14. Prince Edward Island – 2005

This trip was a pilgrimage to visit L.M. Montgomery’s (LMM) home island and the setting of so many of her books. Knowing my love of the “Anne” books, my wonderful husband, Jerry planned the whole trip. A dream come true.

I first read Anne of Green Gables (AGG) when I was 9 or 10, in Hebrew, living in Israel, while sick. My mom gave me the book, which in Hebrew was called “The Orphan”.  She read it in Poland (in Polish) when she was 10 years old in 1925. (It was first translated into Polish in 1918). I just loved this book. 

A couple of years later when we were emigrating to the U.S., my mom tried to sweeten idea of the move by promising me that when I learned English, I could read the other books in this series.  (At that point, only AGG was translated into Hebrew). I learned to read English and went looking for a book called “The Orphan” – no luck.  I asked friends but they had never heard of it.  It was only a few years later, when I learned how to do library searches that I learned that “The Orphan” was called Anne of the Green Gables.  What joy.  I took out the rest of the Anne series from the library.  At that time (early 1960s) most of LMM books were out of print and forgotten (except by me and a few others).  But then in 1985 when a multi part movie of the book aired, LMM came back into favor.  Her books were re-issued, and eventually I was able to read the rest of her novels.  I shared my love of the novels with my kids, grandkids, and friends. LMM is still popular and PEI is a popular tourist destination.

Visiting PEI was an enchanting experience.  As I took hikes or drove around, I could picture Anne walking through the Haunted Woods or to school.  PEI is still a quiet place with little traffic and lots of farms.  The roads and beaches are really red. 

Many of LMM’s books take place in the fictional town of Avonlea (in actuality, Cavendish, PEI). 

We stayed in a lovely B&B called Kindred Spirits in Cavendish, pictured to the right.  Anne was always looking for “kindred spirits” i. e. someone who is your best friend and gets you. She had been a lonely orphan and longed for a friend.

At the PEI Green Gables National Park I saw the house that Green Gables was modeled on. It originally belonged to David and Margaret MacNeil, who were cousins of LLM’s maternal grandparents, Lucy and Alexander MacNeil. LMM went to live with these grandparents at age 2 when her mom died and her dad went out West. The house is furnished to look like it would have looked in LMM’s time (early 1900s). What fun.

There was also an “Avonlea Village”, a recreation of the fictional village. A church and manse that LMM had attended were brought from their original site and furnished with late 1800s furniture. It also had a recreated one room school house. I expected to be hokey but it was really a wonderful experience.

I really enjoyed being on this beautiful island on the lovely September days. We hiked and visited lighthouses as well as sat quietly watching glorious sunsets.

Final comment: Sometimes you just need to go somewhere to find your younger self.

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