Exploring PEI

Day 11 of our trip, June 18, was our anniversary. Most of you know that about ten years ago, R.J. and I shared this dream of traveling to Prince Edward Island for our 30th anniversary. Many times, with events such as this, thinking about the trip and planning it are half the fun. I did have a great time doing that, but the trip itself has been outstanding. It is just so much fun to be exploring and discovering things together, making memories that we will cherish forever.

We decided to explore the Anne of Green Gables/Lucy Maud Montgomery elements of the Island on our anniversary. Since we both love the books and R.J. has been reading them out loud to me as we prepared for the trip, it seemed like a great way to celebrate our big day. We started with the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Place. The house on this site was owned by cousins of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s grandfather. Lucy Maud’s mother died when she was young, so her grandparents raised her, and she spent a lot of time at this house. It is said to be the inspiration for the Green Gables home in her Anne stories. The house and grounds have been painstakingly maintained and now belong to the Canadian National Park. The house is fully furnished with period furniture, household items, and clothing. The characters from the book come alive as you walk through the house and see that the rooms are decorated as though they really lived. We walked by Matthew’s room, Marilla’s room, Anne’s room, the spare room, and of course the hired boy’s room. As Anne-lovers, we really enjoyed this tour through the house. I took many pictures for the other Anne-lover in our house, our daughter Laura.

Second try at a picture, after my camera FELL on the first try.

There was also a barn on the site, which we walked through, and then we took a walk on Lover’s Lane.  This is another homage to the Anne books, but apparently Lucy Maud was also known for naming areas around her  lovely isle. I was unclear as to whether this path was generally known as Lover’s Lane, or just known by Lucy Maud and family/friends, but either way, it was fun to walk down that path on our anniversary. It was very crowded at first, with a group of school children taking a tour and a busload of other tourists as well; however, as we walked along the path we became separated from the rest and had the place mostly to ourselves. And that was even with me stopping to take pictures every few feet! There were information displays along the path that included pictures and names for the flora of the area as well as quotes from Lucy Maud Montgomery. These two quotes, especially, endeared her to me even more:

“The woods always seemed to me to have a delicate, subtle life all their own…in the woods I like to be alone, for every tree is a true old friend and every tip-toeing wind a merry comrade…I always feel utterly and satisfyingly at home…” (My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. Macmillan from L.M. Montgomery, September 16, 1906)

“I always had a deep love of nature. A little fern growing in the woods, a shallow sheet of June-bells under the firs, moonlight falling on the ivory column of a tall birch…all gave me…feelings which I had then no vocabulary to express.” (The Alpine Path)

She is a kindred spirit if ever I had one! Anyway, this blog will take all day to read if I include everything we did, so I will try to abbreviate things a bit. We also took the Haunted Wood path, which led to what is left of the home where Lucy Maud grew up, with her grandparents. Only the foundation remains. On our way back to the Green Gables house, we stopped at the Cavendish Heritage Park and found a monument to A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. That was on our list of things to find, but we hadn’t really looked for it yet.  Serendipity! Our next stop was the cemetery where L.M. Montgomery MacDonald and her husband, The Reverend Ewen MacDonald are buried. It was beautiful and well-maintained.

The organ which was played at L.M.'s wedding

 We went back to our cottage for lunch and then headed out to something called the Anne of Green Gables Museum. On the one hand, this place was less exciting, as we got a five-minute talk for our five dollars and then just explored the house/gift shop on our own.  On the other hand, the furniture and artifacts in this home were authentic to the family of Lucy Maud, not just the period. In fact, parts of the house are labeled private, because family still lives there. We saw the fireplace in front of which Lucy Maud married The Reverend Ewen MacDonald, the organ that played music for the wedding, and some of the contents from the “Blue Chest” – a real life event that inspired a story in Montgomery’s book The Story Girl. On this property is also a place they call the “Lake of Shining Waters”, also reminiscent of the Anne books. We walked down there to eke as much out of our $5.00 admission as we could.

Us, at the Shipwright's Cafe

We rounded out our day with a lovely dinner at a quaint little home converted into a restaurant. It was called the Shipwright’s Café and provided gluten-free options. We had a good time and enjoyed the intimacy of seeing the chef at work. The food was delicious! R.J. ordered the Island Beef and I ordered the Seafood Bubbly Bake. What an amazing, dream-come-true anniversary! I made a video for R.J. as an anniversary present, which is posted here: Anniversary Video Link

Day 12 was another day of adventures. We started toward Prince Edward Island National Park, with the goal of seeing Covehead Lighthouse. Our first stop along the way came shortly after the park entrance. We walked up a boardwalk to see the beach. This is where the ocean and I first got some time to spend together. I finally got my feet wet! After a brief time on this part of the beach, we got back in the car and continued on to the Covehead Lighthouse.  As we got out of the car, we saw another Minnesota license plate. We had fun visiting with a couple from White Bear Lake. How cool is that?! Covehead is one of the most photographed lighthouses on the Island, and I understand why. It’s just so cute! It is nestled in grassy sand dunes, small in stature (you know I like that!), and not “set apart” by any fences or visitor centers. It’s just there, doing its job, like the little engine that could. R.J. and I walked up the beach for half an hour and then back down again. The beach was almost empty, and we had a wonderful walk.

Back in the car again, we traveled on and around the central scenic drive toward Charlottetown. We arrived right around noon and drove around a bit because it was very difficult to find a parking spot around the area we had chosen for a picnic, Victoria Park. It was a really cute park, with lots of great playground equipment (and several classes of school children, in addition to families, playing on them). We spread out our blanket and had a picnic under the pines, on the waterfront.  We had a nice lunch, but by the end the clouds were looking pretty dark. We walked across the park to go take a look at a nearby lighthouse. Just as we got close enough to take some pictures, it started sprinkling. I took a few more pictures, and then it started sprinkling a little harder. All the kids in the park were packing it up to head out. I totally enjoyed all their observations about the weather as we walked along out of the park with them. Then it really started raining, and everybody started walking faster. We made it back to the car and left Charlottetown in the rain. It didn’t really rain for long, though.

We took the rest of the central coastal drive back to the Confederation Bridge, where we had begun it as we arrived on the Island. Then we drove across the Island through still more beautiful scenery. We ate a quiet supper in our cottage and had a restful evening.

North Rustico Lighthouse

Today (Day 13, June 20), we began very slowly. We spent enough time in the car yesterday and weren’t crazy about going anywhere early. It was close to 10:00 before we headed out on a short trip to Cavendish to do some souvenir shopping. We did that until about noon and then went back to our cottage for lunch. We relaxed until about 2:00 and then took a couple more short scenic drives. We started by seeing the North Rustico Lighthouse. It is a little lighthouse that is visible from the end of the land where our cottage is located. I see it across the bay all the time, and wanted to see it up close. I snapped a few pictures, and we were on our way again.

There was one spot where the central coastal drive splits into two sections, and we wanted to take the more “coastal” section of it. What a treat that was! First of all, the scenery was outstanding. And second of all, one of my dreams for the trip came true. I got to see a cute little red fox, up close and personal! We were approaching a pull-off  on the side of the road for a scenic overlook. There were a couple of cars parked in the area, and beside the cars was a small animal. At first I thought it was a dog, but as we got closer, I started saying, “That’s not a fox, is it?” I had just been commenting earlier today how I really wanted to see one. R.J. said, “I can’t believe it! You just say you want to see one, and there it is!” We approached slowly and I snapped pictures out of the rolled down window on my side of the van. We parked, and I got out with my camera in hand. The fox did not run away, and I started talking to him, telling him to come on back over and see me. He trotted a few steps my direction and then veered parallel to where I was, with me snapping pictures the whole time. A car came by, and he trotted into the woods, but he came back out after a few minutes and investigated the rest area further. He may have smelled food, but whatever the reason, he was very interested in that rest area and not that scared by our presence. He trotted up the side of the road after a few more minutes, with me telling him thank you for letting me take his pictures.

With that experience in my pocket, we continued on our way. There was more scenery to be seen! We made it back to our cottage around 5:00 and relaxed for a bit before fixing supper. I can’t believe we only have one more full day here. I will miss this place.