Maine Capital

 Augusta is Maine's capital city.

What brought us to town was Fort Western - the first European structure in the area - built in 1754.  It's the oldest wooden garrison in North America.

It was built as a resupply fort and military outpost for the Province of Massachusetts and its mission was to supply the provincial Fort Fairfax up the Kennebec River during the French and Indian War. At this point in the river the larger ships couldn't travel upstream so supplies were transferred to wooden bateaus and rowed up to Fort Fairfax.

Once the war ended settlement began around the fort which led to Augusta becoming a town.

We arrived at the fort shortly after it opened and were given an extensive history tour. Our guide dressed in period costume was a high school student named Dorothy.  I was amazed by how much she knew and thought she was a college graduate.

 

She took us first to one of the two blockhouses that would have been on corners of the fort.  This was a re-creation since the original structures didn't survive.

The 5 lb cannons wore sheepskin to keep them dry and free from rust.

The structure below is what dates to 1754.  Originally it housed the garrison. 

In 1767 the Howard family purchased it and had a store here until 1807.

It was also the Howard home from 1770-1852.

It became tenement apartments in 1852 until 1920.

Views of Augusta across the Kennebec River from the fort.

In 1922 Fort Western became a museum.

Moosehead Lake, Maine

The largest lake in Maine, second largest in New England.  Doesn't its shape resemble the head of a moose with antlers?

Greenville where we stayed is at the southern end of the lake. The days we were there the 47th Annual International Seaplane Fly-in was just beginning.  Seaplanes were landing all the time.

One of the highlights of our trip to Maine was a three hour cruise on the Katahdin to just north of Sugar Island.

Here's the Katahdin in the sun before it was time to board.

This is actually the Katahdin II.  The first one was smaller and all wood built in 1896.  In 1913 she caught fire and burned to water's edge. No one was harmed. The Katahdin II was built in 1914 with a steel hull.  Originally a steam boat she's now diesel powered.

Steam boats on Moosehead Lake were a common sight for many years when wealthy families fled cities. for the healthy environment of Maine.  Once the vacationers arrived by train, the boats were transportation to hotels that lined the lake.  

Once on board at 12:15 pm it started to pour.  Here's a view of the Moosehead Marine Museum that sponsors the cruises from on board.

The weather slowly cleared as we headed north. There was a very friendly staff, a lunch counter to order lunch, and a narration on the outbound portion giving us history and geography explanations.

A seaplane landed next to us.

We couldn't see Mount Katahdin because of the low cloud cover.

A four hour cruise (not scheduled for the day we were there) would have taken us to Mount Kineo, seen in the distance below.  It's on a peninsula that juts into the lake.  It's known for its deposits of rhyolite (flint) and was visited for thousands of years by Native Americans needing the flint to make arrowheads, spearheads and tomahawks.

There was a small hotel (tavern)  built here in 1844.  As happened to many hotels it burned but was replaced by a bigger hotel.  This one also burned but was replaced  by another which was described as the largest, most luxurious inland hotel in the country with 500 rooms, a staff of 430, golf course, farm, orchestra, baseball team, and guides for hunting and fishing excursions.  This hotel after many different owners closed in 1969.

Time to return to the dock after a cold but relaxing cruise on Moosehead Lake.

 Postscript: In answer to Tom's question - we saw no moose the whole trip to Maine.  Lots of beware of moose or moose crossing signs though.  Lots of skid marks on the road where others had to brake for moose.  We were told that those were a good sign that moose had been there.

Greenville Inn

We picked this Bed and Breakfast based upon its description and the fact there was a room for the dates we wanted.  It was the Lumber Baron's Suite, the most expensive one in the place. We decided to splurge for these two nights and looked forward to staying here. 

Our initial experience upon arriving should have clued us in.  Just after 3 pm on Thursday the 9th I went to the front door to check in and couldn't open it.  I thought it was locked.  There was a sign for the Inn by the door so I called the number given there.  The person answering didn't identify themselves but said the door handle sticks but was unlocked.  I assumed the person I was speaking to was the person who was supposed to be at the desk we saw upon entering.  There was a card on the counter saying they were away from the desk and would return shortly. Since I thought I'd spoken to that person we waited, and waited and waited.  Finally after we had explored the downstairs while we waited and read their literature, Dan suggested I call the number on the card on the counter because it was a different one from the front door. The person who answered said she'd be right down and we could hear her descend the stairs.  She had had no idea we were there as long as we had been: at least 30 minutes.

So the first strike against this place was that the initial person I spoke to did not identify themselves, welcome us to the Inn and let us know that someone else would be at the front desk to check us in.

The desk person showed us to our rooms and gave us a welcome letter.  Not much in explanation except to say that breakfast was from 8 am to 9 am.  The welcome letter told us more including that the bar would be open from 4 pm to 8 pm with tapas and charcuterie.  That sounded nice.  We had helped ourselves to tea and cookies while we had waited so we thought maybe we'd forgo dinner and just have what's served at the bar.

Second strike: after 4 pm I went to investigate the tapas at the bar.  Nothing there.  I asked at the desk, a different person from when we arrived, and she said "Oh, you have to preorder that". Nothing in the welcome letter made mention of that. Also one would expect for the price we were paying per night, that some extras like afternoon appetizers would have been offered.

The view from our window of Greenville, Moosehead Lake, and surrounding mountains was lovely despite the cloudy day.

The Lumber Baron Suite was spacious and comfortable.

Here's the sitting room.  It had a fireplace to the left.

The bathroom had a huge tub and a very tall shower that dated to when the house was built in 1890s.

Photo from website.

To read about the history of this house go here.

This was on the wall of the entry way.  I think it's an early intercom system.  There was no phone in the room.

Breakfast was another strike against this place.  A long wait, a lackluster menu, and cold eggs when finally served.  We skipped the breakfast the next morning and checked out.  Not a place we'd recommend staying.

Maine Trip - The Great Carrying Place

Don't know about you, but when we're driving on vacation we usually stop for historical markers and points of interest along the way.

This stop was identified as the Great Carrying Place. 

The event memorialized here predates Benedict Arnold's treasonous act later during the Revolutionary War.

No mention is made of the fact that Arnold was a traitor in 1780.

We had recently seen the old movie "Northwest Passage" with Spencer Tracy and Robert Young and there was a scene in that where heavy wooden boats had to be carried over hills to avoid capture from the French.  We could visualize Arnold's troops having to do the same thing over these hills.  Later in our trip we saw a bateau of the type used at that time.

Here it is upside down at a fort we visited in Augusta later in our trip.