Wednesday, July 16, 2008

An Island Of COWS, Lobsters And Girls In Imaginary Prairie Dresses

On Prince Edward Island in Canada, you can't help but notice all the COWS Ice Cream stores; the island is small, but it seems like you can always find one. They were founded on the island and are pretty much famous there, although there are a few other locations across Canada and even one in the United States! The ice cream was good, but the real draw seems to be their parody t-shirts. Take a look at the COWS web site to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

That said, since this place is so popular, you can't pick up a publication without seeing this picture:

It's on the back of the visitors guide and inside most of the tourism publications. Moving on to how this picture ties in to the rest of my story...

While in Charlottetown, we decided to dine at Lobster On The Wharf restaurant. Since this isn't a restaurant review, I will not go into detail about the faboo scallops I had, but will say that absolutely everything that touched our tongues that night was superb. Blah, blah, blah....freakin' GREAT food and yummy lobster. Seriously. But I don't want to talk about food for once (if you can believe that) because the best part of our dinner was actually our waitress Kendra.

First of all, before I tell you more, you must know that being on the island is like stepping into the past. Everyone is so freakin' friendly you wonder if you're still in North America. It was seriously like being on another planet; so noticeable that even Ed commented. And you just gotta know people are pushing nice when a person who comes from small town Texas, where most people are infected with suthun' charm, sickly sweet niceness and an overabundance of lovin' thy neighbor, has something to say about it.

Not only was she on top of every detail during our dinner, but she told us about her life, her family, her education, her ambitions, her experience when she first traveled to the United States, her life on the Island, her finances, her living arrangements, her boyfriend, her boss and her friends. She sat with us at our table, recommended must see sights, told us which places to stay away from (not for crime reasons, but for boredom reasons) and even drew us a map.

I was enchanted. And when she flipped the page over in our travel guide and asked us if we'd been to COWS yet, we were able to answer "Of course!" and mentioned that we even bought a Moos Anatomy t-shirt. It was at that moment when she pointed to the girl in the advertisement and said, "She works here."

"Seriously???" I asked.

"Yes. And oh my God, she's SO super nice!" Yeah, what a surprise. Island girl, right? What else would you expect? After we paid our bill and were getting ready to leave, she asked me if I wanted to meet her.

"Hell, yeah!!" I responded. I must have looked like a freak because even though I thought I was being subtle by trying not to look overly interested, I think I might have clapped my hands together like a five year old. Or an ape getting ready to eat a banana. I'm not sure.

So she went in the back and came out with two of her little friends. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. I'm so corny like that. We talked with the three of them for about twenty minutes and not once did those smiles come off their faces. They kept gushing about how much they loved us and how great we were. And I gushed back, telling them the very same thing.

(Emily, Kendra [our waitress], and Lauren)

They were three of the warmest young girls I think I have ever met. Fresh faced, sparkly eyed, perky, happy, untouched by the world (it seemed) and pleasant in a way I can't even convey. I felt like I was in a real life Little House On The Prairie episode (minus Nellie, of course) and they should have been wearing bonnets and floral print dresses.

I left with my heart full of this beautiful little island and the desire to visit again. Their hospitality has far superceded any place I've been thus far. Their joy unmatched. So not only do I get to have such fond memories, if you look close enough, you'll even see where Emily signed my travel guide!!

You may say it. I'm a dork.

No comments: