Fort Knox

Today Mom took the kids on an adventure so Mama could get a long bike ride in. We drove up to see the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Fort Knox.

The cable-stayed bridge in the foreground is the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge, built by Brenda's company a few years ago. The old (now abandoned) suspension bridge is right behind it, ready to be torn down.

Emily asked if Mom and Mama had worked on this bridge....it does look a lot like the Tacoma Narrows!The cable-stayed tower is really high, and way up at the top is an observatory. We got tickets to go up, but Mom wasn't sure if the kids would like it.They seemed pretty excited, so up we went........in the elevator, which takes about 1 minute (thank goodness it isn't just stairs!).It's a pretty spectacular view right when the elevator door opens...for a two-year-old, it can even be a little shocking.Once the girls got over their shock, they really enjoyed the observatory. We could see really far away!The cars on the bridge deck down below seemed really tiny. The old bridge is on the left, and will be demolished within a year or two.This is the only cable-stayed bridge with an observatory in North America--we highly recommend a visit to anyone who happens to be in the area!After taking in the view, we headed back down the stairs to the elevator, then down to the parking lot and the next part of our adventure.Fort Knox is a civil-war era fort that was built to protect the shipping route to Bangor. Chris remembers coming here on school trips when she was growing up.It's a very nice park, with the well-preserved granite fort built into the hill and lots of cool other stuff like cannons to play on.The fort overlooks the town of Bucksport, which is a historic mill town and has lots of old victorian-style homes.

One of the neatest things about Fort Knox is the tunnels. Mama had explained to us that there would be tunnels within the fort, so we should dress warmly and bring flashlights. She was right!The kids were thrilled with the tunnels--Mom, not so much. It was really dark (the flash on the camera makes it seem much brighter in the photos below), and it was kind of damp and slippery. The stairs were also a little uneven, since they were made out of granite. Mom could foresee bumps and bandaids before we even entered the tunnels, but the kids did great and nobody got hurt.Emily in particular loved the tunnels, and it was all Kate could do to keep up with her.Fort Knox seems like the kind of place that we could go back to again and again, and never get tired of.