Visit to Campobello

 What is it about this born and raised West Texas Panhandle girl who loves islands?  Even as a child I wanted to get away from it all and that is certainly still the case at 69. The above photo is the lighthouse on beautiful Campobello Island, New Brunswick, off the coast from Lubec, Maine. We spent 3 nights there recently in a cabin overlooking the water.

Campobello has been a part of our lives for at least 25 years. We’ve taken vacations there, staying with friends or in cottages, and even took my parents and aunt there one year. One of my favorite photos of my mom and dad has the lighthouse in the background, and they look happy and healthy.

One of the best things about Campobello is that it’s quiet.  Nine miles long by three miles wide (not as small as Iona!) one can become familiar with it quickly. It’s all about enjoying the beauty of nature, whether hiking, biking, or watching the tide come in from the front porch. Just our type of trip. Beaches are stony and long, with huge tides. If you like beachcombing, these are the beaches for you. There are many hiking trails, from flat and easy to more challenging.  There are few places to spend money- a small grocery, one gift shop and a handful of restaurants.  No fancy hotel to stay in, but there are numerous other options for lodging.

Bill and I do this type of vacation well, the kind where you cook your own food, explore the area leisurely, and have no schedule.  Puttering, you might say.  The most lovely sense of peace descends when we cross the short bridge from mainland USA.

My mother would be so happy to know that we play dominoes in the evening on these vacations. She was an ace player, taking any loss very seriously! We read voluminously, I knit, and we have happy hour on the porch. The TV in the cottage was never turned on.

One of our favorite puttering activities is to check out the local library- Campobello’s is especially cozy and they must have the best view of any library anywhere! There is a good selection of books about the area and its history, many books about the Roosevelts, and even some of their collections.  The local historical society has a small museum in the library, as well.

The big attraction on the island is Roosevelt’s summer cottage. It is part of a national park operated jointly by Canada and the US. It’s worth several hours of your time and the cottage is still set-up and furnished as the Roosevelts left it. The dining room is the one of my dreams.......after your visit you can have “Tea with Eleanor.” A pot of her favorite King Cole tea and homemade ginger snaps are served on cloth-covered tables while you listen to docents tell her story. Bill pocketed a few of the extra cookies…

The view from our cottage never failed to offer a sense of peace and awe- just look at this beauty. A simple, restorative vacation...I am grateful.

Pilgrimage

 Pilgrimage is a strange word for 2024, don’t you think? I immediately imagine crowds walking long distances in sandaled feet several thousand years ago. But the word seems to be having a resurgence-surely you know someone who is planning to walk the Camino in Spain? When I recently went on a pilgrimage to Iona, an island in Western Scotland, I had to look up the definition - a journey to foreign lands with the purpose of visiting a shrine or holy place.

Iona, 3 miles long and 1 ½ miles wide, has been considered a spiritual oasis since the time of the Dark Ages, when Druids adopted it as a religious center. Its Christian roots go back to the arrival of St. Columba in 563, who was on a pilgrimage himself to escape brutal fighting in Ireland. Pilgrims have been coming to Iona since this time and today the island is alive with spiritual seekers of various types. 

My pilgrimage had the purpose of studying with John Philip Newell, Celtic writer, historian and prophet. Our mornings were spent with teaching, prayer and conversation and the afternoons were free for our own interests.  It was a lovely, expansive, freeing schedule.

Part of the pilgrimage idea was just getting to Iona from Maine: a 4 hour bus trip to Boston, flights to Dublin and then Glasgow, 3 hour train to Oban, where I spent the night,

a ferry to Mull, bus ride of 40 miles across Mull on a one-lane road, and another ferry to Iona. No wonder guests are so grateful to arrive! 

Below is my plane from Dublin to Glasgow-do you see what stopped me in surprise and a bit of fear?

Somehow the one lane road across Mull and the prop-driven plane seem go together - an unwillingness to discard what works? That’s something we in the US are not so familiar with.

Perhaps if I were a poet I could better describe the wonder of seven days on this island with one foot in heaven and one on earth. I felt connected - to the Spirit, to those in my group, to the natural world, to myself. And to history and the thousands of feet that have walked these paths before.  I brought all that home with me, aware that I did not have to be on Iona for those connections. Can I keep that going back at home?

I’ll leave you with a few photos…better than lots of words.

Island of Staffa, home to thousands of puffins.

Ruins of an ancient nunnery on Iona.

Island of Mull

Fingal's Cave, which inspired Mendelssohn's overture.

The center of it all, The Abbey.