8/21 Fort Knox and Penobscot Observatory

I'll bet you thought Fort Knox was in Tennessee.  Well, so did I, but I saw a sign that said "Fort Knox State Park Historical Site and Observatory."  I figured it might be worth stopping for, especially since it was not too far off the road to Bar Harbor, where I was headed, although I was not sure what an observatory had to do with an old fort. 

First stop, was a pull-off with a nice view of this bridge over the river. 

I drove through the state park toll booth and paid $4 for a tour of both attractions and followed the signs to parking for the "observatory."  Turns out this was the parking lot I saw from the overlook and the observatory was in the bridge tower!  Can you see the windows at the top?  The sign tells you what you cannot bring with you. 

A close-up of the tower observatory.  Clever idea, I think, to put an observatory into a bridge tower.  Even nicer that there was also an elevator to the top!

And here is where I learned that this was the Penobscot Narrows.

Views from several sides. A little too foggy for really good photos, however.

Unique view of a bridge, isn't it? 

You can see Fort Knox in the this photo.

Now, why can't they put one of these into one of the Mackinaw Bridge towers?

Made me dizzy taking this picture.

This is obviously not the Fort Knox in Tennessee.  This one was built during the War of Independence to protect this area from the British.

Pretty little town on the other side of the narrows.

This fort is still in good condition, at least partly because it was made from granite. 

This was the bakery.

You can tell it is the bakery from the original ovens.

I thought this was a funny sign.  I assume people have been trying to neaten up the shaggy bark and reporting this tree to the staff as being diseased.

And one last photo as I am driving over the bridge.