25 October 2006
In Avonlea
We had another day off yesterday and in the morning visited Green Gables. As Sophie is a longtime fan of the Anne books, this was something of a pilgrimage for her. (She’d persuaded Rowan to read Anne of Green Gables on the way here, and he liked it too.) Lucy Maud Montgomery was brought up in Cavendish by her grandparents, and Green Gables is the nearby farmhouse where two elderly cousins of her grandfather lived. The setting inspired the house where Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert lived with Anne. It’s now owned by Parks Canada and has been restored to how it would have been when the books were set, based partly on descriptions in the books. Anne’s bedroom was just like we imagined it, probably because it’s described in detail in the book.
We cycled halfway back (Em had given us a lift there) but had to ring Em at North Rustico to get her to pick us up, as she was planning to go to Charlottetown in the afternoon and we wouldn’t have made it in time if we’d cycled all the way.
In the afternoon we went into Charlottetown with Em and the children. We dropped off some soap at an organisation that gives work to disabled people. They pack soap into gift boxes for the Great Canadian Soap Co. The children roped Sophie into an impromptu basketball game in the meantime.
After that we went downtown and while Em and the children went to the library, we wandered around Charlottetown centre. It’s a nice place, but everything remotely touristy was shut. Green Gables seems to be the only visitor attraction open out of season (“season” being July and August, as far as we can tell) on the whole island. Everything in Cavendish was shut too.
In the evening Rowan played hockey again in the garden.
