Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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10 Things to See and Do in Prince Edward Island for L.M. Montgomery Fans

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Because I’m on deadline without much time to spare, the next few weeks I’ll be running some posts from the past. This is one of the blog’s most popular and a personal favorite — a collection of photos from a trip to PEI the summer of 2016. It might seem a bit cruel to share this while we’re all mostly homebound, but I hope this glimpse into the world of Anne and Emily might instead be a welcome distraction!


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My friend Jamie and I have dreamed about a Prince Edward Island adventure for years, so to see it finally come together this July was just plain magical. I flew to Connecticut and spent a day with her family (look at the gorgeous veggies those Martins grow!), and early the next morning Jamie and I jumped in a rental car and drove straight through to the Land of Maud.

You might remember I’m a tad obsessed with author L. M. Montgomery. I’ve read all of Maud’s novels, many multiple times. And I’ve committed to re-reading every ten years the journals she kept from the age of fourteen until her late sixties.

As we drove, we listened to the the last Anne book, Rilla of Ingleside, and the musical Hamilton. Jamie and I both agreed that though the trip was long, crossing the Canadian border and watching the gorgeous landscape grow more rural and hilly and somehow even more beautiful was the perfect introduction to PEI. 

The island is rolling hillsides and lovely farms that run to red cliff beaches. We arrived at our rental — an nineteenth century farmhouse in South Rustico, PEI — during the sunlight’s golden hour.

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There were four bedrooms to choose from. Look at mine!

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Jamie and I spent the next day in Cavendish at Green Gables Heritage Place, which includes the home that inspired the setting for the Anne series. The home itself was owned by Maud’s cousins, the McNeills, and was was within walking distance of the Montgomery homestead.

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It was a little strange knowing that while Anne Shirley was not a real girl, this house was set up to reflect her world. That red liquid in the cupboard is raspberry cordial — at least that’s what my imagination told me.

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This was meant to represent Anne’s room. Less austere than the picture in my mind!

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What’s fun is that Lover’s Lane and the Haunted Wood weren’t only places in the Anne books, they were very much a part of Maud’s real life. Here’s Lover’s Lane.

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The Haunted Wood, just beyond this gate, led from the McNeill homestead to the Montgomery’s.

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No house remains at the Montgomery homestead, but it’s not hard to picture young Maud’s love of nature developing on this land.

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Maud’s childhood school (no longer standing) was near the Haunted Wood and within walking distance of her home. From its window she could see Cavendish Community Cemetery where her mother lay — and where Maud herself is now buried.

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Here’s a sweet token we found alongside the grave.

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That evening, we drove to Charlottetown and saw Anne and Gilbert: The Musical.

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It’s a blend of Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island with a few liberties thrown in and was beyond fabulous. Jamie ended up downloading the music, which we listened to during the rest of our stay. Perhaps now that I’m back home, I’ve been known to break into “Mr. Blythe” while making dinner.

On our second day we drove to Lower Bedeque to visit the Leard House, where Maud boarded while teaching at the school across the road.

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Fans of the journals and the recent Maud biography, The Gift of Wings, know this house well. While Maud lived here, she and the Leard son, Herman, had a secret romance. Both were engaged to other people. Eighteen months later, Herman died. Maud, who by then had broken her engagement and was living back at home, was distraught but could never truly mourn him as she would have if their relationship had been public. Doesn’t this remind you a bit of Una’s inability to fully grieve Walter’s death in Rilla?

The Leard House opened to tourists just a few weeks before we arrived. Visitors can walk through the upstairs room where Maud boarded and eventually will be able to spend the night there. The downstairs has been converted into the Fable Tea Room.

I might have been a little silly about the whole Leard House thing. Evidently, when we arrived, I told the woman who answered the door, “We’re here for Herman,” which entertained Jamie to no end.

Here’s Maud’s room.

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And here I am, ridiculously posing with Herman. (At Jamie’s suggestion! I claim no responsibility for this!)

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Downstairs we pored over old copies of Kindred Spirits magazine while eating an amazing lunch (I recommend the lobster roll).

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Oh, Maud. You certainly did have a lively time in Bedeque!

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The Fable Tea Room tables were covered with various pages from Anne books.

carrie and jamie at fable tea room

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The Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse was a couple hundred yards down the road. Our tour guide was a charming college student who was working his way through the journals himself.

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On our way back to Rustico, we stopped in Clifton / New London at the Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace museum.

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That evening we had dinner at Dalvay by the Sea, which was the White Sands Hotel in the Anne of Green Gables movie.

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As we were leaving, Jamie and I pulled off the road to capture one of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve ever seen.

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On our last day we visited Park Corner, a 110-acre farm which belonged to Maud’s cousins, the Campbells, and the place she felt most at home. While the Campbells still live here, the house is also open to the public as the Anne of Green Gables Museum.

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Park Corner served as inspiration for The Story Girl and the Pat of Silver Bush books. If I remember correctly from the journals, it’s Maud who first referred to the Campbells’ house as Silver Bush.

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We took a carriage ride past the real Lake of Shining Waters and down to the shore.

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Maud was married at Park Corner next to this mantle, where avid fans sometimes hold their own weddings!

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After Park Corner, we stopped at the Blue Winds Tearoom, where we were welcomed by this beautiful tangle of flowers.

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The building has no direct Anne or Maud connection, but Terry, the owner, is a true Anne expert. She moved to PEI from Japan many years ago because of her love for the series. I recommend trying the New Moon Pudding, which is a recipe found in Maud’s journals and is similar to lemon meringue pie.

From there, Jamie and I visited the Cape Tyron Lighthouse, where the model for the lighthouse in Anne’s House of Dreams once stood. This new lighthouse doesn’t have a lightkeeper’s quarters as the first one did, but it’s easy to imagine Captain Jim there.

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I was in the midst of third-round edits for Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine while on our trip and worked throughout our stay in this sweet room at “our” farmhouse.

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On our final morning, we packed up our things and waved goodbye to our dear temporary home. Until next time, Prince Edward Island!

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Thank you to Prince Edward Island Tourism for making our trip extra special.

 

 

 

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Filed Under: books and reading, Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine, the writing life, this and that

Writing Links and My Annual Internet Break

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Every year since 2012, I’ve taken an Internet break in July. That was the summer I read The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Some of the book feels dated now with its talk of The Web and The Net, but its message is still relevant: The Internet with its limitless choices can leave us scattered and distracted.

Usually I sign off on the blog and social media at the same time, but this year I left Instagram and Twitter in June. It has been a wonderful break.

Now it’s time to say goodbye here, at least for a little while. Feel free to dig through the archives (almost twelve years of posts!) or enjoy a bit of quiet yourself. I’ll see you again in August.

For now, I leave you with some interesting links —

“As far as I knew then, Black girls like me didn’t exist in books. And as physics would have it, people who don’t exist can’t go on adventures or solve mysteries or fall in love or save the universe. Which meant that I, as a nonexistent entity, wasn’t capable of any of those things.”

Don’t Just Read About Racism—Read Stories About Black People Living by Nic Stone :: Cosmopolitan

“Authors and book publishing employees are speaking out against the homogeneity of their industry and how much writers of color are paid, issues that are gaining urgency as protests against systemic racism continue around the U.S.”

#PublishingPaidMe and a Day of Action Reveals an Industry Reckoning :: NYTimes

“The exposure of your deepest self…is what real writing demands.”
“Stories truly told can give us a key to unlock for each other those ‘thoughts that often lie too deep for tears.’”

Katherine Paterson :: Written Together (a 28-minute video that’s worth every second)

This treasure hunt was the inspiration behind One-Eyed Riley’s abandoned mine in Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine.

Forrest Fenn Confirms His Treasure Has Been Found :: Santa Fe New Mexican

Forrest Fenn finally shared photos of his discovered treasure amid doubts that it was actually found :: CNN

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine, the writing life, this and that

The value of creative outlets that have nothing to do with writing.

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In January, I started and finished my very first real crochet project — a lap-sized blanket of soft, chunky yarn (that looks deceptively like my dog when she has sticks and leaves stuck to her fuzzy coat). I also got this close to finishing a revise-on-my-own-while-I-wait-for-my-editorial-letter round with my manuscript, MIRACULOUS.

Since last summer, it has been my monthly goal to finish this round of edits. Yes, you read that correctly. I made great gains at my writing retreat in the fall, only to spend a solid three weeks stuck in one chapter. I’ve circled back to the beginning of the manuscript again and again to see how best to push to the end (because I solidly believe most questions I have about a piece of writing can be solved by returning to the text).

Man, it hasn’t been what I’ve planned. Wow, I’ve learned a lot about writing this particular book.

That’s my writing life, pretty much, in a nutshell.

I’ve always wanted to learn some sort of handiwork, and at the end of last year I settled on crochet. My mom gave me a bag of hooks and yarn for Christmas,* and armed with a How-To-Crochet booklet and plenty of YouTube videos, I dove in.

It has been SO MUCH FUN.

Unlike writing, a crochet project progresses in measurable ways. Much like running, it’s steady rhythm has felt restorative. Using my hands lets my brain go on autopilot and gives my mind the space and time it needs to do its behind-the-scenes creative work.

If you are a writer, have you found a creative outlet unrelated to your work?

*My younger son took one look and said, “Mom, are you learning how to be a granny?” I can tell you he now thinks my blanket is pretty darn cool.

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