July 20, 2013

Today I realized a lifelong dream when my mom, Aunt Gail, and I arrived in the land of Green Gables, aka Prince Edward Island -- the basis of Anne of Green Gables (my favorite book) and the eight sequels, including one I didn't know about until I read about it on Wikipedia (The Blythes Are Quoted). According to Wikipedia, the book was delivered to author L. M. Montgomery's publisher the day of her death in 1942, and never published until 2009.

Of course, Anne with an e isn't really real but she feels real. I think I always identified with Anne because of when I started reading the books (gifts from my grandma) with my mom, I was about the same age that she is at the start of the books (11). (My copy of the first book, which has as its cover photo Megan Follows from the TV movie) isn't dated, but the third book, Anne of the Island, bears the inscription - "March 1991 - Happy Birthday, Colleen! Love, Grandma" - meaning I read/had read to me the first book before I was 10.) I don't know anyone who "talks" like Anne, but it sure is dramatic! And I always thought if I ever dyed my hair, it would definitely be red.

We flew out of Boston, connecting in Montreal, before arriving in Charlottetown, PEI's capital city. The biggest surprise was that after walking ... and walking ... in what seemed like a not very busy Montreal airport, we had to go through customs, THEN we had to pick up mom's checked bag, recheck it, and go back through security with our carryons. We now know why United (we booked through United, but it was an Air Canada flight) changed our flight on Wednesday (we were supposed to be coming back in the evening; now we're leaving PEI at 11:40 a.m.); we wouldn't have time to do all that in the time between flights. I guess I thought we wouldn't have to go through customs until getting to Boston. I guess that's why the Air Canada flights don't leave through the international gates at Logan.

The next biggest surprise was that they actually served us a free snack (buttery pretzels) on the way from Boston to Logan. So good! The third biggest surprise was that the Charlottetown airport was so tiny (just two gates - we walked off the plane outside and then walked in.)

When we got inside the airport we were greeted with an Anne cutout from Anne of Green Gables-The Musical (we have tickets for Monday night) and a giant cow promoting Cows Ice Cream (we saw the store later downtown and a sign saying it was Canada's best ice cream).

After getting the car and checking into our hotel, we went to the restaurant I thought sounded the best of the entries in the AAA book, Hunter's Ale House. The salad was very good and I don't usually like caesar salad (I think it was the bacon bits) as well as the potato, macaroni, and pasta salad, although the roll was a little dry. My Seafood Bubbly Bake (haddock, shrimp, and scallops in a cheese sauce) was very good although the sauce was thinner than I thought it would be. All our portions were huge, which is what the AAA book had noted. I probably could have finished the bake if I hadn't had the included salad bar, but I really enjoyed that part of the meal so don't regret it. We did get a slice of coconut cream pie to split three ways back at the hotel that was VERY good. Our waitress used the phrases "perfect" and "excellent" (very clipped) when we said our meals were good (as opposed to good or "awesome.") I asked her if she was from Ireland as in Once they use phrases like "brilliant" and she was!

After dinner we headed to the Anne of Green Gables Store and found ourselves next to Province House. Charlottetown is basically Canada's Philadelphia -- this is where a meeting took place that ultimately led to the creation of Canada in 1867. We also noticed the different walk symbols (that look like the pedestrian is bounding across the street - how very Anne-like) and the traffic light shapes (red squares for stop).

We also found the stage door of the Confederation Center of the Arts's Homburg Theatre, which is where Anne of Green Gables-The Musical takes place, as well as, this season, a new musical, Evangeline. (Anne runs Monday-Wednesday, while Evangeline runs Thursday-Saturday. On Sundays, they probably move the set back.) The Anne of Green Gables Store was closed, but we did find a, what appeared to be a 20-foot tall billboard outside The Guild Theatre (across the street from the other theatre) advertising Anne & Gilbert The Musical. It was hard not to notice Gilbert's eyes staring at me! When I was googling the other musical, I found a YouTube video for this, although I didn't realize that this year it moved to across the street (it had been in Summerside, PEI for the last seven years - this is the eighth season of the show, which covers the second and third books.)

Before heading back to the hotel, we went into the lobby of the Homburg Theatre. It was at intermission for Evangeline so the gift shop was open. We also looked at displays of the history of Anne of Green Gables-The Musical, and got some obligatory of the things out of the way.

When we got back to the hotel the cover story in the local paper, The Guardian, was about the "two Annes" and how the producers of the first one (which covers the first book and has been playing every summer since 1965) didn't think there was room for both in one town. Even though the producers say theirs has a higher production value, I just as seen those eyes in person! -- POSTED BY COLLEEN