Civilized Adventure: Not an Oxymoron by Catherine Fredman

The Micmac Indians called their island Abegweit - "cradle on the waves" - and from a kayaker's point of view it's easy to see why. Sheltered from Atlantic combers by Nova Scotia to the south and Newfoundland to the east, Prince Edward Island's waters are as placid as its cow-and-orchard-strewn pastures.

So is the trip philosophy at Outside Expeditions. No masochists they, Ouside Expedition's guides believe in picnic lunches featuring blue mussels gathered right on the beach and steamed into a tasty moules mariniere, with fresh bread and wine chilled in the hatch of your 'yak'. Or, if you're feeling too lazy to hunt and gather, your trip leader might just flag down a fisherman and buy fresh lobster and Malpeque oysters right off the boat.

There's still plenty of time for paddling past myriad white sand beaches, sculpted dunes, and 100-foot-high red sandstone cliffs; for spooking herons and egrets in the tidal flats and playing with seals offshore; and for honing your Eskimo roll in the warmest water north of the Carolinas (the Gulf Stream ensures that, unlike in Maine or Nova Scotia, no wet suits are necessary).

Anne of Green Gables fans will flip over the accommodations: spacious Victorian inns with wraparound porches looking out on the ocean, shady lindens, and fringed lampshades galore. If you're not enchanted by The Inn at Bay Fortune's apple-glazed duck or island lamb, go for a starlight paddle, when the sparkle of the Milky Way is matched by the phosphorescence in the water below.