Exploring Bucksport

Bikes loaded, off we go!

Staring at us from across the river is Fort Knox. Not the "where's the gold" Fort Knox. But a real fort nevertheless. 

Sadly, while it appeared accessible by water, this was not true. And you can't walk across the bridges. That left biking. Once breakfast was done we tossed the bikes into the dinghy and headed to the dock. There we started the 20 minutes bike ride to the fort. (Note: Google claims this is a 15 minute bike ride but fails to alert you of the altitude change, thus our 20).

Russ thinks this is his favorite fort ever. Built more recently (1840s) they'd sussed out a number of issues like getting troops around, food storage, and of course, defense. So while smaller the place was laid out brilliantly.

Looking across the river from the top of the fort.
inQuest is the white dot on the right...

Looooooong corridors wrap the fort so
gunman can be everywhere!

A few canons are still there.

It was fun exploring all the cave-like corridors.

Mess hall. They recently built those tables,
The place smelled of freshly cut wood.

Russ is up on top.

To bad it was never actually used. But it's in fine shape, and still being actively maintained.

When you buy tickets to visit the fort you're asked if you want to go up the tower too. In 1832 they built a fancy bridge (a smaller version of the Golden Gate, which was built a couple of years later). At the time it was considered the prettiest bridge in the world.

Well, they took that down and built another bridge. This one, however, had 2 massive towers (you may have noticed in the pictures). And one of them is an observation station you can go up in into. And we did.

North, Bucksport

East. You can see Blue Hill and 
Acadia from here.

South, to Penobscot Bay

Lobster roll: 1/3 lb of lobster (no mayo!) on a 
toasted baguette. Hand for size.

After snapping pics and looking at all the places we'd already been this summer we biked back to Bucksport to try the brewery, Friar's Brewhouse. The name is not a ploy -- the place is run by friars. Got the robes and everything. We ate some tomato bisque, a lobster roll (because, Maine!), and a lobster Mac & Cheese (because, Maine!). Actually, we ordered a different mac & cheese but they accidentally gave us the lobster one by mistake. Tasty mistake, tho. Beer was quite tasty, too. 

I liked the last bit.

We brought the leftovers back to the boat (friars are big on volume) and passed out from all the uphill bike riding. Which it was. Both ways!