New Brunswick, One More Time

I'm so glad that I sometimes go back and double check what I've posted so far.  I completely forgot about Campobello in my rush to talk about times with friends!  Please forgive me as I take you back in time, way back before Cici & Ruwan and the kids came to visit.  Ok, the day before.  But still....  

As you turn down the road headed towards Schoodic Woods Campground (which is where we stayed in Acadia, if I haven't mentioned that before), there are signs for Campobello.  So glad they had those signs, I had completely forgotten about it.  Roosevelt Campobello International Park is a joint venture between Canada and the US.  FDR used to vacation there as a child, and as an adult he continued the tradition.  His family "cottage" (is 16 bedrooms really a "cottage"?) is there and preserved by both US and Canadian workers, and is just inside New Brunswick on an island right across from Lubec, Maine.  I had read up on it, I knew I wanted to go, and Cici said they didn't have passports, so we did this without them.  And on our way, we went to Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge.  No moose, tons of biting bugs.  We did do the mile-ish hike, but that was as far as we could make it with our insect buddies.  My big regret from that visit is that we were only about 14 miles from the St. Croix Island Historic Site but didn't make it over there.  Bummer.                      

So this is where Franklin and Eleanor brought their family to vacay before the presidency, and even for a bit after he was elected.  It was here that his polio was diagnosed, here where the second FDR, Jr was born.  I did not even know before the visit here that they named a second son Jr as well, the first having died as a young child.  This is indeed waterfront property, and it is gorgeous.  I definitely liked their entire food setup--kitchen, pantry (larger than some bedrooms I've had), and a butler's pantry (the approximate size of the other pantry).  Yeah, I think that's a workable setup.  There's not a whole heck of a lot about the park.  We read through the stuff at the visitors' center, watched the film, toured the house, walked the grounds, and then we left to explore more of the island.  One of the docents recommended a public beach, so that's where we headed first.      

Real quick before the beach--here's the sign warning of drunk bees.  I love the graphic.  I met no such bees.  These are in a couple spots at the international park.                      

This is from an overlook close to the beach.  We didn't bring any suits or anything, so the kids just tromped around without their shoes, but didn't get in.  Good thing, too, as a grandma there warned us about strong undercurrents.  She was very concerned about some other kids there who weren't being as safe as she'd like.  But, as the kids weren't getting in the water, I felt they were safe from the undertow.  From here, we decided that we should investigate the island more, afterall, the drive was more than an hour and a half.  Let's find a lighthouse!                                

This isn't the best picture of the lighthouse, I'll show that to you in a minute.  First, let's survey the land.  There's a sign before this point that says you're taking your own risks here.  That staircase is roped off, because it ends in water.  At low tide, you can cross from this space over to the other ladder in the background of the picture and explore the island where the lighthouse is.  But alas, it was not low tide when we were there, and the current is quite strong and the water is full of sharp rocks.  A deathtrap, as it were.  We did get cool pictures, we rock hopped a bit, we checked out what's at the water's edge, and we felt adventurous for taking the risk of walking around.  But we did not touch the water.          

You can see the lighthouse better, while getting a feel for how isolated it is.  I wish it showed the current there.  Definitely not something you want to cross.  It's a shame our timing and the tides didn't match up, I would have enjoyed exploring this bit.                  

Crossing back over the Bay of Fundy to get into the US, the fog started rolling in.  Really cool to just see the blanket of fog.  While we were on the bridge, G spotted some seals, so we toodled around Lubec to find them.  Lubec is the eastern most city in the contiguous US.                  

A lot of people gathered to spot the seals.  There were quite a few out that day, just rollicking and having a grand old time.  We stayed for a bit, but it was getting close to the time to have dinner, so we headed out towards Acadia again.                  

I had a hard time getting any pictures, but I did manage to get a couple.  When we talked to one of the guys at the Schoodic Institute, he recommended (if we were inclined to drive a bit) the Quoddy lighthouse.  In Lubec.  While it was beautiful and I'm glad we went, we did not go back to see that lighthouse.  I hear it's gorgeous, though.