Anne of Green Gables

When we visited the Green Gables site in Cavendish, the first thing I saw was a barn and then I thought that I saw the redheaded fictional character of Lucy Maud Montgomery enter the barn. I could see the house and the buggy that the exuberant orphan rode when she arrived to be adopted by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, but Anne had disappeared. I peaked into her bedroom and saw the dress with the big puffy sleeves that she wanted. I went into the sewing room, and into the flower garden. Terry even went into the scary woods where she imagined all sorts of wild things but we didn’t see Anne again.

We drove to Springbrook and saw the place where Lucy Maud Montgomery was born. I saw a copy of Miss Montgomery’s wedding dress and some newspaper clippings and diaries. There was the stove that looked like the one that she wrote about. Upstairs was the room where Lucy was born. Downstairs there were copies of her books. I bought a new copy for my grand daughter.

July 4th was the date Terry picked to leave P.E.I. so we bade it farewell as we rode over the eight-mile long bridge in the fog.

Prince Edward Island

Did you hear that it is expensive to drive over the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island? It’s free. They only charge you to leave P.E.I. and that was $56.50 for both the RV and the car.

Prince Edward Island has lots of lighthouses, a few “old salts” and lots of fishing villages. Many small farms grow hay, alfalfa, and potatoes in their red soil. We saw a few barns that are shaped like the Quonset huts that were popular after WWII. You often see clothes hanging on lines by the houses. Wildflowers, especially very large purple and pink lumen, dot the lush green countryside. What amazed me was every yard is clean, buildings are painted, and people seemed to take pride in their homes and farms. I didn’t see litter anywhere.

Small white Protestant churches and large Catholic churches are seen in the tiny villages.

The scale of the map, that we received when we entered P.E.I., is large. I looked for a village and then realized that we were past it already. I think that if there were 12 or more people in an area, you could call it a town. One town was even called “Five houses”. I only saw two towns, Summerside and Charlottetown with populations of over 2,000 on the map.

We saw an eagle, osprey, and a glimpse of a fox, but they were camara shy. An 18 month old baby must have seen the fox too because Isabel pointed and said “doggy.” We met her and her mother and grandmother at the lighthouse at East Point. They even sold lobster rolls for lunch. I was lucky enough to get one.

Even though it has been 101 years ago that Lucy Maude Montgomery wrote “Anne of Green Gables”, the author is the best-known woman of the island. In the next blog, I’ll write about her.

Kings Landing Historical Settlement

On Canada Day, July 1, Terry and I decided to visit Kings Landing. This settlement was created in the 1960’s when many historical homes were threatened by the construction of the Mactaquac Dam along the St. James River. The girls in this picture were playing some sort of game. We enjoy reenacting too. I was allowed to put on a stylish French hat and have a photo taken even though I didn’t have a proper dress. I even sang a duet with the guitarist by the King’s Head Inn.

I ate fiddle back soup for lunch with fresh biscuits while Terry ate the corn chowder at this inn. Later we were given warm cinnamon rolls and lemonade in the Heustis house.

All kinds of houses in this settlement were depicted from the simple one room cabin to elaborate mansions. Notice that in the fancy house, my lady had her own room for bathing in a blue tub. Terry took a picture of this gazebo only to discover that it was an elegant “outhouse.”

The women were busy with cooking over open fires, spinning, knitting, hooking rugs, and washing dishes. The men were busy in the saw and gristmills, carpenter shop, cooper shop, blacksmith and on the farm except for the men who were who were more concerned with politics. Since it was the 225th anniversary of when New Brunswick was made a separate colony in British North America, the men reenacted the first time that they could vote in NB. Loyalists were calling their opponents, “rebel rascals”. Fists were shown. Although women couldn’t vote, they were noisy in their political opinions.

Would we be as interested in mills if we are not Millers? Yes, I have always loved to visit old mills. There is wonderful waterwheel on the sawmill plus a beautiful stone gristmill.

After four hours of walking and visiting, we were glad to return to the entrance in this horse drawn red wagon. At home, in our RV, we watched fireworks from our livingroom window.

New Brunswick’s Long Covered Bridge

We arrived in Woodstock, New Brunswick on Friday, June 26, and found a delightful campground of 15 spaces along the St. John River. Not only can we see the river from our windshield window but also it is far enough off the main road so we don’t get traffic noise. We have 50 amps of electricity, water, and sewer. Since it is raining and we have such a nice spot, we decided to stay for 6 days to catch up on the Internet and get some rest.

Terry is doing the most important thing on the whole trip. He is reading about the Maritime Provinces and getting reservations on the ferry for going to New Foundland and coming back.

We did take a trip to Hartland, New Brunswick, in our car to drive through the longest covered bridge in the world. It is 1282 feet long. The drive along the St. John River was beautiful with farmhouses and buildings dotting the countryside. We even saw a bird in this nest, which we think is an osprey.

Remember that double clicking in the lower left side of the photo can enlarge all our pictures. Whatever you are doing for July 1, which is Canada Day or July 4th, which is Independence Day - be sure to have fun.