I recently came across an old piece I wrote for a class on travel writing I took I think about 15 years ago. It's written with a magazine audience in mind, which is why it reads a little impersonal. The trip itself was taken in the mid 1980s but I think little of my description is outdated. My instructor's comments are below the piece.
What do Anne of Green Gables and the Cajuns of Louisiana have in common? The answer lies in a jewel of an island nested off the coast of New Brunswick.
Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province A half-hour ferry ride across the Northumberland Strait and you are transported to another age. The air feels softer, your cares distant. One of the first things you will notice is the bright red soil of the exposed cliff faces. The brilliant colouration comes from the rust in the soft sandstone.
The French Arcadians were some of the first settlers and made good use of the fertile soil. Unfortunately they became victims in a larger drama played between the superpowers of that age, England and France. After France lost the Battle of Louisbourg in 1758, the Arcadians were forcibly repatriated. Some went to Louisiana and became the Cajuns, a corruption of Arcadian. Still others risked their lives and fled to the woods. They not only survived but thrived. Today one islander in seven is an Arcadian and a descendant of those stubborn refugees.
If you come in the right season you may come across an Arcadian festival. They were having one at Abram-Village while I was there. Dancers whirled to the beat of Arcadian folk songs, while stalls offered enticing culinary delicacies. Nearby, contestants were demonstrating traditional feats such as wood chopping and the horse team pull. Every other family is named Arsenault. That's how small a group of families the original settlers were. Their language is a linguistic snapshot of 17th century French.
Wandering out of the fairgrounds you are likely to come across a small crafts shop or artisanat. On display was an antique quilt with an intriguing story. Back in the 1930s, the artist, an Arcadian housewife, saw a plane in the sky for the first time in her life. It made such an impression on her that she recorded her impressions with quiltwork.
On the other side of the island, near Cavendish, is Green Gables. This is the house Lucy Maud Montgomery lived in with her cousins. Lucy was the creator of that spirited character, Anne of Green Gables, so beloved by children all over the world. Her heroine is based in no small part upon herself. A short distance from the house is a serene, wooded walk where Lucy must have spent many a happy hour as a child, listening to the babbling brook and the sounds of nature.
During your drive around the island you will come across blandishments to stop and indulge in an all you can eat lobster feast. Give in to temptation once. You will be shown to a buffet table groaning with hearty side dishes. A short while later, your pièce de résistance arrives, a lobster boiled as red as the soil of the island. After the dinner, as the twilight ferry bears you towards Nova Scotia, perhaps you will understand why the Arcadians were as reluctant as you are to leave.
My instructor commented that I had used a couple of hackneyed phrases: jewel of an island, and babbling brook. I notice that I had a chance to make the account a bit more personal when writing about the aeroplane quilt, instead of being an anonymous reporter, but missed it. I also see now that I used impression twice in one sentence. And looking up Montgomery's biography reveals that her days in Cavendish were mostly lonely and her imaginative mind provided companions so my description was a bit inaccurate.
