We left early this foggy morning for the 80-mile drive to the Canadian island of Campobello. We met Ms. Moose on the road. She looked a little confused as she would first turn toward the road, then the woods. She acted as if she wanted to cross the road, but was frightened by the oncoming traffic, including us.
Campobello was the summer home to many of the wealthy citizens living in the northeast, including the parents of Franklin Roosevelt. FDR was one when he first visited the island. He spent the summers of his youth there, sailing, hiking and frolicking. It was the perfect location for a growing boy.
After Franklin married his distant cousin, Eleanor, in 1905, his mother, Sara, gave him a "cottage" next door to her home on the island. The cottage consists of 34 rooms, large enough for FDR, Eleanor and their six children. It was there that FDR was stricken with polio in 1921 when he was 39 years old. The cottage and surrounding acreage is jointly maintained and operated by the United States and Canada. As you can see, the flowers and gardens are magnificent.
After our tour of Campobello was complete, the first town we encountered was Lubec, ME, the easternmost community in the United States. In route to our temporary home on Mount Desert Island, we stopped at a nice mom-and-pop restaurant in Machias, ME. Seated in a booth behind me were four people. Two were apparently married and the other two were a mother and her daughter. The daughter had a hearing impairment. The married couple appeared to be in their 60s, mom was in her 70s or 80s.
Their table conversation was distractingly loud. The daugher with the hearing impairment was without her hearing aids. Sometime after the table was cleared, the mother went outside for a smoke. The wife spoke loudly to the daughter, "I wish you had your hearing aids so you could have participated more in our conversation."
The daughter yelled, "I can't hear you. I don't have my hearing aids. My doctor sent them for repairs to Bangor." Everyone in the restaurant could hear the conversation. Most were stifling laughter.
The wife yelled back, "Keith and I are going to the bathroom. Tell your mom we'll be out in a moment."
"What?!? I can't hear you. I don't have my hearing aids."
By now, Keith and the wife were standing. The wife leaned over, her mouth inches from the daughter's ear, she repeated, even more loudly, "Keith and I are going to the bathroom. Tell your mother we'll be out in a minute."
The daugher, obviously confused, "Is that in Portland?"
The wife mumbled something to Keith and he got up and shuffled toward the men's room. He was bent at the waist and his body was shaking as he tried to choke back the laughter. I am pretty sure he exploded once the bathroom door closed. The wife then got up and ushered the daughter from the restaurant.
One of the joys of travel is the opportunity to observe interesting sites and interesting people. So, that was our day. I hope you had a good day, too. Goodnight.
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