Help! Invasion On Campobello!

It’s time for the 3rd. International Marathon from Lubec to Campobello Island. The Marathon starts at the West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec,ME then going over to our own Head Harbour light Station and back to Lubec.                          Above: West Quoddy Lighthouse                            Head Harbour Light Station We have in excess of 700 registered runners and each has brought family members and friends. About 4000-5000 people are currently in the region and have taken up every single hotel room, every single B+B capacity and every empty RV-lot in an area of minimum 100 miles south and east of us. To get a hotel room you’d have to travel 3 hrs south to Bangor,ME. I intended to cross the border today, but had to turn around, as the waiting line-up of cars trying to get through Canada Customs was a mile long! It would have taken me at least 3 hours to get back to the island. I wonder what other island visitors must have thought when getting caught in that line-up. It was not a good day to travel to Campobello. And I had other things to do as neighours had asked me to build a garden staircase from their deck. I finished the project around 4pm and after a nice coffee with them I retired on our porch.

When The Fog Horns Sound

When the fog horns sound from Head Harbour and the American shoreline the world is lulled in a wet blanket and all other sounds have ceased. Each fog horn has its own frequency and while the rhythm between the two is irregular, it sounds like they compete with each other. The big maple leaves are dripping of the fog, and the edge of the forest becomes a secretive wall. I trudge along the street where nobody is out yet. The houses seem to be uninviting, like they have enough with themselves today. Farther across, the bay is cloaked in a grey mass. No ships are out there. Too dangerous for navigation. After a while the fog is lifting off and the world turns out its colours. Where it was grey before it turns blue and green and finally, through a hole, the sun peeks out, bathing us in warming rays. It’s gonna be another nice day.

CAMPOBELLO–Tourism Today And Yesterday

Sure, it is a long, long time ago since Campobello was a luxurious tourist resort. Campobello around 1900, large open fields where forest has grown up today Rich families from New England came to this island in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the Roosevelts were only one of these families making Campobello their favorite summer residence.                          Tyn-y-coed and Tyn-y-maes Hotels And even though the large hotels are long gone, they got a place in our local history. When they were dismantled high-quality materials were recycled into private residences.                       Historic ferry between Campobello and Lubec,ME But isn’t there a beginning renaissance of a new life on Campobello? Aren’t there new generations of visitors coming to discover a lost paradise?                           Old dock beneath Roosevelt Cottage (far right) Map of southern part of Campobello showing Roosevelt Park and Provincial Park areas. For years the Roosevelt International Park and the historic Head Harbour Light Station have been the main attractions and they are still attracting thousands of visitors every summer. But islanders have not been resting on their throne. New enterprises have been seeing the light of day.    One of the newest attractions is “Jocie’s Porch”. It started out as a coffee- and teahouse. Coffee is actually made here from raw coffee beans, roasted to make a full aromatic coffee you will not find anywhere else in any coffee house around the world. “Porch Coffee” simply is the best.          Eastern view from International Bridge towards Lubec shoreline But of course the place offers other delicacies as well, as f.ex. home-made cakes and pastries and something called “Friars Bay Fog”. We do not know what this is made of other than some tea is involved. It’s a trade secret you have to try out yourself. Every Friday Jocie’s Porch arranges for Java + Jam. Local musicians and folk who like to sing or play an instrument are gathering here to entertain a crowd of island enthusiasts for 2hours of social togetherness. And the crowd is International, with Americans from several States and Canadians from several Provinces. Tonight we saw license plates from Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Florida, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, even Colorado and Arizona.                                    Owners Angela and Bobby                                 Friday crowd listening to local musicians It’s informal and you go in whatever you just walk in. Owner Bobby and his mother Angela are taking care of you and after a few minutes you feel like you never belonged anywhere else. The place offers also wireless internet which is a great thing on Campobello for visitors as also locals who like to come browsing the net and checking their email.   If you just want to sit around for a few morning- or afternoon hours and read a book (they offer an interesting library as well) you can just hunker down on the porch having your favorite brew of coffee or tea.

Summerkeys

The little town of Lubec, Maine offers a very unique experience, called Summerkeys. Besides of many educational music courses, they now also have courses in photography and creative writing. This has been going on since 1992 and Summerkeys have contributed to developing tourism industry in a big way. “Summerkeys” was established by Bruce Potterton in honouring his mother Mary (1905-1993), who came from a very muscial family. She even helped in the start-up phase. For us it is the weekly concerts in the  Congregational Christian Church that puts a highlight on our place on Campobello. Every Wednesday we have the opportunity to drive 5km crossing the border to attend a wonderful concert, and yesterday the first concert of the seaon took place at 7:30pm EDT. It was a piano concert performed by John Newell, a renown composer and pianist, born in Charlotte, North Carolina. Listening to his performance I was marvelling how  a gifted composer can look out the window and transform dancing snow flakes into a musical adventure. (Claude Debussy) Newell’s short piece called “Winter Winds” made me freeze when I envisioned a brutal winter storm howling across the sea. It’s like painting a picture but instead of paint and paintbrush the composer uses his feeling to put the keys on paper. Summerkey’s concerts attracts a weekly crowd of adults 50+ years old. Rarely we see young people among the crowd.