Surprisingly there was enough time after finding Bigfoot to go explore another location. Katherine wanted to check out some ruins so I came up with a few options and we ended up just trying to go to the closest one which was only fifty minutes out from where we were. It turned out to be Fort McClary, yet another historical landmark I knew nothing about. We typed the address into the GPS and hoped for the best.
It was another hot day but luckily I was in a car with air conditioning, which was a nice change. We had been together now for long enough that our happy burbling had gone from the usual pleasantries to discussing in depth only the most fucked up subjects we could think of – like what we thought was normal when we were kids that really wasn’t, what left the deepest psychological scars, and what was rotting behind each white picket fence in the small towns we grew up in. It was all in good fun and I think we were both enjoying it – though I have to wonder if my company is extreme when I keep eliciting gasps of horror. Perhaps next time I will keep nail clippers in the car so that when I flip a nail inside out and get it bleeding I have something a little more appropriate to remedy the situation that a rusty set of needle nose pliers… maybe.
Anyway, we got stuck in traffic for a bit where I got into a fight with another Prius who would not let me move over into the exit lane I actually needed… but we survived and no one was shot so it’s all good. When we drove up to the fort the tiny parking lot was almost filled to capacity with cars. People were here with their kids and dogs and we could already see a few pieces of the fort and the boat filled harbor it guarded. Unlike Fort Edgecomb this place seemed to be completely open for the public to climb into and explore. There was a nice round fort with cannons and artillery windows as well as the captain’s quarters and there were a number of other structures and partial structures scattered about both above and underground just waiting to be entered. Inside the main fort there were displays and plaques and some of the scariest stairs I have ever seen in my life. The windows provided a beautiful birdseye view of a whole fleet of boats out in the harbor as well as two lighthouses in the distance.
It was a small property but so lovely to wander I enjoyed snapping photos and Katherine relaxed with the smell of the ocean wafting in. We picked a couple locations to just stand and watch the waters as we talked, not really wanting to leave until it got dark. We outlasted almost everyone there and when there was only one other guy wandering about we managed to scare him off with our frank discussion of birth control. Always nice.
Really liked this place – it had the history of being involved in five wars, the added charm of having some ruins which looked oddly Arthurian at times, and the coast was just too beautiful not to want to while away the hours staring at it.
If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!
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