Say Cheese ☺

Another fun filled day exploring Prince Eward Island...  We have really enjoyed our time here
Today took us on another scenic ride around the Island in hunt for the Toy Factory and Cheese Lady Gouda Cheese Farm... We went through rolling hills past fields of potatoes, canola, corn and fields of hay. Found the most beautiful church right by the sea ~ Notre Dam du Mont Carmel

The Evangeline Region was founded in 1812 by Acadians who had originally settled near Malpeque Bay on the north shore of Prince Edward Island. The 1902 presbytery in the parish of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel was designed by the Québec architect René P. Lemay. The 450,000 bricks that went into the construction of this third parish church were made in Cape Egmont.

Our first stop was at the Toy Factory ~  The Toy Factory was established in 1972 in Murray River, Prince Edward Island, by a grandfather who looked a lot like Santa Claus. It was actually Santa's brother, "Al". That's right, Al Claus. (We bet you didn't know Santa had a brother!) The toys Al made for his grandchildren were so wonderful, everyone said "You should open a store!" ... so he did.

The "TOY" Factory

In 1990, Al decided to retire - again! - and handed down his toy-making craft to Dan and Kathy Viau, who were already making wooden toys and kid-size furniture for their own young children. With the help of their in-house "research and development" team, and with advice and guidance from Al, the veteran toy-maker, Dan and Kathy gradually expanded the line of Toy Factory toys to include puzzles and games, larger toys like rocking horses and rocking airplanes, and unique and long-lasting toys and games imported from all over the world.

Santa's Helpers

Since 1998, the Toy Factory has been located in the beautiful village of New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island. The workshop and store are housed in the second-oldest building in the village, built in 1848, and originally a carriage factory for making horse-drawn buggies and wagons. For most of the 20th century, it was a General Store, and it's history and handcrafting heritage make it the perfect home for the toy-making shop

Toys galore

On from there we headed for the Cheese Lady's Gouda Cheese Factory ~ Now cheese is something I am very close too so it doesn't take much to get me to go to a place like this... We arrived and it was a very small operation but boy oh boy was that some good kinda Gouda. They had regular and several other flavors they offered like  Red Pepper, Herb, Onion, Garlic, Peppercorn and more.

If you are wondering how Gouda cheese is made come and see the at work through viewing windows, also you can watch a six-minute video about the process. They have samples you can try before you make a purchase... we loved three different ones. You can also stroll around the farm to meet the animals.  We loved the baby llama...

Now that's some kinda GOUDA Cheese ~ YUM!

Hope you enjoyed the tours of a few of the factories we visited ~ they are small operations with very BIG hearts and wonderful products...  Click on any of the pictures to enlarge ~ so you can see them better.

Have Fun & Travel Safe