Libraries, Music, and Tea with Eleanor Roosevelt

Days 36-38, Tuesday-Thursday, 7-15 to 7-17, 2014

Driving around the island Tuesday, we found  this informative and helpful guide to checking the weather here in the north:

Tuesday evening as the rain picked up, we went to the little Campobello Library/Museum for a change of scenery. It's a charming little place, very reminiscent of the old Garden Vallley library in Idaho, where I worked  for a couple of years.

Curt checking out the local historical items in the museum portion of the building:

That night the rains drove horizontally, the lightning flared, and the thunder crashed, VERY near to us. But we were snug and safe and dry in our little pop-up, listening to music and reading and knitting. I'm amazed at how weathertight this little camper is. We found out later that a tree was struck by lightning in a nearby campsite. Fortunately, it was an unoccupied site, so nobody was injured.

From time to time I'll see someone else's camper that's a little roomier and taller, with more storage space, and I admit, I'm touched with a bit of envy. That was the case on Tuesday, when we met a nice couple camped nearby. They gave us a tour of their camp trailer, and I was thinking how nice it would be to have a bigger fridge, some taller cabinets and a bathroom. I even wrote down the make and model of their trailer, intending to look it up later. But yesterday morning when they had to leave early because their trailer had leaked in the storm, soaking their mattresses, I decided that I'm very happy with our little 10' Jayco. 

Yesterday was a busy day from the start. We got up and about early (for us). We had a date for tea with Eleanor Roosevelt. Well, not Mrs. R. personally, but a program that the Roosevelt Campobello International Park puts on. I described the Roosevelt Cottage last week on the July 9 blog post. We have since found out that there is twice-daily program where visitors can go to one of the neighboring cottages for tea and a presentation about Eleanor Roosevelt. We thought it might be a pleasant way to spend a rainy morning. It turned out to be SO much more than that! In addition to being treated to a beautifully set tea table in a charmingly restored cottage overlooking the bay, we were treated to an informative and inspiring talk about Eleanor Roosevelt. 

We were seated at small tables in the dining room. Carolyn and Debbie, two Park employees, were our hostesses. They prepared and served the tea (which we found out was a daily ritual with Eleanor) and took turns sharing inspiring history, stories and anecdotes about Eleanor. I never really knew that much about her. I knew she was an exceptional woman, but I'd never studied her much. That will change now! Debbie's and Carolyn's enthusiasm and love for her is contagious. Curt and I bought 3 biographies of Eleanor, and we intend to learn more about this remarkable woman.

Debbie speaking

As Carolyn serves.

Curt and I both agreed that this special morning was the highlight of our trip so far. I've noticed that I've picked up quite a few Canadian readers on this blog. If you live nearby, in Canada or Maine, and you haven't had a chance to have "Tea with Eleanor" yet, we both highly recommend that you take the time to experience this wonderful program. It's an event you'll remember for a very long time.

We said goodbye to our new camping friends, Jane and Pux, from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They provided us with valuable information about places to go and see while we're here in Canada. Because of them we've revised our travel plans to include Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It's funny; originally we weren't going to go there because it looked so,far away on the maps. We're still having to remember that the scale is different here than on our Texas maps. While we're used to a couple of inches representing a 300 mile stretch on our Texas map, the same two inches represents only about a hundred miles in these smaller states and provinces. So we can see a LOT more things than we originally thought!

We took a tour around the island to visit Head Harbour and some of the scenic places we had not yet seen.

Mill Cove

Then we headed back over the Roosevelt Bridge to Lubec. We needed to meet with Lynne Josselyn, the pastor of the Congregational Church, to practice music for this Sunday's service. Lynne and Larry welcomed us into their lovely home overlooking the Bay, and we spent a fun hour or more singing and playing some favorite hymns.

Then the four of us had dinner at Cohill's, a local pub, before attending this week's public concert put on by SummerKeys: Kent Hewitt playing jazz piano. I know several people from last week when I attended SummerKeys, who are taking piano lessons from Ken this week. How wonderful to be able to learn from such an accomplished and exciting musician!

Back to camp, crossing the border again, at almost midnight. And NO rain overnight! Today it looks like it's trying to clear up. We're slated for 3 days, at least, of sunny weather. So this morning we've been organizing and drying out our various items of clothing, towels, etc, that have been sitting in a soggy heap for the past couple of days. Hurrah for the sunshine! (And for electric washers and dryers!)