Anne of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island

Green Gables Shore in central Prince Edward Island is an area of rolling farmland, and white sand beaches. This picture shows a place where farm fields and sea meet.

The early summer hills are alive with the colors of wildflowers…lupins in this picture. This is the area where Lucy Mead Montgomery was born and grew up. It was the inspiration for her books about Anne of Green Gables and many others I didn't know about.

There are many sites in the area that were described in her stories. We went here first. This was the farm of Montgomery's Uncle John and Aunt Annie Campbell.

It is the location and inspiration of the "Lake of Shining Waters" that Anne describes and names in the first novel, Anne of Green Gables.

Lake of shining waters:

And it gave me a thrill to see this ring-necked duck swimming on the shining waters.

As well as a family of geese.

The farmhouse is still in the family who have preserved its original furnishings and made it into a museum.

Inside we find "Anne's enchanted bookcase" where Ann pretended her reflection in the glass was another little girl, Katie Maurice, who became her friend she could talk to.

The author tells that this was really her own imagination as a child who would never pass the bookcase without waving at Katie Maurice.

This is the room where Lucy Mead Montgomery was married standing in front of the mantel. That is a picture of the author on the wall.

This organ was played at the wedding and is still used in weddings here today.

Looking out an upstairs window, Anne could see the Lake of Shining Waters.

The iron-rich red soil is described in the opening chapter of Anne of Green Gables.

This is a picture of the house where Lucy Mead Montgomery grew up with her grandparents after her mother died when she was two. The house is no longer standing, but you can visit the site and walk the grounds around it.

The cellar hole is all that remains of the home of Montgomery's grandparents, Alexander and Lucy MacNeill. This property is still owned by the MacNeill family.

From here, you can walk down the "old lane,"

Through the "haunted woods,"

And across the brook,

To Montgomery's elderly cousin's home...

This is the house that inspired the "Green Gables" house in the story. You can tour the house and outbuildings.

You can take a stroll down Anne's "Lovers Lane,"

Then walk back through the "haunted woods,"

And past the Cavendish Community Cemetery, where Lucy Mead Montgomery is buried just a short walk from her childhood home. 

A lot of area businesses have capitalized on the famous name and location, but still we could get a good sense of what inspired Montgomery to write her famous novels.