CAMPOBELLO AND COOKIN' LOBSTAH

September 24

A few years ago I saw a TV episode of "America's Castles" featuring the summer cottage of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Campobello Island.  Looking at the map, I realized that we were only a few hours away, so we decided to check it out.

Campobello Island is off the coast of Maine in New Brunswick, Canada and is home to the only International Park in the world.  The international Park was established in 1964 as a symbol of the close relationship between Canada and the U.S., and as a memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The park is 2,800 acres, and members of the park commission are comprised of Americans and Canadians who oversee the management of the park.

FDR grew up spending every summer at his family's cottage on this rocky, rugged island.  After he and Eleanor married, they became the owners of the Kuhn cottage (located next door to his parent's cottage) which became known as the Roosevelt Cottage.

Roosevelt Cottage

The highlight of our visit to Campobello was attending "Tea With Eleanor" in the Hubbard cottage, which is located next to the Roosevelt Cottage.  Debbie and Carolyn served us tea with homemade cookies, then took turns telling stories of FDR, Eleanor and their 5 children, as well as Eleanor's remarkable life and her love of Campobello Island and its people.  It was evident that Debbie and Carolyn have a passion and affection for this special place, as well as a deep respect for Eleanor Roosevelt.  If you ever have a chance to visit Campobello, make sure you get a ticket for "Tea With Eleanor"; space is very limited and the tickets are free.

Carolyn serving tea. (The flash on the camera didn't go off, so not the best picture.) 

Hubbard Cottage
 

After tea, Debbie took us on a tour of beautiful Hubbard Cottage.  Next, we toured the Roosevelt Cottage which has many of the Roosevelt's original furnishings.  The 34 room cottage has 18 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, and a commanding view of Passamaquoddy Bay from the veranda.

Before leaving Campobello, we drove around and made a few stops to take in the scenery.

Cobblestone beach -- tide was out.

On the way back to Bar Harbor, we stopped at the docks in Winter Harbor, Maine where the fishermen were unloading their day's catch.  We bought 6 live Maine lobster at $4.00 a pound, went back to the RV and cooked them up.  We ate 2 of them that night (with real butter) and froze the meat from the other four.  We hope to load our freezer with lobstah to take home.

Lobster boats, Winter Harbor, ME

"YUM, lobstah.  Better double up on those gout pills!"