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Water and Me

Water and Me

Category Archives: Travel

North Carolina October 2020

01 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in boating, Family, Hiking, nature, Photography, Road Trips, Trails, Travel, vacation

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Tags

boating, bridges, Cape Lookout, Dismal Swamp, Fog, LSD50, North Carolina, shells, Shrimp, SpaceX, Sunset, Swansboro, Tern

Another great road trip to North Carolina. Kathy already there for a week before I headed down to pick her up. I was to stay a week also but the weather took a turn for the worse and we came back a couple days early.

It was very foggy when I left Salisbury, Md. to head south. The fog did not dissipate until well after Edenton. I missed the windmill farm, but Kathy got a photo of it.

One of my favorite stops is at the Dismal Swamp. About 1/2 way there.

Arrived at Indian Beach, N.C. and we took a walk. Shrimp boat.

The seagulls here are unlike the ones in Maryland that will hover over you waiting for food.

A Royal Tern

The next day John came down to take us out on their boat. That was very nice of him. With all this Covid stuff going on, we hardly see each other.

Heading under the Atlantic Bridge Causeway.

Easing past Sugarloaf Island, headed towards the N.C. Port. Docked there for the time being is the USS 50 (LSD-50), Carter Hall. Landing Ship Dock.

Here she is a little while later pulling out of port.

Not far from her is this interesting vessel – Go Ms Tree. Formerly named Mr. Steven. GO Ms. Tree – often shortened to Ms. Tree – is a fast, highly maneuverable vessel that was chartered by SpaceX in 2017 to support their fairing recovery program. The ship has been heavily modified by SpaceX so that it now has a large net structure designed to catch fairing halves as they descend. The name ‘Ms. Tree’ is a pun of the word ‘Mystery’. (from SpaceX website)

Pass this area of the port and ran smack dab into a fog bank.

Made it through there and we all, except John, got off onto Shackleford Banks.

Nice driftwood.

My shot of Kathy and Gail, from up on a dune.

Kathy stepped on a couple Hermit Crabs.

Left Shackleford and headed over to Beaufort. You need to swing around Rachel Carson Island. Shrimp boats everywhere.

Sea Tow is like AAA of the water.

The CaryAli. Wow! A steel and aluminum ship. Built by Alloy Yachts in 2013. For just $25m she can be yours.

Looking through the Watercraft Center at a ship painted on a wall…

Went up Taylor Creek for a bit, looking at all the boats and quaint little houses. Turned around and headed to Pivers Island Road.

We made it under the bridge but then the water started getting shallow so we headed back to the Beaufort Channel and then towards Bogue Sound. Passing NOAA on the way. There are a lot of colleges and government research centers down here.

I guess it makes a good kayak launch?

After John and Gail left, to go back home, Kathy and I went over to Swansboro to find a nice place to watch the sunset. Saturday night and the town was packed! So we left and the sun was heading west fast, so I pulled over at Dudley’s Marina on Rte. 24 and Kathy took a photo of me taking a photo of the pelican sunset.

The ‘New Norm’ I hope not for too much longer. The next day we went back to Swansboro to look around

Domestic Muscovy Duck.

Another shrimp boat. Shrimp burgers from the food truck were huge, along with their oyster burgers and soft crab sandwiches.

Love the water – when it isn’t freezing. Or knocking me on my butt!

Our next adventure was to Cape Lookout Lighthouse, via a tour boat, where everyone was practicing social distancing, for the most part.

We cut over to the beach, hoping to find some 1/2 way decent shells. No luck.

Even some of the better shells were being fought over. This guy wasn’t giving up his shell find.

We leave the ocean side of the isle and head over to Wreck Point. Trudging through the dunes and marsh.

Balancing the Light.

Heading back towards the lighthouse.

Checking out under the dock…

Boardwalk to the lighthouse area.

This guy was going close to shore and other boats blasting his horn and making all kinds of noises.

On the way back, on Shackleford Island. Scratching an itch with his food.

Another day, another adventure. Off to the side of the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium is a nice little hiking trail. About 1.2 miles.

We thought this coloration was the tree itself (Holly)

But it is lichen. Nice info signs along the trail.

One side of the trail is a marsh. The other side is the Bogue Sound.

Sign in front says End of Trail. Sign behind it says Last Marsh Overlook Ahead?

Foot bridge to the end.

And at the end, a nice bench to rest on.

Who Dat? Go ahead Ron, stick your head in there..

To the beach one last time.

Another nice vacation, thanks to John and Gail.

Crisfield

29 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Family, Travel

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Chesapeake Bay, Crisfield, photography, vacation

Headed to Crisfield for dinner on Saturday night, to celebrate John and Gail’s anniversary. Always a good time with Kathy’s family. First stop was the dock or maybe it is just a fishing pier?

Memorial Day weekend and the flags are flying.

Looking across Daugherty Creek towards Tangier Sound and the Chesapeake Bay.

Kathy enjoying the peace and solitude. Stars overhead. 

A moral compass or a navigational one? Needs directions.

Is that someone’s house all the way out there?

Dinner time. The soft shell crab sandwich was excellent! The sauteed soft shell crabs, not so much. But overall a very nice restaurant. Glad to have been invited to what was traditionally a father-daughters eatery! Thanks Merrill. 

The family.

Random shot of a water tower – because this post is about water and me!

Got home in time for the deluge. Molly says to go ahead and she will catch up!

 

Freeport Bahamas May 2017

30 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Photography, Travel, vacation

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Bahamas, cruise, light house, nature, photography, vacation

From our trip in May. Forgot to post!

This side of the island was pretty beat up. They had a hurricane I believe back in October.

Not to be ones to follow the beaten path, we headed east to the end of the road. Hoping to get to climb this lighthouse.

The guard told us ‘no’ but said she would take our photograph. Damn Tourist!

We headed back to the tourist area. Nice shops.

Headed back west on Sea Horse Rd. and onto the beach. Place was deserted. A lot of people still hadn’t rebuilt from the hurricane. The main attraction, the casino, was still closed.

More closed buildings. And an empty beach.

Hope this didn’t come off of our ship!

A glimmer of life after the storm.

Back on board, Kathy’s island souvenirs attacked the towel elephant.

Repair work to the Disney Cruise ship.

The Carnival Elation pulled into port.

Kind of reminds me of Baltimore.

Busy unloading containers.

I think this is where tankers load/unload? From above, there are a bunch of fuel storage tanks on shore near here.

Whatever this is, it was moving at a fast clip.

Grand Turk Island

26 Friday May 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in nature, Photography, Travel

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boats, Hiking, nature, photography, Travel, vacation

After two and a half days at sea we finally made port. This was a six and a half hour stop. Because I had gotten some sunburn, which is unusual for me, even though I had a ton of SPF50 on, we decided we would not spend all our shore time laying on the beach. I signed us up for a history tour of the island. Woo Hoo!!

Getting ready to dock about 8am. Look at that water.

The dock and visitor center. Be sure to take your Boarding Pass and ID. And don’t cross the yellow lines on the pier!

Kathy waiting for the tour bus…or me to to stop taking photos of everything!

The tour was only supposed to be 1-1/2 hours in an air conditioned bus. it was more like 2 hours. First stop, an area outside of Cockburn Town (our tour guide got a kick out of saying “Cockburn” multiple times??) Above are some local shops.

The first stop was 15 minutes long so we left the main strip and headed towards the salt ponds. Grand Turk was a salt producer.

Quite a few of these around. Raise and lower water in the salt ponds but more importantly, they divert flood waters off the island back into the sea.

Horses and donkeys roam freely on the island. There is our tour bus.

Kathy looking for our winter home. Tour guide said the wooden homes were built from shipwreck wood.

Some of the colorful buildings.

Boat on the beach.

Heading to our next stop we see a replica of John Glenn’s space capsule – don’t blink or you will miss it!

Our second stop was at the far end of the island. The light house. Because of the people who lag behind, that have to use the bathroom after 20 cups of coffee…we didn’t have enough time to go inside.

Kathy making some new friends.

Tour is over and we head back to the ship to change our clothes for the beach. Here comes the Carnival Splendor.

Local took our pic for us. May have been one of the crew members?

Kathy looking for sea glass. Found some nice pieces. This side of the pier had more rock/coral under the water. Had to go out a ways to avoid it. Water was great!

Watching the people on the Splendor disembark. Big ass ship!

Time to set sail and one last memory of our stop on the island…On to Half Moon Cay

Getting There – Days 1, 2 and 3

17 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Photography, Travel, vacation

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Bahamas, Baltimore, cruise, kayaking, photography, ship, vacation

For Christmas I gave Kathy and myself a cruise to the Bahamas. Since Kathy is the one who showed me how to kayak and we have been going whenever we can, I thought how cool would it be to go kayaking in the Bahamas. So on Sunday we headed to the cruise ship Carnival Pride and set sail.

I think the worst part of any cruise is the waiting. It seemed like forever to get to the gang plank to get on board. It was fairly cool out so standing in line wasn’t too bad. Our boarding time was about 1pm and the boat set sail just after 5pm. Above we see them loading supplies and fueling up.

One mistake I made booking this cruise was to get an obstructed balcony (cheap bastard!) Next time will be a full balcony. The sign on the window said not to open door, but we did. Nothing like sleeping with the sound of waves breaking.

The suitcases were delivered really fast, so we unpacked and headed to one of my favorite sights – to see if the ship will pass under the Key Bridge without hitting it!

Yes it did!

Roamed around some – Kathy with a ‘K’ behind her.

One of these days I’m going to get out to that fort.

From the Key Bridge to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge – moving right along.

Raining off in the distance.

Chilling in a hammock.

Heading out into the open sea.

The water was unbelievably blue! Two and a half days at sea. Lots to do, plenty of food. Lots of sun and sunburn! (for me, not Kathy)

Cruisin…

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in nature, Photography, Travel

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Tags

boats, nature, ocean, photography, Sunset

Hard to catch up on Facebook and WordPress posts after being away for a week. Sorry if I missed anyones birthday. I did check on occasion but was really too busy and really didn’t care about most of what I did see (political commentary). What did amaze me was that people started posting Happy Mothers Day post late Thursday night! What did I learn from my momma? To never look at this…but that’s where the fun is!

Vac Pics #5

27 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Photography, Travel, vacation

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

boats, Museum, photography, vacation, water

Alright, alright! I know! Way too many vacation photographs! This is the last of them (We already had another adventure since these were taken!) These photos are from our trip to Smith Island, via Crisfield.

We did a short tour of Crisfield before getting on the tour boat.

Watched the watermen unload their boats.

These are the prices the watermen are paid for their hard work. We paid $170 not too long ago for steamed crabs. Watermen aren’t making much money are they?

All we are saying…

Messy little fellow.

Got on the boat and started to head out to sea. Well, towards the bay at least.

Little pink houses.

Now we are moving. It takes an hour to get to Smith Island.

Kathy and her parents. Great people.

This is a  rebuilt smoke stack, all that was left of the processing plant here. Rebuilt by park services in dedication to the person who left the land to them.

I love you a bushel and a peck!

Passing a nature reserve island before Smith Island, the birds were all lined up, ready to dance.

One of many waterman’s shacks.

Kathy jumped off the boat to grab us a table at a restaurant that I believe is owned by the boat captain – “Make sure you stop at the Bayside Inn!”

After some good food, we headed to the museum. Pretty nice.

Then took a walk around a partially submerged island! High tide.

I don’t think so.

Church with a halo

It has always amazed me that people abandon their boats wherever they want.

Crabby.

I thought this was another abandoned shack, but a few minutes after we sat down, the door closed.

Nice little pier.

Kathy told me to lay down in the wet grass and get this photo. Oh, ok!

And here is one of two water works photos. Building is called Hill Water Works.

And here is the second – showing an old water tower.

Watermen’s stuff.

Pelicans…

…who do not land gracefully in the water!

Returning to crisfield.

Vac Pics #4

26 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in fishing, Travel, vacation

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Tags

boats, bridges, Chesapeake, Crabs, fishing, photography

Next day it was off to Deal Island for some fishing.

001-2

Leaving the boat ramp. Small landing but big phone tower and a big pile of oyster shells on the side.

004-2

Kathy taking the helm. I guess that is what it is called – at least it is on Star Trek – “Spock, take the helm. Scotty, you come with me.”

102-2

Deal Island bridge.

016-2

Kathy caught the first fish of the day…

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…not as big as mine! Oh what a whopper! The weight almost snapped the rod!

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Kathy’s catch. Crab.

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Then mine…alien looking thing. Where is Ripley? Everything that was caught was thrown back in.

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Abandoned except for the birds.

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Karen Noonan Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Classroom.

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Fish nets off of Bloodsworth Island. On the navigational chart this area is off limits. Kathy’s dad told me the naval base drops bombs (Practice) on the island. If you do a close up Google Earth view, it looks like the moon in some spots – craters.

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Watermen heading back after a days work.

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Skipjack, Ida May.

 

 

Vacation Pics #1

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Travel, vacation

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kayaking, ocean, ocean city, photography, vacation, water

After some catching up with work and life stuff, finally got around to doing my photos…

The kayaks are patiently waiting our return from Ocean City…

The one legged Blue Heron doesn’t look as patient.

Our hotel. Next to the top floor. I enjoy being at the beach, in a room with a view.

stowaway

What our hotel use to look like in the 60s. (Postcard found on line)

Biker/First Responder bike run for 9/11. This is at 22nd street and went all the way back to 28th and then down, I’m guessing to 9th street. They rode the boardwalk to the Fireman’s Memorial, down just past Division Street where there was a memorial service.

The 9/11 memorial. A piece of the World Trade Center.

Entrance to the boardwalk.

Natty Boh and the UTZ girl?

What can you say about a guy that paints himself gold and makes noises like he has a chirping bird stuck in his throat??

Old water tower at sunset.

New, just getting painted water tower.

The view – bay to the left, ocean to the right.

I’m still waiting to see that green flash I heard about…

Brock Mill Pond NC

04 Monday Apr 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in HISTORY, Photography, Travel

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engineering, Hiking, kayaking, mills, North Carolina, photography, water history

Took a road trip to Indian Beach, North Carolina the other day. On the way we stopped at an old mill, c1700s. Nice.

P1060471

Too bad it was closed for the day – would like to see the inside workings.

The dam

The pond – Kayak adventure waiting to happen!

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