The biggest part of our long weekend away was a trip to Campobello island, just off the coast of Maine. So, I managed both a trip out of the country and the time zone, in one fell swoop. It was a fantastic day.
It was a two hour drive up from my father’s place in Ellsworth, so we got there at lunch time, and had lunch at the golf course’s clubhouse, one of two restaurants on the island. It’s right next to the Herring Cove Beach, which is a whole mile of lovely, dark brown sand. It must have been because we were there on a Friday, but it was also a nearly empty mild of lovely sand. I had to work very hard to restrain myself from loading my pockets down with the beach rocks. There’s a beach nearby in Maine called Jasper Beach because of the quantity of jasper stones there, and this beach is clearly in the same geological zone. I have never seen so many pretty rocks. I think I only got away because it was high tide. There was a whole mess of rocks a visible at what was probably the low tide mark. If they hadn’t been covered in water, I think I would have been doomed.
We stopped next at the Roosevelt International Park. The Roosevelt house is gorgeous, with lots of interesting period furnishing in all the rooms, but we liked the Hubbard house better. It had a porch to die for, an absolutely amazing period living room, and the dining room had the most enormous oval window overlooking the water that you ever did see. And they actually rent it out for conferences, and you can stay in the bedrooms upstairs. I so need to attend a conference up there.
We next headed over to Mulholland point, which is just next to the Lubec (Maine) side of the island. It was high tide, and we’d been told that the seals are out hunting at high tide. We weren’t disappointed. There were at least half a dozen harbor seals zipping around, diving for fish, right off the point. And, there was a bonus pair of bald eagles hanging out on a nearby pier (though sadly not nearby enough for my zoom lens.)
We finished off the trip at East Quoddy Head, on the opposite side of the island. At low tide, you can actually walk out to the island and see the lighthouse up close, but the tide schedule was against us. However, we saw porpoise fairly close to the shore, and a little further off, just close enough that we could see them, were larger whales of some sort. We could clearly make them out surfacing with puffs of water and air as they exhaled.
I wouldn’t recommend Campobello if you’re looking for an urban hotspot, but if you like some amazing natural beauty, with a bit of history thrown in for good measure, it’s well worth the long drive.