Sea and be Scene

Occupation: Journalist

Place of Birth: Charlottetown, PEI

Currently Resides: Hazelbrook, PEI

Family: 2 daughters, 11 and 13. Husband. My mum lives next door and one of my 2 brothers lives just down the road. The other one lives in Halifax.

PEI is known for its incredible beaches. Which one is your favourite?

It's a 2-way tie. Hub and I have a cottage in Greenwich. The beach there is part of the National Park and it's incredible - huge white sand dunes for miles, eagles soaring overhead, walking trails. Although it was made famous in a fight over development more than a decade ago, not many people go there, so it's quiet.

But 25 mins down the road in Souris, there's plenty of action at Basin Head Beach. People jump off the side of the wharf into the water 15 feet below, or off the bridge over the channel.  It doesn't LOOK all that safe, but I've never seen anyone get hurt!  There's almost always a huge crowd, but you can walk 5 mins down the beach to find peace. You can take your dog and your BBQ to this beach, so that's fun. The sand there squeaks under your feet, they call it "the Singing Sands".

Where’s your favourite place to shop in PEI?

I love vintage things! So I haunt The Green Man Vintage & Vinyl in Charlottetown, The Salvation Army Thrift Shop, and a new second-hand place in Ch'town called The Garment District.  When I go to NB or NS I have to stop at a Guy's Frenchy's!

Where in PEI would we stand to see your favourite view?

Near my house in Hazelbrook, at the top of the hill overlooking Pownal Bay.  It's one of the tallest hills in PEI, you can see for kilometres. I love being able to see the water all the time- if I can't, it makes me sort of nervous. When I am visiting another city I always need to see and orient myself to the water. Calgary with its tiny river makes me claustrophobic!

What is it you like best about living and working in PEI?

The thing I like about PEI is also one of the things that can frustrate me most. The pace of living here is slower than on the Mainland. The first thing you notice when you drive off the Confederation Bridge to PEI is you have to SLOW DOWN. A lot of people here don't even drive up to the speed limit. And besides the roads aren't great, so you'll wreck your car if you hit those bumps too fast!  We have more seniors per capita than just about anywhere else, so that could be part of it. Another part of our slow pace is no one seems to be in a hurry. People have cell phones, but tell me they don't take them with them, or don't turn them on.

Of course as a journalist, I want to talk with people very quickly about what's happening. They'll ask me "When do you want to talk to me?" and are surprised when I say "right now!" The flip side of this is, just about everyone on the Island watches our CBC News show, Compass, because they want to know what's going on. We have a very plugged-in audience, and the highest-rated 6 o'clock news show in Canada.

Name 3 things we’ve gotta do when we visit PEI:

1. Watch CBC Compass so you will know what's happening. Nothing will endear you to a local more than knowing what's going on on "the Island", or being able to complain about "Boomer" the weatherman's forecast along with them.

2. Visit the National Park. Any time of year, a walk on one of the incredible beaches here is good for the soul.

3. Eat potatoes. I grew up on a huge potato farm, and I still eat them every day. They are nature's wonder food, chock full of vitamins, minerals and fibre!

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Follow Sara on Twitter like we do @SaraFrasercbc

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