A Very Cool Visit
- captains32
- Nov 23, 2008
- 1 min read
Good morning everyone. We had a fabulous weekend with the kids playing tourist in our own backyard. Guests always ask what we do during the winter and this weekend was “Courtney’s Pick.” We were celebrating her 8th birthday and she wanted to go visit Fort Knox (no gold here) and Fort Point State Park. Just a 45 minute drive from home and with a few friends in tow we explored the coldest day of the season. Wow, was it cold! See what I mean about bragging rights. It was so cold… well, you get the point.
Fort Knox is a small state park built around the largest granite fortification in Maine. Built between 1844 and 1864, long after the Revolution was over, the fort protects the narrowest section of the Penobscot River, the key to the highly valued timber resources up river in the deep Maine woods. I can’t imagine the amount of energy it must have taken to cut, move and build the fort from the tremendous number of granite blocks that are still as intact as the day they were placed. I can only guess that many schooners were kept busy moving granite blocks in their holds. The kids loved running through the tunnels armed with headlamps and wild imaginations.
Just a short drive away we visited Fort Point Sate Park, a place quite familiar to Mary Day. We anchor up in Fort Point Cove a few times each summer especially during our lighthouse and natural history tours.
Ranger Terry Cole always welcomes us ashore and gives tours of the lighthouse (complete with original fourth order fresnel lens). The Coles were not home, nor were the summer residents of this berry filled nest but the familiar fruit trees, the bell hanging in its tower, and the sand spit of a beach covered with rockweed were in season.
Walking around the park was like visiting an old friend. As we walked back to our car a lone seal poked its head up from the icy waters below the bell tower. I did my usual “oooh-oooh-oooh… look, a seal” dance, as much a kid as the kids. How cool is that?
Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
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