The ocean and beach at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 5, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
The picture above was taken this past May at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. It was a perfect morning with clouds on the horizon, a calm, blue ocean, and a clean beach all to ourselves.
The schooner Alliance, Yorktown, Virginia. June 19, 2007.
This is my post for Watery Wednesday. To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.
When Betsy and I were in Yorktown, Virginia, we were near the waterfront one evening when we saw the schooner Alliance sail down the river. I’ll have to admit that she looked beautiful to me, but then I’ve always been fascinated by sailing ships.
The Alliance is 105 foot three masted gaff-rigged schooner, which sails twice daily from Riverwalk Landing Pier in Yorktown from May thru October. The rest of the year it sails in the Caribbean.
The Alliance was built in 1995 in Palm Coast, Florida, and was brought to Yorktown in 2005. She has a diesel engine as well as the full set of sails and can accommodate 49 passengers on daysails or 12 overnight passengers.
Gran Piton, Soufriere, St. Lucia. September 13, 2001.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
The picture above was taken in 2001 on the island of St. Lucia. Betsy and I were on our honeymoon cruise and had gone ashore to tour a plantation near the town of Soufriere. The mountain is Gran Piton, one of two mountains that mark the entrance to the harbor. You can see a stretch of a tropical beach in the lower right of the picture.
5-inch and AA guns on the North Carolina. May, 2007.
We got some much-needed rain here on the Plateau today, so I was able to get some work done on the computer. One of the things I got done was working on some of the pictures we took while we were at the beach in 2007.
One day of our stay was rainy, so we drove to Wilmington, North Carolina, where we visited the battleship North Carolina. The North Carolina was launched June 13, 1940 and commissioned April 9, 1941. At the time of her commissioning she was considered to be most powerful ship afloat.
The North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific and earned 15 battle stars. During the war she steamed over 300,000 miles. Although the Japanese claimed to have sunk her six times, she survived the war with a loss of 10 men killed in action and 67 wounded.
In 1958 the announcement that the North Carolina was to be scrapped led to a statewide campaign by the citizens of North Carolina to save the ship and bring her to her namesake state. The campaign was successful and the battleship arrived at her current berth in Wilmington on October 2, 1961. She was dedicated as the State’s memorial to its World War II verterans on April 29, 1962.
It’s possible to tour almost all departments of this ship, from the engine room to the flag bridge. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit — we were glad that we had a rainy day while we were at the beach.
If you would like to see more of the North Carolina click HERE.
Ormond Beach, Florida. August 5, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
We spent Betsy’s birthday (August 5) at Ormond Beach, Florida. Betsy likes the beach almost as much as she likes the mountains, so since we were going to Florida to see her brother Ray, we decided to celebrate her birthday at the beach.
The photo above was taken from our room looking north along the beach. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful beach, which was very clean and had surprisingly few people on the beach.
Betsy at Ormond Beach, Florida. August 5, 2009.
After enjoying the view from our room, we went down to the beach to get some sun and to get wet in the Atlantic. Here you can see Betsy getting ready for her time in the sun.
Ormond Beach, Florida. August 5, 2009.
This final picture was taken on the beach looking south toward Daytona Beach. I’ll have to admit that I really enjoyed Betsy’s birthday at this scenic spot. I hope Betsy enjoyed it as well.
The top of Falling Waters Falls, Florida. August 6, 2009.
As many of you know, Betsy and I like to plan our trips so that we can visit new waterfalls. Our recent trip to Florida was no exception and we visited waterfalls both on the way to Florida and on the way back.
Finding waterfalls to visit in north Georgia was no problem — there are many we haven’t seen. But Florida or south Georgia proved to be more difficult. But our research did find one natural waterfall in Florida. It is located in Falling Waters State Park, south of Chipley, Florida, in the Florida panhandle. So we arranged to visit the park on our way home.
Falling Waters State Park contains huge trees and fern-covered sinkholes. Sink Hole Trail is a boardwalk that leads around several sinkholes and to the waterfall. The waterfall is fed by seepage springs, so there wasn’t a great deal of water, as you can see by the picture above, which shows the top of the falls.
But the waterfall is still fascinating, because it is contained in a 100-foot deep, 20-foot wide cylindrical pit. The actual drop of the water is 73 feet. The picture below shows some of the debris in the bottom of the pit.
The bottom of the sinkhole into which Falling Waters Falls flows. August 6, 2009.
The water’s final destination after dropping into the pit is not known.
We’ve visited waterfalls that have a higher volume of water, but Falling Waters Falls was still a fascinating addition to our collection.
Sunset at Ormond Beach, Florida. August 5, 2009.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
The picture above was taken at sunset on Betsy’s birthday. We were in Ormond Beach, Florida, and had a room overlooking the Atlantic.
Now I know the sun doesn’t set over the Atlantic from Florida. The sun was going down behind us on the other side of the building. But I liked the color of the clouds over the ocean that I couldn’t resist snapping this photo. And, of course, I had to share it on Skywatch Friday.
The main gate of Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.
After visiting Betsy’s brother, Ray, in Jacksonville, we headed south to Ormond Beach for Betsy’s birthday. We travelled through Saint Augustine, and, since we had some extra time, decided to stop at Castillo de San Marcos.
The Spanish started construction on Castillo de San Marcos in 1672. The detail and architecture of the fort are both distinctive and unique. Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry and the only existing 17th century fort in North America.
The outer walls of the fort. August 4, 2009.
The first 300 years of the existence of the fort were times of constant warfare as European countries vied for the economic wealth of the New World. The Castillo was attacked many times (mostly by the British) but was never captured.
The reconstructed city of St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.
The present National Park Service Monument consists of over 20 acres and includes a reconstructed section of the St. Augustine city wall.
Both Betsy and I enjoyed our visit to this, one of the oldest structures in the U. S. If you’re ever near St. Augustine visit the fort. We think you’ll enjoy it.
Falls on Waters Creek, Turners Corner, Georgia. August 2, 2009.
This is my post for Watery Wednesday, a weekly meme created and hosted by 2sweeetnsaxy of Eyes, Mind, Heart. To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.
On our way to Florida last week Betsy and I visited some new waterfalls in north Georgia. One of the nicest we saw was Falls on Waters Creek, near Turners Corner, Georgia. The picture above was taken along a Forest Service road, but we were able to get a closer view by hiking down to the large flat rock seen in the center-right of this picture, which can be enlarged by clicking on it.
I really like the way the trees frame the waterfall in this Watery Wednesday view.
Mrs. P in the north Georgia Mountains. August 2, 2009.
I’m sure Betsy and I will have quite a bit to say about our trip to Florida in the days ahead, but now I want to tell you about the unsung partner in all our travels. There’s a lot of talk about clunkers nowadays, but our Prius — Mrs. P — is definitely not a clunker.
We got Mrs. P in February, 2005. Since then we have traveled many miles — some of them on interstates and some on less-well maintained roads. Mrs. P has successfully traveled along snow-covered forest service dirt roads in the mountains and successfully gotten over and through wash-outs that turned back jeeps.
Last Sunday we were in the mountains of north Georgia searching for some waterfalls. We knew there was a stream with two waterfalls on them about two miles from a ranger station. The sign in the photo above (enlarge the picture to read it more clearly) was on the opposite side of the road from the station.
Mrs. P handled the road with no problems. I just could not resist taking this picture on our way back. I wonder where Mrs. P will take us next?
Senior Moments 