When Dave last saw Kevin Waugh, Kevin was 10 years old. Kevin's parents, Ralph and Gerda Waugh, brought the Church to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 1965. Dave was a member of the second set of missionaries to preach there.
We met Kevin at Church in the Summerside branch. He gave Dave a copy of the history of the Church on PEI that his father had prepared. He told us the chapel was built on land his father purchased and sold to the Church, since none of the PEI residents wanted to sell land to the Church directly.
Ralph and Gerda Waugh were born on PEI, but they married and were converted to the Church in New York State. When they returned home to PEI, they called President Boyd K. Packer of the New England Mission in Boston, and asked him to send missionaries. Dave was one of the first missionaries President Packer sent. The Waughs didn't know all the niceties of their new religion, and Dave remembers telling Sister Waugh that he appreciated her helpfulness in preparing the sacrament, but the elders really needed to do it!
We met Sister Waugh, who is now 90. Dave told her how much he admires her and her husband for their lifelong devotion to bringing the Church to PEI.
We searched through Summerside, looking for where Dave spent the winter of 1966. He thinks it was in the basement of this house.
Dave made the reservations for hotels, and I assumed our B'n'B, above, was in Summerside. When the B'n'B owner urged us to attend the annual Church bazaar across the street, I decided we were too busy--we were off to search for Acadian country. As it turned out, our B'n'B was actually in Miscouche, a town near Summerside which is the capital of Acadian country! The bazaar I missed was at the main Acadian Catholic church, and would have given us an authentic taste of Acadian music, food, and culture. That's travel--an ever wonderful collection of hits and misses!
The Acadian church across from our B'n'B.
When I finally got my bearings, Dave and I visited this Acadian museum in Miscouche, which was the largest collection of Acadian artifacts on the island.
In our search for Acadian culture, we followed country roads to this lovely Catholic Church, in the Acadian style we saw throughout PEI and Nova Scotia.
When we were in French speaking areas, the French translation was at the top of the sign, with English below. When we were in English speaking areas, the English translation got top billing.
Acadian handcrafts include hooked rugs, hand-loomed fabric, quilts, and hand-knitted socks and sweaters.
The Acadians are very proud of their culture and heritage.
I spotted these hand-loomed table runners in the colors of the Acadian flag--red, white, and blue. I grabbed them and also collected Maritimes cookbooks. I am looking forward to making a Maritime-style seafood and strawberry rhubarb crisp dinner for my family, and decorating the table with these runners.
As the clerk totted up my bill, a neighbor stopped by the coop and noticed that I had bought more than $100 of crafts. "Herbert et Catherine seront si hereuses!" she exclaimed.
We also loved touring Cavendish, the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Anne of Green Gables books. I bought the whole set and took them with me on the trip--all nine volumes!
This tiny house with its quaint furnishings is the building in which Lucy Montgomery was born.
And this building is the home of Lucy Montgomery's uncle, which, with its farm and woods, was the setting for the Anne of Green Gables books. The building was reconstructed by the Canadian national park service to look just like the house in the first Anne of Green Gables novel.
We paused from our sightseeing to stroll the Cavendish beach. Even in the far north, swimmers dipped into the chilly sea.
"I lived in PEI one whole winter, but I never saw the whole island," Dave sighed, as we drove to the very northwestern corner of PEI, which had a sand spit leading into the sea and a Wind Energy Interpretive Center to explore, as well.
Another outing on PEI was visiting Charlottetown, the province capital. It is now a charming, stylish little city, with sidewalk cafes and a culinary arts school.
We visited Parliament House, where the Canadian Confederation was signed in 1867.
We saw a statue of John McDonald, the father of Canadian union, and also watched a movie about his efforts to unify Canada.
We are always ready for one more ice cream cone, and the COWs shop was excellent.
We had two great dinners on PEI--fresh scallops one night and lobster and mussels the other.
Sunset over the beach at Summerside.
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