Campbobello Island, New Brunswick August 26

According to the GPS New Brunswick is only about 8 miles away for our camp site ...as the crow flys.  One can drive to Campobello Island from Lubec  about 20 miles  down and around  the road. or take a ferry from Eastport.  There are so many inlets, peninsulas, coves, that to get from point A to point B usually takes a while.  We are still keeping a close eye on Hurricane Irene and it looked like she is still a day or two a way and today is suppose to be sunny, so without further debate we headed over to the island.  What a gorgeous day it turned out to be!

OK.  Whats on Campbello Island?  It was the summer home of Franklin D Roosevelt and has been turned into the beautiful Roosevelt Campobello International Park. Roosevelt's summer summer cottage is open to the public for free.  The park it self has numerous hiking and carriage trails and a nice place to spend the day ....except for the bugs.  The island survives on a fishing economy but is also a tourist destination without being really crowded.  It reminded me of the quaint little fishing villages found in Sourthern Portugal.

Mulholland Lighthouse on Mulholland Point looking towards Lubec, Maine.

Lubec, Maine from Compobello Island, New Brunswick.

FDR Memorial Bridge.  The US and Canadian Customs were probably the most friendly agents I have encountered on the US/Canadian border.  It was an easy crossing with no traffic or hassles.

FDR's summer "Cottage"  There are twelve bedroom on the second floor.  FDR parents vacationed on the island with he was a baby and they liked the area so well they bought property for a summer cottage.  Later FDR's mother Sara bought the cottage for FDR as a wedding gift. The cottage was later sold but FDR's son Elliot purchased the cottage and donated it to the park when the park was being established.  Most of the furnishings inside are original.  The cottage  is immaculately kept and the docents are very knowledgeable.  The park is funded equally by the US and Canada.

Its seems the Canadians love their summer flowers because every time we have been to Canada we see beautiful annuals.

 The back of the cottage has an expansive grassy area which over looks the bay towards Lubec.

 How would you like to cook on this wood burning stove?  There was no electricity in the cottage.

 The Cottage over looks this cove.  Today  Atlantic Salmon farming is done in the pens in the picture.

Another landmark on the island is the Head Harbor Lighthouse.  It is featured in many magazines and brochures.  You can walk to the Lighthouse at low tide for $5.00 and for another $10.00 you can go inside the lighthouse.  $15.00 seemed pretty steep for the privilege to walk to the lighthouse and up all those stairs so we enjoyed it from a far.

 There are lots of coves and sandy beaches on the island.  I'm used to the white sandy beaches of the central coast of California, so these black sandy beaches weren't really that appealing to me.

This is an example of the extreme tides in the area.  The high tide goes all the way up to the trees.  If you look really carefully you can see a boat in the middle of the picture that is stranded.

 Another one of the pretty scenes on the island.

Can you say low tide??

a
Herring Cove is inland, and a very calm cove where fisherman dock their boats.

The crab pots and lobster ("lobstah "in Maine language) are ready to go out.

 As we were driving a long we came across home which had a yard full of lobster and crab gear. The owner told us this was just some of the gear her husband used for his business.  That's a lot of gear.

 and these were just some of the buoys used.  Aren't they colorful?

This was a really nice day trip.  I was really impressed with the low key and slow pace of the island.  Time permitting it would have been fun to hike some of the trails, but with the hurricane lurking, it's best we not doddle as there are other places to go and see.