Fort Popham, Maine...

Alan, Megan, Andrew, and myself when to Fort Popham Beach, Maine in the middle of the day about two years ago. It was spring, so it was a little chilly. I didn't know my way there, but Andrew showed me which roads to take. We listened to the radio on the way, had our windows down so the cool air could come through, and soon we smelled the ocean. I heard some seagulls as we parked and walked to the biggest fort right on the beach. There was a sign that read someting like, Closed, No trespassing. What does Andrew do? Ignore the sign. Like it's not ever there. He climbed over the approximate 15 foot fence, and down the other side. Alan followed without any hesitation. Megan looked a little worried, so I waited for a minute. I didn't tell her I was a little afraid of getting caught, but I kept my fear hidden, and casually climbed up and over, dropping to the ground when I was about 5 feet from the other side. Megan followed, slowly. When we were in, Andrew and Adam were already exploring the old fort. We climbed through a caged in area to get to the top of the cemented tower. We could see a long ways from up there. There was a nice breeze and the fresh, salty smell of the ocean. Before we could be seen, we went back down into the second and first layers of the fort. Andrew and Alan ran and hid, then came flying out to chase Megan and I with mud. Yes, they tried throwing mud at us. How wonderful! Megan yelled as we dashed for the opposite side of the fort. I tried to hide in a dark corned in area. Not a good idea. It smelled awful as I thought of what might be in there. I didn't want to find out. Megan had gone to the open area in the middle of the fort, then went to the right side where Andrew and Alan had chased us from. They had decided to check out that side of the fort when I showed up. There were a few dark places, a drop off, and more mud. After we explored the fort, instead of going out the same way we came in, Andrew chose to jump down through the windows onto rocks. He tried to help me, but I waved him out of my way, and leapt down myself. I slid on some seaweed but regained my balance my jumping with the fall onto a not-so-slimy rock. Alan jumped off, then Megan. We wandered on the shore until we reached the beach. At that point, we headed towards the smaller forts about a mile away.

The walk was fun. We mostly followed the paved road because there wasn't much else of a way to get there besides through the water. It was too cold to swim. I always walk fast, so the other three kept telling me to wait up. I would wait until they were a short distance ahead before I took off again. It's funny watching them stride along, trying to keep up. I don't even try, my legs just glide me along. We came to a hill, which we decided to go up, instead of continuing to follow the pavement. It was rough. Thick brush, fallen tree branches, tall trees leaning sideways on the hill, prickly bushes. We scurried up, sometimes using our hands. We made it to the top, panting pretty hard, as we climbed and stumbled over the last big rocks to the top. There before us was another fort, yet much smaller. Again, we did some exploring. We walked across the roof, looking down over the side. Andrew took a bottle and threw it over the side to watch it smash on the ground. Alan took a few sticks to heave off the side. Megan stayed a distance from the edge and only followed me cautiously when I went to stand near one. We walked to the second small fort, as small rain drops began to fall from the clouds. My hair became frizzled and messy. We dared each other to go through a small tunnel that led from one side of the fort to the other. Alan went first, and I followed. Andrew waited at the other side, Megan went over the top, probably not wanting to get all muddy. It was fun, although a little frustrating, since I couldn't see what the hell I was stepping on, or what I would hit next. It was rather dark, though you could see a small light either in front or behind you. A small amount of water, about up to my ankle through the whole tunnel, remained calm. I saw Alan climb out, and a few steps behind, out came me. Before we went to the last fort, Andrew decided to take a slight risk and jump from the top of the fort, to a lower part of the tower. He, of course, hurt his ankle, and couldn't move too well. I asked if he was okay, as he lay curled up on the cement. I gave him a thick stick to use as a cane, as Megan and Alan wandered off ahead. I walked slowly with Andrew to make sure he wasn't going to collapse and get left behind. By the time we got to the last fort, which wasn't a fort, but a tower, he seemed to be taking it a little better.

All of us wanted to go up in it, but the doorway was barred and boarded tightly. There was no way we could squeeze through the small open spaces. I tried climbing up the side by placing my fingers in the small cracks of the cement bricks. There was one window not too high up, but I just couldn't fit through it. The windows were also barred, and I could only fit a leg through. We finally gave up, and went back down to the other forts. By then, Andrew was almost completely healed, and was throwing rocks into the woods. Alan and him, ahead of Megan and I, started a stick fight, and Alan won, just by knocking the stick out of Andrew's hand.

It was a fun time. We went back to the car to go back home, but on the way we stopped to get some refreshing drinks!