6. We Can See Canada from Here

 We Can See Canada from Here

Roosevelt Family Summer Home

Monday May 31: 

Campobello Island is part of New Brunswick but the only non-boat access to it is via a bridge across Passamaquoddy Bay from Lubec Maine. So today we again got out our passports to make the border crossing to visit Roosevelt-Campobello International Park.

The Roosevelt estate at Campobello was Franklin Roosevelt's summer home during his childhood and up until his presidency.  It's also where he woke up one morning in August 1921 to find himself paralyzed from polio; he was 39 years old.

The home was one of about 20 summer estates owned by wealthy families of the late 19th century.  They'd travel by train from Boston, and then cross the bay by ferry.  The bridge from Lubec was not in place until 1962.

Today just a few of the surrounding homes still stand as part of the park.  The park's theme celebrates the "Legacy of Friendship" between Canada and the United States.  It was first opened in August of 1964 with both Lady Bird Johnson and Canada's First Lady Maryon Pearson in attendance.

A noble goal: "A living memorial ...to the friendship...of Canada and the United States"

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Leaving the park, we continued with a short drive around the rest of the island, ending up at East Quoddy Head Lighthouse at the northern tip of Campobello.

Ending for today with a FUN FACT about the naming of Campobello Island, from a display at the Roosevelt park:

5. Hopewell Rocks

 Hopewell Rocks

Sunday May 31: 

Our campground in Lower Cape New Brunswick was only a mile or so from the Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park, with a gentle trail through the woods connecting the two - so the pups and I started the day with that hike, and John drove to meet us there at the other end.

We got to Hopewell Rocks just as the tide was coming in.  Park workers in the photo below monitored the water level as it rose, closing off public access for the duration when the beach floor became submerged.  A set of stairs and platforms allowed us a decent vantage point.

Unfortunately, we'd miss seeing the tide go out unless we wanted to wait another six hours.

While watching, we struck up a conversation with a couple from Alberta, and the husband began explaining the layers of rocks in technical terms; we found out in the course of further chat that he is a retired geologist! 

The visitor center's exhibition also touched on the geology of the Bay of Fundy, and once again I was intrigued by the science of Plate Tectonics, and how this very region was once connected to North Africa/Southern Spain back when the continents were all joined as part of Pangea.

After lunch we headed west back to Maine, and the weather continued to improve. It was the first time we had seen blue sky or a temperature above 50 since Tuesday!

We settled in for the night in the town of Lubec, Maine - the easternmost town in the United States - and finally got to see an actual sunset after a week of clouds and rain.