TRIP #5, 2014--Touring Lighthouses

Touring Maine's Lighthouses
Leaves are turning. When we left the Bar Harbor area this morning, the road was lined with cars pulling small trailers.  People are here to see leaves in autumn splendor.  According to the weather channel, northern Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are already at peak.  That also accounts for the crazy prices at motels and restaurants.
Last night we heard a hiker say. "Maine is a have and have not state."  I think that's true of many areas of the country, unfortunately, but as we drove, we noticed ever so many signs at the ends of driveways--Camp Wood for Sale.  Individuals were selling small armload bundles for $2.00 or $3.00 each.

The Waldo-Hancock
Memorial Bridge looks
almost like a sculpture
in the sky.

"Trying to make a few dollars," said Andy, "but it also could be a result of the ash bore.  Wood cannot be transported, so campers who want fires are forced to buy wood locally."
We crossed the new Waldo-Hancock Memorial Bridge. The sign in the observation pullout said it had been named "the most beautiful steel bridge in America."  However, the reference was to 1931, the old green bridge, closed to traffic and removed in 2006.  Regardless, this one is striking.
As we crossed the Penobscot River, I spotted a huge concrete structure on a point upriver. "That looks like an old fort," I told Andy.
"Yup," he joked, "probably Fort Knox."
"Oh yeah, very funny.  Haha!" I snickered.
We crossed the river and read the entry sign--Fort Knox State Park.  A guard house charged admission.  We kept driving.

Curtis Island Lighthouse on an island in the bay
warns boats of the rocky shoreline.

In Camden we found the overlook for the Curtis Island Lighthouse out on an island in Camden Harbor.  A trail led to the water from the intersection of Bay View Street and Beacon Avenue.  It was a well-to-do area of really nice homes and only a short walk to the water.
Main Street Camden bustled with activity--beautiful hanging baskets of flowers, small neatly kept shops, lovely views of the harbor.  "This is a classy town."  Andy said, "No Wal-Mart, no K-Mart, no Target."

Temperatures reach into
the 70's at Rockport
Harbor Park on the water.

Rockport Harbor Park provided the best view of Indian Island Light, a tiny blip of a white tower on the horizon far out to sea. But in the park we saw the old lime kilns from the 1800's that were used to prepare the limestone from 15 area quarries for plaster board and grout in New York City buildings.

The Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse attracts walkers and
tourists alike on this warm September day.

A statue to Andre the Harbor Seal remembered the Honorary Rockport Harbor Master, born in 1961, abandoned on one of the islands and raised in Rockport where visitors enjoyed his antics in the harbor.
The Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse required a two-mile walk out and back on the gigantic granite boulders of the breakwater in the harbor.  "That's built for permanence," said Andy.  "It protects Rockland and Rockport."

A mile of granite slabs as a breakwater sets the lighthouse
 apart from the mainland coast.

A popular spot, the flat surfaces made walking easy, but uneven stone and irregular spaces between the rocks challenged my focus.  I watched each step for two miles.  Waves lapped on both sides, and with the tide high, the water in places was only about ten inches below our feet.

Not to be disturbed by my
camera, this cormorant
poses in style.

               Cormorants aired their wings on the rocks, lobster men washed their boats as they came home from the day's catch, and a couple two-masted schooners sailed by.  At 2:00 p.m., as we returned, the temperature hit 78 degrees... in Maine... in late September.

A volunteer guide at Owls Head Light
welcomes us to the tower.

Owls Head Light, run by the Coast Guard, contains a 1,000-watt bulb that reflects from a #5 Fresnel lens, installed in 1856.  The light can be seen 20 miles out to sea.  Here, for $1.00 each we were invited to climb the metal rung ladder to the top and feel the heat of the lens.  The view of the bay was spectacular, but tourists were banned from the outside walkway for safety reasons.

Marshall Point Light extends far out on
the rock point of Port Clyde.

At low tide we step from stone to stone around
the tower at Marshall Point.

The Marshall Point Light in the town of Port Clyde was originally built in 1832 and reconstructed in 1858.  It gained fame after being used in the movie Forrest Gump.  The last lighthouse keeper donated the house, now a museum and shop, connected to the 25-foot white granite light tower by a long ramp.

Barnacle-covered lava offers
excellent footing on the damp seaweed.

Late in the day at low tide, we carefully stepped far out on the barnacle-encrusted rocks to snap pictures with the sun behind us.  In short sleeves we studied the tide pools and crisscrossed the black lava rocks. It was a wonderful day to be outside in Maine.

Muscles, clams and barnacles
live in the tide pools at low tide.

Andy did his good deed for the day at Denny's.  We had three coupons about to expire.  He gave one to a couple of elderly ladies in the parking lot before we went in the restaurant.  After dinner, he gave another to a mother and two children sitting next to us.  "They won't do me any good," he explained.  "They are going to expire in two days. Enjoy a few dollars off."  The hostess didn't seem to mind at all!

Vesper Hill Chapel far out on Beauchamp Point
us a place of quiet beauty and serenity.

After dinner we looked for the Vesper Hill Chapel on Beauchamp Point. An open air place of meditation, this outdoor chapel was dedicated to youth who needed a place to think and recover spiritually.  Surrounded by flowers and huge old pine trees, Vesper Hill overlooked the ocean and by 6:30 p.m. was almost enveloped in darkness.