A sausage and cheese casserole (sausage optional) with baked apple, followed the cereal and fruit entree. Sorry no piccie as appetite arrived ahead of iPhone, but it was a bit like a very fluffy omelette. This was also accompanied by a cinnamon and blueberry muffin. Side note here. Though this is the home of the blueberry, but being wild blueberries they are all very small, in fact they are tiny compared to the ones they sell in the UK shops. They are very tasty though.
Eric takes a last look at a pint-size lighthouse before we leave Lubec.
Next stop, Canada for the first time, crossing over the bridge that was erected in 1962 onto Campobello Island. Though it is a Canadian island it was the summer retreat of Franklyn D Roosevelt. Up until the 9/11 attacks you didn't need a passport to cross, just some form of ID. All that's changed now (of which more later). Not only are we in a different country but also in a different time zone, so suddenly it's an hour later. Confusingly, one iPhone gives us USA time and one Canada time - weird.
To visit the house is free. We are there as it opens so we are able to avail ourselves of the ticket only, limited numbers, free 'tea with Eleanor' in the Hubbard Cottage after our Roosevelt Cottage tour, the latter being a bijou little place with only 38 rooms and 16 bedrooms!
The route to the house from the visitor centre is very pretty, with flower borders and ...
...some cabbage 'topiary'
Inside many of the artefacts are original, including FDR's fedora. Not the wallpaper or the curtains though, as they were spoiled by the pipe smokers, kerosene lamps and candles that they used.
The 'schoolroom' - Eric thinks the maths is too easy.
The servants rooms were the same size and on the same floor as the guest rooms and had the same furniture and wonderful views. In comparison, similar places in the UK in the same time period had the servants roomed in the attic.
The initial tour is fascinating, and we learn that the there are distinct links between the Island, Wales and Scotland. The name Campobello is derived from Campbell with 'o's added, supposedly because it made it sound like campo bello - Italian for beautiful field (Wikipedia). Campbell was the name of the Governor (of Scots descent) who donated the land at this end of the Island to William Owen, one of the first settlers here. He was Welsh. The main town on the Island is Welshpool and the first large house and hotel built there were called Ty'n y Coed and Ty'n y Maes.
Our free tea and talk followed - this turned out to be a very informative and interesting, story-led, talk about the First Lady - the free tea is grown in New Brunswick and it was pretty good too. We were following in the tradition of Eleanor Roosevelt, who used to have tea at three o'clock everyday no matter where she was (although we were having it at eleven). Not only this but we also get to have a tour of Hubbard Cottage even though it's supposed to be closed to the public today.
There was this amazing original window in one of the rooms - that would be good in our house.
A quick trip to the shoreline reveals...fog
From the here we headed to the northern tip of the island for a number of reasons:
a) we like lighthouses
This was on the last of three little islands, reached by various ladders, bridges and causeways. When the tide is in they are inaccessible.
Suitable warning signs before you depart for the lighthouse. It's low tide so we should be OK.
Eric say this ladder looks easy
But the other ladders are trickier. Eric is at the bottom giving encouragement.
b) the possibility of seeing whales - they were seen there from the shore yesterday
No picture due to wet fog and distance, but they were seen. Yippee.
c) the map had a pair of binoculars on it at this point, so we hope to see some interesting birds. We were hopeful for Bald Eagles - they were there yesterday too.
No Eagles but we did see a Hummingbird, feeding on what a lady told us was Jewelweed or Spotted Touch-me-not plant (Impatiens biflora possibly). She told us a concoction could be made out of the broken boiled up stems that was good for burns.
A female Rufus hummingbird
Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad!
The Guide at the lighthouse who lived on the island said she had recently been to Wales to visit the original Welshpool along with other locations.
Time to return to the mainland to head on up to our next evenings stop. But first we have to negotiate US customs for the second time this trip. For such friendly people the US customs officers certainly can make you feel uncomfortable. They really seem to need you to have a very very good excuse for coming to their country, rather than just to have nice holiday. Once the the formalities are over the now friendly border guard gives us all the useful info you could want.
So, after a short drive up the coast in some serious rain and a thunderstorm, Canada greets us with bright sunshine again as we arrive at St Andrews by the Sea, as does the hotel porter - in a kilt, spot the connection?
After settling in to the room
we head of to the seafront for a meal and to check options for the following couple of days. On the way Eric makes friends with a horse in the gardens of the hotel.
We see some interesting murals on the town walls. Why can't they do something like this on the old Jennings building in Porthcawl?
Meet more equine friends for Eric.
A pier for walking on later - there seems to be no shore walk - houses, shops or restaurants all along.
Find a cannon along the jetty, and they are pointing across to the USA. Eric suggests they have them loaded just in case Donald Trump gets elected - who knows who he might decide invade?
And the other way - Eric has attached himself to a lobster pot float to stop himself being blown away - it's still very windy.
And so to bed.