Victoria, P.E.I

Victoria is a tiny town on the coast of Prince Edward Island. Although you can walk down main street in under 200 steps, this cozy coastal village became my favorite town that we visited in PEI. We originally visited it because it is well known for its functioning light house. 

But one thing that the guidebook did not mention is that there are three Newfies - Newfoundland dogs - that populate Victoria and hang out together.  Did I mention how large they are? They are bigger than my sister-in-law Sophia (see picture for evidence). On the left is Rufus; his owner decided to give him a lion haircut...possibly the greatest decision ever.

In such a small town--where the Newfie population rivals the humans-- they produce some fantastic dinning. Of course my mother, who is obsessed with chocolate, managed to locate the chocolatier in Victoria.

It is an adorable shop with peonies blooming in the front.

Most adorable antique/art shop.

Oldest tree in P.E.I


















Victoria is also right on the coast, so we went to the beach afterward.

Yeah, Victoria is pretty great.

Anne of Green Gables Day

You can have a brilliant time at Prince Edward Island if you are not an Anne of Green Gables fan; however, you may have more fun if you are an Anne fan. There are a few requirements to have a splendid Anne day at Prince Edward Island. To begin with, you must wear a dress with "puffed sleeves." In this picture we are wearing our puffed sleeves and singing the song that the minister's wife performs at Diana's wedding: "so promise me that some day you and I...."

If you do not have red hair, buy a straw hat with synthetic orange braids so you are worthy of the insult "carrots." Now you are dressed for Anne success.

Visit Green Gables.

We went to the Green Gables house that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery. Yes, Green Gables does exist. Be prepared to see lots of Japanese. Apparently, Anne of Green Gables is extremely popular in Japan; it became required reading in Japanese public school sometime after WWII. Random, right? So here are two little Japanese boys sitting in the Anne buggy for a picture. We also took pictures - with our Anne hats - but these boys are so much cuter than we are.

Lucy Maud Montgomery lived next door to Green Gables. Here it is. Magical.

The inside of Green Gables is a museum of sorts that displays how this may have looked during the time that Lucy Maud was growing up. Can I just say that I love the name Maud. My sister mentioned it as a potential baby name and I thought it was terrible, but now I adore the name.

Visit Lover's Lane and the Haunted Woods. Lover's Lane and the Haunted woods also exist.

Ah, and there is a bridge on Lover's Lane. A friend of mine says that only good things happen on bridges; we often reference Anne and Gilbert for the prime example to back up this statement. I think it is fitting that there is a bridge on Lover's Lane.

Here Sophia and I are holding hands on Lover's Lane.

This is the pathway that Lucy Maud would walk to church. Her house was right next door to Green Gables.

This is the property that Lucy Maud grew up on. We went to a small little museum that was run by teenage girls that are Lucy Maud's relatives.

The only regret we had on our Anne day was not finding the "Lake of Shinning Waters." Yet there were other things that made up for this. One of these things was the memoribilia we bought at the shops. We are trying to look as young as we feel wearing these t-shirts. But then again, I don't feel like a school girl professing my love for Gilbert Blythe. Who does not love Gilbert Blythe?

Cycling through Prince Edward Island

There is a bike trail that goes around the whole of Prince Edward Island, so we rented bikes one afternoon and cycled along part of the coast of PEI. I admit, part of our reasoning was to recreate some Anne moments; like when Gilbert falls into the pond while racing Anne. Next time that we visit PEI, and I will visit again, I am determined to bike a large part of the trail. Now I am not a great biker, in fact there are family stories that attest to the opposite, but I would cycle this trail because it is perhaps the most picturesque bike ride one could envision. Here our bikes resting while we explore. I was wishing for more of a retro Anne style model, but "you can't always get what you want."

I can rock a bicycle helmet.

Seriously, can you find any place more gorgeous than this island?

Okay so there was one pregnant sister on this trip. I am not that sister; however, I look more pregnant in this photo than she did the entire trip.

I adore this photo.

These just grew wild on every roadside. Even the side of the roads - perhaps the ugliest and smuttiest part of any country/city - was verdant and gorgeous. They are called Lupine, which makes me think of Lupin from Harry Potter; yet another reason to love these flowers.

After our cycling, we visited the red/pink beach. We climbed the cliff in order to recreate an Anne & Diana moment. Afterwards I surfed down on the sand; everyone thought I was going to kill myself, but I had complete control the whole time. It was possibly the "coolest" moment of my life.

Okay, so we are not the best at recreating the scene, but it felt legit.

Anne's House of Dreams

We drove from Montréal to Prince Edward Island - affectionately known by many as P.E.I. On that scenic drive, we went across one of the longest bridge in the world: Confederation Bridge. It is over eight miles long. It was a little unnerving to be driving on a bridge for that length. We arrived at our little house that we rented for the week, and it was just as special as Anne's House of Dream. This is picture of us walking into the house after our long road trip.

This is our little beach.

My mother making dinner. I went and picked those wildflowers by the roadside and brought them to her.

Here we are in our puffed sleeved dresses outside our house of dreams.