After our first day on Prince Edward Island, I recorded in my journal: "This landscape is giving me life." As soon as I set foot on it, I was in love.
PEI has three colors: vibrant green, deep blue, punchy orangish-red. And in June, these three are accented by pops of rich purple. I have never fallen so fast and so hard for a place. L.M. Montgomery's writings are full of detailed descriptions, and they came to life before my very eyes.
Day 3 (Saturday)
Despite the three-hour time difference, I was determined not to waste a single morning. Mike and I were down on the beach by 6:45am . . . and we stayed all of ten minutes. The wind had come up overnight, and the sea was a wild thing, grey and white capped.
The sand was driving its way down the beach, being pushed around like snow in a blizzard. I had put a sweater on under my jacket and cinched up the hood tight around my face but the wind was resisting every step we tried to take. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind!" I yelled back to Mike over the gale. We called it quits and headed back to the warm house where we watched the temperamental ocean from the window instead and told the Gardners they had the right idea with staying in bed.
We planned to fill the day with L.M. Montgomery sites, and so it seemed like it was the time to wear my Anne outfit. (Kathy had put together a Diana-inspired outfit, and the two of us made quite the kindred pair!) I had worried it was going to be too warm to wear a cardigan, but as the brisk morning walk had just shown me, the day was at least starting out with cooler temps. The cardigan ended up being just right until about mid-afternoon, which was much longer than I could have hoped for. It was breezy for a few hours, but nothing like the cold gale-winds we had first experienced. Overall, a very pleasant day weather-wise.
Because it was starting out a bit cooler though, we decided to begin with an indoor site. We went to L.M. Montgomery's birthplace in New London. The home had photographs and newspaper articles and journals and a replica of her wedding dress. I especially loved seeing her scrapbooks.
Next, we made a stop at French River, mostly because it was said to be the inspiration for Glen St. Mary in the later Anne books. We drove to a viewpoint and stood on the edge, gazing across the pretty valley.
And then I happened to turn around and look behind me. I gave an audible gasp and exclaimed, "You guys! Look!!" Stretching out on the hill behind us was a field of lupine. They carpeted every inch and seemed to go on for miles. A private driveway ran through them, but it looked like it was open to visitors, so we crossed the road and walked up it.
Words don't do the scene justice, and photos can't quite capture it either, but it was absolutely breathtaking. I don't know what this field looks like at other times of the year, but at least in June, it is straight out of a fairytale. It was pure delight to walk through them. When the whole trip was said and done, accidentally stumbling upon this gorgeous scene was one of my favorite moments.
Our next stop was the Anne of Green Gables Museum which is housed in L.M. Montgomery's maternal aunt's home. It has a Green Gables look about it even though it was actually the inspiration for another literary setting (Silver Bush). Maud had a close relationship with her Aunt Annie and Uncle John and spent a lot of time in this home and wandering the grounds.
It is also home to the Lake of Shining Waters and a lovely little path called Whispering Lane.
We toured the house which has some notable items that were made or owned by Maud or other family members. Generally speaking, I like the idea of museums but usually feel a bit overwhelmed by all there is to look at and read. That was not the case with all of the L.M. Montgomery sites. I loved taking the time to really notice the details and read the information. Because everything was divided between several different sites and each site was small, it felt less daunting than a large-scale museum. It also helped that I was familiar with a lot of things about L.M. Montgomery and her books, and so these places and things actually meant something to me.
After finishing at the Campbell home, we were ready for lunch, and Mike and James had their eye on The Handpie Company, which recently opened a location in Cavendish. We got a bunch of hand pies and divvied them up. My personal favorites were the spicy black bean and the braised beef. I have also made it a rule to never pass up a chocolate chip cookie, and the one from Handpie did not disappoint.
Once we were fueled up, we were ready to go again. We went to Green Gables Heritage Place. Although many of the Montgomery sites are owned by family members, this one is a national park. We went to the visitor center first, which included an excellent overview of Maud's life and was presented in a really beautiful way.
Then we went through Green Gables, which was the actual inspiration for the literary Green Gables. The home was owned by Maud's third cousin, Myrtle Macneill Webb, and had a path (Lover's Lane) that connected it to the home Maud grew up in. Of Green Gables, she wrote: "Although I had the Webb place in mind I did not confine myself to the facts at all. . . It was by no means as tidy as I pictured Green Gables . . . They had a good cherry orchard but no apple orchard. However, I can easily create an apple orchard when I need one!"
The inside of the home has been made to look like Green Gables from the book with a bedroom for Anne, one for Marilla, and one for Matthew. There are little details like a broken slate, a brown dress with puffed sleeves, and an amethyst brooch that all give nods to the book.
We then explored the Haunted Wood and Lover's Lane. One of things I loved best were all the quotes from L.M. Montgomery scattered along the path. I would stop to read her description and then look up to see it actually in front of me. It made her stories come to life to see the actual landscape she was looking at when she wrote them. Even though Lover's Lane connects to the property that Maud grew up on, we saved that site for another day.
We realized we had been on PEI for more than 24 hours with no ice cream yet. This seemed wrong, so we stopped at Cows in Avonlea Village. I got the strawberry sorbet because it was quite warm by that point in the day, and it sounded more refreshing than ice cream. We took the opportunity to sit down and call our kids while we ate.
Next we went to see the lighthouse at Cape Tryon. It is said to be the inspiration for the Four Winds Lighthouse in Anne's House of Dreams. You can stand right at the edge of the cliff (made me a little nervous, not going to lie), and the view was breathtaking.
I awoke early once again. This time, I decided to just sit on our porch in view of the ocean and knit. The sea looked different every day, and on this morning, it was a deep, tranquil blue.
We planned to go to church at the Summerside Branch, which was about about 40 minutes away. I love going to church in other places. It is beautiful and comforting to be around kindred saints living the same gospel thousands of miles away from home. Aside from being mistaken for James' mother (what? how??), we had a very nice time attending both hours of church.
Most of the 1985 Anne of Green Gables was actually filmed on Ontario, but the White Sands Hotel is a real place on PEI. Its actual name is Dalvay-by-the-Sea, and it was built in 1895 as a family summer home. It was not what inspired L.M. Montgomery's White Sands Hotel, but because of its appearance in the movie, it has been forever linked with Anne, and for good reason: it is quite the picturesque spot.
We had made reservations at Dalvay for lunch, and it was the quietest, gentlest meal we had on the trip. The dining hall was open and spacious with beautiful dark wood and windows on all sides. I took a chance on the raspberry cordial, wondering if it was going to be the same drink I'd had before but just three times as expensive, but it was significantly better. I also got the burrata salad and a pear and brie grilled cheese. This was one of my favorite meals of the trip, not only because of the serene ambiance but the burrata salad was surprisingly delicious.
Afterwards, we explored the hotel just a little bit before going out on the lawn where a game of croquet was set up. Of course we had to play! It was surreal to be playing croquet with the White Sands Hotel as a backdrop, but it also ended up being so fun in its own right. (Mike won, by the way.)
We went to nearby Brackley Beach, which also looked like it was straight out of the movie with its white sand and dunes. Even though we just walked along it, it seemed like the kind of beach you could easily spend the whole day at, and if we ever come back with our kids, that is what we will do.
By this point, the wind was starting to pick up. It was overcast and threatening rain. We made a brief stop at the grave of L.M. Montgomery before heading for home.
The rain did indeed come, so we cozied up in our house for the afternoon, and I actually can't think of a nicer way we could have spent the time. We finished a movie we had started the night before (The Hundred-Foot Journey), Kathy and I knitted, and James and Mike made dinner.
It was still misty and damp after we ate, but we decided to brave it anyway. We bundled up and headed out, and I'm so glad we did. We started at Cavendish Cliffs with the Dunelands hike. It took us past the Lake of Shining Waters (not the same one as yesterday, but it still claims the name too) and ended at Cavendish Beach.
The air was fresh and spicy with the scents of everything the rain was bringing out, and the vibe was dark and moody. The rain occasionally picked up a bit before settling back into a light drizzle. It was so quiet; we didn't see another soul as we walked along the floating boardwalk. It felt like we were the only people on the whole island, and I loved it.
When people asked if we had nice weather on our trip, I don't know if they were picturing a cool, wet evening as "nice." Clearly no one else thought it was nice since we had the whole walk and beach to ourselves. But it was perfect to me. I'm so glad we didn't stay inside for the whole evening. We would have missed out on one of the most beautiful memories of the trip.
To be continued . . .
Prince Edward Island: Introduction
