Two Forts, One Lighthouse, and a Kentucky Colonel!

This morning began with a delightful breakfast delivered to our door by the innkeeper.  Sharon had asked us when we checked in what time we’d like to have breakfast.  She said she would deliver it to the room or to the garden, whichever we preferred.  Since the temperature got very chilly overnight, we decided to eat in our room overlooking the garden.  Promptly at 8:00 am, we heard a tap on our door and Sharon’s husband was our delivery man.  He handed me a heavy wicker basket and said, Enjoy your breakfast!

We sat it on the table and unpacked a delicious breakfast of fresh hot biscuits with butter and jam, fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade granola with fresh fruit, and hot coffee.  It was all very good and such a neat way to serve us our breakfast.

We were sad to leave this charming room over the carriage house, but we had other places to see.  We looked at a few more sites in the area before heading on up the road.

As we traveled Northward, we hadn’t gotten very far out of town when we saw a sign for historic Fort Edgecomb.  We took a little side trip and enjoyed walking the grounds of the old fort.

We continued our drive, staying to the backroads and staying on the coast as much as possible.  We were really able to get a good glimpse of rural life in the midsection of Maine.  And the scenery!!  It is beautiful here.  Everything is lush and green and the meadows are full of wild lupines in a variety of colors while the wooded areas contain large wild ferns, lilacs, and rhododendron, all in full bloom.

We ate lunch on the dock at Boothbay Harbor then got back on the road.  We especially enjoyed the drive down to Ocean Point, it was beautiful.  From there we looked at the old fort at Pemaquid Point.

The next stop was the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point .  It is a functioning light house and was just opened to the public in the last few years.  It’s one of the few lighthouses that allow you to climb up for a close view of the light.  It was built in 1835 and has been continuously in operation.  The little town of Bristol is responsible for manning it, and they’ve agreed to keep it open for tours as long as they can find volunteers to staff it.  There’s a little museum in the old keepers cottage, an art gallery and a town hall.  Once we walked through the keepers cottage, we got in line to climb up the spiral staircase to the top.

We didn’t have long to wait, and when we stepped through the door, the older gentleman that was on duty today greeted us with, “Where are you from?”  He asked everyone as they stepped in line.  The 2 people in front of us were from England.  When it was our turn to respond, we said, ” Kentucky!”  He shuffled off of his stool, pulled out his wallet, fiddled around with it for a minute or so and pulled something from it.  He walked over to us and showed us the card he had retrieved from his wallet.  We both peered down at it and noticed the great seal from the state of Kentucky embossed on the card.  He was a Kentucky colonel!

Back in the day, when he was a reporter for a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, he and a group of others periodically traveled to Lexington, Kentucky to perform for the patients at the Shriners Hospital.  He was a magician, and the governor of Kentucky had made each of them  Kentucky Colonels  for their work with the patients at the hospital.  That was many years ago, and I found it very touching that he still carried that little card in his wallet.

Another friendly volunteer was at the top of the lighthouse to greet us and tell us all about how lighthouses are used.  We learned that each lighthouse has its own unique signal.  He was very informative and the view from the top was amazing!

We walked around the grounds a while longer, got an ice cream at the little general store next door, and hit the road again.

We headed on toward Camden from there, our destination tonight.  We arrived at around 5:00 pm,  and were shown around another lovely inn.  The inn was built in the late 1700’s and our room is called the hidden garden.

We walked around pretty little Camden, and were able to eat dinner once again outdoors on the wharf.  It stayed very cool today, so we were ready for a cup of coffee after our meal.  We walked around the docks and noticed that a large waterfall runs into the back of the bay.  We took some pictures and walked up the hill to find coffee and dessert.

We stepped into a little place called the Camden Deli, mainly because of their display of gourmet brownies, and bought a couple of sweets to eat with the coffee.  As we walked to the back of the deli to be seated, we noticed that the seating was directly over the waterfall with wall to ceiling windows.  What a delightful way to end the day and enjoy our coffee!