2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 10, Maine Lighthouses

Friday, July 14, 2023

The Maine thing we did today was visit lighthouses. After another walk around Freeport, a very walkable town, and a quick visit to a bakery, we headed north. Our first stop was Doubling Point Light which was established in 1899. It is currently on private property but is open to the public 9-5 daily. It is down a one lane, gravel road, that has 3 parking places when you arrive at the light. You walk a path out to the water and out a wooden pier to the light. The Friends of Doubling Light do a great job maintaining the lighthouse and ask for donations from those who enjoy and appreciate it. This may have been Anne’s favorite for the day because we were the only visitors there. It was so quiet and peaceful and was a great choice for our first Maine lighthouse. It is still in use today to assist in navigation on the Kennebec River.

Doubling Point Light is the shortest light we visited today. It is only 23′ tall.

Next was the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. Located in Bristol, Maine it was built in 1827. At this site you can view the light house, the keepers house, a museum, and art gallery. You can climb to the top of the light for a great view of the coastline and beach. The line for climbing the lighthouse was fairly long and there were a lot of people enjoying this location today. The tower’s original Fresnel lens is still in use in the active lighthouse.

View from the top at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Pemaquid Point was the only one we were allowed to go inside but we did have to wait in line about 45 minutes to do so.

The shores in Maine are not like the gulf beaches in Alabama

The museum is very well set with many items from the area’s history.

The final lighthouse for the day was Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. As the name implies, the lighthouse is located in Rockland, Maine and is at the end of a one-mile granite breakwater. At high tide, the water is close to the top of the breakwater, and we think you might get a little wet if the water is rough. We were there at low tide, so it was not a problem. The breakwater was completed in 1900 and the lighthouse completed in 1902. This also is still an active lighthouse and was switched to solar power in 2000. While there were a good number of people at this lighthouse, it didn’t seem crowded, and we enjoyed our 2-mile round trip walk.

You have to be careful walking on the large uneven granite block of the breakwater. We met one lady who had fallen and scraped her knee.

We were able to watch this ship sail into port while at the light

After our immersion in lighthouses today, and our recent emphasis on “Light” at church, we have to leave you with the reminder that Jesus is the light of the world. John 8:12. You are the light of the world, Mathew 5:14. Jesus expects us to let His light shine through us to all we meet. Hope you have a shining weekend.