M is for…

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Wow, Did you realize there are 8 states that start with the letter M? I am not going to do all 8 in one post, especially since a couple of them are going to be crossed off as visited. So before I start can you name all 8 states?

Alphabetically Maine is first. So while you’re thinking about the other 7 states I’ll tell you a little bit about my neighbor to the north. I fell in love with Maine last year when I had the chance to take 2 “mini” vacations.

Maine

YES.

First thing that come to mind when I think of Maine is the gorgeous, rugged coastline. And if you have a rugged coast you need lighthouses. More than 60 lighthouses dot the Maine coast from the well known Nubble Light in York to West Quoddy Head, the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. I’ve seen and photographed a bunch of them, Nubble, Spring Ledge, Portland Head, Pemaquid and more but I’m a long way from all 60!+

Maine is for “Lobsta” or lobster if you want to be accurate. Everyone’s either heard of or eaten Maine Lobster, those feisty crustaceans that are so good boiled, fried, rolled, baked, in salad, well just about any way you want to eat them. Did you know that lobster were once so plentiful that they were used as fertilizer! Native Americans used them as bait to catch more appealing fish. They were considered poverty food and fed to servants and prisoners. You’ve come a long way , baby!

Maine is for wildlife.

I saw a big bull moose there while walking a nature trail.

I braved the sea to get a glimpse of puffins, crazy little clowns. I never realized how tiny they are until I saw them riding those crashing waves.

Maine has the first National Park east of the Mississippi, Acadia National Park. The park includes Mount Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain.

I still want to try a train ride from Boston to Portland. It’s called the “Downeaster”. It can be done in 1 day but it might be nicer to stay over in Portland a night to see a bit more.

By the way, I wrote a lot of posts on Maine last year. Here’s a link to just one of the many :https://aroundustyroads.com/2012/08/29/day-is-done-gone-the-sun/

Lighthouse Lovers..This Post’s for You

Posted on September 6, 2013September 6, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Hello Lighthouse lovers. Did you know there was a lighthouse in Boston Harbor for sale? I didn’t either but it sure got everyone’s attention today when a record-breaking sale was announced.

Sold! Graves Island lighthouse breaks record

Graves lighthouse is the one I mentioned in a recent post as being in line with Boston Light. (Graves is the one in back in the photo above)

There are lots of lighthouses that you can rent for a night or two or maybe even a week for vacation but do you really want to live there?

Graves light is 5 stories high with 2 bedrooms. One drawback…no bathrooms but I guess if you can afford to buy a lighthouse you can afford to update the plumbing.

Whoever purchased Graves Light got it for the “paltry” sum of $933,888. Not bad for a working lighthouse especially when you realize it was CASH bid.

The US General Services Administration, which conducted the Graves Island Light Station auction, has not identified the new owner of the lighthouse located on a rocky, wave-battered ledge near the entrance to Boston Harbor. But we can tell you it was bought by a Boston businessman whose roots in New England date to the 1630s and who has a deep interest in maritime history. He said Wednesday he prefers to remain anonymous until the sale is finalized, which will most likely be Thursday or Friday. The GSA has said it received bids from 10 parties initially, but the number dwindled to two as the price rose higher and higher. The winning bid is a record amount paid for a US lighthouse. Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places since 1987, the Graves Island lighthouse is one of 163 lighthouses located along the New England coast. It went on the auction block in June.

Gloucester Harbor Lighthouse Cruise

Posted on August 24, 2013August 24, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Ok I can tell by my stats that the lighthouse theme is running on empty so I’ll wrap it up for awhile with this last post on the lighthouses I saw on my day in Gloucester.

It was such a beautiful day that I took the Lighthouse Harbor Cruise, not a Boston Harbor Cruise but a Gloucester Harbor Cruise.

The earliest lighthouses were nothing more than bonfires built on hillsides to guide ships .

Sometimes they were lit to draw ships onto the rocks so they would run aground and the pirates could loot the cargo. Obviously a better way was needed.

Lighthouses are old, very old. The first was in the old world. It guarded the harbor entrance to Alexandria in 285 BC!

The first American Lighthouse was built in Boston Harbor in 1716.

By 1771 there were 9 lighthouses in North America, all marking entrances to ports. 1771 was also the first time a lighthouse was built to mark a dangerous spot rather than a harbor entrance.

Fast forward to today. I’m going to share 5 lighthouse with you; the Lighthouses of Cape Ann.

#1. Ten Pound Island Lighthouse

This is a quaint little light located on (where else) Ten Pound Island which is within Gloucester Harbor. It was built in 1821 to aid in navigating Gloucester’s inner harbor. Tiny Ten Pound Island also boasts housing America’s first Coast Guard Air Station.

#2 Eastern Point Lighthouse

This light was built in 1832 on Gloucester’s Eastern Point to mark the harbor entrance. In addition to the light, there is a large lighthouse station which continues to serve as housing for the U.S. Coast Guard.

#3. Thatcher Island Twin Lighthouses

Also known as Cape Ann Light Station, these twin lights are the only surviving multiple lights on the coasts of the United States. The towers were constructed so that when a ship sights on both towers they point to true north, allowing sailors to check their compasses.

#4. Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse

Built in 1835, Straitsmouth Light marks the entrance to Rockport Harbor, a neighbor of Gloucester’s. Although the small lighthouse is maintained by the Coast Guard, the island itself is a bird and wildlife sanctuary owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

#5. Annisquam Harbor Lighthouse

Annisquam light was built in 1801. It marks the entrance to the Annisquam River at Wigwam Point, a popular Native American summer encampment. With the construction of the Blynman Canal the Annisquam River connected Ipswich Bay and Gloucester Harbor.

There is so much to say about these lighthouses, how tall, how bright, what color is the light, how many flashes and of what duration; but to answer all those questions I’d be writing a book, not a post. 🙂 So I’ll leave that to the experts.

Lighthouses of Boston Harbor

Posted on August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The Boston Harbor Cruise Whale Watch provided an opportunity to get a peak at 2+ of the lighthouses that protect Boston Harbor.

As I mentioned before there are 2 Boston Harbor Cruises that feature Lighthouses. Expert members of the American Lighthouse Foundation narrate the tours. They begin in Boston with passes by Long Island Head Light and Deer Island Light, and then a pass by Boston Light, the oldest lighthouse station in America. Heading north, the tour will pass by Graves Light, Hospital Point Light, Marblehead Light, Fort Pickering Light, Baker’s Island Light, Eastern Point Light, Ten Pound Island Light, Straitsmouth Island Light and more. The Northern Lights tour culminates with a view of Thacher Island, site of the only still operating twin lighthouses left in the country.

On our jaunt to look for whales we passed Boston Light with Graves Light behind it.

From certain angles the two lights line up front to back. Boston Light is located on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor. The current lighthouse is not the original structure.

During the American Revolution, the original lighthouse was held by British Forces and was attacked and burnt on two occasions by American forces. As the British forces withdrew in 1776, they blew up the tower and completely destroyed it. The lighthouse was eventually reconstructed in 1783, to the same 75-foot height as the original tower. In 1856 it was raised to its present height of 98 feet.

Graves Light is visible from Little Brewster Island and Boston Light. Graves light is located on The Graves, the outermost island of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, 9 miles offshore of downtown Boston.

Minot’s Ledge Light, officially Minots Ledge Light, is a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, one mile offshore of the towns of Cohasset and Scituate, to the southeast of Boston Harbor. It is a part of the Town of Scituate. The current lighthouse is the second on the site, the first having been washed away in a storm after only a few months of use.

The Nantucket Lightship which we passed moored in Boston Harbor is now a museum. The Lightship Nantucket or Nantucket Shoals was the name given to the lightvessel that marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. Several ships have been commissioned and served at the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket. It was common for a lightship to be reassigned and then renamed for its new station.

At 8:00 a.m. on December 20, 1983 the Lightship 613 was relieved by a Large Navigational Buoy, making Lightship 613 the last Lightship on station in the US and on Nantucket Station. In December 1983 the Lightship 613 was sold to the New England Historic Seaport to become a museum ship in Boston.

So lets see. So far this summer I’ve seen Gurnet Light, Bug light (Duxbury Pier), Chatham Light, Boston Light, Graves Light, Minot Ledge Light and the Lightship Nantucket.

But there’s more. I’m not done yet! Tomorrow we go to Gloucester and Cape Ann.

Lighthouses along the Massachusetts Coast

Posted on August 22, 2013August 22, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I ran around trying to get pictures of lighthouses last summer. I had it in my head that the best lighthouses to photograph were in Maine. It was a fun trip and I got some beautiful shots but I overlooked the fact that there are 16 lighthouses just on Cape Cod. Cape Cod is a day trip for me and what about the rest of the Massachusetts Coast?

Boston Harbor Cruises offers 2 Lighthouse Cruises, a “northern” and a “southern”. Of course they are always on a Saturday night so I haven’t had the chance to take either. But this year I haven’t been looking for lighthouses. I’ve been chasing whales and seals and in process look what I’ve seen!

Gurnet Light

This has been my nemesis of a light since I heard of it. The Lighthouse is not open to the pubic and is accessible only by four- wheel- drive vehicles from Duxbury Beach. But even if you have a four- wheel -drive, which I do not, the road is not open to the public either.

If you want to hike it, which I have considered, it’s only about 5 miles each way. (With camera gear I’d rather not) The other option is from the water but I don’t have a boat so I was thrilled to pass right by it on Captain John’s Whale Watch trip.

Bug Light AKA Duxbury Pier Light

Seems like there are “Bug” Lights everywhere. They refer to little lighthouses, many are “spark plug” like in shape but most also have a real name like this one. Although known as “Bug Light” it’s real name is Duxbury Pier Light. It was built in 1871 on the north side of the main channel in Plymouth Harbor to mark the dangerous shoal off Saquish Head. It was the first so-called spark plug lighthouse in the US.

To really appreciate this spark plug of a light you need to read The Keeper of Bug Light http://www.buglight.org/Harry%20Salter%20Buglight.pdf It’s an easy read and very interesting.

`Let’s take a quick swing down to Chatham on Cape Cod. As I looked at the seal colony we cruised past Chatham Lighthouse with Lighthouse beach in front. (If I ever do a Cape Cod series you’ll see this one again.)

Today, the former keeper’s house is an active U.S. Coast Guard station, with on-duty personnel living quarters. Search and Rescue, maritime law enforcement, and Homeland Security missions are carried out here. Flotilla 11-01 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary operates from this station.

This is located right on Main St so it’s easy to get to unlike some of the other’s mentioned here. Lets take a look at a couple more in my next post.