Travelogue: Green Gables, Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada: Step Back in Time

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In this contemporary world of digital books and developing genres, L.M. Montgomery's books published beginning in 1908 are still popular today. Readers fell in love with Anne of Green Gables, a feisty, red-headed orphan who persuaded an elderly farmer and his sister to take her in even though they had wanted a boy to help work the farm. Her adventures are chronicled in a series of eight books which take place on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.

Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Panoramic photo by J.Q. Rose

We visited Green Gables as one of our stops in PEI on our trip last month. Join me as we step through the portal back to the late 1800's at this charming farmstead rich in history and beauty.

This house actually existed during Lucy Montgomery's time. She could see it from her home she shared with her grandparents in Cavendish, PEI, and roamed the countryside around it. The house is furnished as she wrote about it in the books, much richer than the real occupants would have lived.

So here we go. Grab your bonnets and I'll show you around.

The path from the Green Gables Heritage Place Visitors Center leads you to this enormous barn. Inside are tools and machinery from the 19th century. This would be a fun and educational field trip for kids to learn about farming when there were no air-conditioned tractors or multitasking combines.

The green gables certainly signal you have arrived.

The furnishings were rich and lovely. Amazing wallpapers and carpeting in every room.

The kitchen was stocked with beautiful dishes and no modern conveniences. 

Where's the microwave, the running water, the refrigerator?Life would be hard in the 19th century. We complain, but this step back in time made me appreciate our modern way of life.

This is the entrance to the Haunted Woods.

The scenery in the area is breathtaking. No wonder Lucy Montgomery always referred to it as "home" even after she moved away to Ontario. Her final resting place is the Cavendish Cemetery.

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Have you read Anne of Green Gables? I started reading it before we left on our trip and throughout the visit (when I could keep my eyes open long enough to read.) The story is sweetly told. Now considered a children's book, Anne is a great gal to help the reader, young or old, to escape this modern world for awhile.

If you're interested in getting the Anne of Green Gables series , I downloaded this eBook and I'm happy with the formatting. All but two of the series are in the book, plus many other books by L.M. Montgomery, and also the classics, Pride and Prejudice and Call of the Wild.

Photos by J.Q. Rose