Day 32 (September 22, 2009) – FDR, Whales, Lighthouses, and Good Eats Too.

We, quite simply, had a great day! We crossed back into Canada through Lubec, ME to Campobello Island. The Roosevelt Campobello Island International Park is not big, but worth the effort to get here. This is where FDR’s father, James, established the family summer home in 1885. FDR spent nearly every summer of his youth and adult life before Polio here hiking, swimming, golf, tennis, and boating. What I never knew was how physically active he was. He even established a golf course on the island. There are numerous easy hiking trails that were family favorites that we did not have time to do.

In 1909, FDR and his wife Eleanor purchased their summer home next door to his childhood home. The FDR Cottage has been fully restored to its appearance in the period 1909-1921. All of the furnishings are original. The wallpaper is a reproduction of the original. This “small cottage” has 17 bedrooms; virtually all are very simply furnished for sleeping and dressing. The exceptions are the master bedroom and two guest rooms for couples. The Cottage is not fancy in today’s terms, but would be considered a very comfortable summer home by any standards. There is even an early annunciator system (battery powered) where guests could request service by simply pushing a button. Not bad for a home with no electricity! The house used ambient light during daytime and kerosene lamps and candles at night. Unfortunately, his parent’s home, much smaller, fell into disrepair and was demolished in the 1950’s.

FDR contracted polio here in 1921 and used the house infrequently thereafter, preferring to spend his time in Warm Springs, GA in an attempt to overcome his disabilities. His last visit here was on the Battleship North Dakota as President. The ship got fogged in for 3 extra days. There are several other cottages on the grounds but were not open due to ongoing conferences and meetings. The small gardens around the house are beautiful and will hopefully help us design next summer’s plantings around the house. The Dahlias were stunning! They must thrive in the cool moist summers.

Afterwards we tried to see as much of the island as we could fit into our brief visit. We did find Raccoon Beach and will be dragging home many pounds of “precious” rocks. This end of the island was breezy, almost cold, and foggy. We drove to the other end and East Quoddy Lighthouse to find sun and warmth. The Lighthouse is on a small island not accessible at high tide, which it was while we were there. But we found a point to see it just fine thanks to a local. The whale watching boats were just offshore. While we ate lunch and for the next hour or so we were treated to a free whale show. These were finbacks, about a mile offshore. They were surfacing in pods of 5-6 at a time, with numerous “blows” at any one time. We also saw numerous harbor seals today in several locations, especially in Lubec, ME. We ventured over to West Quoddy Lighthouse in Maine to see it and hear the foghorn in the fog. Perhaps we will revisit it in the morning as we head south if the weather looks better. On our drive back into Eastport a large adult Bald Eagle flew with us for a short time just in front of us overhead, until he saw us behind him as I was trying to slow down.

At the campground we went to their restaurant for dinner. We started with steamed clams, an order was 5-6 dozen and delicious. Katherine had a Lobster Roll, PhD version, piled higher and deeper. We both had baked haddock (too tired to deal with lobster) and I had fresh (still warm) blueberry pie for dessert. Quite simply said, this was “Good Eats!” Everyone is sleepily stuffed.

We had a nice chat with the campground owner who explained to us the No LNG signs we see around. There have been 3 separate plans to establish LNG terminals in the area. The one near Calais will likely proceed, as it is only 15 miles from an existing LNG line. An effort to establish a LNG terminal on Passamaquoddy tribal land near here, fell through when at the last moment (!,?) the LNG company found out the local power company had no capacity to supply the electricity needed to power the Terminal. The Tribe walked away with $1.6M!!!! I’ll bet some folks lost a bundle on that stupidity! DUH! Lots of land they bought is for sale, cheap too.

One last point, the TV…yes, I watched one 30 minute program on Food Network – Alton Brown, Good Eats, Waffles; and a short segment on the Weather Channel on flooding in Georgia. No TV so far tonight! I do NOT feel deprived, uninformed, or bored. Donna and Katherine are playing 500 Rummy. She whipped her Mom’s butt last night. Another day here would have been nice to enable us to see things we had to pass by. Reservations ahead beckon us onward.