Typhoon or Squall?

Paul and I went fishing on Monday...

They said it might rain...

Sorta looked like it might...
Thought about suggesting we leave..
But it was a long walk, and, well, you know...

Thank goodness for bridge pilings. The sand blowing through
there would take your skin off!

By the way, the boat in the video below was a beautiful
red boat that looked new and the wind blew it onto the
sandbar there at Matanzas Inlet and they were still there
when we left, trying to push it off.

A Week Away

I thought this might be a good time to wrap up a week spent in St. Augustine that was supposed to be more than just Bekah, Tyler and myself. Kenita was unable to go because of back problems which will be addressed soon, and because Bekah has classes this was the only opportunity she would have to go South this Summer. The pelican above followed us for over half a mile at 28 mph on one of the days we spent fishing on th ICW. He seemed to want to stay with us as we traveled up the waterway. Below is a picture of a manatee which was one of a "herd" of them we came upon that day. They weren't giving us a lot of skin to take pictures of but we did see one that had been hit by a propeller. The cut was real pink in color.

After taking the boat out we took it to the local car wash to clean it and happened across this little family of ducks. Mama Duck was hissing at me as I took the picture. She was moving her brood away from the mean old human but I was just trying to get a decent picture.

A few pictures of the place in St. Auggie...

We thought seriouly about taking the boat out in the bay for the Fourth of July fireworks show but decided against it since I've never navigated in the dark. We drove in as close as we could and rode bikes into town. Although we regretted not going in the boat, it was probably the best thing because getting out of town was a lot easier on bikes than it would have been in the boat.

When we first got downtown there was a military band in the plaza and they were fantastic.

There were a lot of boats in the bay, too.

Since we got there so early, we rode the bikes around town for a while. This picture and the next two were taken beneath the Tiffany windows of the Flagler College dining hall. I just looked up as we were leaving and this shot presented itself.

Odd man out...

Ah...young love!

Odd man out redeux...

Casa Monica at dusk.

Morons at dusk.

And...some of the show...

I have to say, it was the best fireworks show I've ever seen, especially the last three minutes. The finale was awesome. Just a constant, solar plexus pounding show.

Fishin', sorta

Our fishing drought was finally ended today by the capture of not one but two wily denizens of the deep. Our heroic struggles against these two awesome specimens was not to be sneezed at. Bek fought her Sheephead for all of 3 or 4 minutes while I battled against my "toadfish?" for well over 4 1/2 minutes, finally boating the beast.

Scrappy Girls

Stack of Stuff

A few things from the last few days that need posting but with no specific theme. To try to wrap up our (my) week (few days) with Rachel and her friends on her St. Augustine birthday getaway...

Not to overdo any one particular attraction, but we feel like taking guests to Washington Oaks is worth doing and it's proving to be photogenic in every season that we've visited. We'll see what the heat of Summer is like but so far it's been a very worthwhile stop.

Here are the girls at the plantation home that's on the property.

The roses were pretty well bloomed out but there were still many opportunities for good photos. Did you notice anything different about the last few photos? I've got a new macro lens that takes very good close-ups. It's not something you would want to use for distance pictures but it's excellent for the up close stuff. I'm still learning...depth of field, etc.

Some more... Close up: Palm Trunk

I just about tripped over this guy. He looks pretty big but was probably only 3 feet long. Oh, did I mention that Washington Oaks is close to J.T.'s (home of a really good hamburger and onion rings)?It's hard to hold back on lunch when you're really hungry knowing you're going to chow down at Ruth's Chris that evening. We managed to get away on time and got there at the appointed hour despite the time it took them all to get ready. Final touches on the ride to Ponte Vedra. The very picture of savoir-faire. Are these the same girls who jumped out of the boat that day?

The next day, a quick trip to Fort Matanzas. Matanzas translates to "slaughter". Read about it here...

.....after which we had a quick lunch at The World Famous Oasis.....

.....followed by late afternoon sunbathing on the beach. My time was short by now. Even though the girls planned to stay a couple of more days, I needed to return to the mountains, for I had promised my oldest, Sarah, that I would meet her and Kristen and Lacy and IAN in Asheville for dinner Saturday night. We had a real good visit and Ian was, as is usual, very laid back...

He's a pretty cool dude, don't you think?