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This summer we planned our first real family vacation. Living so far from all of our family means that in general our trips revolve around visiting them, so since we've had children we've never actually taken a long trip just for the fun of it. It felt awfully extravagant but I'm so glad we did it.
We began the trip by camping in Maine on the way up to the island to break up the car ride. I know what you are thinking--"Cristina, why did you sleep in a tent when you are so very, very pregnant? How did you even get back up once you got in there?" To which I can only reply that it wasn't that bad and really I can do anything for just one night--even rustic tent camping with no running water to be seen. And the kids have been begging to go camping all summer and we haven't done it so I felt a bit guilty. It was a gorgeous little spot on a tiny homestead with animals and a blueberry patch and homemade jam for sale so that helped. We want to go back to Maine and do some more exploring soon, but this trip was all about getting up to Prince Edward Island and fulfilling the dreams of my youth so we couldn't linger.
Also, I wanted a hot shower.
Ever since the first time I read Anne of Green Gables I've wanted to go to PEI and see the places that inspired it for myself. I was a little nervous because there is always the risk that the place you're imagining won't quite live up to your expectations but in this case my worries were unfounded. PEI is beautiful. It's everything L.M. Montgomery described and more. As she put it in her journals, it's a "colorful little land of ruby and emerald and sapphire."
I found a house to rent that was well away from all of the touristy nonsense that has sprung up around the Anne of Green Gables spots. Think Myrtle Beach, but worse because it's all so out of place when you are searching for picturesque beauty and peaceful vistas not mini golf and bumper boats and an "Avonlea" themed village full of chain restaurants. I felt a little guilty touristing there at all after reading a biography of L.M. Montgomery's life and how her family ending up tearing down her old homestead to stop the tourists from overrunning the place. Admittedly that particular family member wasn't the most pleasant of men, but still, I can understand the sentiment. We went to the Green Gables Heritage site and toured the home that inspired the book, walked down Lover's Lane, took pictures with Anne, and drank raspberry cordial. It was really crowded there which is not my favorite but it was worth it. My favorite part was going around to the remains of her childhood home as which was very quiet and much more my speed. There was an adorable bookstore there where I bought a collection of her short stories that I had never seen before, passed on buying the boxed set of Anne books that I really wanted but probably didn't need, and got into a discussion of the horrors of the Anne with an E series with the girls behind the counter. All in all, a lovely morning.
That was the extent of the L.M. Montgomery sightseeing since we only had three full days on the island and for some reason the boys didn't want to only visit sights Anne sights. To keep everyone happy we did general sightseeing in the mornings and then spent our afternoons at the beaches. Our first day there was a Sunday so we drove over to Charlottetown and went to mass at the beautiful basilica there, had lunch on the water and ate ice cream. The second day we did our Anne sightseeing on the north of the island and the third day we went all the way up to the eastern tip of the island and visited a railway museum at what was once the end of the line before they pulled out all the train tracks on the island. I would have dearly loved to have been able to ride a train all over the island, but no one seems to care about the romance of a thing when cold hard economic facts are involved. Oh well.
We spent the rest of the time at the beaches and there are so many different types of beaches on the island! The children and I all agreed that the red clay beach on the south of the island was our favorite. The kids spent the whole time there gathering up hermit crabs and putting them together in a "house" they dug out and decorated with things a hermit crab might enjoy. Chris on the other hand, preferred the white sand beach on the east side of the island that had the biggest waves and, I believe not coincidentally, was the most like his beloved North Carolina beaches. The sand there allegedly sings, but it was so loud and crowded that I never heard it though the kids swear that they could.
It was kind of glorious to get away and putz around little seaside towns, not worrying about the chores and unfinished projects awaiting us at home. I had grabbed a book to take with me on the trip and it ended up being the perfect vacation read--but then I firmly believe that books find you right when you need them. I had found this one in the free bin outside of a local thrift shop and it it's all about an Episcopal priest who is in desperate need of a vacation--At Home in Mitford. One part in particular was speaking right to me:
"Bodily fatigue, which nearly always accompanies this hateful malady, can wear down the spirit. And how can the Holy Spirit work with a vessel that's leaking as fast as he can fill it?"It's been a difficult year and I didn't realize how worn out I was until Chris got up to Vermont and pretty much took over everything. Turns out I was in desperate need of a vacation too, I just hadn't realized it until I was on one. We probably shouldn't wait another ten years before we take a real family trip again :)
PS If you want a good biography of L.M. Montgomery, may I suggest this one? It's long but I couldn't put it down.
