Anne of Green Gables Conference

I am writing this four days into the conference and I have to say it has been absolutely fascinating to hear about the research on LM Montgomery and the miriad ways in which Anne of Green Gables has permeated so many different cultures across the world. There have been papers on a variety of aspects: religion, fashion, feminist discourse, the absence of the indigenous in AGG, the reclaiming of Matthew and more more more. There are at least nine Australians at the conference (I am going to get a photo of us toonight with a bit of luck) and only one British Isles person that I have met together with Canadians, Americans, Swedish, Italian, Japanese, South African and an Iranian. It is quite a multicultural group as you can see.

The hectic social life has been busy with things on every evening. I have been to the Musical (terrific) and a British-American pop invasion review (great). It is going to be a little sad when it all finishes tomorrow.

Charlottetown

Charlottetown is a lovely town and I am guessing the largest place on PEI with about 34,000 inhabitants. It is a place which is very aware of its important place in Canadian history being the place where Confederation was born. The story is told at Province House where the Charlottetown Conference took place in 1864 and in Founders Hall where the events of Canada's formation are exhibited. Province House hosted the 1864 conference which led to Canada coming into being on July 1 1867. They are gearing up for a big celebration here over the next few days. Originally the conference was to discuss the Maritime Provinces joining but the East and West Canada leaders invited themselves along and it became something much larger. Charlottetown has a lovely harbour area and some magnificant historical homes and is so easy to get around - you simply walk.

Anne of Green Gables

I spent two days in Cavendish or Avonlea as I keep calling it to myself and was thoroughly involved in Anne-worshipping. All paths to Anne surely start at Green Gables. There were several new 100 aniversary exhibits to LM Montgomery on show which were very informative about how LMM came up with her heroine. I found the house itself disappointingly barren - it isa self-guided tour and there were no interpretive panels. Later that afternoon, I visited Silver Bush at Park Corner, home of her cousins and where she often visited, which was totally different as it housed many LMM artifacts, writings, books, etc and was of course where she married from ni 1911. It was just so much more personal. I would kill for all those first editions of the books too. I also visited the site of her MacNeil grandparents home. This is where LMM was brought up and you could see the landscape that inspired her writing. I paid my respects at her graveside too. Canada Post has just released commemmorative stamps for the 100 years of Anne and also had a postal display of how LMM's manuscript would have made it to Boston in February 1907. LMM and her grandmother ran the Cavendish PO from their house. The postal service used what they called ice boats to get the post across the Northumerland Straits in winter - passengers paid accroding to wether they were prepared to get out and help pull the boat over the ice! Amazing to see the photos. I met a lady who is also going to the conference - after I had been to Silver Bush I realised who she actually was ( a family member who has donated a substantial number of books and other items to the university of PEI). I brought three dolls - yes I know... but just wait till you see them - Diana is just gorgeous, Gilbert so cute and I chose not to buy a 100th anniversary Anne doll as they just weren't Anne, I brought another Anne (there are about 12 different ones!) who just looked right and I loved her dress.

Salem - Not Just Witches

I found Salem far more interesting than I thought it would be and it is much much more than a witch town. I visited the House of the seven gables built in 1692 ( and yes there really are 7 of them - I climbed the house and ventured into them all) famous as the setting for Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel. On the same property, is the home of his birth moved there some years ago to save it from destruction and other buildings associated with Hawthorne's work in US Customs at Salem. I then visited the Visitor Centre there to see a film on the area - best Visitor Centre I have been to - it is housed in the old Salem Armory - magnificant building with a superb park alongside it. I did a walking tour of the town which was extraodinarily wealthy during the age of sail. The shipping merchants built themselves beautiful huge houses in Chesnut Street - one of these has been opened to the public as the Phillips House and Museum - the lavish lifestyle, furniture and antiquities from all those overseas voyages were on display - just superb. I did visit one witch trial site - the home of one of the men involved in prosecuting the so-called witches. I walked back via the cemetery and a magnificant memorial constructed in memory of the ninteeen victims. Arthur Miller (who set The Crucible based on the trials) and Ellie Wiesel opened the memorial. The town developed a Human Rights Award in 2001 to warn against intolerance. I could have spent far more than 6 hours in Salem.

Concord - Revolutionary War and Iconic Literary Town

I have been staying in Lexington for the last five days which is situated very close to Concord. The Minuteman Statue and Visitor Centre at Concord tells the story of the "shot heard around the world" as I think Ralph Waldo Emerson called the first shot of the Revolutionary War. The artist who created this statue also created the Lincoln Monument in Washington - magnificant artist. I did a wonderful Walking Tour of Concord which was a local history cum Revolutionary War cum Literary tour of the town. I have visited the Old Manse where Emerson's grandfather lived (and Emerson himself) and where Henry David Thoreau lived for nearly three years. The windows are inscribed by members of the family with dates and everything, quite extraordinary. I paid my respects to the greats of Concord at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery - Thoreau, Emerson and Louisa May Alcott all have their final resting place on the appropriately named Author's Ridge. My final visit was to Orchard House home of the Alcotts - where Louisa wrote her seminal Little Women and her father Bronson foudned the Concord School of Philosophy. They were great friends with Thoreau and Emerson. Louisa's sister May who was Amy in Little Women was an artist and her paintings adorn the walls, fireplaces and canvas. Once agin, I barely scratched the surface at Concord. Still so much to see on another visit!

Boston - a most beautiful city

I love Boston - a lovely city with lots of history, beautiful buildings and too much to do. Have walked part of the Freedom Trail visiting Bunker Hill, the old North Church where the revolution was plotted and planned, Copp's Hill Buying Ground. I visited the USS Constitution built in the 1700s called affectionately Old Ironsides - terrific museum exhibition here. I saw Boston Public Library from the outside and Trinity Church which has stunning stained glass windows. And paid tribute to Paul Revere - there is a wonderful statue of him sitting on his horse calling out the alarm in the Paul Revere Mall which is a beautiful garden mall with plaques to many of the pioneers of Boston. Today I visited the Museum of Fine Arts which is absolutely massive - impossible to get though the museum in one day. There was a special El Greco to Velazquez exhibition on at the moment which was superb. I also went to the JFK Library and Museum where there were exhibits of JFK's life, fascinating photos and artifacts from his presidency and life at the White House and a special exhibition on Robert Kennedy's time as Attorney-General. This is all housed in a stunning IM Pei building situated on the waterfront - it was worth going just for the view. I could have spent another 4-5 days in Boston but I am due at Charlottetown on Sunday so have to move along unfortunately.

Lancaster County

I went to Lancaster County on Monday in very steamy 101 degree heat. I visited the People's Place Quilt Museum (and associated shop) where there was a wonderful display of quilts although perhaps not as many Amish ones as I would have liked to see. It was rather odd to see Amish farmers in the fields ploughing without mechanization and to have horse and buggys on the road along with all the cars and trucks. It seems to be a rather uneasy coexistence to me. The area is very much a farming area but it is being overtaken with quilt shops, pottery shops, etc and was very commercial in my opinion.

Gettysburg

It has taken me several days to write about Gettysburg. Wholesale slaughter across 3 days with 41,000 casualties is not an easy thing to come to grips with. A new visitor centre opened earlier this year and it is worldclass in terms of facilities and presentation. The museum is extensive and deals not just with the battle of Gettysburg, but puts the battle into the context of the Civil War. It also deals with the aftermath of the battle rather well. When the battle was over and the Confederate army began retreating back to Virginia, the Union army followed leaving a small town to cope with thousands of dead unburied and thousands of injured soldiers. Every house was literally turned into a hospital rendering the houses unfit to live later on. Lincoln's Gettysburg address and his assassination and the rest of the Civil War were also effectively told. I took a National Parks bus tour of the battlefield which was excellent. The overwhelming thought through all this is of course that it is such a waste of human life.

Frederick, Maryland is hot hot hot

I am staying in Frederick Maryland for 7 days and the weather is extreme to say the least. It has eben in the high 80s and 90s and is predicited to be over 100 tomorrow but the killer is the humidity. You literally walk outside and are covered in sweat. I have been visiting indoor places to try and stay cool. This is of course my excuse for going to the Quilters Unlimited Quilt Show down at Dulles yesterday. This show was bigger than the Melbourne ones and actually concentrated on patchwork and quilting. Had lunch with two lovely friendly ladies from Maryland who seemed amazed at my trip. I of course encouraged them to visit Oz. I bought another lot of Civil War fabric and some patterns and had a great day.

Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg

I visited the Virginia Quilt Museum on Thursday and had a lovely time looking at an exhibition of Quaker quilts and others from the 1800s. There is a Civil War Room displaying stories of women who had lived through the Civil War when it came to their doorsteps (literally) and their quilts. Very friendly volunteers completed a great visit.

Chattanooga Choo Chooing

Helo from Chattanooga where it has been extremely hot and humid ie in the 80s (89 yesterday) and in the 70s for humidity although today with fierce thunderstorms and heaps of rain the humidity has been at 100%. With the storms, lightning, rain and flooding in some areas, I had a quiet day going to Barnes and Noble to stock up on reading matter (quilting magazines). I have been to the Hunter Art Gallery and Museum, the Lookout Mountain and Chickamunga Civil War Battlefield sites, on a trip on the East Tennessee Railway and to see Ruby Falls. There has been a lot of work done downtown to reinvigorate the town and it certainly seems to have worked. And I can't say enough about Southern hospitality - they are really friendly down here compared to up north (with the exception of Keepsake Quilting). Heading off on Tuesday for the Blue Ridge Parway/Skyline Drive and Washington.