Peaceful Meadows

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Well back on the home front I continued with the unofficial review of area Ice Cream stands. A good friend recommended Peaceful Meadows on Rt 18  in Whitman. I definitely knew where that was. I drive by it quite often. What I didn’t know was that this is only one of 3 Massachusetts locations.

There’s a Peaceful Meadows Ice Cream stand at 109 West Grove St, Middleboro, Ma and another at 170 Water St, Plymouth, Ma. The correct address of the one in Whitman is 60 Bedford St, Whitman.

Peaceful Meadows started out as a dairy farm in Whitman and that is still the main location and there is still a dairy there. In fact all of the ice cream served at all 3 locations is made right there on the farm in Whitman.

I can see the appeal of the place for a family with children too, at least the Whitman location. I have not been to Middleboro or Plymouth but I think they are just Ice Cream Stands. The Whitman location is the farm and it is really a working dairy farm.

When you pull into the good-sized parking lot you see cows grazing in the pasture that backs the ice cream stand. The barn itself is open to the public and the day I was there contained a “pre teen” calf. You know what I mean..not a cute little baby but not fully grown up yet either. The mother cow was in an enclosure next to the calf. I hesitate to call it a stall as it was more like a mini corral . The sides were open. Children were picking up handfuls of hay and feeding both cows. They were gentle and let the little ones pet and scratch their heads while they munched.

Also located on the grounds is a little store with packaged ice cream, milk, homemade cookies and wonder of wonder, maple syrup and maple syrup candy. Be still my heart. That is a major weakness of mine. I left quickly before temptation could sway any resolve.

Having explored a bit it was time to taste the wares. I stood in a short line until it was my turn. I’m not very adventuresome when it come to eating so I am normally happy with a simple dish of chocolate but today I decided to try a sundae. Pretty basic…vanilla ice cream with hot fudge. Whip cream and nuts of course , hold the cherry.

You can’t fault the serving size. This didn’t come in a dish. This was in a large plastic cup. There was plenty of hot fudge too, not like some places that give you a little dot of hot fudge and call it a day.  My treat in hand I looked for someplace to sit back and enjoy.

There were no little tables with bright umbrellas, no picnic tables on the grass under the trees, only one small bench and a few boulders. Most people were sitting cross-legged on the ground. Perfect for little kids and maybe me about 10-15 years ago but now my joints might let me get down there but I’d never get back up!

Eventually one of the kids left the bench to go look at the cows and I quickly claimed the vacant seat. Time to dig in.

Hmmm. Very strong vanilla flavoring. I’m not sure I like it quite that strong. Also the ice cream, being homemade fresh from the dairy was very, very rich. That’s not a bad thing unless, like me all that butterfat tends to upset the digestive track. The hot fudge had a slightly burned flavor like someone hadn’t cleaned out the old before adding the new. So far I can’t give them high points. It certainly wasn’t the worst hot fudge sundae I’ve tasted but I wouldn’t put it in the top 10 either. I didn’t finish it. Most of it landed in the trash container.

Bottom line…I can see why it would be a favorite place for families with the cows to watch and the open barn to explore. Another Plus is that this is not a seasonal stand. It is open year round. There’s ample parking but not enough seating unless you like the ground and I’d only rate the ice cream a C.

So to my friend who loves this location all I can say is sorry. It isn’t to my taste. Maybe it is to yours and that’s good too. It’s why there are many choices out there. If everyone liked the same thing we’d only need one and where’s the fun in that?

Is There Gold In Fort Knox?

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A few months ago I saw a program called Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and the Episode was about Fort Knox and whether there was really  gold stored there or not. Of course they were investigating Fort Knox, Kentucky. I don’t know about you but I didn’t know there was also a Fort Knox in Maine. In fact since Fort Knox ME was built in 1844 it is actually the FIRST Fort Knox predating the Kentucky Fort Knox by around 70 years as building didn’t begin on the Kentucky fort until 1918.

Fort Knox was built to protect the Penobscot River Valley from Naval Attack. Located in the town of Prospect, ME, Fort Knox is also known as Fort Knox State Park or Fort Knox State Historical Site.

During the American Revolution and again during the War of 1812 enemy ships entered the Penobscot. During both wars Great Britain seized control of the river, fought battles in the surrounding towns and claimed the land for the British Crown.

To prevent history from repeating itself for a 3rd time, the American Government authorized the building of a fort on the Penobscot Narrows. This was the first and largest granite fort built in Maine. The design  was similar to later Maine forts such as Fort Popham on the Kennebec and Fort Gorges, Fort Preble and Fort Scammel in Casco Bay (Portland).

The fort saw two periods  of military activity. From 20-54 troops were garrisoned here during the Civil War. Around 575 troops from Connecticut lived at the fort for a month during the Spanish-American War.

No enemy ships ever appeared on the Penobscot during these wars.

More detailed information and maps of the fort can be found on their website: http://www.knox.army.mil/

The day we visited it was very hot and humid which we were told is very unusual so climbing around the grounds was quite strenuous but we had a good time just the same.

Combined with the Observatory at the top of the bridge, it made for a memorable stop.

Now to address the question in the title, Is there Gold in Fort Knox? I would say with some assurance that the only gold in Fort Knox, Me is the rich historical heritage of the site.  As for the  question of Gold in Fort Knox Kentucky, I will leave that to Mr. Meltzer and his crew to investigate.

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Into the Sky

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Our last morning in Bar Harbor found us trying breakfast at the Cottage Street Bakery and Restaurant because we hadn’t tried any pop-overs yet and they had pop-overs. They also had an outside deck and it looked like we were going to have another beautiful day.

Breakfast was just as good as at The Great Maine Breakfast and the pop-overs yummy. We took a few minutes after breakfast to wander around a little more and grab a few last pictures and then it was back on the road. What a nice mini vacation.

We decided not to detour back to the winery but just to go home. Along the way we had to cross the bridge we’d crossed on the way up. Approaching it from the other side we could see what looked like an old fort. Then JR spotted a sign and a turn off. We had time so off the exit we went to squeeze in one more adventure.

We followed the little road up to an entry hut like a toll booth. We asked the attendant about the Fort and she mentioned that we could go up the bridge too! That sounded really cool so we paid our entrance fee, followed the road to the upper lot where we could park and walk down to the bridge.

As we walked down the path to the entrance to the bridge we could hear a bird screeching. To me it sounded like a raptor of some kind but I couldn’t see anything.

An attendant gave us instructions on how to exit the elevator before he would let us on the car and then, whoosh, we were whisked up 420 feet in 60 seconds to the observation deck at the top of the supports. What a view! This is amazing! All glass, we could walk all around the enclosed elevator shaft and see views that spread out in all 4 directions. If you are afarid of heights you may not be as thrilled with this as I am. You’re really high up!

The bridge spans the Penocscot River Narrows and  the elevator up is fastest elevator in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont . That ride will take you to the top of the tallest public bridge-observatory in the world! AWESOME!

Pictures taken through the glass walls and we headed back down to ground level. The attendant was there waiting when we came back. He made a comment that there hadn’t been too many “Bird Watchers” out this year. This got my attention and I asked him what we were hearing when we came in. He said there was a nest box on one of the cross bars of the old bridge. He pointed it out to us and went on to say that there were baby Peregrine Falcons in there and that was what we were hearing. He said they screech like that when they get hungry.  As we headed back to go to check out the fort we looked again. We could see the nest box but no falcons. Too  bad , that would have been very cool to see.

It’s really nice to see the old and the new, the two bridges side by side. As far as I could tell the old bridge is not open at all  anymore but I hope they keep it for contrast…and a place for the Falcons to continue nesting. 🙂