Welshpool and St. Andrews, NB

We left Lubec at 7:45 on Wednesday, August 14 in order to arrive at Campobello Island in New Brunswick early. By the way we are back in the Bay of Fundy. The last time we were here was on our first six month cruise when we did the Down East Loop. But because we never made it to Campobello that time, I wanted to be sure to make it this time. Our plan was to first go there to see the Roosevelt Summer Home and then go on to St. Andrews and stay overnight there before starting our return trip south. There is a one hour time difference between Lubec and Canada here so leaving at 7:45 was really 8:45.  

We needed to go through customs in Welshpool on Campobello Island and we arrived there in a quick 30 minutes. We were greeted by the friendly wharfinger (see below for the definition).  He was very helpful and let us tie up at the dock for the day, which turned out to be just a couple of hours.  Jonny checked in with Customs and then the wharfinger kindly offered to give us a ride to the Roosevelt Summer Home. 

While we waited for him to pick us up we strolled through the tiny hamlet of Welshpool.  Campobello has a few other little hamlets but the total population of the island is only 950. There is one school on the island that covers kindergarten through 12th grade!







Interestingly, the Roosevelt Campobello International Park is the only park that is jointly owned and run by both countries. Upon our arrival we watched a movie telling the history of the park and the Roosevelt home and we went through the little museum with lots of information about the Roosevelts and also about the unique and friendly relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

We spent the next couple of hours touring the 1897 ”cottage” originally purchased by FDR’s mother for $5000!  It consists of 34 rooms, 18 of which are bedrooms (many surprisingly small) and 6 bathrooms.  It was a real family home where FDR spent most of his childhood summers. He and Eleanor used it as a summer home for their growing family as well.   The house, though quite large, was modestly decorated and much of the original furniture was still there.  It was here that FDR was stricken with polio when he was only 39 years old.

We also toured the Hubbard House on the grounds of the park. I was struck by the beautiful picture window in the living room.  It was such an unusual shape for a window and the view of the water makes it look like a painting. I’m surprised we don’t see more windows shaped like this one.

After our tour, the wharfinger’s wife gave us a ride back to Zendo where Archie was eagerly awaiting our return.

We then took off for St. Andrews, just a 2 hour cruise away.  Entering the harbor, we saw the sailboat fleet that the Cruising Club of America was sponsoring this month. We actually used their itinerary to help plan our own cruise. 

This is truly the land of extremely high tides as was evident looking at the water marks of the docks as we entered the harbor.

The ladder to climb up to the docks is extraordinary as is shoreline that is exposed at low tide.

St. Andrews is a lovely historic resort town.  It was settled by British loyalists who left Castine, Maine and moved their houses there by barge. Much of the original architecture is still in place and the town has wide streets, handsome houses and a lot of churches. Because it is a resort area, it also has many restaurants and pubs.

We walked about a mile up through the center of town to beautiful Kingsbrae Garden and strolled through it for quite a while. It is definitely the loveliest garden we’ve seen on this trip with a large number of special plots devoted to  hydrangeas, azaleas, vegetables, scented plants, herbs, wooded areas, sculpture gardens and more. It was very well done.

By the time we walked back to town it was time to stop at a pub for a beer and decide where we wanted to eat. We chose this waterfront pub for a drink.

Afterwards, we went to a casual place that had been recommended called Char and Chowder.  It was a good place to take Archie because it was all outdoor seating but unfortunately they they had run out of chowder! So instead we had their ribs and pizza, both of which hit the spot!

This turned out to be our one and only night in Canada but we were pleased that we met our travel goals for the year - the mutual one of cruising Maine for  the month of August, my goal to go to Campobello and Jonny’s desire to get as far as Saint Andrew’s.  Back on Zendo, we spent the evening planning our return trip which starts the next day. We can’t linger in Canada as we need to be in Portland by the end of the month because our friend Cathy is coming to visit us there.