“Dear old world", she murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I have to wonder what Prince Edward Island would be like had Lucy Maud Montgomery not been born.   Much of the popularity of the Cavendish area of the island is owed to her.  I wouldn’t have necessarily understood that if I didn’t have the habit of reading a book set in a place I am planning to visit.  The book I chose for PEI was the classic Anne of Green Gables, written by L.M. Montgomery.   Reading it made me wonder how in the world I missed it in my youth.  I read everything I could get my hands on back in the day.  I still do but my tastes have been refined to deal with the overload of books and the underload of time.

When I mentioned a few blog entries ago that I hadn’t read the book as a kid, I got an interesting comment from Blogger friend, Beth of “E.”Lizard Breath Speaks.  She said, “ok - i have to address something 1st - (not yelling, just totally shocked??!) you have NEVER READ ANNE of green Gable???!! what????!?! are you kidding me. i have read & seen the movies a billion million times. wow, i am laying on the floor. that is so wild. can't wait to hear you thoughts. i know you will love it. such a great story. as a kid i played Diana, i would never pull it off as Anne - i loved the play. it was such fun. ( :”  SO, I am dedicating this post to Beth.  I think she would really love going up to Cavendish and seeing where Anne (with an “e”) roamed around.  And I did love the book, by the way.

If you go, stop in here first.  It's a small museum of Montgomery's life and there are relatives of hers there hanging out who talk about her early life on PEI.

Then they direct you toward the Haunted Wood Trail, which is part of the Green Gables Heritage Place.  This wood is said to have inspired her description of the hollow described in the Green Gables books.  Along the trail are placards that talk about Montgomery’s life and have quotes like this one:

Yes, it rained that day.

The wood opened up onto the area where the Green Gables house sits.  It pretty much matched my imagination, but then my imagination is nothing compared to Anne’s.

This is what Anne’s room might have looked like.

And out in the barn, we actually met Anne who roamed around and greeted people.  This young woman did a nice job staying in character.

I have to say, that I have added the rest of the Anne books to my list of things I have to read one of these days.  But you know how it goes…so many books, so little time.  But if we manage to get back to PEI in the future, it will give me an excuse to pick one up.  Unfortunately, so many places, so little money and so many obligations that keep you stuck in one place.   But a person can hope and dream, can’t one?   Here’s what Anne said about it, “Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”