’s that for a few people, but for most it’s about connecting with people from all over that are interested in experiencing a place in a different way than your regular tourist.
In the morning I got up early to head for the ferry off of PEI towards Nova Scotia. Again Patrick the consummate host even set HIS alarm to make sure I got up on time and then made me more pancakes while I showered and packed up my stuff.
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