Fog And Sun

Most coastal areas experience foggy days. When fog moves in, our surroundings change. Instead of seeing islands and lands above a sparkling horizon, we are now looking at strange formations in hundreds of shades of grey. Rocks can show faces, and forests become dark secrets. Waters which were clear a few moments ago seem murky now. Our fantasy is playing tricks with us. But when the sun is sharing the light with the fog it’s getting interesting. Foggy patches are now bathed in a golden light. Sparkling reflections in a hazy light show contours but hide the details. The dance of nature surrounds us and we gaze at it in wonder.

Where Are The Hotels? The Continuing Story of History

Campobello island’s grand adventure was the creation of a fashionable tourist resort in the 1880s. Three big hotels were built and land was sold to people to construct rambling summer residences. Soon Campobello became a playground for the rich. Visiting the island today you will be looking for these hotels in vain. They are for ever gone, swallowed by changing trends and public events. So what happened to the 3 hotels on Campobello Island? Sadly, they all met the same fate. After tourism declined, one burned and the others were dismantled, with the materials, most of them elaborately chosen and formed, recycled into private residences throughout the island.  But why did tourism decline after Campobello had risen to the status of a fashionable tourist resort? There is a host of reasons for that. 1. Structures in society changed with the growing  industrialization. 2. World War I started in 1914 3. The automobile had come into more common use making people more mobile. 4. A fish oil factory in Eastport,ME spewed out bad odours drifting with westerly winds across Campobello The hotels were built in the early 1880s. By 1910, tourism had declined to the point that the hotels were empty shells.  Surrounding grounds grew over quickly and the stately grand buildings fell into disrepair. Paint was flaking off rapidly and harsh winter storms knew no mercy. The drifty businessmen with the grand plans had left the island and let Campobello deal with this problem. Yet, to this day we are looking back to this remarkable period of early tourism with a certain pride and summer residents have again purchased buildings reveling in the former flair of elegance and history. But that is not all. There is something solid left from those days of grandeur. Materials were recycled into private residences….. Our house is from 1903. Around 1915 substantial upgrades were done to the building. Costly materials from the hotels were used.      We discovered quite nice door-and window trim, our staircase rails were not common standard for a simple farmhouse from 1903, and the same is the case for a stained-glass window and the interior doors, several showing small holes after the room numbers, and one even showing the shape of a 5….or is it a 6? But even the Roosevelt Cottage profited from hotel materials. The 1915 addition of the original 1895-building is sporting the same door and window trim as we enjoy in our simple farmhouse. Of course, we love the history of our house and this island, which has been taken care of through hard-fact materials but also through the spider- web of stories. You hardly find a square-foot of this island where history isn’t present. While Franklin D. Roosevelt met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at high seas off the coast of Newfoundland, to discuss how to deal with Nazi-Germany and Adolf Hitler, his wife Eleanor was staying on Campobello with the children. She didn’t even know what was going on. Franklin’s mission was top secret. In 1960 a Hollywood movie about the Roosevelts and Campobello appeared. “Sunrise at Campobello” was partly produced on the island. Starring actors were Ralph Bellamy (Franklin D Roosevelt) and Greer Garson, (Eleanor Roosevelt) Hume Cronyn (Louis Howe) Jean hagen (Marguerite “Missy” Lehand) It was a big event for the islanders. Actors and technicians needed accommodations and food. Famous people were on site. Another part of history. But history didn’t stop there either. On September 11 2001 Campobello was in danger to become the most isolated part of Canada: Park staffer Ron Beckwith was in his office here at the Roosevelt Campobello International Park when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center. A bus tour full of tourists from the New York City area had just pulled into the visitor’s center. By the time the second plane hit, everyone was in shock and the New Yorkers were desperate for information about their city, friends and loved ones. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt at a picnic on Campobello Island on July 30, 1936. Their guests were Allison Dysart, left, premier of New Brunswick, and J.B. McNair, right, attorney general of New Brunswick. Below: The same spot today “We have poor cell reception now, and it was even worse then, so we were starved for information,” recalls Beckwith,  “We set a portable television up in the visitor’s center and did our best to get everyone a chance to use our (landline) telephones.” “We’d hear rumors about how the border was going to close, so we all scrambled around to get all the tourists back over the border before that could potentially happen,” he says. Rangers fanned out over the park’s 2,800 acres of forest, beach and rocky headlands, looking for visitors, telling them what had happened to the Twin Towers and Pentagon and advising them they might consider getting back to their cars and heading back to Maine. The visitors back on their own side of the border, the park turned eerily quiet. After all, if the borders are sealed it’s extremely difficult to get to the island from the rest of Canada — and impossible to drive here outside of high summer, because the tiny passenger ferry to the rest of New Brunswick stops running and the only bridge leads to Maine. “At the time we didn’t think too much about what the long-term impact would be,” Beckwith adds. “And it turned out to be a very big impact.” Because of its peculiar geographical location — on an island isolated behind border posts from both the U.S. and Canada — the Roosevelt Campobello Park was hit particularly hard. Like the president whom it honors, the park was partially paralyzed, and has had to shift and refocus its energies in the wake of an unexpected catastrophe.

Java And Jam At Jocie’s Porch

One of the summer highlights on Campobello are the weekly Friday gatherings at Jocie’s Porch. It’s called “Java and Jam” and whoever can sing or play an instrument is part of the entertainment for the numerous crowd.     Jocie’s Porch has the reputation of offering the best coffee east of the Mississippi. And that is well deserved as Bobby, the owner, is roasting his very own coffee beans. Another great benefit is the location at “Friar’s Bay” with a really grand view across the water all the way to Eastport,Maine. Sunsets at Friar’s Bay are  spectacular and usually you can find people sitting in their vehicles along the road watching the sun go down. Campobello is also an island of Lupines ”I love this island”, Bea said yesterday while looking out the window and feeling the peace and I couldn’t agree more. It’s simply the best place in the world.

A Trip To The Other Side

Crossing international borders, probably is the same for us as for you having breakfast every morning. Over the past three days I have been “on the other side” three times. Mostly these trips are connected to some errands, like getting gas (no gas station on Campobello) or getting some other supplies. So usually we have a real reason to go there. Today, it wasn’t much different, except that when returning from the gas station I kinda hunkered after driving down to West Quoddy State Park. It’s a beautiful drive hugging the water’s edge. I also enjoy seeing the small houses strewn along the road, all of them blessed with a Million-Dollar-View. And if these houses would have been on the west coast, they would truly be Millions of Dollars worth. Out here, most houses sell for under $200,000. Their large lots are often reaching down to the beach. The West Quoddy Lighthouse is still closed, which is nothing out of the ordinary this time of the year. Campobello Island with Liberty Point and Sugar Loaf Rock With Campobello Island to the North and the island of Grand Manan on the horizon, the views are magnificent. Today we have a strong Nor-Wester blowing down the Gulf of Maine, and very strong currents are swirling around the rocks. Sail-Rock with Grand Manan in the background Sail-Rock is one of the easiest to recognize as it seems to stretch its rocky sail to catch most of the wind. Farther out lies Ship-Wreck-Rock, lurking only inches under water and waiting for the unexperienced sailor to run his ship aground on the sharp-edged rocky surface. From the lighthouse I walk along a quiet trail on top of the shoreline. Again I am taken by the grand views along this wild and untamed coast. A wooden staircase gets me down to the beach, if such a term is really describing this shore. The stairs are ending on solid rock and one has to balance across it to really reach the rough gravel shore. A mother with her daughter comes down the stairs while I am figuring out how to configure my next shot up the coast. “What a beautiful day” she says and I am nodding “….but the wind is cold today”.   A “knoll-tree” Sauntering back to my van I take another shot at the lighthouse. Soon it will be open for sightseeing again. Looks like spring has finally sprung. After 2 days with temps reaching 70F and one day with much needed rain, we are down to cooler temps today. None-the-less Daisies are blooming in protected spots and Forsythia is about ready to show off its bright yellow colour. Also our lilac is developing thick green buds.   Our ceramic ducks are again guarding our deck. Have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by.

Big Storm knocked Out Power After 14Hrs. it Is Restored But Trees Are Down, Chainsaws Are Going And We Have A High Surf.

It took almost 14 hours until the cutting crew from the DOT had removed all the trees which had fallen across the power line. The storm had hit Campobello last night with extreme gusts of up to 100km/h (62mph) When we were checking out all around the island there were still low-hanging power lines a couple of spots.  The damage in the woods is substantial. One tree is still threatening to fall across the library building and a neighbour got 2 trees in his yard one stopping just short of his house, the other damaged his car. Approaching the beaches we were met by an ear-deafening growl from the surf. Even though we didn’t have a hurricane yesterday, the surf had reached all across the parking lot at Herring Cove leaving tons of seaweed in his wake.  The surf was still high enough to make a walk along the beach impossible. In fact it reached all the way up to the grass. The Bay of Fundy was still covered in white caps and the mist of the crashing waves was obscuring a clear view of the coast across.  Even though a storm like this is causing a lot of damage, it also gives a mighty impression of the unleashed power of nature. As the sky was clearing up and the sun broke through the contrast of the deep blue waters and the white caps was stunning.