2 Best Sights in Machias Bay Area, Down East Coast

In this gambrel-roofed tavern home, the men of Machias laid the plans that culminated in the capture of the Margaretta, an armed British schooner, on June 12, 1775. Despite being outnumbered and out-armed, a small group under the leadership of Jeremiah O'Brien took the ship during the Revolutionary War's first naval battle; wounded British sailors were brought to the modest dwelling, where his brother-in-law Job Burnham lived. The mustard-yellow clapboard home at the end of the downtown commercial district has period furnishings and household items showing what life was like in Colonial times. There are also O'Brien family artifacts, including a photo of one of five U.S. Navy ships named for Jeremiah. On the National Register of Historic Places, the dwelling is among 21 in the country deemed most important to the Revolution. There are docent-led tours.

Sea-polished stones fascinate with glistening tones—many reddish but also heather, bluish, and creamy white—at this mesmerizing rock beach; removing stones from the beach is illegal. Banked in unusual geologic fashion, you must walk up and over a rock dune to get to the beach. When you do, you know you have arrived at a special place. Stones graduate from gravel at the shore to palm-size further back. Reddish volcanic rhyolite stones were mistaken for jasper, hence the name. Stretching a half mile across Howard Cove, bedrock at both ends deems this a pocket beach, but it's not your typical small one. A salt marsh and fresh and saltwater lagoons intrigue visitors, and there are sea caves in the bedrock (be careful if you tread that way—the rocks are slippery). Tucked between the hamlets of Bucks Harbor and Starboard, Jasper Beach has long been a place of respite for folks in these parts. There's parking (no fee).