No. We didn’t forget anything. We went to visit Campobello Island, FDR’s family’s summer home and where he and Eleanor and their children and grandchildren spent a lot of summers until her death in 1962. He contracted polio here in 1921 at the age of 39 (BTW – FDR is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was elected to 4 terms and was pretty much wheelchair bound (although they took great pains not to let the public see him in a chair) and responsible for so many things to better America! What I remember are – fireside chats, developing programs like the CCC to get people working during the Great Depression and he was President during WWII. What do you remember??)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945
He served as president for 12 years and had been elected to a 4th term when he died suddenly.
Harry Truman, his current VP, became President for the next 8 years.
The area we were in is called ‘Roosevelt Campobello International Park’. It is the world’s only true international park, and established by a treaty between the U.S. and Canada August 20, 1964 as a memorial to FDR and a symbol of the close relationship between the US and Canada. It is administered, staffed and funded by Canada and the US. I don’t know how they work that out, but we had to go through Lubec, Maine (the easternmost town in the US) and Customs to get on and off the island. The island itself is part of New Brunswick, Canada and not all of it is the park. This park is always free.
Closeup of one of the plaques
The flowers everywhere were stunning!
This 34-room summer residence of the Roosevelt family is preserved to replicate its appearance as it was in 1920, the summer before Roosevelt contracted polio during a visit to Campobello. We were able to walk through the entire house, though the rooms were roped off.
We spent all day here and probably could have spent more time. It’s a wonderful place and so well taken care of. The ‘extras’ are top-notch as well.
The Lord chose to bless us once again as we managed to get free tickets to two different events – Tea With Eleanor” and the “Fun Tour”.
We had seen the Tea mentioned in a brochure, but we really hadn’t been interested so we dismissed it. When we entered the Visitor Center, these two lovely ladies asked us if we wanted two free passes, so much to my surprise, Blaine said, “Sure!”. I never imagined him at a tea – let alone for an entire hour. 😊 We had just enough time to walk to the Wells-Shober Cottage.
The Wells – Shober Cottage is the oldest cottage the Roosevelt Campobello International Park has in it possession, originally constructed in 1884 for Samuel Wells, one of the founding members of the Campobello Company before 1900. Rex Shober a lawyer from Philadelphia whose wife Edith was Samuel Wells daughter, later acquired the cottage. The cottage sold in 1955 to Lydie Brown who operated it as a boarding house and gift shop until 1965 when it was purchased by the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.
We were soooo glad we went! We had heard Eleanor Roosevelt was quite the First Lady, but we didn’t really know anything about her. What an incredible woman she was! The information was well presented and full of humor and was never, ever boring. And the soft gingersnap cookies and tea were excellent! Did you know that she and FDR were 5th cousins once-removed? (I’ve never understood the ‘once-removed part of genealogy. . . ) Or that she was Teddy Roosevelt’s niece? (Her grandmother felt he was a bad influence on her and so after just a couple of visits, kept Eleanor away from him.)
FDR, Eleanor and Teddy montage
Eleanor had a lot of anxiety and self-esteem issues from the time she was a child. She was a very anxious and fearful child/woman and was told over and over that she was not attractive and shouldn’t expect to find a husband. I noticed that those feelings carried on into adulthood as with the exception of her in her wedding dress, every single picture has her looking down or away from the camera. Gma thought Teddy was a bad influence because of his boisterous personality and his attempts to force Eleanor to overcome her fears.
She and FDR got together because he saw her at a dance, sitting in the corner and felt sorry for her. He thought she was beautiful and once he spent time with her, found her very intelligent and full of common sense.
The senior member of the “Eleanor” staff
They told us the room was designed to remind people of sailing – a much-loved pastime for those summering here.
This is supposed to remind you of a ship’s mast.
One of her best-loved quotes:
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”
So how come there’s two pictures of Blaine at this tea and none of me?? : )
A copy of Eleanor’s gun permit – at age 72. She felt safer when she traveled having a gun in her purse. – even in 1957! : )
When we finished the tea, we headed back to the Visitor Center since we’d not had time earlier.
Outside the Visitors Center
The same ladies were there, and before we could ask anything, one said, “I have three free passes left for our “Fun Tour”! Would you like two of them? It starts in a few minutes!” Blaine and I looked at each other and said, “Sure!” To which she replied, “Oh, good! I’m sooo glad you got these!” Ok then . . .
Turns out it’s fairly new on the agenda. It really was fun! The guide was perfectly suited with a nice blend of historical facts (especially obscure ones), humor, sarcasm and ‘games’ we all had to participate in. We had to introduce ourselves with an adjective (like Brave Blaine). Other ‘games’ were – make up a dance and perform it for the group, make up a campaign slogan indicating why people should vote for you for the position of “Porch President”, asked to share a story of how your parents got together (only one person did this), play the antique piano that FDR played, name the Presidential Dogs (of course no one could do this, so we got a whimsical ipad media presentation of all 12 dogs.
The badge they passed out to participant winners in their ‘games’.
What can I say? He moved!
AKA The Hubbard House
The outside of this house needs some work.
Hard to imagine how gorgeous it is on the inside!
This window was amazing!
It’s hard to tell with a photo, but it was a telescoping window that Sarah had made and shipped here from Europe.
The legend we were told is that another woman saw it and wanted one. After two failed attempts (breakage and fire), she gave up on the window. We were told that Sarah sort of cursed the effort because she wanted the only one.
A useless fireplace, but it looked nice when people came in the door.
We were all allowed to walk around in this room on the tour, otherwise it’s roped off.
The Bluthner
Built in 1867, so it’s 150 years old
Thanks to a lack of volunteers and Blaine’s volunteering me when our guide said, “Aww come on! Not even chopsticks?” I played the entire tune to a crowd of about 30. I was so afraid I would forget how! But I made it through without even a stumble.
I didn’t realize people were taking pictures!
Probably a good thing!
What a priviledge to get to play FDR’s 150 year old piano!
I wish I had been able to do it justice. It had a beautiful tone.
Last stop – The House. We were allowed to walk all through it, presented furnished as a wedding present by FDR’s mother, Sarah – for $5,000!! The guide left us and encouraged us to take the tour of the house, leaving us to the staff who were throughout to monitor and answer questions.
Eleanor used this megaphone to call the kids in.
I just used a pot and spoon or hollered!
The kids were tutored during the summer months
Why do you need a chamber pot of there are bathrooms?
This is the room where Louis Howe stayed. He was instrumental in getting FDR elected – every time. He made himself indispensable to both FDR and the family.
FDR’s mom, Sarah also bought this stove specifically because of the manufacturer name.
See the bottom?
We heard later that people had to pay for the later tea times ($14!). We figured they had a certain number of free tickets a day and when they were gone, everyone else had to pay. Also, even though the Fun Tour is free, it has limited tickets to keep the groups manageable.
Finished with our tours, we had the remaining few hours to ourselves, so we hit the trails. The buildings close at 5pm, but the rest of the park is always open.
People eat this stuff around here. One local girl told us “It tastes gross!”
As I would expect . . . : )
We did a lot of hiking trying to find this thing.
It was pretty anti-climatic when we finally accidentally discovered it. It’s called Friar’s Head.
I also bought a Christmas gift there – but I won’t say what or for whom. 😊
As we waited to cross the border, we could see the town of Lubec.
Mulhollan Lighthouse
Passing by the town of Lubec
Take a close look at this.
Do you notice anything odd?
We had to deal with this fairly regularly for a few days due to close time zones.
On the way home, we made a quick stop to see the West Quoddy Lighthouse. Finally! A different looking lighthouse! We really missed the unique USA lights when we were in Canada. This is also the Easternmost point in the USA.
All in all, we had a wonderful day here and are so glad we went!