I can’t believe my vacation is
almost over! I’m sitting at my dad’s house composing this post, knowing that
tomorrow we head back to Ohio & our regular lives. Which I do enjoy,
usually, but compared to vacation time it will seem a little lackluster at
first. And I’ll be spending the first week getting caught up on blogs – I’m
pretty sure that I didn’t read a single post by a single person all week!
Dr. M did a great job of
documenting each day, so I’m just going to share a select few (ha!) pictures
& then let you head over to his blog to check out the
others. You’ll especially want to see his bird & lighthouse pictures I’m
sure. (I’m linking to individual posts below, but it might be easier just to
start here
& then go forward).
Saturday,
May 18th
Travel
day. I was hopped up on Benedryl so Dr. M drove the 660 miles by himself. I
kept offering to help - & then I’d wake up an hour later. Good thing he
didn’t take me up on my offer! This is the view from our hotel room in Kill
Devil Hills – bliss!
Sunday,
May 19th
Today we just stayed around our hotel so Dr. M could recuperate.
He took about a gazillion pictures of pelicans & other birds, which you can
see here
and here.
Morning beach…
Lifeguard boot camp – now THAT was entertaining to watch all week!
The moon!
Monday,
May 20th
Today we drove down to Cape
Hatteras, passing Bodie lighthouse on the way. We took Carolina Cow along for
the journey :) To see more lighthouse pictures & pictures from our stop at
Pea Island Nature Preserve (including a battle between a goose & an egret –
ha!), go to Dr. M’s post here.
This is why I didn’t climb any
of the lighthouses. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it?
Tuesday,
May 21st
On this day we drove over to
Roanoke Island to check out the park there dedicated to the Lost Colony. We
were a week too early to see the outdoor drama that they have (although we
could hear the choir rehearsing while we were there). Dr. M has a post here
and here
about the trip, but here are a couple of pictures. I had to laugh at the description
of persimmons.
We also visited the Elizabethan
Gardens. It was pouring rain for part of our visit, but still quite lovely.
Sunset over the Wright Brothers National
Monument.
Wednesday,
May 22nd
Sunrise – glorious! (Um, yeah,
Dr. M took these – I didn’t get up early enough).
We visited the Wright monument
today. Dr. M did a great post about
it – you can find it here.
This is my determined face before climbing up.
Partway to the top.
I made it! The State of the Bug –
astounded!
The monument.
I’m so glad Dr. M suggested that
I change out of my cute sandals – these babies were much more appropriate for
that hike.
Dr. M doing what he does :)
The moon!
Thursday,
May 23rd
We drove west today, to spend
some time with our folks before heading back home. Once again Dr. M drove the
whole way himself (400 miles this time). I had to laugh when I noticed how old
our NC map is – ha! And we didn’t even move to Ohio until 1997, so this was out
of date even by then. Sheesh.
On our way we stopped at Edenton
(go here
to see what Dr. M has to say about that).
Friday,
May 24th
We spent today just hanging out
at my dad’s house. I took a bunch of pictures of the yard.
The moon!
Saturday,
May 25th
Today
we spent some time with Dr. M’s dad. I found a mulberry tree in the back yard.
Dr.
M’s great grandmother brought this rose bush to Lincoln County when they moved
there in the 19th century. Who knows how old it was when she moved
it. Quite a family heirloom!
Dr.
M’s dad told us stories of working for the mill owners when he was a small boy –
doing small tasks around their house so he could avoid the “real” work his
grandmothers would have had him do.
On
our way back to my dad’s house we saw these lovely wildflowers.
Whew!
OK, so I still have a lot of pictures on here – ha!
Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here
to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!
Most of our photos are taken with a 12
megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that
Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7
megapixel Canon Powershot A710. The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the
time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just
ask!
That lighthouse looks great from the ground. No need to climb it. Glad you're having such a great time.
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteIt sounds like you had a great vacation! The last lighthouse I climbed was on Tybee Island (near Savannah) and I think I felt it for a week. And it was a much smaller lighthouse. And it was many years ago. Lifeguard boot camp looks a bit like my yoga class...LOL.
ReplyDeleteHave a safe trip back!
We might make a goal of getting in better shape for next time, but I'm not sure my claustrophobia could handle it!
DeleteFirst of all, I hope you're finally feeling better!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely, lovely vacation! Enjoyed experiencing it vicariously through your photos :)
I am feeling better - just a nagging cough right now (which I think is from allergies, not my cold).
DeleteWe really did have a great time - I'm already planning to do it again next year.
Your vacation looks so relaxing. Awesome sun rises and sun sets and other beautiful scenery. I'm sure you enjoyed yourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I would have climbed the light house either (asthma issues) but it would have been interesting to do just once.
It really was great. And I might try the lighthouse next time :)
DeleteLooks like a terrific trip! They certainly don't sugarcoat the conditions inside that lighthouse, do they?! As for persimmons, they've never been my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI like persimmons a lot - my aunt makes a persimmon pudding (which is more like flan in consistency) that I LOVE. I look forward to it at Thanksgiving.
DeleteThe wildflower and sunset pix are so beautiful. It's been such a long time now that it almost seems like it didn't happen, but a girlfriend of mine and I climbed Hatteras lighthouse in the middle of the night with a couple of local boys back in 1968. It was still in its original location and it was a bit rickety at the top, but magnificent in the middle of the night, just us and the stars. It was not really much of a tourist attraction back then. It's one of those things you do when you're a kid and never think about how dangerous it was, only how romantic it was. Of course, climbing those stairs at 18 was a different experience than it would be today. He'd still be putting his lips on mine but it'd be for resuscitation purposes.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous story! I'd love to have been around to see that :)
Deleteevery time i ask one of my friends who is going on holiday to "take some pictures that i can turn into paintings" they always let me down - badly framed, poor interest or lighting, lots of thumbs
ReplyDeleteI should have asked you - you have such an eye for a photo i'm impressed with your shots every week
This week i'm mostly thinking i wouldn't mess with you in a determined mood and am loving the flower and sunset shots
I want to see more next time of Carolina Cow :)
The Bug needs to do a feature on Carolina Cow's adventures last week ;-)
DeleteHmm - I'll have to see if there are any paint-worthy pictures out I can send you. And yes, I'll work on a Carolina Cow post :)
DeleteOh, my. I've been bouncing back and forth between your blogs, just soaking it all in. What a wonderful trip! I've never been to the Carolinas, or the Southeast in general. One of these days - especially after seeing all of these wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me as though you have a field of pink evening primrose in that last photo. We have those, too.
And I really liked all the Edenton photos. The houses with the wood trim are marvelous. That's very "Galveston". They couldn't use iron grillwork like New Orleans because of all the salt spray. I wonder if that was a part of it around the Edenton bay, too.
Ah... a vacation would be so lovely. But not quite yet!
I think that was pink evening primrose - mixed in with some dandelions & other flowers.
DeleteYou would enjoy the Carolinas. They have it all - ocean, mountains, rolling hills. It really is lovely.
A beautiful mix of land and seascapes, sunset/rise, flowers, trees, history, stories, love and relaxation.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the sepia pic of father and son. Stunning!
I like that picture a lot too - whenever I look at it I remember the conversation we had with him about his boyhood in the 1930s.
Delete