Tag Archives | Prince Edward Island

2012 The Year of the Dragon

By The Fighting Couple on January 1, 2013 in General

According to Chinese tradition: “The dragon is a legendary creature in Chinese folklore. The image of dragon is blurred, strong, mystic, noble and untouchable. It is the symbol of power. Chinese emperors wore imperial robes adorned with dragon symbols.”

2012 truly was a “Dragon” of a year for us on many levels. It brought us Luci’s first trip to Asia. It was Mike’s first attack by leeches. So here it is, our Dragon year in a nutshell:

Key Stats:

Biggest month in traffic: June 2012: 19,604 unique visitors

Biggest day in traffic: June 5, 2012: 1,921 unique visits (Thank you Google!)

Countries visited: 4 (Thailand, Cambodia, Canada and Spain)

The Royal Palace in Bangkok.

Number of posts written: 64

New Twitter followers: 2127

Number of travel photos taken: 1,653

Movie Stars spotted: Jon Hamm (AKA Don Draper from Mad Men), Mathew Broderick, Ben Stein (No it wasn’t a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off convention.)

Number of blood sucking leaches removed: 1

Sponsored blog outings:

Prince Edward Island, Canada

San Francisco Weekend

Most rustic accommodation: Our treehouse in the Thai jungle.

Most elegant accommodation: It’s a tie between the Waldorf Astoria in NYC and Hilton Millennium Bangkok Hotel.

Favorite Meal: This one is easy. It was our first taste of Cambodian Amuk Soup in Siam Reap, Cambodia. It is a mix of ginger, mint, and other spices. Soooo good. The entire meal cost us $5 USD.

Most popular Google search terms: Fontainebleau and Travel Ideas for Couples

Strangest Google search term: Ways to meet Korean women (good luck finding that on our site whoever you are in Internetland.)

COWS Ice Cream in Prince Edward Island

Best dessert: COWS Ice Cream in Prince Edward Island. We may or may not have went back 7 times during our three day visit. Thanks to Cailin for turning us onto the delicacy.

Scariest moment: It takes a lot to unnerve us whist we are traveling. But while we were in Barcelona, we got boxed in during a protest clash between police and an angry mob with drums and chipmunk signs. Not really sure what it was all about. But both sides were fired up.

What books we read in 2012:

Mike: The Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel, Stand for Something by Gordon Hinckley, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy by Stieg Larsson, A Journey by Tony Blair, A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Drive by Dan Pink, Built to Last by Jim Collins, Great by Choice by Jim Collins

Luci: Ghost Solders by Hampton Sides, Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox, 1776 by David McCullough, Year of Wonders: A Novel about the Plaque by Geraldine Brooks, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson, Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Travel Blogging Conference attended: 1 TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) in Colorado. This was our second year attending TBEX. We were not disappointed. Candidly, we thought that it was even better than the first. Both TBEX and 1000 Fights were a lot more organized this go around. We made some great connections. We also were finally able to meet in person two of our blogging buds: Overyonderlust and Worldlillie. We have decided NOT to go to TBEX 13. We want to try a different blogging convention. Any ideas?

Most popular Post: This one surprised us a little. 50 Ways to Say I Love You.

Luci’s fave post of 2012: My favorite post for the year is “Our Day of Decadence.” It was one of the best days of my life! My day of chocolate.

Mike’s fave post of 2012: I would have to say that our post on the Traveling Innkeepers is my favorite. Dan and Becky were so gracious to us. We loved our time in Prince Edward Island.

We are jumping for joy that 2012 is done. Now onto 2013!

We rarely give a peek into our “non-travel” lives on this blog (way too boring.)…but this year was a whopper for us. Luci’s work was dominated by several pieces of legislation that she worked on tirelessly for two years to pass, only to be placed on a statewide referendum and repealed. Major bummer. Mike’s boss left the company early in the year and was replaced by two new bosses. Despite the challenges we have faced, travel continues to be an escape for us. Escape is not the right word, more like an old friend that we only get to see once a year, someone that strengthens and encourages you when you are with them. Something like that.

Of course we had our fair share of good fights this year as featured in our many posts.

To all of those couple travelers out there, we wish you the very best in 2013. Stay tuned to 1000 Fights, we have some pretty amazing plans for 2013!

The Traveling Innkeepers

By The Fighting Couple on November 12, 2012 in Best of the Fighting Couple, General, Slideshowable

They welcome the world’s travelers and then travel the world themselves: Meet the Traveling Innkeepers: Dan and Becky.

Dan and Becky are the proud owners of Prince Edward Island’s cozy Kindred Spirit Inn. 1000Fights has already previewed the Inn’s amazing culinary breakfast, now we’d like to introduce you to the owners of this comfortable and Anne-like property. With a name like Kindred Spirits, you imagine just how friendly the Inn really is! The Fighting Couple instantly felt a kindred spirit with Dan and Becky. They are the younger, more successful and attractive version of Mike and Luci!

Dan and Becky visiting Cordoba, Spain

Dan and Becky are true Islanders who both grew up on Prince Edward Island. Dan’s grew up at Kindred Spirits after his parents ditched their desk jobs and bought the property and remodeled it. Cavendish, PEI, the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s famous novel Anne of Green Gables, is visited by thousands of people a year.

Dan’s family lived in the Inn, but when tourist season hit from May to October, he moved out and his room became someone else’s! “I grew up with people from all over the world. I was constantly exposed to new people and new ideas.”

Growing up in PEI is a kid’s dream. It’s as idyllic as Anne describes it. “My range was only limited by geography. I could go to the beach myself and bike as far as I wanted; I just had to be back for supper — that was the rule,” Dan reminisces.

Becky and Dan married and bought the property from Dan’s folks. Becky has a knack for organization and started working at Kindred Spirits when she was in high school. Running the Inn, is a 24 hour, 7 day a week job. And when something needs to be done, Dan and Becky fill in for every role of their 20 employees from security to house keeper, to cook to maintenance man.

But when the tourists leave, Dan and Becky do too. They take the winter and spring to tour the world.

No matter where they have traveled and they have traveled all over: New Zealand, Argentina, Thailand, Costa Rica, just to name a few, people make the difference. From the time a stranger helped them through the chaos of 100 people yelling and screaming in the Panama Airport or to the hotel clerk who helped Dan find his wallet that he left in a cab in Krabi, Thailand, the kindness of others when Dan and Becky travel, make them committed to ensuring that those who stay at Kindred Spirits have an impeccable experience.

The Traveling Innkeepers in Chaing Mail, Thailand

“Service is never inauthentic,” says Dan. “Everyone who comes to visit PEI is on their vacation and 99 percent of them are having the best days of the year. That’s what makes our jobs great. If you are a lawyer or an accountant, you are dealing with people on their worst days of the year.”

“The tourists are the best part of the job. We meet our guests as they come through the door,” Becky added. “Our job isn’t to be right; our job is to make guests feel comfortable.”

They are so committed to making things as gracious as can be at Kindred Spirits, that Becky keeps a travel notebook when they travel to record the “Wow” moments to help replicate them at Prince Edward Island. Like the time, they were in Argentina and they stayed at a place that invited them to sit and have coffee. “The act of sitting and sharing coffee was very meaningful. They walked us to our room. It was different from being checked in behind a cold, sterile, desk,” Becky explained.

We personally experienced this with the Inn’s cookies and tea service in the evening. In fact, when we arrived there was an entire list of social activities that guests could do to mingle with other guests and the staff.

Being in the travel business has also made Dan and Becky more critical of what they see on the road. “We are ruined,” Becky says about going to other hotels to stay. “We can’t walk into a property without seeing what’s wrong and what’s right. It’s certainly allowed us to relate.”

Better yet, the two are also fighters! One of their highlights: they didn’t realize they needed a Visa to get to Vietnam. “And that was the time we almost went to Vietnam,” Becky laughs. They didn’t have their Visa so when they got to the airport and the ticket agent asked to see it; they had to change their plans immediately! It’s a 1000 Fight Nightmare! The story did end well, they ended up going to Malaysia instead!

Want to learn more about Kindred Spirits? Check our recent post!

Which is Better the Bed or the Breakfast?

By The Fighting Couple on October 3, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

In advance of every one of our adventures, we do a ton of homework on where and what to eat. The Fighting Couple likes food, A LOT. We peruse all the typical sites: Trip Advisor, Urban Spoon, Yelp etc. We like food so much we’ll walk for hours in a foreign city just to find the restaurant we read about on the internet. True story: once we wandered aimlessly around Amsterdam for two hours because Mike wanted to eat at a certain restaurant, but that’s another fight.

Finding the perfect undiscovered café is always a chore. Finding a great breakfast is even more difficult. Sure, you’ve probably been victim to the free hotel breakfasts of Wonder bread and Smuckers Jam. But what if you could stay at a charming place and wake up to a gourmet breakfast that would blow your food budget if you ate it separately? You can!

We introduce you to Kindred Spirits located in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. 1000 Fights toured Prince Edward Island this summer to worship at the altar of Anne of Green Gables, oh and to golf. There’s a lot to like about PEI and really in our experience zero to dislike.

But what we liked most was the food and particularly the food at our bed and breakfast. Kindred Spirits is the kind of place you stay and like so much you come back to stay again and again. And for the Anne followers, who couldn’t like a place named, Kindred Spirits?

When we read the room included breakfast, we imagined the typical fare you get at any standard hotel. Imagine our surprise when for breakfast we walked and found the homemade meal that would make your grandmother envy! French toast made from French bread with an apple and caramel sauce to slather over it. Or try the homemade blueberry scones with the lemon blueberry preserves or raspberry champagne jam. Don’t forget the breakfast casserole that includes cheese, potatoes, and sausage. And that’s just the main entrees. There is also fresh fruit, yogurt and cereal, plus fresh juices. Are you hungry yet?

Prince Edward Island is truly a culinary mecca.

Bed and breakfasts have long been the choice of traveling couples who want something that feels like home, but a room they don’t have to clean up. But a new movement is brewing where the breakfast is becoming just as important as the bed. A quick internet search and you’ll find many of the the B&B’s proudly advertising what guests will eat, not just where they will sleep. There’s also a site dedicated just to recipes at premiere B&Bs.

Thanks to Kindred Spirits, 1000 Fights is pleased to publish the Inn’s signature breakfast dish: Blueberry Cake. I took one bite of this and then another and another and another. It’s embarrassing when a grown woman goes for thirds, not just seconds. But it was that good! So here’s the recipe for you to enjoy! Who knows maybe it will spread like the $250 Neiman Marcus cookie recipe! You are probably wondering where the Pinterest worthy picture of the cake is? Yeah, the cake is so good…we kinda forgot about blogging for a few mins…. We hope you have the same experience!

Kindred Spirits Blue Berry Crumb Breakfast Cake

Ingredients for cake: 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2.5 cup flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2/3 cup milk, 6 tbsp melted butter (or margarine), 2 cups blueberries (small, wild berries preferably), 4 tbsp sugar

– Grease 9 x 13 pan

– In medium bowl, beat eggs with wooden spoon. Gradually beat in sugar until well combines

– In separate dish, sift together flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the sugar/egg mixture alternately with the milk. Beat well after each addition

– Add the melted butter and beat thoroughly

– Gently fold in blueberries (fresh or frozen). Batter should not be blue!

– Pour into the greased pan

– Sprinkle the top with 2 tbsp sugar

– Refrigerate Overnight

The following day, bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for approx. 45 minutes (until springs back when poked!)

– When finished, pour a mixture of 1/4 melted butter and 3 tbsp lemon juice and then sprinkle the following topping to cover thecake:

– Topping: 1/2 cup shortening, 8 tbsp flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 cups of brown sugar, 1/4 cup oats (optional). Mix together with a pastry blender

YUM!

My Pilgrimage to “Gone With the Wind” Mecca

By The Fighting Couple on May 27, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

There are three literary pilgrimages that are required of every romance loving, third wave feminist, book obsessed woman: Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, England, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s home in Prince Edward Island and Margaret Mitchell’s home in Atlanta, Georgia.

Now, I’m slightly infatuated with Gone with the Wind. I started watching the film when I was eight years old. I’ve seen it 28 times: every second of the 238 minutes. I checked the book out from the adult section of the local library when I was 10 (with my mother’s permission of course). I have a room in my home dedicated to the movie and book. It’s the Gone with the Wind room pinned with Scarlett Barbie dolls, collector plates, numbered art, and of course green velvet curtains.

Even if you don’t know Scarlett O’Hara’s first name (It’s Katie, by the way) or couldn’t care less if Rhett gives a damn or not, seeing Margaret Mitchell’s home (apartment) in Atlanta, Georgia is an absolute must see for a visit to Atlanta.

Margaret Mitchell’s Home

990 Peachtree Street

Atlanta, GA 30309-1366

Phone 404.249.7015

Web: http://www.margaretmitchellhouse.com/

In the urban sprawl of the high rise city of Atlanta, the house seems out of place. But thank goodness it’s still standing. Arsonists have tried to burn it down twice! Margaret Mitchell never liked it much either. She called her apartment, “the dump.” But preservationists have done a magnificent job of recreating the apartment.
The museum focuses on the house. Guests used to start at the visitor’s center and then shuffled to the house, but that changed a few years ago. Now guests enter the house on Crescent Ave, like Mitchell would have, and go immediately to view Mitchell’s apartment for a guided tour. You’ll see the apartment almost like it was when Mitchell lived there. Be aware, very few things in the apartment are original. However, even being the same the room where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind is a rush for an enthusiast like me.

Next you’ll learn about Mitchell’s life, her newspaper career, philanthropy efforts and most of all her spunk. I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t know a lot about Mitchell before I visited the museum. She was part of Atlanta’s affluent society, a serious beau died in World War I, and her mother died during the flu epidemic while Mitchell was returning from college (GWTW enthusiasts will recognize the similarities of Scarlett not being there for her mother’s death as well). Mitchell was a strong writer, and began working at the Atlanta Journal (something society women did not do). In an industry dominated by men, the petite Mitchell was one of the first female reporters to earn her way from the society columns to hard news reporting. But it was a sprained ankle that changed her life and the world. Her second husband John Marsh got tired of lugging books back and forth to the library while Mitchell was recovering and bought her typewriter and encouraged her to write a book. And Scarlett (although she was named Patsy during writing) was born.
My favorite part of the museum is the Making of a Film Legend: Gone with the Wind exhibit. The museum is full of artifacts from the movie, including Tara’s doorway from the movie set and the giant of painting of Scarlett in the blue dress that Rhett throws his drink at during the movie. There are also original costume sketches from the film. The best part of the exhibit is you can read copies of the movie script and act it out. It’s a literary pilgrim’s dream come true.

Whether you are in Atlanta for the day on a long layover, a couple of days on businesses or leisure see the site which created a worldwide sensation: The Margaret Mitchell House.