Where should we go to appreciate Prince Edward Island?
July 15, 2011 10:55 AM Subscribe
What should an Anne of Green Gables superfan (but a gimmicky tourist stuff anti-fan) do for a weekend on Prince Edward Island?
My wife and I are spending a weekend on PEI later this month. She is a huge L.M. Montgomery fan, and has read each of the Anne books a zillion times, so she is super excited.
We are staying in Charlottetown and will have a car. We plan to go to Cavendish and to L.M. Montgomery's home site, but have no other plans. I think that our goal is to take in an appropriate amount of Anne of Green Gables stuff but to avoid (to the extent possible) taffy pulls and pictures with costumed look-a-likes or whatever other stuff they may have that tries to recreate that world in favor of a more general appreciation of the natural beauty and atmosphere of the island.
So, to appreciate the island as an inspiration for the books, what should be take in? Thanks to helpful previous questions, we are thinking about a lobster supper at St. Ann's and a bike ride along the coast, but we are completely open minded.
My wife and I are spending a weekend on PEI later this month. She is a huge L.M. Montgomery fan, and has read each of the Anne books a zillion times, so she is super excited.
We are staying in Charlottetown and will have a car. We plan to go to Cavendish and to L.M. Montgomery's home site, but have no other plans. I think that our goal is to take in an appropriate amount of Anne of Green Gables stuff but to avoid (to the extent possible) taffy pulls and pictures with costumed look-a-likes or whatever other stuff they may have that tries to recreate that world in favor of a more general appreciation of the natural beauty and atmosphere of the island.
So, to appreciate the island as an inspiration for the books, what should be take in? Thanks to helpful previous questions, we are thinking about a lobster supper at St. Ann's and a bike ride along the coast, but we are completely open minded.
On your own, you could look up some of the filming locations:
http://greengables.tripod.com/locations.html
posted by hylaride at 11:19 AM on July 15, 2011
http://greengables.tripod.com/locations.html
posted by hylaride at 11:19 AM on July 15, 2011
Is your wife interested in knowing more about what PEI was like at the time? I haven't been there, but as a Montgomery fan I think I'd take the opportunity of being there to look in PEI bookshops and libraries for local history information. You might find pamphlets about the area and Montgomery that are the sort of self-published or locally published items that don't travel far. And if you had time to spend some time looking at local newspaper archives from the time Montgomery was writing I think that would be fascinating.
posted by paduasoy at 11:23 AM on July 15, 2011
posted by paduasoy at 11:23 AM on July 15, 2011
L.M. Montgomery's house and the Green Gables house itself were very well done. The rest of Cavendish sort of is pretty touristy.
If you're looking for more history, the Farmer's Bank museum in nearby Rustico might interest you.
Just driving/biking around in the interior of the island was nice when I was there last August. There's a lot of dusty red unpaved roads, rolling hills, and farmland. Also, Seacow Head Lighthouse has the most amazing landscape. (Google Images)
posted by angels in the architecture at 11:51 AM on July 15, 2011
If you're looking for more history, the Farmer's Bank museum in nearby Rustico might interest you.
Just driving/biking around in the interior of the island was nice when I was there last August. There's a lot of dusty red unpaved roads, rolling hills, and farmland. Also, Seacow Head Lighthouse has the most amazing landscape. (Google Images)
posted by angels in the architecture at 11:51 AM on July 15, 2011
Walk some trails and look for lady's slipper orchids.
The campground at the national park is a perfect place to spot hundreds and hundreds of enormous bunnies, and the adjacent beach is the perfect place to spot millions and millions of disgusting jellyfish.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:37 PM on July 15, 2011
The campground at the national park is a perfect place to spot hundreds and hundreds of enormous bunnies, and the adjacent beach is the perfect place to spot millions and millions of disgusting jellyfish.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:37 PM on July 15, 2011
You could always get Diana drunk on current wine...
posted by jph at 1:03 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jph at 1:03 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh god, currant. But you probably want to make sure it is current as well, as I'm not sure the stuff ages well.
posted by jph at 1:04 PM on July 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jph at 1:04 PM on July 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think you should go on long hikes, and annotate the map with whatever ridiculously romantic names you can come up with.
posted by aimedwander at 1:15 PM on July 15, 2011
posted by aimedwander at 1:15 PM on July 15, 2011
This dude planned a whole Anne trip for his then-girlfriend (he proposed to her early on). It starts off... not in PEI, but it moves to Charlottetown pretty quickly, and winds up being recommendations for/against various things.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 1:45 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by flibbertigibbet at 1:45 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh sheesh, how could I forget. Go to the PEI Potato Museum. It has nothing to do with Anne. But it's awesome. And it has a gigantic potato outside it.
posted by GuyZero at 1:57 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 1:57 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
GuyZero: "Go to the PEI Potato Museum."
I did that a number of years ago with the then GF. It was worth the drive just to stand next to that big potato and have my picture taken. We also stayed for the potato history multimedia presentation. It was a great day.
posted by lampshade at 7:19 PM on July 15, 2011
I did that a number of years ago with the then GF. It was worth the drive just to stand next to that big potato and have my picture taken. We also stayed for the potato history multimedia presentation. It was a great day.
posted by lampshade at 7:19 PM on July 15, 2011
Go everywhere on the island Montgomery lived. I would pass on the musical; Anne is depicted as histrionic rather than enthusiastic. Some time ago there was a spoof called Annekenstein. I would LOVE to read a copy!
posted by brujita at 10:04 PM on July 15, 2011
posted by brujita at 10:04 PM on July 15, 2011
Some good tips I got when I went to PEI, and were awesome...
Check out Dunes Gallery and Cafe... great little spot for some shopping and a snack.
And the Cedar Dunes Provincial Park is close by to the Potato museum and stuff too.
Otherwise, PEI is amazing for driving around and just stumbling across things.
posted by smitt at 7:43 AM on July 18, 2011
Check out Dunes Gallery and Cafe... great little spot for some shopping and a snack.
And the Cedar Dunes Provincial Park is close by to the Potato museum and stuff too.
Otherwise, PEI is amazing for driving around and just stumbling across things.
posted by smitt at 7:43 AM on July 18, 2011
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Other than that you can maybe go see the various lighthouses - not very Anne-centric but they're nice.
posted by GuyZero at 11:18 AM on July 15, 2011