A Mini- Vacation

We've been so bogged down, what with the extended trip out to see The Big Guy's mom, our new "lifestyle" with him being home 24/7 with me (I'm SURE we'll eventually find a routine) and obligations and commitments, in general, that we really haven't done much "fun" stuff this summer, yet. It dawned on us, summer is now more than half over!!! (It looks like we'll soon be heading West again to be with his mom a bit more, so there goes most of the rest of the season.)

We decided to try to escape for a night or two this weekend. So, we're off to the AmeriServe Flood city Music Festival in Johnstown, PA. We'll be enjoying some great music and festival foods, time with close friends and, hopefully, some cooler and more comfortable mountain air.

The car's loaded, those holding down the home front have their instructions and we're ready to go.

See y'all on Monday. Go out an have a great weekend, too. Summer's too short to waste!

Home again - jiggity jig.

Sorry I've been missing in action this past week but when a gal has an opportunity to squeeze in a vacation, she's gotta grab it with gusto!! And it was wonderful!!!We finally managed to get that much postponed trip to the South Carolina foothills. It was a great week to be there, too. The sun was out each day and the temps soared to the 60s and 70s. We even squeezed in an outdoor festival on Saturday when the thermometer actually made 76!!
I had thought I'd be able to blog from there but had my arms full snuggling, hugging and playing with a very sweet and happy addition to our gang. Who could find time to blog?!? Seriously, we were just enjoying spending time with folks we love and miss very much. I didn't want to waste a minute sitting at the keyboard. (NOT that I don't love all of you, too!)
We squeezed a tremendous amount of activity into just a few days and , of course, we feel like there was so much we didn't get a chance to do. Most importantly, we were together! We DID have some fantastic home-cooked meals, ate at a few new restaurants, attended a terrific stage show, did a little sightseeing, went to an outdoor festival (in February!!), sat in on a harmonica workshop (Some things just happen spontaneously!), saw a movie and put together our obligatory jigsaw puzzle (In record time, I might add. some traditions can't be messed with.) I'll slip a few pics and comments about the trip in here and there over the next few days.

Now, it's back to everyday life at home - in the snow. Yep, we left the warm, sunny South and came home to several inches of snow. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors. We came home to a perfectly clear driveway and steps which made coming in so late and tired last night really easy. Thank you, Tony!!!

The trip home (and sunrises)

I document most of the sunrises we see when traveling. Unfortunately, both of our travel days coming home dawned a bit cloudy and overcast so the sunrises weren't very spectacular.

We described this one as the "Sun Break-Through" which occurred "somewhere over Iowa" about 8:30 a.m. when the clouds finally started breaking up. It really was pretty - just not as bright and colorful as a normal sunrise.


Again, the second day, the sky was quite overcast which makes for easy driving when you're heading East. By the time the clouds broke and we really had glare from the sun, it was high enough in the sky to not be so blinding to the driver.

This shot was taken somewhere near Toledo.

Believe it or not, we found yet another casino on the way home!! Actually, we really didn't know about this one. As we approached the Ohio/Pennsylvania line we discussed possible side trips. We consulted Samantha, our GPS traveling companion. (Yes, our GPS has a name and personality! Doesn't yours?) She suggested the Mountaineer Casino in Newell, WV.

She then guided us through this winding route that took us from the Pennsylvania Turnpike onto some tiny little country roads that carried us through the towns of Industry and Shippingport in PA and eased us back through a tiny corner of Ohio right to the Old Newell Bridge. (It looks a lot bigger, and newer, in this pic!) At the end of the bridge you make a sharp right and drive through some of the most beautiful countryside around, then through the tiny town of Newell and brings you, suddenly, to a large, beautiful modern casino, resort and conference center.

(Yes, I DID paint that shirt The Big Guy is wearing.)

We spent a few hours here and enjoyed a tasty dinner before heading out on the road again. This would make a great weekend destination for us sometime. The area is absolutely beautiful and the surrounding town had oodles of interesting looking shops featuring antiques, collectibles and gift items in their windows. In addition to many enticing looking restaurants in town, the casino features something like 5 restaurants on the premises, a salon and spa and an indoor pool, as well as a showroom. Oh, and there is a factory outlet for Fiestaware in this town, too!

We made a point of leaving before dark as we knew those country roads might be challenging after the sun went down. We really wanted to be back on a highway by then.

Along the way we came across a few new sights for us. We had never seen portable traffic lights but they had them on this little country road where they wanted traffic to form alternating single lanes around construction. This one was in the area of Raccoon Creek State Park (I just loved that name! I also loved the names of some of the roads in the area, like "Potato Garden Run".) Of course, we live in an area where they'd probably try to steal the portable lights so maybe that's why we've never come across them before!

My camera was still processing that shot when The Big Guy burst into laughter over a sign by the side of the road. Handpainted on a piece of plywood and tied against a pole, it advertised "Far Wood For Sale" and gave a phone number. I guess this guy really does "write like he talks." He refused to go back to let me take a picture of it!

That wasn't the last weird sign we saw! On our way toward Pittsburgh and the Turnpike, we saw this sign directing us to the correct exit to get to the Moon !



Speaking of signs, two of the cuter ones I saw on the way out were one on a collision repair center in Western PA that claimed "We're always happy to meet you by accident!" and featured a little cartoony car that was quite smashed up. A big sign on a restaurant (I think in Indiana) advertised "Breakfast, lunch, dinner or anything else we can cater!"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the sign on a donut shop in Davenport, Iowa that claims "Diets are overrated!"

Don't you just agree with that last one?!?

More of Our Midwest Tour ...

After leaving Johnstown, PA at 6 a.m., we made it to the Iowa border in about 13 hours. We checked into the Days Inn for the night and then trucked across the street to the Thunder Bay Grille, one of our favorite places to eat in Davenport, Iowa. (There are two other locations, too. One in Pewaukee and another in Rockford, Illinois.)I am partial to anything with antlers, so I can't resist a place that has a welcoming moose in the front yard!!

They have an upscale hunting lodge decor and fantastic food. We both always get the same thing here but decided to try different things this time. While we liked our food, we missed the old standby dishes which we both highly recommend. I usually get the "Signature Chicken Tchoupitoulas" - chicken breast served over Cajun potatoes with a creamy Cajun sauce with chopped ham and green onions. The Big Guy is partial to the "Killer Bouillabaisse" - a fisherman's stew that contains shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and fish in a New Orleans style sauce. It IS spicy and brings tears to your eyes but it is also FANTASTIC!!

With our bellies full, we wandered on down to the Isle of Capri's Rythym City Casino right on the Mississippi in downtown Davenport where we relaxed for an hour or so before hitting the sack for the night. I highly suggest one use the valet parking at the casino if you visit at night. It's in the downtown business district with plenty of free parking directly across the street from the casino but, at night, it is rather deserted and there is a small park area you must walk through that seems to be a popular hangout for some homeless types. We've been there before but this is the first time The Big Guy suggested I wait for him by the door and gave me his wallet to hold while he went to get the car. (Not feeling real secure out there in the dark and we both grew up in a big crime-ridden city!)

We only have about a 5 or 6 hour drive on our final driving day so we usually take a little time to sight see or do something fun on our way into Omaha. It was a bit drizzly when we got up so we decided to take our time getting going and went to breakfast at the famous Iowa Machine Shed - "As Seen On TV" !!


One of our nephews has urged us to stop there for years but it's received a lot of TV coverage on The Food Network, The Travel Channel and even the History Channel's food series this past year. It was at the next I-80 exit just past our hotel so it was very convenient. Known for their down-home farm style meals, it seemed a cozy choice on a rainy day.


The place is decorated, inside and out, with old farm equipment and other farm house and country items. There is plenty to look at while you wait for your meals which come out very quickly. There's also a sizable gift shop with some great kitchen accessories, colorful and fun dishes, jellies, jams, candy and such and they carry quite a nice gift line, too. All of the employees were super friendly.


The signature item on the menu is the giant cinnamon and sticky buns. They are HUGE !!!! Shown on every TV feature, I was prepared for their size but I expected them to be quite pricey. I was surprised to find they are only $3.49. This picture shows a little less than half of our single bun that we shared!!! We took the leftovers with us and the family finished it off when we got there.

We arrived at my in-laws' home on Monday afternoon but pretty much spent the next few days simply hanging out at the house with the family. We were there to care for my mother-in-law who lives with The Big Guy's sister and brother-in-law. She needs 24/7 care and supervision and our b-i-l was having major surgery that week. The Big Guy would need to get his mom to and from her doctor's appointments (most weeks have several such appointments) and we'd generally be there to get her meals and assist her with her various needs. We generally do this 2 or 3 times a year but usually to give my s-i-l and hubby a chance to get away for a mini-vacation.

By Thursday, we ventured out. Mom loves the buffet at the nearest casino and wanted to go there for dinner. We took her over and let her feed a slot machine for a little bit and then went to dinner. She had us on a roll, and we took her to dinner again on Friday at a microbrew that we've been to before. It's located in a shopping center that hosts a large concert every Friday so we loaded her into the wheelchair and enjoyed some good music for a few hours, topping the evening off with an ice cream! On Saturday, we loaded up her chair and headed for a blues festival along the waterfront in downtown Omaha. We all had a good time but she tired fairly quickly and we ended up leaving before the last band took the stage. All in all, it was a good event and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

On Sunday, with my b-i-l home from the hospital but housebound, my s-i-l suggested The Big Guy and I go do something on our own. After all, she said, this was our vacation time. (Besides, I think we'd worn Mama out and she wanted to stay home and rest.) They both suggested an afternoon at a nearby winery that features acoustic music in a peaceful setting with some excellent wine available. So off we went.

They didn't steer us wrong. The music was relaxing and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The day was a super bright and clear day and it seemed you could see forever. (We're not used to such a flat expanse here in the East.)

There was a fairly small covered porch with tables and chairs that overlooked the bandstand. Since the porch can only accomodate about 50 people we were glad to get there in time to get a spot. Latecomers ended up using their own chairs out on the lawn in the hot sun. There was absolutely NO shade out there! We always travel with chairs but I'm not sure how much of that sun we could have handled. We were still dealing with temps approaching triple digits even 1200 miles from home!

The winery features about a dozen different wines and sells cheeses, breads and crackers. We purchased a block of cheese and a loaf of bread which they placed in a cute little basket with a cutting board and knife. Two wine glasses were provided with our bottle of wine. They simply ask that you return the cutting board, knife and glasses at the end of the day.

Admission was free here. At our local wineries here in the East, they charge exhorbitant fees just to walk through the gate and while they may sell bread or cheese, you're lucky to get a plastic knife if available at all. You are expected to bring your own glasses or you can get small plastic sampler cups from them that hold only and ounce or two. (We do go to these places regularly anyway!) We were impressed.

I also really loved the beautiful blue and green bottles that contained the white wines! What a lovely appearance they made in the sun. There were also some gorgeous ruby colored bottles for some of the red wines. We did enjoy getting away to have some private time for just the two of us. We're not used to such a full and busy household.


We spent a few more days holed up at home with the family other than a few dr. appointments and a run to the store here and there and then we had another "date". This time they suggested a club that featured a live band playing classic rock and oldies on Wednesday evenings. We made a full evening of it by visiting the casino for an hour or so and then going out to dinner at a very nice restaurant next to the club, finishing dinner just as the band began playing. We were surprised at the large crowd it drew early on a weeknight. The dance floor was full for hours! There's another area on the opposite end of the restaurant that featured another club with an outdoor deck. There was a band playing out there, too, and seemed to draw yet another large crowd.

On Saturday, we spent the day with our 16-year-old great-nephew. He and his grandfather (our b-i-l) usually go to a large sports bar to watch the games when the Baltimore teams play. If it's televised anywhere in the country, this place can usually get it up one of their many, many TVs! That day was the first of the Baltimore Ravens pre-season games and they were playing the Washington Redskins. We all wanted to see this one! Since the b-i-l was still housebound, we filled in for him. We enjoyed our one-on-one time with our nephew AND the Ravens even WON!!! Yea!!!!

We spent the rest of our visit at home with the family. We even spent a nice afternoon playing with Play Doh!!!
We've been home a week and I already miss this gang!!!

The Mid-West Sky

If you've followed this blog for long, you know I
love taking pics of sunrises, sunsets and clouds on our trips.

O. K., I slept through both sunrises on the trip out. We were heading West, so it was going to be a little harder to get good sunrise pics anyway.

The first cloud pics I took were at a concert at the Lewis & Clark Landing in downtown Omaha along the Missouri River. I took all of these over a four hour period. Talk about a changing view!!

The first one shows the beautiful blue sky quickly disappearing behind some approaching storm clouds.


It did rain but really only a drizzle. By the time we moved The Big Guy's mom's wheel chair around the table so she was under the big umbrella, it stopped raining both times. The ground never even got really wet ! (There were some nearby communities that did get a real drenching at the time, though.)

Then, this beautiful rainbow appeared over the river!



After the rain came this really purple looking sky with bright red stripes!! I've never seen such vibrant shades in the sky before.

I don't Photoshop my cloud pictures or sun shots as I think that takes away their true effect but I do wish these colors showed a bit better. I really felt they were impressive!!




A humongous bright moon eventually broke through later in the evening and would have made for a fantastic time-lapse shot if one had such a camera!

I really do suffer from camera envy sometimes!

And so, our trip began...

Home again, finally !!!

Our trip began with two days in Johnstown, PA attending the American Flood City Music Festival.
This is a family tradition with us through changes in festival venue, name and, lately, dates. For the second year in a row, organizers have changed the dates. Traditionally, this was always a 3-day event held on Labor Day weekend. It's still 3 days but they keep switching weeks. It's really hard to keep traditions alive when you can't count on the dates from year to year. There have been a few other changes which, in my opinion, have taken away from the event but, for now, we keep going back. We do have less enthusiasm to get there these days, though. This year, for the first time, we only attended one day of the event.

The weather was fantastic and, I hope, contributed to good attendance. While it was crowded, I still don't think they've come anywhere near the crowds they used to get on Labor Day weekend. Many folks used the festival weekend as a sort of homecoming over the holiday and still do as there is still another long-running festival at that time.We did catch several performances by a number of excellent entertainers on Saturday including Devon Allman, Duane Allman's son. His show was definitely worth sitting in the hot sun.
The big name at this year's event was Los Lobos, who performed on Friday night. We missed them but we did enjoy Los Straightjackets on Saturday. This was one of the tightest bands I've heard in a long time and is made up of excellent musicians. One quirky item: Everyone on stage, and even the sound men, are hidden by masks throughout the performance.
I took pictures of our little group enjoying the music that day.





















In this one of The Big Guy and I (Hours in the hot sun does nothing for my looks, believe me!), he thought I was smiling because I was with him.



But... here's what Mama was smiling at! Wouldn't you?

Funny, The Big Guy got me up and out of town before daylight the next day ! Can't a girl just window shop?

See y'all in 3 weeks!!!

As some of you know, I'll be traveling over the next 3 weeks with little, if any, access to the internet. I have not prepared any advance posts at this time but if I somehow get the opportunity, I'll definitely try to make a quick comment here and there.

So, until we chat again, stay cool, relax, have some fun and enjoy life!!

Oh, yeah, eat some chocolate, too.

See you in 3 weeks!!!!

Glimpses from our Midwest Tour...

Of course, I took a picture of the sunrise. (Don't I always?)
This was somewhere on I-680, close to the western border of Iowa on our trip home on Wednesday.

It's what we saw shortly after crossing the Missouri River on the Old Mormon Bridge.
This was the first time we had entered and exited Nebraska using I-680 which cuts across the corner of the Omaha metro area as opposed to I-80 which trucks right through the center of town. We can't believe we missed this easy route for so long ! This is about the volume of traffic we saw both ways. The I-80 route is quite congested crossing right through the downtown business district. Traffic is fairly heavy on that highway 24/7.

Okay, continuing this backwards travelogue, Western Iowa has embraced the concept of wind energy in a big way. There are stretches of road where you can see windmills lined up for acres and acres. I think they look impressive and rather majestic.
It was really quite breezy on Wednesday and those big old blades were spinning quickly. Looking down a long line of them, I imagined a group of synchronized swimmers moving in perfect choreography. (Okay, it was very early and I really did get that image in my head. The Big Guy suggested I should nap a bit when I said that.)
Backtracking to the beginning of the trip, we made it to Davenport, Iowa the first day. Davenport, one of the Quad-Cities is on the far eastern border of the state and sits right along the Mississippi. We arrived on May 5, Cinco de Mayo. The riverboat casino, Rythym City, (part of the Isle of Capri casino corporation) was celebrating in a big way with a Mexican buffet, party beads and a Mexican dance band so we spent a few hours there after our long 13 hour drive, dining, listening and (yep) gambling a bit.
Well, I'm still recovering from the long drive, so I'll stop there for the night. I can't wait to show you the unusual squirrels we found in Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs!!

Memories of Bad Vacations!!!

I've spent the day organizing clothes and packing for our trip. First, I laid everything out on the bed and then went back and cut out about a quarter of it. I waited an hour and went back and cut out some more.

Even with all that cutting, I know The Big Guy will complain about how much we're taking. He'll remind me we can do laundry there so we don't need so much. Then he'll play the trump card, "Remember, we did an 8-day cruise with no luggage at all!!"

Oh, yes. We did !!! I've been vacation traumatized ever since.

Just as in that commercial on T.V., our luggage toured the Western Caribbean and we didn't. We did, however, spend 8 days traveling through the Southern Caribbean. We were the ones who wore the same outfit over and over, and, yet, over again! Actually, we were one couple out of twelve caught up in that fiasco.

Yep, the cruise line personnel loaded an entire cart of luggage onto the WRONG ship!!! And, they did NOTHING about it!

We did everything we were supposed to. We claimed our luggage at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We took it with us on the cruise line's bus to the Miami dock. We had the proper tags on each bag. We hand delivered our own bags to the cruise line's baggage handler at the dock (within 40 feet of our ship), who placed a second tag on each bag, further identifying the correct ship. They put all of the bags belonging to those of us arriving on that bus into a large luggage cart to be loaded on the ship. We walked aboard.

About an hour after we set sail, we had not yet cleared the Miami harbor, we (and twelve other couples) were called to the Purser's Office where they told us our bags had been loaded on the ship docked next to ours (approximately a block and a half down the dock). Both ships belonged to the same cruise line. We could still see the other ship on the horizon at this point. No attempt was made to stop them from sailing away with our bags. I believe they could have stopped the first ship at that point, allowed our ship to catch up and then send a tender over for our bags. This apparently made no sense to them. (We've been on enough cruises to know they CAN make up that time.)

They assured us our bags would be waiting at our first port (2 days later). The Captain and officers kept this pretense up for those two days while other crew members voiced some doubt. Our luggage did not show up in St. Martin's. We were told to expect it to "be on the dock" when we went into Barbados the next day. It wasn't. On the 4th day, they finally told us it was the airlines' fault. No one would fly unaccompanied luggage. I'm sure they could have spared a crew member to accompany all those bags. We were however assured the bags would be at the terminal when we arrived in Miami the following Sunday. (The luggage apparently only booked a 7-day cruise.)

Fat lot of good that did us. I had a pair of slacks, a pair of capris, a tank top, the underwear I was wearing and a pair of sandals. The Big Guy had a pair of jeans, a pair of denim shorts, a golf shirt and the shoes and boxers he was wearing. They did offer us each a T-shirt bearing the cruise line's emblem and a date from 2 years earlier. They came in Medium or Large. We were neither.

My man put up enough fuss they finally let him go to the gift shop where he found a T-shirt that fit very tightly and was priced at $25. Under protest they gave him the shirt. My bosum didn't fit any shirt they had available so I was offered nothing. When it became apparent the luggage was never coming, they issued all of us a $50.00 voucher for the gift shop. Note: These tiny little shops do NOT carry all the necessary toiletries one would expect. What they do carry, is priced at about 5 X the shore price which in turn is at least 3 x what you'd pay at home.

All those whose luggage was involved were given a cute little cosmetic bag containing a safety razor, one Q-tip, a tiny little toothbrush that resembled a toy, a tube of toothpaste that held enough for at least two brushings, one piece of floss about 8" long, a safety pin, one bandaid, a single pack of aspirin, and one or two other items. (This cruise line used to have a nice toiletry basket in each cabin like a good hotel but discontinued that prior to this cruise.) Anything we received after that was only after making multiple demands.

We spent our entire day in St. Martin's shopping for necessities. Note: The ship's crew was not the least bit helpful in sending us the right direction to find what we needed. We were told to ask a cabbie. Cabbies would only take us to the tourist district souvenir shops. We learned later there was a mall only about a mile out of that area that would have had most of what we were looking for.

Apparently, the clothing shops in that part of the island do not feel women wear underwear. We were able to find some for The Big Guy, but not for me. I spent every night washing my undies in the sink and drying them with the hairdryer. The neighbors had to wonder what weird activity we did each night after midnight that involved using that dryer for an hour! Most ships do have washers and dryers available to passengers. Of course, unless you are on a special nude cruise, you've got to have something to wear to the laundry room! The Big Guy spent several hours of the cruise sitting in the laundry room reading while our outfits washed.

We learned a lot on that cruise. We learned the cruise line will not knock themselves out to go the extra mile for you. You will only get what you demand. If you don't know it's available, you won't know what to ask for. Some folks demanded laundry service. (Of course, they were not guaranteed service faster than the 24-hr service advertised on board!) Some cabin stewards were better at providing extras than others. Ours was one of the latter. Some were able to obtain free formal rentals for formal night, although the selection is very limited both in total number, variety and sizes.

I have two sister-in-laws. One is built like a model and one is comparable to myself in many ways. Thank goodness the second one was the one cruising with us. I was able to squeeze into a bathing suit, a bra and a top or two she had for me. My backside is a bit broader so she couldn't help with pants or undies. Had the other been with us, I guess I could have borrowed earrings!!

In the end, the cruise line gave us vouchers for a free cruise at a later date. They gave one per cabin. Luckily, when we booked our cabin there was a special running for folks flying from our local airport. For that reason, we booked our room and The Big Guy's sister's room in each of our names, thus getting us two vouchers! Since the voucher was basically just the price of the cabin, it was only worth about $370. We did use them the next year.

That time, we left from Galveston. We flew there a few days early to spend time with a friend who lives there. Before he dropped us off at the ship, I loaded up about 7 carry-on bags with almost everything from our big suitcases. (There are size restrictions on carry-ons as they must go through an xray machine as you board the ship.) I wasn't taking any chances. Of course, the suitcases made it with no problem that time.

Did I mention this happened on our 9th cruise with that cruise line? We used our vouchers on our 10th with them. We had been going annually. We have not been back on one of their ships since and it has been several years.

I always tell folks, we've been evacuated due to a hurricane, we've gotten sick on vacations, had entire weeks of rain, car trouble, vacationed with teenagers (4 at a time!), spent multiple weeks traveling with a mother-in-law, had problems with the beach houses we've rented, been bothered by phone calls from the office continually throughout a trip, and more, but this sticks in my memory as our WORST vacation. It was not FUN !!!

So, what's your worst vacation story?

More vacation highlights...

As I told you yesterday, we spent a lot of time watching, feeding and ducking the many birds that made our deck their lounge during the day. I'm just really pleased with the way this shot of seagulls turned out. They were just a few of a deluge of about 25 birds at that moment!

This little guy and his companions were constantly hanging about but were a little more shy than the gulls and grackles. I'm not sure what he is. He has a black body with a lighter brown head and chest and was similar in size to the grackles. They only came close when they actually saw food in our hands and would only take it when we sat on the rail. Anybody know what kind of bird this is?
On Thursday, we made the long trek (about 70 miles) down to the southern tip of Hatteras Island. We do this every few years. The last time we were down there was the year they moved the Hatteras Lighthouse.

While everyone associates the Outer Banks with the beautiful sand dunes, most do not realize that the dunes were actually man made. Prior to the 1930s, the islands were fairly flat with the exception of Jockeys Ridge in Nags Head and the dune the Wright Brothers flew from in Kill Devil Hills where the Wright Brothers Monument now stands. (History says they flew in Kitty Hawk but they actually flew a few miles short of that town. Kill Devil did not exist at the time of their flight but grew up around the actual sight later.) The dunes were created by the CCC (as part of Roosevelt's Depression recovery efforts to put Americans to work)) in the belief that the dunes would curb beach erosion. This has since proven NOT to help the beach and requires constant refurbishment to maintain the dunes.

The two dunes I mentioned above in Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head are two of the three "living" dunes along the Outer Banks. These dunes grow, shrink and move with time and weather conditions. They are truly awesome to behold.

I'd love to say an osprey allowed me to get close enough to take this picture but it is a shot of a stuffed one on display at the Natural Resources center at the Hatteras Lighthouse. This was the first time we had ever stopped in there and enjoyed the informative displays about the wildlife found on the island. (I still could not locate a pic of that little bird I'd like to identify!) I was surprised to learn that seals beach themselves on the area beaches from time to time. In all the years we've visited this area, I never realized seals were found this far North!

We took time to sit in on a talk given by one of the park rangers (Hatteras National Seashore is a national park.) and learned a lot of interesting things we had not heard in the many years we've wandered the area. One of the biggest surprises was that a few coyotes and foxes now live on the island! (This is a fairly recent development.) I did not think to ask how they believe the coyotes got there. I mean, did they simply stroll across the long bridge, stowaway on a ferry or swim? Are coyotes great swimmers? It's a pretty long swim from across the Sound.

Of course, we did take time to admire the Hatteras Lighthouse. I loved the way the light was shining in this shot. We didn't climb the lighthouse this time for the fantastic view from the top. I believe there are something like 275 steps and these old knees struggled enough with the steep steps at the beach house!

This lighthouse was originally built something like 1024 feet from the waterline but the shifting coastline and eroding beach left it standing only about 200 feet from the waterline a few years ago. Due to its historic significance, the decision was made to literally pick it up and move it a few years ago. They built an elaborate dolly system and slid it under the lighthouse and then rolled the dolly along some temporary portable tracks (like railroad tracks) a few feet a day until they moved it back about a half mile from the waterline. We actually went down to watch them move it one day and it was totally fascinating to watch the process. That was the last time we had gone down to Hatteras while at the Outer Banks.

Look how blue the water at the Oregon Inlet was that day? It was absolutely beautiful!! As it was very calm at that time, there were numerous fisherman standing waist deep in the water there.

This is a picture of the Bodie Point Lighthouse near the Oregon Inlet. I have never gotten any closer to that one than Highway 12 and we didn't break tradition this year either! Well, there's always next year!

If you are not a coastal person, you may be surprised to know that lighthouses each have their very own paint design and can be identified by that design. You might note that Bodie Point has wide horizontal stripes, Hatteras has the diagonal striping and the lighthouse a little further to the south at Cape Fear has a diamond design (although, officially, that is deemed a checkerboard design.) All working lighthouses also have a very unique and individual light sequence.

I hope you've enjoyed my little tour of the Outer Banks. It's an area I hold near and dear to my heart and always want to visit and revisit as often as possible. I don't believe you can beat this area for beauty and relaxation. (The seafood restaurants aren't bad either!)

Home again!!

Of course, you KNEW there'd be a vacation sunrise pic, didn't you? This was the only morning I actually got out there early enough to catch the sunrise. I took this right from our porch. What a way to get up in the morning!

We arrived home in the rain last night after eight hours in the car (we did stop for meals along the way). Since the only perishables we had were the left-over pizza slices from dinner, we each grabbed an armload to carry in and the rest waited to be unloaded in drier weather today. About all we had the energy for was to wade through the mail pile before flopping in front of the TV to doze before hitting the sack!

We started the week off a little rough. That's our friends' vehicle on a lift 15 minutes after we left home! One new tire and our little caravan was on our way again. So, running an hour later than planned , we headed down the road to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. All in all, it was another great week at the beach! Our gang consisted of only four couples this year but we had some terrific meals and lots of laughs. We had the best weather we've had in years although Friday was rainy and we did drive in light rain most of yesterday to get home. The house we rented was fabulous and the ocean view was great. We watched the dolphins right in front of the house several times a day and they weren't just passing through. They'd stop and feed for a bit, close to shore, putting on a real show for us each time. Unfortunately, the zoom lens on my camera just isn't good enough to get them for posterity. We had numerous kite boarders each day and a couple of surfers came out each morning although the sea was so calm most of the week they pretty much used their boards like rafts to lie on in the sun. Last time we were in Nags Head, we were disappointed to learn one of our favorite restaurants had closed. The Big Guy and I had eaten there for many years and had introduced our gang to it the year before. So we were really excited to find it had reopened after a short hiatus to regroup and it is still run by the same family. The owner actually took time to come out and chat with our crowd and thank us for returning. If you're ever in the Outer Banks and want some terrific seafood, take the time to drive over to Wanchese on Roanoke Island for lunch or dinner at The Fisherman's Wharf and be sure to say "Hi" to the Daniels family for me. They serve fresh seafood direct from their own fishing boats which you can watch through the windows. The view of the sound is fantastic from their dining room. (Oh, and they have the absolute BEST hushpuppies known to mankind!)

Another surprise returnee was the original Christmas Shoppe in Manteo (also on Roanoke Island). Two years ago, this humongous house filled with all things Christmas (and a little Halloween) closed their doors after many years of year-round holiday cheer. Well, they're back!! Many, many rooms on the first floor feature tree ornaments, Christmas decor, paper goods, china, jewelry, collectibles, an art gallery of original art - many created there on the Outer Banks, and so much more that will fascinate you for hours. The second floor has the largest assortment of Halloween ornaments, decor and such I've ever come across. Be sure to allow plenty of time to roam through this attraction. We hand fed the seagulls and grackles on the deck. The grackles stayed close whenever they saw someone on the deck, often hanging over the edge of the roof above us and, literally, begging for handouts.

Like all vacations, the time passed much too quickly and there were so many things we didn't get to before it was time to pack up again. In past years, we've visited the northern part of the island to climb the lighthouse at Corrolla and see the wild ponies, played mini-golf , some among us have also played real golf on the island, gone off-roading on the lower beaches, and a few of the hearty have climbed Jockey's Ridge (the largest living dune on the East Coast). We've visited the Wright Brothers Memorial and toured the museum there, too. This year, we mostly sat and relaxed. But then, isn't that what vacations are for?

Tomorrow, I'll announce the winner of the funny caption giveaway from last week and tell you what they're winning. That was fun and I hope to do it again. Believe me, with some of the strange photos I take, I'm bound to come up with some others appropriate for strange captions!