Sittin On Top Of The Bay

Located at the top of the Penobscot Bay, the charming town of Castine has plenty of history to go along with a selection of historic houses that will make your head spin. This past Sunday, on the last weekend of Summer, I made the hour long trip up the bay from Camden and down the peninsula to Castine. Heading into town, one first notices the imposing brick buildings of the Maine Maritime Academy. Past the Academy sits The Castine Golf Club, the states oldest golf course, and Main Street, where quaint shops and art galleries slope down to the water. The harbor, a wide expanse of deep water, sits at the confluence of the Penobscot Bay and the Bagaduce River. The harbor and the surrounding waters has seen its share of skirmishes, including one of the worst American naval defeats of the Revolutionary War. At the entrance to the town sits beautiful Dice Head Light, which is now privately owned, but has a stunning view from the rocks beneath, where one can gaze down the entire Penobscot Bay, all the way past Islesboro, and North Haven, to Owls Head. In the Harbor itself, the State Of Maine, the Maritime Academy's training vessel, looms very large over the town and strikes a very imposing figure to any vessel that passes by. The most interesting feature of the town has to be the houses. Large rambling white colonials fill the downtown streets, all seemingly with dates in the 1700's adorned over their front doors. Out of town sits beautiful Wadsworth Cove, where a sandy beach looks out to the bay and beyond to the Camden Hills. Castine is a really special town and a great place to visit if one is interested in historical architecture.