Not the most picturesque of Maine coastal towns, the gritty town of Bucksport guards the entrance to the Penobscot River, historically one of the main trading routes for lumber and furs from Bangor and points north in Canada. The river mouth is marred by the smokestacks of a giant paper mill, but a key to its strategic importance is the formidable bulk of Fort Knox, one of the greatest surviving examples of the Civil War–era network of eastern coastal forts.

Entertainment and Events

The old-time 1916 Alamo Theatre (379 Main St., 207/469-6910, www.oldfilm.org/alamo) is the headquarters of Northeast Historic Film, which shows both current and historical films in the renovated 120-seat theater, as well as staging occasional music concerts.

The labyrinthine corridors of Fort Knox are scary enough during the daytime, but they become positively frightful during Fright at the Fort (Bucksport, 207/469-6553, http://fortknox.maineguide.com/fright, $5–7), which fills up the fort with ghouls and goblins culled from the local teen population every Halloween.

Food

A Bucksport institution for more than two decades, Macleod’s Restaurant (93 Main St., 207/469-3963, 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m. Tue.–Sat.; 4–8 p.m. Sun., $10–21) is a cut above most of the local establishments. French chocolate silk pie is reason enough to stop in.