More Lighthouses and Forts - I Think I'm Addicted!

We next moved on to Portsmouth, NH, on the tiny New Hampshire coast. We parked along a tidal river, with huge differences between high and low tide. This is our view at high tide.

And here's low tide.

See that poor little boat on the other side of the river? It's out of the water at low tide -

But perfectly happy at high tide.

The gulls and cormorants like the low tide much better.

We drove back into Maine a little ways to go to Cape Neddick to see Nubble Light. Unfortunately, I was looking right into the sun, so the picture isn't great, but it was a very pretty lighthouse.

Also just over the line in Maine is Fort McClary. The granite blocks lying around are not ruins, but pieces that were supposed to be used to complete the fort. But the plan became obsolete before it was finished, and the blocks were never used.

The granite walls that were completed were built in the 1860s.

There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

We went up into the blockhouse and checked out the view.

On the New Hampshire side of the border were 2 more forts. Fort Constitution in on the grounds of a Coast Guard Station. We had to walk on the blue line, and not stray, to get to the fort.

Off shore, we could see Whaleback Light.

It was neat to be able to see the double walls of the fort.

Also on the Coast Guard Station is Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse. We weren't able to go to it, but got a pretty good view from the fort.

Oh wait! A bee with a packet of pollen on his let! (I'm easily distracted...)

We also went to Fort Stark, which is not in good shape.

I actually like being able to see it in it's natural state.

It's kind of a shame about the graffiti, though.

Rusty stuff!

In Portsmouth, we were parked near a very old cemetery. It was fun to walk around and read the tombstones.

I spotted a group of tombstones that were under some trees. They turned out to be the oldest ones, and I actually found one from 1674!