Category: Water
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Fort St. Antoine
South of Stockholm, Wisconsin (June 2009) We noticed an unusual roadside historical marker (map) on our journey down Wisconsin’s portion of the Great River Road just south of the small town of Stockholm. We pulled over to check it out. It read: Wisconsin Official Marker. Site of Fort St. Antoine 1686. Nicholas Perrot was a…
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Fort Knox State Historic Site
Prospect, Maine (August 2009) Before I describe Fort Knox, perhaps I should clear-up something. This place shouldn’t be confused with the “famous” Fort Knox you’ve probably heard of before. You won’t find any gold here although it shares a name with the fort in Kentucky that houses the United States Bullion Depository. No, this Fort…
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Fort Delaware
Pea Patch Island, New Castle Co., Delaware (July 2000) The newly-minted United States government identified the need for a fort along the Delaware River. This would help protect the approaches to major port cities such as Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The military eyed Pea Patch Island, a swampy swath of river deposit that barely…
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Barwell Island
Resurrection Bay; Seward, Alaska (July 2010) We rode through Resurrection Bay heading out of Seward on one of those all-day Kenai Fjords excursions. We came there to enjoy the natural beauty of the National Park, both the scenery and the animal life. The ship approached Barwell Island (map) at the opening of the bay and…
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Washington Island and Ferry
Door County, Wisconsin (September 2000) Washington Island sits within Lake Michigan off the northernmost point of the Door Peninsula. It is a continuation of the ridge that forms the peninsula except that a portion of it is submerged, so an island forms where the ridge returns to the surface. No bridge connects this island to…
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White’s Ferry
Potomac River between Montgomery Co., MD and Loudoun Co., VA (September 2007) We arrived at the White’s Ferry landing west of Poolesville Maryland on our journey towards Virginia’s wine country and took our place in queue. A small flat-bottomed barge carried weekend explorers across the river on this sunny Saturday afternoon. The ferryboat “Jubal A.…
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Valentia Island Car Ferry
Crossing Portmagee Channel: Knightstown, Valentia Island to Reenard Point, Cahersiveen (July 2014) There were two ways to cross between the Irish mainland and Valentia Island, one was a car ferry on the northeast corner of Valentia and the other was a bridge from Portmagee on the southern end. Naturally we took the ferry although most…
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Vinalhaven Ferry
A Journey Across Maine’s Penobscot Bay (August 2009) Ferries operated by the Maine Department of Transportation provide service from Rockland (map) on the mainland to Vinalhaven Island (map), twelve miles out to sea in Penobscot Bay. Start the journey by reviewing this video and then discover greater details below. Some History A pedestrian ride on…
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Tangier Island Ferry
Reedville to Tangier, Virginia (June 2000) We drove down the spine of Virginia’s scenic Northern Neck, a broad appendage of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers that becomes increasingly isolated as easterly-flowing waters widen on their way to Chesapeake Bay. We traveled along Route 3, then onto Route 360 until we ran out of…
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Russian River Ferry
Chugach National Forest, Cooper Landing, Alaska (July 2010) The Russian River Ferry is certainly one of the more unusual ferries that I’ve experienced (and I’ve taken rides on many others). It doesn’t function to link communities on opposite riverbanks or to unite a ribbon of asphalt or to provide a shortcut. No, it exists solely…