Visiting the "Wonder Castle" of L.M. Montgomery's Childhood
As we feared, we woke up to absolutely pouring rain on our second full day of vacation. It was a choice between visiting the coast (seemed terrible) and visiting another L.M. Montgomery site, the Park Corner house (not ideal, but also at least it was inside). We chose the house and were soon road-tripping back toward Cavendish, with a stop at the PEI Preserve Company along the way.
Road trip!
I had seen the store during the previous day's drive, my eyes caught by the sunny yellow paint and my imagination caught by the promise of many types of jam. The store definitely delivered--the walls are lined with an assortment of glowing jam jars, locally sourced with flavors ranging from blackcurrant and rhubarb to very berry cherry to wild blueberry. Elowen had a great time sampling the jams (with help, of course) and we ended up buying a few jars of maple butter and a beautiful pink mug made by a local artisan. Then two buses of senior citizens rolled up and we decided to roll out before it got too crowded.
From there it was onward to the Park Corner house, where I had high hopes the rain would keep other Montgomery tourists away. The house is officially the Anne of Green Gables Museum, but in Montgomery's day it belonged to her cousins and she visited and stayed often. It was built in 1872 on a farm settled by the Campbells in 1776. Montgomery loved it there and called it the "wonder castle of my childhood"--per the guide, she also wrote/worked on four of her books there.
In the drawing room you can stand in front of the mantel where she got married; in the corner is the organ that was played during her ceremony. The house is also filled with first editions of her books, many dedicated to the Campbell family; her crazy quilt is on display as is some crochet work. But best of all, you can visit the bedroom upstairs where she stayed, and it felt like some literary version of church to look in the mirror where she looked and stand in the breeze that fluttered through the bedroom curtains.
There's also the blue chest featured in The Story Girl, Montgomery's favorite of her works; Aunt Laura's dresser and bed from Emily of New Moon; the bookcase where Anne found company with Katie Maurice; and Montgomery's OBE from George V. If you're a Montgomery fan, there's truly a delight around every corner in that house.
From the house, we scurried over through the rain to the gift shop; the property is still run by some tangled permutation of cousin-descendants, and we met George, who has also published a limited edition reprint of the Anne of Green Gables first edition. He signed it for Elowen (really for "Elwowen," whoops), and that experience itself made my day.
Then Taylor took Elowen to the car while I ran full-tilt into wind so strong it turned my umbrella inside out so that I could see the Lake of Shining Waters--on nice days, you can hire "Matthew" to take you on a carriage ride around it and you can even walk another of Montgomery's favorite trails. Being that it was not a nice day (though it was a happy one!), I just snapped my picture and ran back, pleased that there was a lone loon floating around out there.
After that, we visited a blatant but still enjoyable tourist trap--a recreation of Avonlea village. While most of the buildings are new--an ice cream shop built to look like the train station--two are historic. The Long River Church, built in 1872, was the one where Montgomery worshiped with her cousins (and it's now a burger restaurant, which seems blasphemous). The Belmont School, where Montgomery taught for a year, is now a little art studio. You can even dress in Anne-style clothing and take a picture at the train station, but given the weather, we skipped that.
We had a few drinks at a brewery there before Piatto opened--it's a pizza place that has been featured on Food Network and I was pretty excited to eat there. It did not disappoint--I had a pizza with a garlic sauce base and spicy prosciutto, and it was SO GOOD. I could have eaten a whole second one.
From there, we had one stop to squeeze in before naptime--the Island Honey Wine Company. They specialize in different flavors of meads, and the woman leading the tasting shared how the different types of plants the bees feed on lead to the unique flavors of the various meads, from lavender to buckwheat. You really could taste the difference, too--it was amazing. (I don't always "get" the different notes in wine, but with the mead I certainly could.)
Mead puns! Hahaha.
After our well-deserved nap, it was a lazy night in Charlottetown; we played a few games at PonyBoy Social, which is kind of like Pinstack, and then had dinner at Brick House. Brick House is one of the best restaurants in Charlottetown, and the food reflected that--unfortunately, they were down from four chefs to two, and the meal took what felt like an eternity.
This Colliding Tides vodka seltzer was very delicious...this flavor was my favorite but the peach and pineapple lime twist were solid too.
I did really enjoy my crispy fried mushroom wontons with truffle soy dip and sesame aioli, though, and my harissa-roasted chicken with whipped feta was also excellent. I wish we'd had time for dessert, as they were comping it, but Elowen was not having that.The drinks were also a highlight--the Sir Earl, with bourbon, pear, Earl Gray, blackberry and rosemary was my favorite, but the Amber Orchard with spiced rum, dark rum, apple, lemon, and ginger was also a highlight (and when you sit somewhere for almost three hours, you have plenty of time for drinks).
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