Introspective Journeys

For one year, I planned the ultimate vacation to Prince Edward Island. The destination was inspired by my childhood love of the “Anne of Green Gables” story. I had read about an operating lighthouse that also functioned as an inn, called the West Point Inn. There are rooms that are part of the lighthouse itself available to book. The room I had my eye on, the Tower Room, had vaulted ceilings and the same décor as almost close to one hundred years ago. Upon arrival, the room seemed exactly as they described. At the time, the room had a VCR and television, the only signs of the modern age. My parents were traveling with me, and my father was spooked. He kept saying there were ghosts at the inn. My father insisted that the bathroom light stay on while we slept, because there was a ghost under the bed. We explored the lighthouse during the day. My father and I climbed the narrow staircases and ladders up to the top of the lighthouse. Initially it was fun, the spiral staircases and ladders that we climbed, like a jungle gym continually going upwards. Along the way there were historical artifacts about the lighthouse. There was a floor that was called the “museum,” where my father and I looked at the long ago photos and letters of the innkeepers and passer-byers. The local folklore, we learned, is that the inn is haunted by the original keeper, Willie MacDonald. Towards the last stretch, we were challenged by a set of more narrow ladders and staircases. At one point I asked my father if he even wanted to go up another level. We both decided to go for it, we had come all that way anyhow. It was my first time every being at the top of a lighthouse. At the very top, the lighthouse had a green blinking light. It was like an alarm was going off but we just stayed, mesmerized by the flashing emerald light that shone onto the ocean. One of my favorite pictures to this day is one I took of my father facing the blinking light; he is completely lit up in the green of signal light. I likened our climb to the top to a mountain hike, and being rewarded by the view. We had a view of the northern shore of Prince Edward Island and the red sandy beaches and the surrounding forests. The great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean lie before us. We were able to view the gentle pushes of the waves coming onto the shore. It was the only time I ever stayed in a lighthouse. Willie would never be able to scare me away from being able to wake up to the crashing waves outside my window.