Trip: Day 3 Penobscot Narrows Bridge, Fort Knox, Maine Maritime Academy

This was one of the coldest mornings of our trip (or at least it felt like it walking around another Fort). Zachary was taking his morning snooze and our goal was to get to Castine, Maine to see where Michael went to college....a slight detour was involved when we got ready to cross over the brand new Penobscot Narrows Bridge. We noticed a sign that said "Observation Tower Open". Well, I knew that would be fun for Mikie since he loves riding elevators and counting the floors. Initially, I told Michael to just go "quickly" with Mikie and then we'd finish driving while Zach slept. However, as soon as we parked the car Zachary woke up and I'm so glad he did. He was so cute looking down and pointing to all the cars traveling over the bridge. I think he thought they were toys and wanted to pick them up. It also gave us a chance to visit another Fort (one of which Michael said he never actually went "in" while living this close to it but tells me stories of how he and his college buddies would "visit" the grounds surrounding the fort after it closed.)

This is a postcard of the bridge. The fall colors looked just like this! If you look closely you'll see the triangle observation deck at the top of the left point.

Zachary pointing to the "toy cars" going over the bridge.

When I asked Mikie to tell me something to write on the postcard, he replied "I loved going all the way to the top because I saw all the sights."

Mikie took this picture.

This way to the top!

FREEZING cold & windy patriotic picture

Here are some real cannonballs, Zachary.

Again, he continued to taste the air the entire time we were here.

Hurry up, take the picture and get back to the warm car! Now, let's drive to the middle of no where (seriously, his college town is smaller than Sigourney, Iowa). Luckily, as the sun rose higher so did the temperatures and we ended up with a slightly chilly but bearable autumn afternoon.

A lot has changed in 14 years! After hearing the college stories (and now seeing where they took place), I'm amazed that Michael lived long enough to marry and have 2 children). It was fun taking this picture. While Michael was trying to get the camera propped up on the hood of the mini-van, the boys were smelling (and picking) the mums, playing in the leaves, and even watched a parade. Ok, it wasn't a formal parade, more of a neighborhood walk that involved about a half dozen dogs on leashes (one of which was in a costume...ok...sweater...close enough) to which Zachary pointed and panted at each one. It really was a fun photo shoot and it only took about 4 tries to get one that looked like this!

The dock was a great place to let the boys run, spin around, and fall down. For some reason, they both think it is just hilarious to turn in circles and then fall down on their backs.

We took a short hike past a lighthouse down to the water. In this picture, Zachary decided to throw a fit and refused to stand up so we took it anyway.

Now he's in the mood to cooperate.

Mikie skipping down the "secret path" towards the water.

Another self-timer photo op without a proper platform for positioning the camera

This picture reminds me so much of Whidbey Island; in fact, the entire hike was reminiscent of the Northwest.

We even ended the day by throwing a few rocks in the water.