The Pilgrimage to Green Gables

"It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?" --Anne Shirley

We had an absolutely delightful time exploring the property that inspired L.M. Montgomery to create the Anne series. The house and property were her cousins, and she stayed with her grandparents across the road. The house was decorated to represent things like "Matthew's room," "Marilla's room" (complete with amethyst broach on the dresser), and of course, "Anne's room." Yes, these are fictional characters so they aren't really their rooms, but we did not care! And neither did any of the other Anne fans who journey there every year ha!

The house is part of the PEI National Park, and thanks to Canada's birthday this year, was free entry, as well as the other places like Cavendish Beach: where you see the classic PEI coastline of red sand dunes and cliffs. Thanks, and happy birthday, Canada! My advice if you plan to visit? Get there right at opening like we did--no lines and not many people. The line was out the door and around the house when we were leaving. 

The property around the house was so beautiful. Lots of "scope for the imagination." We took walks through the Haunted Wood, and Lovers Lane of course!

Enjoying some raspberry cordial. Yum! Don't worry, we didn't get drunk ;)
"I just love bright red drinks, don't you? They taste twice as good as any other color." --Anne Shirley

Meeting Anne! Diana was also there. Once again, when we were leaving, there were huge lines to take pictures with them. Crazy!


Jenn should get a summer job playing Anne

Just down the road from the house is the cute little "village" of Avonlea. It's a bunch of original buildings from the time that have been moved and turned into shops and restaurants. It was a perfect little lunch spot. Super touristy in all things regarding Anne, but did you see our shirts?? Is that not why we came?? Ha!

And our last stop in Cavendish was the cemetery where L.M. Montgomery is buried. Her mother and grandparents are also buried there, and I just loved their headstone. I love the finger pointing to "God is Love" at the top. 

Such a fun and memorable morning exploring, and meeting people from around the world who love Anne as much as we do. (lots of Chinese and  Japanese people there who came all the way to PEI for Anne!)

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” --Anne Shirley

Dreamy Prince Edward Island

 We have dreamed for YEARS of coming here. Planning five schedules was complicated, but we finally made it! And I feel confident in saying that Prince Edward Island lived up to expectations. An incredibly beautiful island with so much natural beauty, as well as charming towns, and incredibly nice people--I know I've already said it but they were extra nice here! I already miss it so much, and I was just there a week ago. Prince Edward Island, you won me over completely.

To get there, we opted to drive the Confederation Bridge across, rather than the ferry. Mostly because we didn't want to have to worry about coordinating schedules. This bridge is 10 miles long! It was pretty impressive.

^^views from the bridge^^

^^I spy Mel Mel again^^

Our schedule for our time in Prince Edward Island was pretty open, with one day devoted to all things Anne of Green Gables. So when we first arrived, we just drove around along the coast, stopping to eat at this coastal restaurant, with the best lobster burger (basically just a bunch of lobster meat, butter and a brioche bun)--yummiest lobster I have had!

We explored different beaches and lighthouses and coastal towns, had afternoon tea, and did a little exploring in Charlottetown, the capital. We had a wonderful time and I did not want to leave!

Just such a dream come true for us!

Welcome to Canada, eh!

To break up the driving, we spent one night in St. John, New Brunswick, and it was a lovely city. This was my first time to Canada (besides the Canadian side of Niagara Falls so does that even count?) and it was great. No traffic, and incredibly nice people. They just got nicer and nicer! And they really do say "eh" after things ha. 

We just walked around the waterfront and downtown a bit, and also visited the City Market, which is apparently the oldest market in North America. It was a fun market. And just down the road was another really cool artisan fair going on. I love that stuff. 

 ^^loved this cute display^^

 ^^our souvenir from St. John were these cute silver knot rings.^^

There were these statues all over the city. They grew on us.

Then we were off to the much anticipated Prince Edward Island!! yay!!!

Our Mother and Daughter Trip aka The Cancer Victory Tour

I have sooo much I want to blog about from our summer adventures, but I really want to talk about my most recent first because it is fresh on my mind and so amazing.

My mom has had a pretty crappy year. Last March she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has gone through surgery, chemo, radiation, and one last surgery. My sisters and I decided to finally make one of her dreams a reality and plan a trip for her---to have something to look forward to, and to celebrate with her at the end of it.

I have so much admiration for her and how she has handled it. She kept her job and worked throughout all of it: I called it her therapy, because oh my word, the notes of encouragement, and gifts, and daily affirmations from these kids at the elementary school would drive me to tears every time she would tell me about it. So grateful for those sweet children for being her cheerleaders.

And then on top of that, my mom's mom, my wonderful grandma, passed away just days before our trip. So that was hard on her and all of us. We tweaked the trip so we could all be there for her funeral, and then we were able to all leave together. My mom definitely deserved this trip.

Our first stop was beautiful and lovely Coastal Maine. More specifically Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

 ^^heart eyes emoji^^

 ^^right after this, my phone fell into a tide pool and was broken the rest of the trip womp womp. good thing I still had my nice camera^^

^^I spy Mel Mel^^

 ^^hydrangea heaven!^^

 Jordan Pond at Acadia

After a lovely day in Maine, we got in the car to cross the border to the exotic land of Canada! But no stamps in our passports to prove it bummer ;)