Gillette Castle and State Park

Posted on March 26, 2013March 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The answer to Challenge #3 is….. Gillette Castle in Hamden CT.

Here is a post from March 2011 when I first saw the Castle.

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As we cruised south on the Connecticut River our guides pointed out a huge stone building on a bluff overlooking the river. With no trees to block the view it was hard to miss and certainly does look like a Medieval castle.

I had noticed signs on the way to the boat landing referring to Gillette Castle and Gillette Castle State Park but I had never heard of it before so had no idea what it might be.

According to our guides, Gillette Castle State Park is located in Haddam, Ct. The Castle was built by “William Gillette as a private residence. It is said he came to visit and was so taken with the views that he bought 184 acres and built this huge stone house.

William Gillette was an American and made his money as an actor, most notably playing Sherlock Holmes on stage.

Gillette loved showing off his estate and even had a railroad track with a working steam engine so he could show his visitors around the grounds.

In 1882 Gillette married Helen Nichols of Detroit. They were blissfully happy. She died in 1888 from peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. According to our guides, Helen , on her death bed, begged him not to remarry and he honored that request. He was grief-stricken for years and in the Spring of 1890 was struck down by tuberculosis. By the time of his death he was almost penniless but he still had his home.

When Gillette died , he had no wife or children to inherit, his will precluded possession of the castle by any (and I love this) “blithering sap-head who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded”.

Connecticut’s government took possession of the property in 1943 and renamed the home Gillette’s Castle and the land around it Gillette State Park.

The Castle is open during the summer and can be toured while the grounds are open all year. Even if the Castle is closed you can stand on the veranda and look out over the Connecticut River, enjoying the same views that so enamored William Gillette.

Essex Steam Train and River Boat Ride

Posted on August 3, 2012August 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Just because I’m back home doesn’t mean I’m sitting around resting on my laurels or anything else. No indeed not. It has been a very busy summer so far. I’ve been lamenting that I haven’t once been down to Chatham to chase seals or great white sharks, or to Bristol to check on the Osprey nest. Even my Great Blue Heron at Oliver Mill Park seems to have given upon me. I haven’t seen him at all since the out of control kayaker nearly ran him down.

One of the things I wanted to do this year was check out the Essex Steam Train in Connecticut. I was waiting for the summer schedule when they had a combination train and riverboat ride. It seemed like the best use of time and money to do both. When I saw the schedule online on my return from my mini vacation I jumped on the chance to go.

The cost was quite reasonable. An adult ticket was only $26.00 for the combo. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I came prepared. My GPS delivered me right to the station where signs directed me to the gravel parking area.

I gave myself plenty of time because I wanted to get lunch out-of-the-way and in case I got lost. The Trackside Cafe was open in a vintage railcar.

They had pre made sandwiches in a cooler and hot dogs on a hot dog rotisserie. I opted for the hot dog, a bag of chips and a diet coke. Why is it that hot dogs taste so much better when you’re on an excursion of some kind. Anyway I enjoyed the ambiance of the little railcar while I ate my hot dog then went exploring.

The gift shop was tiny but across the way was a model train museum.

The sign welcomed me to Little River Junction. It had a wonderful model train that you could play with. It wasn’t just a display behind a glass window. The multiple trains could be run at the same time and the various villages lit with glowing windows and miniature attractions. Really fun.

Outside, as I waited for the train , I met a fellow who was dressed rather outlandishly playing a ukulele.

He said hello so I answered. That broke the ice. He is “Ramblin’ Joe” a sort of street entertainer.

I think when it’s busy his role is to keep the waiting passengers entertained and answer questions for them. He is certainly hard to miss!

The train pulled into the station and the passengers from the earlier trip stepped out. Then the engine was uncoupled, driven back to the front of the train and recoupled to take us out for our ride. That process was pretty interesting and brought out the serious train buffs to photograph the whole process.

My seat was in the open air car. Passengers in this car are warned that this is a real steam engine and cinders and soot may fly into the windows and trust me, it did!

I paid special attention to the route and where the train crossed major roads or streets in case I want to “Chase the train” sometime. That’s how you get the great shots of a steaming locomotive traveling down the tracks. We stopped to let people off for Gillette Castle and another stop at Deep River Landing.

We passed several marshes and conservation areas that looked like interesting places to go bird watching but it was hard to get decent pictures from the moving train.

At the end of the line they did the recoupling again and we started back. I was wondering when and how the River Boat came into the equation when I saw the boat from the train window. Pretty soon we were at Deep River Landing again and they were telling us to get off the train for the Riverboat ride.

We could clearly see the riverbot as she approached the dock but our attention was soon diverted to the process of climbing down from the train.

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Is There Gold In Fort Knox?

Posted on July 27, 2012July 27, 2012 by Dusty Roads

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

Posted on July 27, 2012July 27, 2012 by Dusty Roads

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. 🙂

Mermaids and Manatees

Posted on February 17, 2012February 17, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Day 3 dawned with overcast sky’s and light rain showers. It was tempting to just crawl back into bed and sleep-in but my time in Florida is limited so that would be a waste. I was here and opportunity only knocks once (or so “they” say). Joe was at Disney, working, so I was on my own today. I don’t mind that. In fact I told Joe before I came down that I would visit him while I was here. I wanted him to understand that he didn’t have to play host to me the whole week. I had exploring to do and I like doing a lot of that on my own at my own pace.

The concierge at my timeshare said that the cold snap they had the previous week had driven the manatees into the springs for warmth. He suggested I take a drive up to Weeki Wachee State Park. He thought there were some in that spring. Seeing a live manatee in the wild would be an awesome experience.

Weeki Wachee State Park is about an hour north of Orlando. I had my GPS and the roads were good. I drove in and out of bands of rain. It was a scenic ride once I was off the highway. I think most of the drive was on RT 50. There were orange groves both well-tended and abandoned. The well-tended groves were loaded with fruit. As many times as I have been to Florida, I had never seen orange groves so this was really neat.

The weather report said it was supposed to clear so I was hoping the sun would be out by the time I arrived.

I remember hearing about the Weeki Wachee Springs when I was much younger. They had mermaid shows and I thought that would be an awesome job to have when I grew up. I was surprised to find out that they still have those shows at the park. I thought they were a thing of the past like so many other things from the 50’s.

There are a couple of different shows. One show, Fish Tails, gives the history of the mermaids before a pageant style show is presented and the other is based on the Little Mermaid. There is also a reptile show and a boat ride with a conservationist. But I am jumping ahead. Let me walk you through my visit.

Arriving at the entrance to the Park you have a large paved parking area. The entrance is attractive with flags and sculptures of mermaids.

The ticket price includes all the “attractions”, the shows and boat ride I mentioned. Unfortunately the ranger at the window said the manatees were gone now, back out to sea, but she highly recommended the mermaid show.

I was here so I paid my admission and set about exploring.

Inside the park there were paved paths and benches and peacocks…loads of peacocks.

They were pretty but kind of dirty. They liked to sit on the benches too but they left quite large piles of calling cards if you get my drift. If you go, look before you sit.

I took the boat ride first and was surprised to be the only passenger. I guess the threat of rain had put a damper on visitors.

There was a captain and the conservationist and me. The ride is not long but we saw Ibis,

an eagle nest,

Great Blue Heron,

and a Little Blue Heron

, even a domestic Muscovy duck.

Looking into the clear water of the spring fed river I could see fish darting about through the water. They even jumped and splashed occasionally. No wonder the wading birds were hanging out.

The guide said there was an alligator that made it’s home in the spring but that it didn’t come out too much before dusk. On the previous trip down the river they saw white tail deer but they were gone when we got there. Both the captain and the guide recommended that I take a kayak down the river if I had time. Unfortunately I had missed the last trip with a pick up so I would have to come back another day to do that. (I suspect it will have to wait for another trip)

Back on shore I wanted to get some lunch but I would miss the mermaid show if I did that so I headed to the Mermaids instead.

You enter down a flight of stairs and then turn into the theatre itself. The benches are stadium style and surround a curtained wall. While waiting the history of the facility and the mermaids is shown on TV screens above the curtain. And then it was showtime.

The curtains go up and you are looking through a wall of glass like an aquarium but it’s not an aquarium. It’s really a window into the spring and there are the mermaids, young women in mermaid tails, performing synchronized swimming.

Each has a breathing tube which allows them to perform their stunts without surfacing for air. This was a traditional show like they have been doing for years here. Near the end of the show one of the “mermaids” returns from a costume change without her tail but wearing ballet shows. She hands her breathing tube to her spotter and dives to the bottom of the spring at 117 ft holding her breath. It ends with a water ballet sans tails dedicated to patriotism and the American Flag.

It certainly is different and quite enjoyable.

I skipped the reptile show in order to grab a quick lunch at the snack bar, Typical park food…hot dogs, hamburgers, fries. I was the only one there although I did see a few people wandering the grounds while I ate.

After lunch I checked out the stage where the reptile show took place and sure enough, I had missed it. The herpetologist was packing up his stage props and animals but he was willing to let me pet his alligator.

There was another mermaid show but it was getting late. I didn’t want to get stuck in Orlando Rush Hour on my return so I skipped the 2nd show and just wandered the grounds a bit more admiring the peacocks.