Maritime Provinces 2007 - New Brunswick, Canada
Updated: 11/30/08
We took a side trip, on our way to the next campground. We crossed into Canada at Lubek, Maine to go to the Roosevelt Campobello International Park located on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. This lighthouse was visible from the bridge onto Campobello Island.
Campobello is where Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent many enjoyable vacations as a child and with his own family. These portraits of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt greet you as you enter the visitor's center.
There is no admission charged to enter Campobello Park.
We suggest you allow two hours for your visit to the
visitor's center and the Roosevelt cottage.
This plaque highlights the assurance given by President Roosevelt that the USA
will help Canada defend itself solidifies the
relationship.
Many
things on display in the visitor's center documented the friendship and business
relationship between the USA and Canada.
After
viewing a fifteen minute video, you exit the visitor's center to a well
manicured landscaping. The 34-room cottage contains furniture, photographs, toys
and other items belonging to the Roosevelt family. The cottage had a great view
across the bay.
The
Roosevelt cottage is open to the public.
The
Hubbard cottage is next door to the Roosevelt cottage. It was opened to the
public the day we visited. It is only open to the public a couple weeks a year.
The rest of the year if is used for conferences.
The
Hubbard cottage was nicely furnished. However, only two items actually belonged
to the Hubbards - the pool table and the piano.
The unique oval window overlooking the bay gave a very nice view.
These
are two of Roosevelt's loves - country and sailing.
All of the items in the cottage are original Roosevelt possessions. This shows his hat and pipe.
We did not explore the nature areas of the Park. There are hiking trails, scenic overlooks, and picnic areas within the Park as well as three gravel roads. However, they warn the drives are not suitable for campers, buses, or recreational vehicles.
The Park opens the Saturday prior to Memorial Day and closes the end of October. Donations are accepted.
We
crossed the border into Canada
at Calais, Maine. After being in line for about a half hour,
we arrived in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.
The roads do not look like you are in a foreign
country.
The one thing you will notice is the bi-lingual signage.
New Brunswick is the only 'official' bi-lingual province.
Thus, all government documentation and signage are bi-lingual.
The
best and smoothest road was a new road under construction. Fortunately, it was
Sunday and the workers were not on the job.
We saw a sign indicating a boat landing. It was a beautiful spot for a short break.
We arrived at the campground in Saint John, set-up, drove to a restaurant for dinner and returned for fireworks. We, and several others, found a vacant campsite overlooking Saint John to use to observe the fireworks celebrating Canada Day.
After dark, at about 10:15pm Atlantic time . . .
The next morning the buses were there for our tour of Saint John and some of the surrounding area. Dolores had to share the front of the bus with our tour guide.
Our first stop and our last stop were to see the Reversing Falls. When we arrived in the morning it was low tide. The water was rushing toward the sea. In the afternoon, the reversing falls were at 'slack' tide. You could see the current going in the opposite direction than in the morning. (Fred tried to make duplicate photographs at the same location or close to it.)
Low tide . .
.
Slack tide . . .
< This way * * * * Water
is flowing * * * * This way >
Our guide told us that the seals and the birds come to fish during the 'slack' tide. During 'slack' tide was also the time the boaters passed through.
The jet boat did not want 'slack' tide. That was no fun. During low tide is the best time to ride the jet boat. It would 'fly' in, do a couple 360s and 'fly' out.
A near-by Founders Park was donated by the local Irving Oil Company - a large family owned company. It contained a statue of each of the important people in the history of New Brunswick and Saint John.
At a city beach, the HitchHikers became beachcombers. Everyone was encouraged walk on the "ocean floor" and select the best looking rocks to take home as a souvenir.
The tide is 12-14 feet here.
The view from the beach were great.
It
was also a nice place for our two guides to discuss how things are going on each
bus . . . maybe they were talking about us.
This was our guide.
A hill just off the beach was covered with wild lupine.
Across the road from the beach is a large marsh.
It floods at high tide like most other New Brunswick marshes.
Another
stop was a visit to the Carleton Martello Tower. The round shape forced most
canon balls to bounce off.
A graphic showed the inside of the tower.
The inside displayed the look of the period.
While the view from the tower was great for defense of Saint John, today it provides an excellent view across the ocean.
This is Canada's "Ellis Island".
You can see Nova Scotia on the horizon.
A quick drive-by of Fort Howe gave us a good view of the Port.
The
City Market was a busy place. It is about a block long and many vendors are
selling just about anything you could want - food, trinkets, jewelry, fruits and
vegetables, candy and etc.
The city park across the street was also a busy place. Many people were walking through or sitting on the benches.
A
band pavilion was in the middle of the city park.
The bus ride to Dipper Harbour was beautiful. However, it looked like rain was in our future.
Dipper
Harbour was
a very interesting place - typical of a fishing village. We got off the bus and
walked around on the pier. The New Brunswick lobster season had ended until November.
So all the local lobster traps and boats were in the harbour.
Many lobsters were also in the harbour. They were in the lobster pound waiting to be shipped to market when needed.
As Fred returned from making photographs from the pier, he noticed a crowd of guys around a pickup truck. They were talking to a lobster fisherman. He answered their questions about lobster fishing. He posed for a photograph by his lobster boat.
All of the lobsters were not in the pound. Some were in a warehouse. A couple of the HitchHikers found out they could buy lobsters by the pound a little below market price at a local warehouse. It was another photo op for Fred.
The warehouse
...
The bins
...
The selection
...
The approval ...
The weigh in
...
In the bag
...
Not happy ...
The nice day continued as we left Dipper Harbour. From here we returned to the Reversing Falls discussed above.
In the evening, a musical trio played for the campers. We were looking forward to relaxing after a full day of touring. Unfortunately, fifteen minutes into the program the sky opened and it rained very hard. We all headed for our HitchHikers.
GO BACK TO > > > Maritime Provinces - 2007
GO TO NEXT PAGE > > > Prince Edward Island - 2007