Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Prince Edward Island. I was
first introduced to Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery as a pre-teen, and since then, I’ve read pretty much everything by Montgomery that is in print. I’ve also wanted to visit Montgomery’s home island ever since then. And, this summer, I finally made it happen.
I spent three nights total on the island and spent about a day and a half exploring sites connected to Maud (as she liked to be called). Maud spent most of her growing-up years in Cavendish, which was also the inspiration for Avonlea. The house that was the inspiration for Green Gables is now a heritage site. The museum is well laid out and really nice, but it was also quite busy when I was there. As a result, I didn’t spend quite as much time there as I might have. Across from Cavendish Cemetery (where Maud is buried) is Montgomery Park, which features a statue of Maud.
In Cavendish, I also stopped by the site of the home that she grew up in (the building is no longer standing), the church she attended, and the post office that she helped to run. From there, I drove out to the house she was born in. This was my favorite stop of the day because the museum was well-documented, and the person on staff that day knew a lot about Maud and her family. Also, it was much less busy and had more of the vibe of a little historical society stop.
Next, I stopped at the Anne of Green Gables Museum in Park Corner. Maud had lived here for a while, and this house inspired some of her non-Anne books, including
Pat of Silver Bush. My final stop for that day was the Bideford Parsonage Museum. Maud had roomed with the parson’s family there for one year while she was teaching at the local school.
The next day, my last “Maud” location that I visited was the Lower Bedeque School House in Bedeque. While the school house has been moved some from its original location, Maud did teach in that exact one-room school house.
I also explored other parts of PEI that were not directly connected to L. M. Montgomery, and I did enjoy those as well, but I wanted to document my time with Maud and her island. I know that sometimes we can be dismissive of novels, especially novels with teenage protagonists and aimed towards that age bracket, but Montgomery’s novels and her characters have encouraged me over the decades as I’ve read and re-read her works. I appreciate the enthusiasm for life, the grit and tenacity, and the love despite hardships that her characters embody.
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