Day 7 - Anne!

It was a day full of smoking hot temperatures and Anne of Green Gables!

We began our day by walking across the street to the Cavendish cemetery to view the final resting place of Lucy Maud Montgomery.



We then continued on our way to PEI National Park: Green Gables.  It is a small site set on a large property right in the heart of Cavendish.  Of course, there never was a true "Anne of Green Gables" as she's a fictional character from a novel however they're done a great job of replicating what it would have looked like.  We had a great time exploring the barn (half movie theatre/half museum artifacts) and attending a ceilidh.  Just before lunch, we checked out the inside of the farm house as well.  It was interesting to see what a farm house of that time period would have looked like (reminded the girls of Fort Edmonton).  After lunch we walked the Lover's Lane trail and, of course, checked out the gift shop!  The girls all completed the National Park's Junior Explorer program and received a tag necklace for it.  I've saved the best for last... the highlight of this part of the day was absolutely meeting "Anne".  She did such a fabulous job of portraying the character; her way of speaking and actions were on pointe.  The best part was she spent a moment with each girl speaking to her; asking where she was from or the significance of her name, etc.  It was truly special!



Afterwards, we left the property by walking the Haunted Woods trail over to the site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish home.  As we arrived on the property we were all struck by how the surroundings "looked like" the Anne movies.  You could picture Matthew out in the field!  They gave us a small historical talk about the property and then we were off to walk to the site of the house in which Lucy stayed with her grandparents in Cavendish.  The original apple trees are still there!  It truly gave you a sense of how Lucy was inspired by her surroundings to write the books that she did.



Bus driver Brad was required to take the day off (because with our long hours we've been working him too hard - LOL!)  Our relief driver met us to drive us to the Anne of Green Gables museum in Park Corner, PEI.  Personally, this experience was even better than the Green Gables exhibit in Cavendish; definitely worth checking out if you're ever here.  The Campbell home, the L.M. Montgomery called the "wonder castle of my childhood", was built in 1872 by her uncle John and Aunt Annie Campbell.  The first Campbells settled there in 1776 and it is still in the Campbell family.  It is the setting of Lucy's "Anne's Lake of Shining Waters" novel.  Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted by a descendant of the family, Pamela.  Her enthusiasm and passion for her role truly made the experience there unforgettable.  We began with a short horse and carriage ride and then were put to work planting potatoes in the PEI red dirt field.  We learned that it takes about 75 days for the potatoes to grow and Pamela then gave each of us a PEI potato bag.  She said that any girls that return to PEI in 75 days, may harvest their own potatoes!  (Many would like to come back; we told them they'd need to return with their families!!)  After our hard work we were rewarded with home made ginger snaps and sugar cookies and refreshing lemonade (super appreciated on such a hot day!) We also had the opportunity to tour the family farm house which, as much as possible, has been left as it were in Lucy's day.  Original furniture, many photographs of the family, and stories made the tour of it exceptional.  Girls really enjoyed seeing the original blue chest (from Lucy's novel "Story Girl"), seeing Lucy's wedding dress, and the room in which she was married.



After leaving Silver Bush, we were off to the big city of Charlottetown.  We arrived with just enough time to eat our Swiss Chalet delivered supper and dress for the musical.  The run time for the show was 2 3/4 hours.  I thought for sure that we'd have some girls sleeping but they all seemed pretty into it!  We had amazing seats and thoroughly enjoyed it!  The raspberry cordial and treat during intermission didn't hurt either!



All in all, it was a fabulous day full of multiple "Anne" experiences.  We are so lucky!  We're off to a historical walking tour of Charlottetown with the Confederation Players this morning and then off on a boat for our clam dig experience!  Should be another great day!