Dalvay

Our first three nights on Prince Edward Island were in Dalvay, where we stayed at Dalvay By The Sea:

This historic property was built in 1895 as a summer home by Alexander MacDonald:

a wealthy businessman and one-time president of Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. He named the house “Dalvay By The Sea” after his boyhood home in Scotland.

Dalvay By The Sea is now a 25-room hotel in Prince Edward Island National Park and a national historic site.

We arrived on May 23 and went for a walk on Dalvay Beach:

It was 43°F, windy, and starting to rain. We did not stay on the beach for long.

The weather improved after that first day. The inn was a short walk from the ocean, visible over the dunes in this view on a later day from our second floor room:

Dalvay By The Sea reminded me of New England's historic "grand hotels." The accommodations were comfortable, especially the common areas, but the real treat was the food. Below was breakfast one morning – granola and yogurt, and French toast, both with fruit.

Prince Edward Island National Park includes several different sections along the north shore of PEI, with Dalvay about in the middle. We explored the park from our base here, as discussed in the next two posts. The park was not fully open for the season (no entrance fee!), and not all areas or attractions were open, but we were able to enjoy significant portions of the park. And we had the place almost to ourselves. It was clear that this is a popular park, and that there would be crowds of tourists later in the summer, especially since the Canadian government is currently upgrading many sections of the park. We saw many recent improvements, and considerable construction in progress.