Day 6 – Rest Day

Today was a scheduled rest day and it came at a good time in our trip. We’d decided to keep one of the days that we are in Charlottetown open, to give us the flexibility to explore by car. The timing of it couldn’t be better, since Jimmy broke a spoke on his rear bike tire yesterday and needed time to replace it. God blessed us with this free day that we didn’t know we’d need! We took our time this morning, hanging around the inn after breakfast for bike repairs and were so grateful we didn’t have the pressure of trying to get on the trail.

We decided we’d devote the day to the Cavendish area to take in the Anne of Green Gables sites. As it turns out, today is Canada Day, (similar to our 4th of July) and because of that, it was free admission to the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Center and the national parks on the island. An unexpected bonus!

First stop though, was Avonlea Village located near Green Gables. It was a collection of historic buildings, shops, and restaurants. We explored a bit and ate an early lunch before heading to Green Gables.

We were very surprised that nothing was crowded today, especially since it was a national holiday and free admission! But there were very few people at Green Gables or Avonlea Village. We got right in and enjoyed touring the house and grounds.

There are two trails on the property, one is Lover’s Lane which was one of the author’s favorite places when she lived on PEI. The other was the walk through the haunted woods, just a shady little trail that went from the author’s home where she lived with her grandparents, to this home, Green Gables, owned by her cousins.

We took a little stroll down Lover’s Lane, and also checked out the haunted forest.

“This evening I spent in Lover’s Lane. How beautiful it was-green and alluring and beckoning! I had been tired and discouraged and sick at heart before I went…and it…stole away the heartsickness, giving peace and newness of life.”

The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of August 1, 1909

Lucy Maud Montgomery spent the first half of her life on PEI after the death of her mother. She came to live with her grandparents and was a frequent visitor to this farmhouse which was owned by her cousins, David and Margaret Mcneill, who were brother and sister. It was this house she began to imagine as the home of Anne Shirley when she came to live with the Cuthberts’, another brother/sister.

“I have woven a good deal of reality into my books. Cavendish is to a large extent Avonlea…Green Gables was drawn from David Macneill’s house…and the truth of my description of it is attested by the fact that everybody has recognized it.”

L.M. Montgomery’s Journal, January 27, 1911

We left Green Gables after a thorough exploration and headed toward Dalvay-by-the-Sea. The road traveled along the Bay of St. Lawrence, and though we’d ridden this section on bike yesterday, we didn’t mind seeing it again because it’s just so beautiful. At a little roadside pull-off we walked out to a scenic point and got to see a young lady playing the bagpipes at the cliff’s edge. She was very good and I talked to her a bit.

During the tourist season, (May-October) they have tour busses scheduled to make a stop at this location, and her job is to be on site playing the bagpipes when they arrive.

She said there were 56 scheduled stops at this spot throughout the season. I was glad the bus was late, because we got a free private concert since she was practicing to be ready. It is a beautiful place to stop.

The Cavendish area was first settled by Scottish immigrants, (the Mcneill family for one, relatives of L.M. Montgomery), and there are still Scottish influences to this day. Yesterday on the bikes, I noticed several locations with signs in the yard announcing Ceididh and listing a start time of 7:30 pm. Each sign, no matter the location listed the same start time. A Ceididh is a traditional Scottish social gathering or visit. There are quite a few gatherings like this in the area, and it seems most involve musical entertainment and food! The ones that involve food are called kitchen parties. Sounds like my kind of party! Everyone is welcome, residents and visitors alike, and they are held weekly throughout the summer.

Our last stop of the day was Dalvay-by-the-Sea. We had reservations for dinner and we arrived a bit early, so we sat in the big chairs on the front lawn that overlook Lake Dalvay. The lawn was full of geese near the water.

Open May through October, Dalvay-by-the-Sea is a Canadian National Historic Site located in Prince Edward Island National Park.

The house was built in 1895, by an American who was once president of Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. Alexander MacDonald had left his home country of Scotland to seek a better life, and ended up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He married Laura Palmer, and they had one daughter also named Laura. Laura married and had two daughters, Helena and Laura (the 3rd Laura in the family!) When the mother of the two girls died at a young age, the girls went to live with their grandparents. They were given the very best of everything, and traveled extensively with their grandparents. It was on one of their travels that their grandfather fell in love with PEI and decided to build a summer home there. Construction began in 1895 and he called this home Dalvay-by-the-Sea after his boyhood home in Scotland. He also had a home in Cincinnati named Dalvay.

Local building materials were used exclusively to build the home. Sandstone was quarried on the island and used in its natural boulder form. The huge fireplaces were also made of quarried stone.

The family enjoyed many wonderful summers there, and would host a big party for all of the locals before they closed the house for the winter. The event involved a dance and a hired violinist. It was a lavish event that was the highlight of the year for the local folks that lived nearby.

It operates today as a hotel, and visitors are welcome to enjoy the grounds and explore the home while in the area. We had made reservations for dinner, and I took lots of pictures on the inside. There’s a large center hallway through the middle of the home, and the upper floor is gallery style with a grand staircase leading up to the rooms.

In the main hallway across from the stone fireplace was an old desk containing scrapbooks and old photos of days gone by. I was excited to look through the scrapbook that was devoted to the royal visit in 2011. Will and Kate visited Dalvay-by-the-Sea on their royal honeymoon tour.

Anne of Green Gables fans will recognize Dalvay as “The White Sands Hotel”. In the movie starring Megan Follows, a scene involves Anne going to a recital at the White Sands Hotel. Anne loses her papers all over the dunes with the hotel in the background.

The food and service were perfect. It was such a treat to explore the home, then enjoy a meal there.

And now for the rest of the story of Dalvay-by-the-Sea. Mr. Macdonald, the grandfather of the two girl’s last visit to his beloved summer home on PEI was in 1909. His health had slowly deteriorated and after he closed the house for the summer, on his way to the train station, he requested to have the horses stop when he reached Long Pond. He stood alone for a long while looking back at his home and quietly said, “Goodbye Dalvay”. He was never able to return and died in 1910 in California.

He left Dalvay and most of his massive fortune to his two granddaughters who were 16 and 17 at the time of his death. The house and estate were to be managed by their father until the girls became of age. The estate was worth $15-million and made the two girls some of the wealthiest women of that time period.

Though both girls had originally planned to marry successful young men from the Cincinnati area, they decided they might do better for themselves if they went to Europe and tried to marry into royalty. Not surprisingly, considering their vast wealth, both girls succeeded. Miss Helena married Prince Mural of France. Her sister, Miss Laura married Prince Rosspigliosi of Italy.

Their father, in managing their inheritance, made some poor decisions and bad investments and the girls learned that the large fortune their grandfather had left them had dwindled down to almost nothing. Both of the princes divorced the girls after learning they no longer had access to money. Helena died of cancer at the age of 38 and Laura moved to New York where she had to work to support her family and could no longer afford to keep the Dalvay property.

It changed hands many times throughout the years until it was acquired by Parks Canada in 1959. I really enjoyed learning about the home and the family that lived there, and am glad this treasure was saved for all to enjoy.