Ice fishing is a major Winter sport in Downeast Maine. Enjoy these ice fishing photos from around the area.

The return of a tall ship!

The Jeanie Johnston is a three-masted barque that is a full-scale replica of the original Jeanie Johnston which sank in the 1800's. The original Jeanie Johnston was built in Quebec and made 16 trans-Atlantic crossings bringing immigrants from Ireland and became famous for having never lost a passenger. Even when she finally sank in freight service, no lives were lost.

On November 3, 1853, the original Jeanie Johnston was blown off course by a fierce storm and arrived in St. Andrews harbour. Many of the passengers stayed on to work on the construction of the new railway and one of the decendants of the original passengers still lives in town.

The new Jeanie Johnston was build in Ireland and arrived in St. Andrews, New Brunswick on August 15, 2003. Relive the moments through these photos and visit the official site of the Jeanie Johnston at http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie.

Each August, the cities of Calais, Maine (USA) and St. Stephen, New Brunswick (Canada) host the International Homecoming Festival. The festival features events on both sides of the border over a ten-day period, and is highlighted by a huge Saturday morning parade.

This giant parade is attended by thousands of people from around the area as well as many visiting tourists. It's the only parade we know of in the U.S. and Canada that starts in one country and ends in the other.

Join us as we travel the route of the International Homecoming Festival Parade.

We now have photos from 3 Polar Bear Dips! Feel free to browse these frigid photos!

Welcome to Campobello Island, New Brunswick!

Campobello Island is just East of Lubec, Maine USA. The only way to get to Campobello by land is across the Franklin D. Roosevelt International Bridge from Lubec, Maine. Campobello Island is in Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada but the only way to travel to other Canadian points without entering the United States is by a seasonal commercial ferry to nearby Deer Island and then a free government operated ferry to mainland New Brunswick from there. Usually people living on Campobello must enter the U.S. and travel about 45 minutes to St. Stephen, New Brunswick through the border crossing at Calais, Maine to conduct Canadian business.

The island may be best known for the Roosevelt Campobello International Park just across the bridge. The late U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a "cottage" on the island where he and his family vacationed. The cottage is still today as it was in the 1930's and you can tour it free. There is also a visitors center and 2,800 acres of park associated with the complex. You can learn more by visiting the official web site at http://www.fdr.net/. The U.S. National Park Service maintains a site at http://www.nps.gov/roca/.

You can also visit the "official" web site of Campobello Island at http://www.campobello.com/. The site also has an extensive history of the island.

Calais is named after the French city of the same name but here is rhymes with "Dallas" rather than "Cal-lay."

Calais shares two border crossing points with St. Stephen, New Brunswick Canada.

Enjoy these scenes from around town.

There are two "Pleasant Lakes" in Washington County, Maine - as well as Pleasant River Lake. "Our" Pleasant Lake is not on many maps but is just off Maine Route 9 in Alexander, Maine. It's much like many of the beautiful (and larger) lakes in Washington County - beautiful and fun! While this lake does not have public access (there is a campground), most of the lakes in the area do. Come enjoy the outdoors in beautiful Washington County, Maine!

Custom pillows we have made through the "sublimation" process that allows us to make a pillow from almost any photo. After viewing the photos, click here for more information.

These are photos of our small sachet bags. These may be ordered here: http://www.balsamfircreations.com/smsaba.html.