The mountains of western North Carolina. May 29, 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 got home from North Carolina last night. We had a very relaxing couple of days with our friends Judy and Charlie. They have a very beautiful cabin in the mountains south of Franklin. The picture above is a view of the mountains from their deck.
The moon over the ocean. Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 8, 2009.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. Last week over 300 people shared their view of the sky. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
There were so many nice things about our vacation at the beach that it’s hard to pick the one thing that stands out. I’ve already mentioned the beach and the seafood and Betsy talked about some of the waterfalls we saw to and from the beach.
But one very special thing was the show Mother Nature put on for us the last two nights we were at the beach. We had a beautiful moonrise right opposite the balcony of our room. The moon and the reflection on the ocean were absolutely gorgeous.
Of course I didn’t have a tripod with me, so the picture above is not as good as it could be. Still, it’s a nice reminder of a couple of special evenings.
I’ve posted another picture of the moon over the ocean on my photo blog, Photos by Senior Hiker. You can see it by clicking HERE.
The Little River, South Carolina, waterfront, May 7, 2009.
I lived in Little River, South Carolina, from November, 1997 until November, 2000. Most of the time while I lived there Little River could best (charitably) be described as a quiet fishing village. There were fishing boats moored along the waterfront, along with a very few pleasure craft. The buildings along the waterfront contained a couple of restaurants (definitely blue collar) and seafood markets that sold the catches brought in by the boats.
The picture above was taken last week while we were on vacation. The two boats in the foreground are charter fishing boats which will take fishermen out to sea for a day or half-day of fishing. But what is that large boat in the background?
A casino boat docked at Little River. May 7, 2007.
Casino boats came to Little River in 1999. At first there was only one, but now there are two. While this second picture isn’t from a very good angle, it does give some indication of the size of one of the casino boats. This particular boat holds up to 600 passengers and makes two cruises daily.
So what changes have been brought to Little River? There are definitely more people around than there used to be. Many of the seafood markets have been replaced by bars or parking lots. Little River now has a traffic problem. Does that qualify as progress?
Shrimp boat off the coast of North Carolina. May 6, 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.
The picture above was taken from the balcony of our room at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. We could see at least one shrimp boat off the coast just about every day. We liked to think that the boat was busy catching our dinner for that evening.
We thoroughly enjoyed the beach and we enjoyed the seafood even more, if that is possible. Ocean Isle is just north of Calabash, North Carolina, and Little River, South Carolina. Both of those towns are fishing ports and it’s possible to buy seafood fresh seafood right off the boats. Betsy and I prefer to let someone else buy and prepare the seafood. Both towns have excellent seafood restaurants and we have favorites in both towns and visit them each year.
An ocean view and fresh seafood — two wonderful things about our watery world.
Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May, 2007.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. Last week over 300 people shared their view of the sky. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
The picture above was taken on Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. I honestly don’t know what I like most about this picture — the sky, the beach, or the ocean.
I selected this picture because Betsy and I are getting ready to head back there for a week. We try to get there each year, and although we’ve been on the road quite a bit this year, we decided to go back. The beach is nice, but the seafood is irresistible! Fortunately our yard and garden can get along without us for a few days.
I plan on doing a post tomorrow (Saturday) morning, but then we’ll be away from our computers for a week.
Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua. September 12, 2001.
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.
The picture above was taken at Nelson’s Dockyard on the island of Antigua. Nelson’s Dockyard is a restored Georgian yard named in honor of the British admiral Lord Horatio Nelson.
The yard was originally called “His Majesty’s Antigua Naval Yard”. Construction of the naval yard began in 1725 and was the headquarters of the British Leeward Islands fleet during the late eighteenth and early to mid nineteenth centuries. This site was selected because the narrow mouth of the harbor which can be seen in the distance was easily defensible. The facility was closed and abandoned by the British Navy in 1889.
Although Nelson served in the British Navy in the Leeward Islands from 1784 until 1787, his name did not become associated with the naval yard until a major restoration project began in the 1950s.
Possum Falls, Dunlap, Tennessee. April 21, 2009.
In my previous post I mentioned a nice surprise that Betsy and I encountered while driving on the interstate. Today I would like to share a pleasant surprise we encountered on a back road.
We came back from Texas on Monday and Tuesday, April 20 and 21. We got as far as Fort Payne, Alabama Monday night and, since we had to go near Fall Creek Falls State Park (our special place) on April 21 in order to get home, we decided to stop by the park on the way. So we asked our GPS to take us by the shortest route (which usually means back roads) and off we went.
We were going up the Escarpment when Betsy called out that she had seen a waterfall along the road. So we turned around and went back to a pull-off where we found the waterfall shown in the picture above. Research after we got home told us that this is Possum Falls, an 80-foot fall near the road. This was a waterfall that we hadn’t known about until we stumbled upon it.
An added bonus was two more waterfalls in the next couple of miles on this back road.
Lake Nickajack, Tennessee. April 16, 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 post your own pictures, click HERE.
Betsy and I like to travel on back roads whenever possible — we see much more of America that way. But our recent trip to Texas involved such long distances that we asked our GPS to take us by the quickest route, even though we knew that would mean mostly going on the interstate highways.
We’ve stopped at some fairly nice rest areas on the interstate, although I would not call most of them scenic. But on this trip we got a real surprise — a rest area that is actually scenic.
The picture above was taken at the rest area on I-24 near Chattanooga. The rest area is on an island in Lake Nickajack on the Tennessee River. The lake is formed by Nickajack Dam, a hydroelectric dam near Jasper Tennessee. Nickajack Dam is one of nine dams on the Tennessee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The name Nickajack comes from a Cherokee village which once stood just upstream from the dam site.
Texas Welcome Center. April 17, 2008.
Betsy and I are leaving a little later this morning for Texas. We’re going down to see our (Betsy’s) two granddaughters play softball. They are both excellent athletes and have been playing softball for several years.
We were in Texas last year, but neither girl had a game while we were there. They both have games scheduled for the coming weekend so we’re hoping the weather will cooperate so we can see them play.
We’ll hopefully be back next Wednesday. I don’t think we’ll find any waterfalls on this trip, but if we get on some back roads you never can tell.
I hope all of you have a great week. We’ll catch up with you when we get back.
I’m beginning to feel as if I’m moving backward with my to-do lists. I’m now spending more time out in the yard. That’s something I thoroughly enjoy, but it means I’m getting further and further behind on working on my pictures. I still haven’t gotten through all the pictures we took when we went to Arkansas . Hopefully I can get them done before Christmas!
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that we went to Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hotsprings, Arkansas. We went there because our Arkansas waterfall book had a listing for a waterfall in the garden. The gardens are the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas and are well worth a visit if you are in the area.
The collage above is made up of the waterfall and several of the other streams and cascades in the gardens. The streams were almost as pretty as the flowers.
Senior Moments 