Day Eighteen – Campobello Bound

July 8, 2016 – Off We Go Again!

Brrr!  It’s chilly and we start the day with the ceremonial lighting of the heater!  Breakfast, stretches, maps in hand, and we set off to the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.  Down the gravel road, past La Grange, and right at the Irving - that little stretch takes twenty-five minutes and can’t be more than eight miles.  We get gas and keep moving. 

As we pass through Calais (which the locals pronounce “callous”) we pass an optometrist’s office and we stop in to see if they can fix Marilyn’s glasses frame.  The lady gives it the old college try but is afraid to go too far, lest she break them altogether. 

No, we didn't have Mickey D's version;  we've had the real thing!

Along the way we notice a sign for the headquarters of the Moosehead Wildlife Refuge.  We’ll be looking that up to see if it might be Sunday’s field trip.  We also pass The Clutter Shop!  We can’t decide if they are taking ours or selling us more! And there’s a restaurant called the 45^th Parallel, which we assume refers to its location, midway between the equator and the North Pole.

Although Eastport, ME, claims to be the easternmost town in the U.S., Lubec’s sign also claims the honor! It is also the U.S. side of the FDR Memorial Bridge.  We clear Canadian passport control after the usual questions:  Where are you going?  How long are you staying? Where are you from? Do you have liquor or firearms or pepper spray?

There are signs to the Visitors’ Center and that’s always a good place to start.  We had tried last night to get on line and make reservations for Tea with Eleanor at the Wells-Shober Cottage; but I didn’t realize that when it didn’t connect, it continued trying.  Now I’ve blown through my data plan and they’ve tacked an extra fifteen bucks onto my bill and 250MG of data.  That should certainly get us through the rest of the trip!  It seems cheaper than the ten dollars a month that they offered as an option!  They (the ever-present Verizon folks) also think I’m in Canada way before I am and have another plan to offer!  I don’t expect to use my phone while we’re in the park; but I’m wrong.  Marilyn’s brother calls her about the land deal, so I’m glad I’ve got it!

 Anyway, when we get to the Visitors’ Center we are able to make our reservations for the noon time tea (one o’clock their time) and are free to explore until then.  We take some exterior shots of the Roosevelt Cottage (from the best vantage point.  We know that, because there’s a sign to tell us!) and wander through the woods, looking for birds, before driving to tea.  

This isn't the spot they chose;  but I need the sign for my poor little brain!

 

It turns out you can only see the Wells-Shober cottage if you have tea reservations, so we are among the few who will see all four cottages today.  There is bottomless King Cole orange pekoe tea with real Canadian cream and it is truly delicious.  And really bottomless!  There are ginger cookies made right on site, too, but they aren’t GF.  I nibble a little of one of Marilyn’s and they are pretty scrumptious, too!  Our hostess feels guilty about not having anything for me to eat and wants to run our and get something!  Sweet lady!  I sure don’t need cookies!

The main attraction, though, is Taunya, who tells us lots of stories about Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and accomplishments, alternating between bringing us to tears and smiles and laughter.  I had no idea that she had had such a difficult childhood and, although I knew she was a powerful mover and shaker of her time, I didn’t realize the extent of her influence on the United States and the world!

Taunya has a new assistant, Sherrie, who is learning the ropes.  Today she is in charge of seeing to it that everyone has as much tea as they would like.  The presenters have to write their own presentations and Sherrie is doing research on Eleanor and on the cottage, too. She’s only been at the park for two weeks!

After telling the ladies what a fine job they did, and finding out what brand of tea and cream they served, and where to buy it, we go back to see the inside of the Roosevelt cottage.  What a misnomer!  It has thirty-eight rooms! This had been the Roosevelts’ summer home since FDR was a one-year old! He and Eleanor brought  their five children here every summer until FDR contracted polio, when he was 39.  FDR didn’t return to the island until 1933, when Eleanor threw him a picnic, inviting the whole island!  We notice that the servants’ rooms are the same size as the family’s!

The windows are called Robber Windows because they rob the sunlight from the bedroom on the left and give it to the otherwise-unlit hallway.  The glass is frosted to protect Anna's privacy!

Louis Howe was the power behind the throne, helping to write speeches and with many other aspects of the Roosevelts' lives.  He was particularly helpful to Eleanor when FDR fell ill and she worked to maintain his public persona.

Butler's pantry

This stove, the President model, was a gift from FDR's mother, Sara.

The annunciator!

We pass the site of the James and Sara Roosevelt cottage, the original cottage which belonged to FDR’s parents and is no longer standing, and arrive at the Hubbard cottage.  Mr. Hubbard designed the cottage for his wife, who was a concert pianist.  The piano and the pool table are the only original pieces remaining;  but the magnificent oval window in the dining room is still there and jaw-droppingly beautiful! And there is old, original glass in many of the windows!

It’s getting late and we’re hungry.  We’ve been chatting with a young man named Jake who is mowing the grounds for the summer.  He’s in law school and is enjoying not having to use his brain for a couple of months!  He agrees with us that the fun part of the summer is meeting people from all over!

We’ve decided to eat at the Fireside Restaurant, which is in the fourth of the extant cottages from back in the day.  When we ask about GF entrees the hostess checks with the chef and he says he can broil some haddock instead of breading and frying it, as the menu lists.  But when our waitress tells us the specials, I opt for the special sandwich with chicken, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato and bacon.  She can have it served on GF bread!  I get it with cole slaw and their wonderful, housemade mushroom soup!  So delicious!

After “linner” we drive up to the north end of the island to see the Head Harbour Lightstation.  There is something floating in the water, quite a ways out.  I think it’s an otter??  Marilyn spots it first, as we scan for whales.  One of the tour boats saw some here the other day. And we can see another light, far, far away in the distance.

 Driving south we find the Village Mart and shop for tea and cream. We’re really hooked on King Cole and Canadian cream!

We drive back down to the southern end of the island and take an unidentified road, hoping that it leads to the Mulholland Point Lighthouse, and sure enough, it does!  It’s getting late and we don’t know if the border closes at sundown, so we hurry back over the bridge and clear the U.S. passport check. When the agent asks what we’ve bought Marilyn tells him we have tea and cream.  He says, “Ah!  Have you been to Tea with Eleanor?”  He also gets a giggle when she says she bought a hat pin! Such big spenders! We’re home! 

Now it’s just a matter of driving an hour and a half back to La Grange for laundry and computer-charging time.  The door is locked at seven and it’s about seven thirty; but one of the residents, a nurse from Nigeria, is just walking up to the door and Marilyn talks her way in!  All we have to do is make sure we lock up when we leave.  We plug in all our electronics, start the laundry, and try to catch up with our lives.  I post two days’ worth of blogs and get through some of my email.  As soon as the laundry is dry enough, we pack up and hit the trail.  It is about ten o’clock and really dark out here in the woods.  Happily, all the turns are well marked and although we stop and think at a couple of the choices, we get home with nairy a wrong turn. 

Marilyn leaves the headlights on while I turn on the generator and go in and turn on a light. We both have flashlights and we make good use of them! After we make sure we’ve used all the water we need, we turn off the generator (have I mentioned it’s a bit of a hike?), turn off the heater, and head to bed.

Tomorrow should be an easy day, ending with a lobster feast at Sharon and Dana’s old house.  They are kicking out the current occupants for the evening!!