The 2010 East Coast Tour

Well. Where to start after my extended break? I guess the best way to proceed is to use this first post from my East Coast Tour as a sort of index of what you can expect over the next several days. First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip, visiting friends in Georgia and the Carolinas, and finally getting a chance to see the Shiloh National Military Park. It is off the beaten track.

I left Austin on Tuesday, 28 September, headed east. Skirting Houston, I made good time into Louisiana where I had my first planning snag. At Baton Rouge, though I had charted I-12, I didn't make a mental note about the change and followed I-10 South of Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans, which probably added an hour or so to my first day's drive. I-10 is a pretty easy drive though and I arrived at Pensacola before dark.

The next morning, I mixed it up with the rest of the rush-hour traffic and made my way to Gulf Breeze and Santa Rosa Island. I followed the coast road through Fort Walton Beach and Destin, then turned north to rejoin I-10 to Tallahassee. I had hoped to get some good pictures along the coast, but my skills were a bit rusty or I hadn't gotten into the proper frame of mind yet. Nothing to show for the few stops I made. From Tallahassee I cut across southeastern Georgia and took back roads to Savannah.

I estimated the length of the drive pretty well and made it to Darin's and Jennie's house about 5 minutes before Darin got home from work and in plenty of time to leave for the BB King concert downtown. I enjoyed the concert very much, though the auditorium seating had not been laid out with someone my size in mind. No pics from the concert. You can find any number of them online which would be indistinguishable from mine had I taken any.

I explored the area on my own the next day - anticipating red beans and rice for dinner - while Darin and Jennie were at work. They're from Louisiana, and understand such things.

On Friday the rain and clouds had disappeared, so we had lunch in Wright Square (above). The woman in the picture was weaving flowers out of marsh grass and selling them from her bench. Later, we toured the Ships of the Sea Museum, the Bonaventure Cemetery and Tybee Island, and went back downtown for dinner at the Crystal Palace Beer Garden and dessert at Leopold's Ice Cream Parlor.

October 2 - the day of the wedding - I drove up the coast to Mount Pleasant, met Pat and Ginger for lunch, then got ready for the wedding downtown at the Circular Congregational Church and reception at the Mills House (above). That's Ellen dancing with her father, Tony, and the groom, David, is looking on. I brought my small camera with me, and took a few pictures but, as the night went on, I seemed to lack focus - it didn't bother me a bit. I saw lots of old friends, met several new ones, and still had my camera at the end of the night.

After Sunday brunch at Tony's and Donna's I made the short drive up the coast through Myrtle Beach to Wilmington to visit Joe Vetter and check out his new digs at Wrightsville Beach. We stayed at the rectory, went out to the beach to see St. Theresa's and consider whether the weather would clear (above) for my trip to the Outer Banks, then went out to dinner. I'm glad Joe's where he is. He's worked hard during his 12 years at Duke and deserves this type of assignment.

It's Monday morning and Joe split for a meeting in Raleigh while I continued up the coast looking for seascapes to photograph and some indication that the weather would clear. I checked out the coast at Surf City (above), curved up and around Camp Lejeune, and back to the beach on the Emerald Isle. The weather had me wondering most of the morning how this photo trip was going to turn out but it did eventually start to look hopeful. When I got up near Morehead City, I turned west and headed for Wilson to see Pat and Ginger.

Pat got a kitchen pass for Tuesday and Wednesday so we headed for the Outer Banks via Port Raleigh on Roanoke Island. We skipped Kitty Hawk since we paid homage to the Wright brothers when we made our previous whirlwind tour in 2002. This time we booked rooms in Buxton which allowed us to explore Cape Hatteras and take pictures. We even had time to sit out watching the sunset (drinking Jack Daniels and whatever swill Pat had) and call a number of friends we thought might appreciate our great good fortune in being on the Cape and getting toasted.

I was up well before sunrise Wednesday and set up on the beach to record a Cape Hatteras sunrise. At a more reasonable hour I went back and had breakfast with Pat before going out to shoot anything else that might conceivably reward a photographer - like the seagulls in front of the Cape Hatteras Coast Guard station (above).

  

At mid-morning we took the ferry to Ocracoke Island. Pat got a map at the visitor's center (above) that showed the 3 or 4 other roads on the island, so we took some more pictures, had lunch, and settled back to wait for the Cedar Island ferry that would take us back to the mainland and Wilson before Pat's liberty expired.

 

Now, several days after the wedding, I figured life for Tony and Donna would just about be getting back to normal. It seemed like a fine time to return to Charleston for a few days of R&R. The low tide at Tony's dock (above) contrasts with the especially high tide (7.1 ft) I caught several times over the next few days. I also got to make friends with Tony's and Donna's new dog, Satchel, as well as Ellen's dog, Murphy.

Eventually, they told me I had to go home, so I headed for Atlanta to spend the night with my daughter, Gillian. I liked her apartment (above), and the idea that she had room for me. I might go back. Tuesday, before leaving town, I had lunch with two friends I worked with years ago at Lockheed. A couple other friends contrived a trip to Eglin Air Force Base - so they wouldn't have to hear how great retirement is, I guess.

That's all the friends and family on the agenda, so there's one thing left. I drove up through Chattanooga and east, past the Jack Daniels distillery (I bowed my head as I passed), and on to Savannah, Tennessee where I spent the night. Early the next morning - since I forgot to turn my clock back to central time - I arrived at the Shiloh National Military Park before anyone else (rangers or tourists). So I drove through the park alone at sunrise (above), enjoying the quiet, the changing light, the deer and turkeys - very restful. I spent about two hours there and it set the tone for the day. I drove on home through Memphis, Arkansas, and the East Texas Piney Woods. I arrived safe and sound Wednesday night, after 17 days and more than 1000 pictures.

Over the next several days, I'll post pictures and comments from the trip - much as I did after the trip to Colorado and Utah in May. I'll warn you ahead of time, there's lots of water, boats, marinas, piers, and - most of all - birds. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the comments but, in any case, I enjoyed the tour and look forward to the next one.