Dark-sky preserve

which is the evening of Saturday, October 3rd.

Stars Over Katahdin is a free annual event up at Katahdin Woods and Waters, which is an international dark sky preserve.

So really dark skies, and we have a whole variety of folks, myself included, who have telescopes out.

We'll be showcasing and giving a chance for folks to look through those telescopes at a whole variety of objects, Saturn, of course, being one of the big ones, but we'll also see a whole variety of other telescopes star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies.

There's no charge for it, but they want to know how many people are coming so they can plan for food trucks and things like that because we normally have some afternoon programming.

Then there's some food trucks, and then, of course, folks can do some stargazing.

Also, the week following that, starting that Sunday and going through the rest of that week, is the AMC's Dark Sky, Seeing the Dark Festival, I should say, Seeing the Dark.

And that's up at the Appalachian Mountain Club, Meadowistla Lodge.

Well, it's tiny, but we managed to punch above our weight.

I mean, the Dark Sky Reserve is something that we created, and that's one of the things that I'm being recognized for as the person who started it.

And that's something that has international recognition.

I've often said it's like World Heritage Listing for the night sky.

And they actually do research out there on, you know, stars and it has its own website that you can go to.

It's, great basin observatory.org and you can learn more about it but it's the only national park in the united states that has an official observatory on its grounds so they really do celebrate that they are part of this dark skies area and that they do have such magnificent stargazing and they even are part of i believe the annual international dark skies festival is that what it's called

Is that what it's called? I think

so.

But he was showing her how to look at different things during the day.

So this is a functioning program that the park offers day and night.

night depending on the time of year because this is really part of the park's identity they have the caves they have the wheeler peak and they have the dark skies

which I mean is is just wow I mean even we were on like the loneliest road in America highway 50 it runs out there and that kind of intersects with like 93 and highway 6 and a lot of places where you can drive for long periods of time And number one, not see a whole lot of other vehicles.

Then we're going to have dinner at the local pub.

We're going to visit Dark Sky Park.

And then that will be the second night at the Grace Hotel.

And then the 21st, one more night at the Grace, you're going to do Clare Island.

Westport.

That's going to be Keemstrand, dinner at local pub, Dark Sky Park.

Not to interrupt you.

Sure.

The drive is scenic, passing through more olive groves and vineyards.

The Dark Sky Reserve nearby offers incredible stargazing opportunities, which I might catch if the weather clears.

I also want to check out the Zambujeiro Dolmen, another megalithic site further west.

These monuments are scattered across the Alentejo, waiting in fields and forests, silent witnesses to the same ancient rhythms that govern the cork harvest today.