Tuesday, July 13—Day 16
Today is my Mom's birthday—happy birthday, Mom! The day in Cavendish dawns hot and humid. Hilary and Marshal get up early and go in search of coffee and donuts as a surprise for Olivia and me. After realizing that Cavendish doesn't wake up until after 8:00 a.m., they ask a city caretaker who is working before the full heat of the day hits if any stores in Cavendish might be open at 7:00 a.m. He points them to Robin's Donuts. They return with a box of donuts and a large coffee for me. Bless them! We have milk in the refrigerator and the girls have a cup of milk with their donuts. We also split the last two bananas among the four of us. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it tastes yummy.
We eat, shower and load the car before stopping by the visitor's center. From there we head to Avonlea Village and arrive just as it is opening at 10:00 a.m.
The entrance to Avonlea Village is the train station and the first person we meet is Charlie Sloan, looking for the "boy from Nova Scotia." When we step out on the train platform we encounter and become a part of the Anne of Green Gables story! Matthew Cuthbert has arrived at the station to pick up the orphan he and Marilla had requested from Nova Scotia. Expecting a boy, he is somewhat flummoxed by the arrival of a girl, Anne Shirley. We watch as the story is acted out and follow the wagon as Matthew and Anne head for Green Gables to meet Marilla. There is a stage at the back of the Green Gables house and this morning and throughout the day we go back to the stage as the story unfolds.
At the stage we meet Mrs. Rachel Lynne and Marilla. Mrs. Lynne looks over the audience and chastises us for not being properly dressed—we women should properly be in long dresses and broad-brimmed hats to shade our faces and the men should be in long pants because they are over the age of 16 and should remove their hats in the presence of ladies! Ah, well, she comforts us, we can go to the general store and obtain the appropriate attire. Mrs. Lynne chastises Marshal for keeping his hat on and wearing sunglasses and for the rest of the day Marshal removes his hat and glasses every time he sees Mrs. Lynne!
We watch as Anne meets Marilla and her "bosom friend" Diana, then we head to the general store to get our "proper attire." The girls find lovely dresses to put on and I get several pictures of them dressed up.
The girls go to the arts and crafts shed and work on "spud people" (after all, this is Prince Edward Island, home of the great "Bud the Spud"). While they work on their potatoes, Marshal and I go to the barn to listen to some wonderful traditional island music. The musicians are quite talented and draw the crowd into the singing.
When the girls are done with their crafts, the school bell rings and they head to the schoolhouse for their first lesson of the day, which is history. After class we head back to the stage to see Anne's first day of school and to meet the handsome Gilbert Blythe! Charlie Sloane, always needing to work on his manners, eats watermelon in class by digging out the flesh with his hands. Gilbert Blythe makes the mistake of calling Anne "carrot head" and earns her wrath for a long time to come.
After the schoolhouse enactment, we get out our picnic lunch and eat in the shade. The day has become hotter and muggier and we appreciate having a cool spot in the shade to enjoy our lunch. After lunch I take some time and write a postcard to Mom and Dad and then mail it from the general store.
When lunch is done we watch the story of Anne's first tea party with Diana, in which Anne accidentally serves Diana blackberry wine instead of raspberry cordial. The scene is well acted and everyone has a hearty laugh. When the story is done, go back to the main street and there are Gilbert and Charlie dressed as girls having a mock tea party. Great fun!
Hilary heads to the barn to pet the animals and Olivia heads to the craft shed where she makes a pretty paper flower where the petals are her handprints. At the end of the day she gives her flower to Anne (by now all of us are on a first name basis with Anne and Diana!).
Next we hear the school bell ring again and the girls head back to class for a math lesson with Miss Stacey. The children sit at the desks and use slates and chalk to do their lesson. After the math lesson Hilary and Olivia go to the barn for a children's music show and sing along, then we go back to the stage to see the story of the lost brooch and Anne's new dress from Matthew.
Hilary and Olivia visit with Anne and Diana in Mrs. Lynne's house. They are thrilled to spend time with Anne and Diana and talk with them for quite a while before asking to have their picture taken with them. We wander over to the barn and go for a ride in a wagon pulled by two large draft horses.
The afternoon continues with a square dance by the barn (I dance with Matthew Cuthbert and Marshal dances with Miss Stacey). The girls participate in a circle dance and then Mrs. Lynne organizes a suffrage parade and even manages to get some men to carry the suffrage banner. Marshal plays the tambourine in the parade and Hilary and Olivia carry international flags. We march to the open field near the Presbyterian Church (which is the actual Presbyterian Church that Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books, attended!) and spend the rest of the afternoon at the country fair.
Hilary and Olivia participate in the potato sack race, the egg-in-the-spoon race, and the water-in-a-boot race (one of the favorite races because the kids get wet and get to throw water on Anne, Gilbert, Diana, and Charlie!). There is even a pie-eating contest for the men.
When the country fair is over we go to the church for a concert before heading to the stable for the pig races organized by Charlie Sloan. There are three pigs in the race, all described by
Charlie as pink, hairy, curly tailed and with snouts. Truth be told, the only way we can tell the pigs apart is by the green 1, 2 or 3 painted on their sides… Even though it is the end of a long, hot day, the pigs are ready to race. The fact that there is a trough of pig slops at the end of the race is probably a bit of an incentive, as well. All of us choose the pig we want to win and then Charlie starts the race. The pigs are impressively speedy and reach the trough in no time flat!
That wraps up the day at Avonlea Village. We say goodbye to Anne, Diana, Gilbert, Charlie, Marilla, Matthew, Miss Stacey, and Mrs. Lynne as we leave. Stopping at the gift shop Olivia uses part of her spending money to buy a soft and cuddly Diana doll. Hilary eyes the beautiful tea sets for sale, but we don't know how we can transport a tea set safely and Hilary decides not to buy one. She'll keep looking for something special as we continue our trip.
We climb back into the car hot, tired, and slightly sun and wind burned, but we've just had one of the best days any of us can remember. We pull out some iced water from the ice chest and set out for Wood Islands where we'll spend the night before catching the ferry to Nova Scotia in the morning. Our time at Avonlea Village was well spent and we can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who is thinking of visiting. This is family fun at its best. Part of what makes Avonlea Village so special is that visitors are not just entertained, but they become part of the entertainment. Because we had already read the first two books in the Anne of Green Gables series we were better able to enjoy the day and participate in the activities. In our estimation, Avonlea Village beats Disneyland any day!
As we drive to Wood Islands we pass through miles of potato and wheat fields. We skirt the edge of Charlottetown and it looks like a clean a beautiful city. When we arrive at Wood Islands we find out there are no restaurants, so we drive about 25 more minutes to find a grocery store to buy ice and breakfast and lunch supplies for the next day and then we find a Pizza Delight restaurant where we have dinner.
Back in our hotel we collapse in bed and sleep soundly. Tomorrow we head to Nova Scotia!
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