Our last Sunday of vacation was busy! We took a road trip up the Bucksport area to visit Fort Knox.
We have driven past Fort Knox many times and it has been on our to-do list, but we never made it there because of timing, weather or sick/sleeping kiddos. Our boys love forts and anything battle-related so I knew we couldn't skip Fort Knox again!
We found a horse-drawn ambulance out front.
Compared to other forts we've been to, which are smaller or just ruins, Fort Knox is BIG and completely intact.
From the inside looking out at the Penobscot River.
Fort Knox was built from 1844 to 1869 to protect the Penobscot River area against possible attacks by the British Navy, but it never saw any military action.
We were able to explore the fort from top
to bottom! There were many dark tunnels and at times we needed a flashlight, which is extremely cool if you are 5 or 6 (or even 30-something!).
We saw cannon shells
and cannons
and had a wonderful view of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.
Fort Knox was fascinating
and we are so glad we finally found time for a visit!
Next up, we visited the Penobscot Narrows Observatory at the very top of the bridge!
We rode the elevator up 400 feet to the tallest public bridge observatory in the world. The views of the Penobscot River Valley were spectacular!
Fort Knox, as seen from the observatory.
Henry still loves dandelions, and he found one on our walk back to the car.
After a morning exploring, we headed south to find lunch and luckily found a cute little sandwich stop right on our way to our next stop, Fort Point State Park.
The boys found the passport station right away and ran to get their passports stamped!
Fort Point in an interesting spot because it was the first river lighthouse in Maine. It was built in 1836 (the current building was built in 1857) to help ships navigate the Penobscot River between Castine and Bangor.
This 1200-pound cast iron bell was the fog signal, built in 1890.
It is housed in this tower.
Fort Point State Park is also the home to the ruins of Fort Pownall, which was built in 1759 to help keep British land safe from the French and Indians. It never saw battle, but in 1775, the British removed the guns to prevent them from falling into rebel hands, and then the American revolutionists burned the fort and filled in the ditch to prevent the British from using the fort. Now it is a great place for little boys to run!
Later, this site was home to a luxury resort, the Fort Point Hotel, but it was unsuccessful and burned to the ground. As you can see, it is a beautiful spot for tourists.
We found a dock
and strolled back through the woods.
Fort Point State Park was beautiful and full of history.
Back in Castine, we took the boys to the Wilson Museum, which had blacksmith and woodworking demonstrations.
The boys helped the blacksmith by pumping the bellows
and watched as he hammered out hooks for them.
Will cooled his hook in the water.
Henry's new backpack hook!
Across the street, we watched the woodworker make tops for the boys.
And then we made it back to the Adam Gallery, where we were smitten with two paintings of Castine by Joshua Adam.
You know we love to find art on our trips and can't wait to get these up on the walls in our house!
The boys waited patiently outside, munching on snacks and finding caterpillars and Japanese beetles.
It was another very full day, but we really enjoyed every minute of it.
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