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Water and Me

Water and Me

Category Archives: vacation

North Carolina October 2020

01 Sunday Nov 2020

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

≈ 1 Comment

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.

Indian Beach Vacation

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by Ronald Parks in Photography, State Parks, vacation

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Beach, Beach Life, boats, Bogue Inlet, dolphins, Fort Macon, North Carolina, tours, turtles

After months of retiring, selling our homes, moving, working on the new house…we finally were able to take a vacation. Kathy’s sister let us stay at her place on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Thanks Gail and John for a much needed break.

On the drive down we stopped for a rest at the Dismal Swamp Canal. Place has an interesting history. Google it. We also stopped on our way home.

While there, the hydraulic bridge was being moved for a couple of boats to go through. Boats have the right of way.

Raising the bridge

Molly needed a rest area too!

History

The canal

Whatever happened to this guy?

Onto Indian Beach. Some favorite shots.

Portuguese Man-o-War Jellyfish

Replacing dune grasses
50 cent
Turtle Nest
Wave Dancer
Peace

Night time, sun sets.

One night we went for a bike ride.

Bike ride sunset

Emoticons – Emoceans.

Headed over to Beaufort for a boat ride to Shackleford Island.

A beauty amongst the flowers
Putting a boat on a boat
Tour boat
Plane pulling a para-glider
On their own
Duke University lab
Lots of dolphins
Landing site for our adventure
Heading towards the horse paths
Higher than they look
I fell on this one. Saved my camera!
Skate
Fort Macon
Coast Guard yard
Fool

Bogue Inlet Pier

Thanks Gail and John! what a great vacation!

Freeport Bahamas May 2017

30 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Photography, Travel, vacation

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Tags

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.

Half Moon Cay (but I think it is pronounced key??)

07 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in kayaking, nature, Photography, vacation

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Tags

Bahamas, Hiking, kayaking, LIFE, nature, Travel

The next part of our Bahama Cruise was to a private island. Reading some history of this place, it was originally called Little San Salvador. It was purchased in 1997 by Holland American Line. It is a wild bird reserve and tourist play spot.

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The cruise ship drops anchor and a tender comes to take you ashore.

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Welcome! Thank you, glad we made it!

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Not sure if this was a real fort or not?

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Waiting to catch a bus to the other side of the island for some adventure!

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The upper right of this map is our destination.

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The bus dropped us off and now we are waiting for our tour guide to give us an ecological tour. I’m so excited!

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And the roosters in the tree are excited!

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And we are off – heading towards land over yonder.

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Nice group of us on the tour. Kathy kept them smiling. I will say though, it is a little hard kayaking in a two person kayak. I kept hitting Kathy’s paddle.

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About here is where the guy next to us fell out of his kayak.

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Everyone was picking him up and holding him (or her).

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Under our feet were thousands of these jelly fish. Our guide picks one up and says, don’t worry, they won’t sting you. Well, it stung this little girl that was with her father. He was pissed and she was pretty much done for the rest of the journey. Poor kid.

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After kayaking we headed to the beach for a while. Rental bungalows.

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A bar disguised as a pirate ship. Is nothing sacred?

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My sentiments exactly.

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Time to just chill and enjoy…

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…or you can swim out and watch your girlfriend look for sea glass.

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Walked around some; this guy was making a lot of noise.

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Interesting but kind of weird.

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The only thing you should leave when visiting a place like this…

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We leave you in peace.

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Nice night to snuggle on deck and watch Jason Bourne! Yes!

 

New York City

05 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in New York, Photography, vacation

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

art, boats, Hiking, HISTORY, Museum, nature, Parks, photography

Did the Groupon Tour Bus to NYC the other day. Really nice trip and for $32 round trip, you couldn’t beat the price. Left the Carney Park and Ride at 7:26am and was parked in NY at 10:25am. Had to be back to the bus by 6:30pm. Nice long day of sight-seeing. It has been close to 30 years since I have been there. Back then it was smelly and dirty and I saw someone get robbed right outside of Penn Station…

First stop, Times Square.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Inside the church.

Past Rockefeller Center and thru some back streets to this guy made of Coach bags. I was waiting for the girl to start singing… “Mothra…”

The first Trump property we saw. Armed Tactical Police outside with dogs. Secret Service inside with scanners. Looking down from the top of the waterfall.

From walking around mid-town to Central Park. Not sure what was going on with the woman in the pink top, to the left. It looks like her transporter malfunctioned.

On the hour and half hour, these guys rotate around the base of the clock.

Nice zoo in the park.

 

Model yacht sailing on one of the lakes.

Was goiing to ask Alice something, but she seemed pre-occupied knocking this little kid off her toadstool…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the oblisk.

Then to Belvedere castle.

View of the turtle pond with many of them basking in the sun, along with the egret.

Across the pond to the Grand Lawn.

We were supposed to go to the Natural History Museum, instead, we were enjoying just seeing the sites, we kept on going…The Dakota.

Which then took us back to Central Park and Imagine.

Lots of people trying to pay their respects. This was the only rowdy scene all day. Some rickshaw driver started cussing out tourist as he was hogging up the photo-op for his passengers. Surrealistic.

Another Trump Property, for the man who would be king and have this in his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relections.

This was pretty neat – a wall of plants, just barely hanging on by their roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lincold Center.

And of course, a bunch of water towers.

 

Chincoteague Va.

29 Monday May 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, nature, vacation

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Tags

birds, Hiking, kayaking, light house, Museum, nature, ocean, photography

Nice Memorial Weekend in Salisbury and Chincoteague. Again the weather was not cooperating for kayaking, but always a nice day for a hike.

Hung out at the visitor center a bit. Watched a film on the two distinct herds of horses and ponies. One in Maryland and one here. Down here they manage the size of the herd with birth control and an auction to benefit the volunteer fire department.

Hiked over to the light house. Too many people in line to go to the top. We will come back on a week day.

Sailors memorial behind the light house.

I always liked a B&W of various light houses.

Kathy’s mom hiked with us today.

It struck me as odd that the light house was on the bayside and not on the ocean. Pooling on the beach after high tide.

Windy and chilly. But lots of people on the beach. A few swimming. Safety zone flag.

On the opposite side of the ocean shore is Toms Cove. Some kayakers and bird photogs.

Clams, mussels and birds in the marsh.

Digging for dinner.

The brownish orange guy was chasing everyone out of his way.

Pony tails – nice gift shop. But we didn’t see a single horse or pony the whole time!!

Back on the farm – always a favorite view. It amazes me that the pines grew in such a straight line, about 20 deep…until Kathy’s father told me they didn’t just grow that way. He planted them that way! Ha! Dummy me!

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)

Favorite Photograph of 2016

31 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in nature, Photography, vacation

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Tags

art, Hiking, nature, North Carolina, ocean, photography

…and it’s not even one I took!

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Taken by Kathy’s sister Gail, in North Carolina. Love the water tower in the background…and Kathy’s not bad either!

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.

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

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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.”

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Deal Island bridge.

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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.

 

 

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