Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Fort C.F. Smith

    Defenses of Washington – in Arlington Co., VA (July 2009) Arlington County is fortunate to own the historic remnants of a small Civil War fort as part of a 19-acre acquisition from a private landowner in 1994. In addition to the historic fortification the park includes the restored Hendry House that is available for weddings…

  • Barwell Island

    Resurrection Bay; Seward, Alaska (July 2010) We rode through Resurrection Bay heading out of Seward on one of those all-day Kenai Fjords excursions. We came there to enjoy the natural beauty of the National Park, both the scenery and the animal life. The ship approached Barwell Island (map) at the opening of the bay and…

  • Washington Island and Ferry

    Door County, Wisconsin (September 2000) Washington Island sits within Lake Michigan off the northernmost point of the Door Peninsula. It is a continuation of the ridge that forms the peninsula except that a portion of it is submerged, so an island forms where the ridge returns to the surface. No bridge connects this island to…

  • White’s Ferry

    Potomac River between Montgomery Co., MD and Loudoun Co., VA (September 2007) We arrived at the White’s Ferry landing west of Poolesville Maryland on our journey towards Virginia’s wine country and took our place in queue. A small flat-bottomed barge carried weekend explorers across the river on this sunny Saturday afternoon. The ferryboat “Jubal A.…

  • Valentia Island Car Ferry

    Crossing Portmagee Channel: Knightstown, Valentia Island to Reenard Point, Cahersiveen (July 2014) There were two ways to cross between the Irish mainland and Valentia Island, one was a car ferry on the northeast corner of Valentia and the other was a bridge from Portmagee on the southern end. Naturally we took the ferry although most…

  • Vinalhaven Ferry

    A Journey Across Maine’s Penobscot Bay (August 2009) Ferries operated by the Maine Department of Transportation provide service from Rockland (map) on the mainland to Vinalhaven Island (map), twelve miles out to sea in Penobscot Bay. Start the journey by reviewing this video and then discover greater details below. Some History A pedestrian ride on…

  • Tangier Island Ferry

    Reedville to Tangier, Virginia (June 2000) We drove down the spine of Virginia’s scenic Northern Neck, a broad appendage of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers that becomes increasingly isolated as easterly-flowing waters widen on their way to Chesapeake Bay. We traveled along Route 3, then onto Route 360 until we ran out of…

  • Russian River Ferry

    Chugach National Forest, Cooper Landing, Alaska (July 2010) The Russian River Ferry is certainly one of the more unusual ferries that I’ve experienced (and I’ve taken rides on many others). It doesn’t function to link communities on opposite riverbanks or to unite a ribbon of asphalt or to provide a shortcut. No, it exists solely…

  • Faial – Pico Ferry

    The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) In most cases the quickest way between islands in the Azores is by airplane. However Pico and Faial are exceptions, and are easily accessible to each other by regular passenger ferry service. The ferry runs several times a day and takes about a half an hour. This makes it…

  • Madeline Island – Bayfield Ferry

    Crossing to Lake Superior’s Madeline Island, Wisconsin (August 2007) We drove north up the peninsula from Ashland but we still had to find a way across the Chequamegon Bay to Madeline Island. No road connected Bayfield (map) to La Pointe (map). With only 200 year-round residents, it simply wasn’t practical to build a towering suspension…

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