A history lesson

Today ten of us took a brief field trip with a strong historical flavor. For the first half of the twentieth century, and even before,the area around Penobscot, Maine was known for its dozens of brick yards. The region was blessed with thick layers of clay, abundant fresh water, ocean access to move heavy freight, and plenty of firewood to create the necessary temperatures. Many millions of bricks were shipped to Boston and other east coast cities. It is said that whole blocks of Boston were built of Penobscot bricks. Alas, there is almost no trace of that once great industry. There are a few places along the shoreline where the culled imperfect or broken bricks were discarded. At low tide there can be found in a few spots great drifts of broken red brick. The last picture shows several of us looking over the evidence of an earlier time.

Low tide was about 1130 and we were within a few miles of the "Bagaduce Lunch". What a happy coincidence! By the time we were eating our lobster rolls, haddock sandwiches and blueberry pie, the tide was forcing its way into the mouth of the Bagaduce river. This creates one of the several examples of reversing falls on the Maine coast. The river's current is flowing into the Penobscot Bay while the six to eight foot tide comes running in against it. The opposing currents create tumultuous water that seems to be moving several directions at once. It creates a fine playground for the many kayakers. One of the other three pictures show the oddly named lunch counter which I have included before. The difference this time was the activity of the falls and the kayakers.

The temperatures approached 90. Fortunately a fellow RVer agreed to check on Belle. As soon as we got back we closed things up and turned on the air conditioner. It didn't take long to get things cooled down.