Yes, I am a super Anne of Green Gables dork. I am SOOO happy to be here!
The first place we go, of course, is the Green Gables House. Apparently, Lucy Maud based the fictional Green Gables on the house and land that her grandfather's cousins owned.
But before we see the house, we sit through a cursory movie about Lucy Maud's life and various installations that contain tidbits of the author and the books. I'm sorry to say that I did not pay attention to most, as I was in a rush to see the house.
The only one I did happen to stop at (waiting for Squatchie to catch up) was this one:
which featured "the face" of Anne. Apparently, Lucy Maud happened across a photo of this woman in a magazine, cut it out & pinned it up and imagined Anne around her face. This I found surprising as it is not how I pictured Anne at all. Also, the model (Evelyn Nesbit) had somewhat of a sordid real life--embroiled in a love triangle which had her ex-husband murdering her lover. Not very Anne-ish.
But I quickly shrugged off this strange bit of trivia because in my sight was...
Green Gables! Just like the book!In fact, it was quite obvious that many pains were taken to make it as much like the book as possible. The interior was faithfully decorated to the descriptions of the book. From Anne's room displaying her first "pretty" dress, a brown gloria with puffed sleeves:
to the spare room with Mrs. Lynde's warp cotton tulip quilt. I was especially thrilled about this as I have always wanted a tulip quilt after reading about it in the books, but was never quite sure what they looked like. Now, I know!
And, as I said earlier, not only was the house the basis of the book but the lands were too. There really was a path that Lucy Maud called "Lover's Lane":
with a romantic, rustic bridge over a sparkling brook:
And, there was also a real Haunted Woods too:
However, in the book, going through the Haunted Woods led you to Diana's house. Here, going through the Haunted Woods led you to a golf course:
But, I found myself overlooking small details such as these, they were easily ignored, "like spots on cherries." Because for this small half an hour, I was Grace of Green Gables-- with childhood imaginings coming to life in adulthood.
