World United States Maine Lubec

Mike and Roxanne travel east

Downeast Sep 27, 2007

Sep 27, 2007

Eastport, Maine

The eastern most city in the United States, Eastport is easily accessible by a causeway. It sits on the 45th Parallel and is framed by the sea. It is also the smallest city in the U.S. with less than 2000 people. It is however filled with B&B's, motels, small quaint shops, the oldest ship's chandlery in the nation and friendly people.

The safe harbor is filled with fishing boats getting ready for the annual harvests of lobster, crab, sea scallops, sea urchin, mackerel, Pollock and other varieties found in these bays. Offshore floating pens anchor a growing salmon farming industry,

Small boats are not the only boats here, larger boats take tourists out on whale watching trip, island cruising and large international ships pick up cargoes of pulp and other forest products.

We parked the car and the first shop we entered was also a museum for the Quoddy Dam. Well there is no Quoddy dam but back in 1935 someone had the brilliant idea of damming the small bays and harnessing the tidal water for hydroelectric power. The idea was presented to FDR while he was at Campobello, he approved the idea and congress finally approved the funds. But in 1936 the funds were needed elsewhere and the funding was scrubbed,

The idea is not completely dead and one company is currently looking at placing under water turbines in place to harness the tide waters, the Passamoquoddy Indians are looking at a way to utilize the tides and so is a third party. Further development depends on permits. Good Luck.

We drove out toward Dog Island to try and see the "Old Sow." This is a whirlpool caused by tidal currents coming together between Eastport and Deer Island. It is one of the world's largest and has tipped over a tanker and chewed many smaller crafts to bits.

We could see tidal rips but it is hard to see the Old Sow unless you on are the water.

Driving back to town we stopped to take picture and starting talking to a local carpenter. He pointed out the area where the whirlpools form, and suggested several things to see in Eastport, Lubec, Pembroke and on Campobello Island.

While talking with him we also watched two large bald eagles circle above. Back in town we explores park of the S.L. Wadsworth & Son ship's chandlery. This is the oldest chandlery in the nation and the oldest operating retail business in Maine.

Started in 1818 to serve the shipping trade when Island City was one of the busiest shipping ports in the U.S. It has been in operation for 182 years and is being run by the 6th generation of the Wadsworth family.

Our last stop before leaving town was at the Reye's Mustard Mill and Museum. The mustard is ground here at the mill using a series of rare hand-cut millstones. There Down East Schooner Mustard was the gold medal winner in 2006 at the World-Wide Mustard Competition in Napa, Ca.

After several tastings were finally walked away with the Sweet and Spicy Mustard and several pieces of their homemade fudge.

Next stop is the Reversing Falls. It took us a while to find this but boy am I glad we did. It is phenomenal. There is a 300 foot gap and through here passes most of the tidal flow that fills and drains both Whiting and Dennys Bays. The salt-water flows at 25-knots and today the tidal rise was nearly 25 feet.

As we parked the car and started walking towards the water you could hear a rushing of water just like that of a huge waterfall. The tidal waters look like a river rushing through a canyon. We watched for nearly 45 minutes as the water rose nearly 5 feet and covered rocks where people were sitting when we first got there.

We came back 5 hours later and the water was rushing with the same speed in the opposite directions. The area that had rapids at noon was now a large rock rising about 10 feet above the water.

We left the Reversing Falls and headed to Lubec. We crossed into Canada and went to the Roosevelt International Park at Campobello. This is the only International Park in the National Park system. It is a joint effort of Canada and the U.S.

We watched a short movie on the life of the Roosevelt's here on the island and then toured the 37-room house. The land was purchased by FDR's father in the 1880's and built a home to use in the summer. FDR began coming here in the summers when he was one year old.

In 1909 FDR's mother Sara bought the house next door to theirs for FDR and Eleanor. They continued to spend summers here from 1909 to 1921. Even after becoming president this was his summer retreat until 1939.

When the home was build there was no electricity and no telephone. Running water was gravity fed from storage tanks on the third floor.

The home is beautifully maintained with the original furniture still in the home.

We drove on up the island to the East Quoddy Lighthouse. You cannot walk to this lighthouse until the tide is low. When we got there about 10-12 feet of water was still in the channel and it was rushing through.

We drove back into Lubec; the eastern most town in the U.S. had lunch at a little luncheonette and then headed for the West Quoddy Lighthouse. This lighthouse is the eastern most point in the U.S. We have truly been from one edge of the U.S. to the other.