Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The lighthouse.

Anyone visit, or stay in a lighthouse?

Pictures?

I have always wanted to go through one.

We've hit most of the ones along the Carolina coast.

Pics are somewhere.

Bring comfortable shoes.

Visited the one in Point Arena California many times as we had a rough cabin nearby growing up. Beautiful place it was.

There is one at Port Eads, Louisiana, at the mouth of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, that I was told was originally built by the French in the late 1700's. Three of us climbed to the top one year, spectacular view of the Gulf and inland marshes. The next year Homeland Security had it locked to keep terrorists out. Very impressive structure, but not much to see inside. Port Eads can only be reached by boat or seaplane.

Until recently, I worked at a Maritime Museum that had ownership of two lighthouses - Drum Point and Cove Point - on Chesapeake Bay. Never understood the fascination with them. Interesting, but golly, I just don't get it....

They aren't in great supply here in Idaho but I've seen a few on trips. This photo is the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine where we visited 15 years ago. I used Photoshop to add a printed matte, enlarged it, and had it on the wall for a long time.

Florida has quite a few. This one is on Key Biscayne in Miami

Michigan has more lights then any other state. I've been through a few and always found them interesting. Most open to the public here are maritime museums if not working lights, but there are both available for tours if you check around.

It must be the kid in me, rail caboose, lighthouse, log houses, all fascinate me.

I'd not like washing the windows on the lighthouses!

Maine has some beautiful light houses! I used to take a week off every summer just to cruise up there and visit them. Nubble and Bass Harbor lights are 2 of my favorites. The 2 Quaddy lights are cool because of there location on the coast, very treacherous area.

Oregon has a bunch of them, too. Last summer we toured the one at Cape Meares. It's been restored and they give guided tours. The lenses around the light are partially missing and the rest are irreplaceable.
They've been pretty well all decommissioned since the invention of GPS.

Anyone seen one of these?

Yep, and toured one. The idea of being at sea, at anchor, for 6-9 months at a hitch just boggles the mind.

Now that gives new meaning to, "We'll leave the light on for you"!

Wabi, I've been to split rock on MN side of lake superior, pretty cool.

Then there was 5 Finger's Island light house in SE Alaska. These guys were on that little island for a 1 year hitch, with supplies dropped in for them.

The joke was that it was called 5 Finger's because the crew always had their middle fingers up. It was actually a crew of 4. Imagine 4 guys spending a year on that island.

Likely the only lighthouses I have seen would have been on Lake Superior in 1956.
I remember the ships, and the line of tall grain elevators.

Digressing a bit, a ship tour through the Great Lakes sounds like a good time to me.
And, a train ride across Canada.

Thanks for all the pictures folks.

Years back, I read about a ship's captain, and a lighthouse keeper that had a chess game going.
They used signals to indicate their moves.
Don't ask how they got that started!

I'd hope fishing was good on those rocks, hunting would start slow, then taper off.

This is Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island, AK



This is the same lighthouse after it was hit by a tsunami in 1946, killing all 5 US Coast Guardsmen manning the station.




The head keeper was Anthony Petit and the CG has a 175' buoy tender named after him that is home ported in Ketchikan.

There's one on the central Oregon coast, just north of Flornce.
It's about 70 miles from me. Been their dozens of times.

My folks had a cabin at the coast, and went their lots as a toddler.

Virgil B.