I’ve been to NYC too many times to count, but I’ve never spent time in Brooklyn. We had a quick visit here, this time we stayed in Red Hook.
We enjoyed walking around the neighborhood, finding a nice lobster pound.
Red Hook Lobster Pound was great
And we took a nice tour up and down the East River.
Brooklyn BridgeGovernors Island to the left, Manhattan up ahead
We ran across this pretty boat, the SV Clearwater, getting some paint touch up. The Clearwater is the sloop Pete Seeger raised money for, and had built, to raise awareness of the pollution in the Hudson River back in the 1960s. It is still actively promoting environmental education as a floating classroom, and has inspired countless other efforts across the country. More info here: https://www.clearwater.org/the-sloop/
Noreen and David made a quick trip to Austin in January and stayed with us. They’ve been to Austin many times, and it’s getting harder to find new things to show them. This time we all took a day trip to Gruene. Gotta love the Hill Country’s little towns.
My main intent for this trip to Seattle was to see my 7 great nieces & nephews. ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅
I also spent some good time with all but one of my nieces and nephews, and my sisters. I got a chance to visit my friend Irene again. We surprised her mom who I last saw at our high school graduation too long ago. What a special treat.
The Pacific Northwest is beautiful. It never disappoints.
Sunset at Everett MarinaFog at Port Townsend harborPears at Rachel & Matthew’s homeSilver City Brewery in BremertonSmoky view across Hood Canal
I’m visiting my family in Seattle. I took a break from hugging babies to attend the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. The rain cooperated and Noreen, Colleen, and I had a fun day.
I enjoy visiting the Blanton Museum once or twice a year to take in their new and traveling exhibits. A new exhibit just arrived that includes some of the works of Velázquez and El Greco, and similar artists from Spain and South America who were court painters in the 1500s and 1600s. I remember learning of them and seeing some of their paintings for the first time at the Prado Museum when I was in high school. So this was an exhibit I wanted to see. The exhibit is called “Spirit and Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque” and will be at the Blanton through February 1, 2026.
Keep in mind that every Tuesday is Free Tuesday at the Blanton. But go any day that works! UT is back in session, so parking was a bit of a zoo. The Brazos Garage was full. Try the Trinity Garage; they were allowing public parking last week.
Earlier this month, Monte and I checked something off his wish list. We booked a 5-day/4-night cruise on the Lewis R. French. The French is a 2-masted gaff-rigged wooden schooner. Built in 1871 in Christmas Cove, it is the only remaining 19th-century schooner built in Maine. It is a National Historic Landmark, and is the oldest active commercial sailing vessel in the United States. It is part of the extensive Maine Windjammer Association, taking guests on 3-6 day cruise adventures in Penobscot Bay.
The Lewis R French anchored off Burnt Island, near North Haven.
The French hosts twenty guests, with a crew of five. The weather was excellent. We had a little bit of everything: sun, sporting wind, fog, light wind, and some shooting stars, thanks to the Perseid meteor shower. Guests are welcome to hoist and lower sails, sound the fog horn, steer, raise anchor, and help row one of the two wooden rowboats to shore and back. The French operates on sail only, but tows a diesel tender behind which is used to push it in and out of harbors and as an auxiliary motor in case there is no wind at all.
Kurt, Kevin, and Edie also came on the trip, which made for even more fun. We arrived one day ahead of time to explore Camden and other towns a bit before boarding our cruise. We stayed at the Lord Camden Inn, and had a great view of the entire harbor from our balcony.
A view of Camden inner harbor. The French is the schooner on the left
We didn’t have to board the schooner until 5pm, so we had plenty of time to explore. We drove to the top of Mount Battie and took in sweeping views of Penobscot Bay, and Camden Harbor.
A view of Camden Harbor from Mount Battie, and Penobscot Bay beyond.
We also visited nearby coastal towns of Rockport, Damariscotta, Rockland, and Bath.
Our first night we slept aboard at the dock in Camden. In the morning we set off to the east, ending up anchoring at Burnt Island outside North Haven. We enjoyed a lobster bake ashore on the beach.
The next day we headed north, it was a long day of sailing, sometimes in light wind, sometimes in moderate wind, anchoring in Holbrook Harbor. We rowed ashore for a short walk on one of the islands there before dinner.
In the morning, I was happy to hear that we would sail to the nearby historic town of Castine after breakfast to grab a mooring and then go ashore for a couple of hours. I walked to the lighthouse and back, exploring the museum and the historic fort locations along the way.
Dyce Head Light at Castine.
After everyone was back on board, we hoisted sails again for a really lovely sail in good winds south to Gilkey’s Harbor at Islesboro.
Eagle Island Lighthouse near Deer Isle.
The next morning we headed out in thick fog southwest back to Camden.
Curtis Island Light at Camden
The food aboard was plentiful and delicious. The chef “OB” kept bringing up baked goods, meals, and snacks from the galley below.
A large and well-appointed galley is where all the food magic happens. The wrap around table can seat about 20 if need be.O.B. plays a mean concertina.
Captain (and owner) Becky kept things running smoothly. First mate Alex and her deck hands Jesse and Jenny kept things ship shape and made it all look easy.
After coming ashore again in Camden, we piled into the car headed back to Portland. We bid adieu to Kurt, dropped Edie and Kevin at the airport, and then Monte and I hopped a Casco Bay ferry over to Great Diamond Island to stay with Lori and Mike for a few days in their wonderful vacationland home.
The old ice pond at Diamond Cove on Great Diamond Island. Now a pretty place just to sit. And maybe get married.
While they no longer have a sailboat, they have a new addition, a 27′ Boston Whaler that is moored at the island. We used it to head over to Peaks Island one night for dinner, and to spend an afternoon taking in a floating concert at Cow Island.
The Flotilla to Fight Cancer was a concert on the water. The band played from the stern of these two lobsterboats moored together.
This is my 3rd summer visit to Maine, and each has been very memorable and fun.
We made a trip to Port Aransas this weekend for their wooden boat show. I always enjoy our time spent there. The weather was still pretty hot for the end of October. Shade was in short supply.
The historic Tarpon Inn is where we like to stay. No TV or clocks in the rooms. But it’s in the middle of everything.
The porch of the Tarpon Inn outside our room at sunrise.
We enjoyed fantastic meals at Tortuga Saltwater Grill and Venetian Hotplate, I highly recommend both. And thankfully found the best coffee shop in town at Barefoot Beans (they open at 6AM!).
We toured the UT Marine Science Center exhibits and outdoor wetlands displays.
We checked out the sand pumpkins on the beach.
This morning we spent a couple hours at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center and saw over 30 species, including the American Flamingo that has become a local.
On the drive home today we stopped for BBQ at Smitty’s Market in Lockhart. The Subaru looked so tiny parked amongst the big Texas PickUps. 🙂
Back home now watching a sad Seahawks game unfold. Oh well. It was fun weekend nonetheless.
Monte and I just got home from visiting Lori & Mike and their new home in Maine. It is on an island a few miles offshore from Portland, Maine. Like all the other homes in the private community at Diamond Cove, theirs is a thoroughly modern restoration of a historic building from the former Fort McKinley Army Base. Fort McKinley began operating in the late 1800s, is now privately owned, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is amazing; beautiful, historic, full of woods, bike paths, beaches, and wildlife. How lucky they are to have found it.
Sunset on our first evening – a view of Fort Gorges in Casco Bay
We rode the ferry many times – walked and biked on several islands in Casco Bay – sampled brews and seafood in Portland and nearby towns – toured the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine – played a little cornhole – found a geocache – found an insane amount of sea glass at the beach – spied several shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower – took a historic tour of the island – boarded a sunset cruise on a schooner in Casco bay – visited Portland Head Light. Monte and Mike even found time to complete a project in the well-equipped community woodshop on the island.
A view from the deck of Schooner Bagheera of Portland Schooner CompanyPortland Head Lighthouse
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Laura also planned a visit at the same time between trips to visit her family and it was really great to spend some time with her, too.
I am not one to complain about all the great rain we’ve gotten this week. God knows we need it. Yesterday was mostly overcast but dry. It was a good day for a drive in the hill country, and for a pickup party at Becker.
I made a quick trip to the Texas Gulf Coast this past week. I got in some birding at High Island on Wednesday and Thursday. Then made a quick stop into Kemah at my favorite marine resale shop, then back home.
I enjoyed the birding. Not a record setter, but it was the only time I could make it down there during Spring migration. I got some nice photos, saw about 60 species, and brought home another used sail.
Some National Parks are created to preserve a rare species. Others are created to preserve a uniquely beautiful location. I’m sure there are other reasons that motivate a place being enshrined and protected as a US National Park.
Sequoia National Park was founded in 1890, to “protect giant sequoia trees, the largest living trees by volume on Earth,” according to the National Park Service website. In the early days of Sequoia NP, fire suppression was a major focus. It was fascinating to learn that in doing so for upwards of a century, we were actually threatening their existence. It turns out that the seed cones of the giant Sequoia trees require the high-temperature heat from wildfires to release their seeds. And natural thinning by wildfire is also needed to provide adequate sunlight for the new trees.
In the end, modern researchers have provided better guidance to preserve these gentle giants, who are obviously resilient to fire. It was hard to find one of these up to 2000-year-old trees that hadn’t been scarred from fires at some point.
This is an important lesson to think about on this 54th Earth Day. We should act with preservation and conservation in mind, but learn and adapt to the best methods. Sometimes we are wrong.
The North Entrance along General’s Highway greeted us with hills and canyons full of fire-damaged trees.Nearly every giant sequoia bears the scars of wildfire (they are over 2000 years old!) Some don’t make it, but many do.A balance of nature.
As we roll into this year’s Earth Day, I find myself coming home from a whirlwind trip to California where I experienced four national parks in four days with Lori, Doray, and Laura.
The first park was Yosemite, where I got a glimpse of the amazing scenery of El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls, and Yosemite Falls. We walked through the Yosemite Valley, along the Tuolumne and Merced rivers.
El Capitan to the left. Bridal Veil Falls in the middle, with Cathedral Rocks above it. And Half Dome way in the back between them. Taken from Tunnel View.A better view of Half Dome 💙
We stayed at the Wawona Hotel. It was comfortable, but the shared bath/shower house attached to the Hotel might not be for everyone. There’s no elevator, so pack light, because everything must be removed from your vehicle at night to prevent attracting bears. The restaurant meals were good. The scenery everywhere was amazing.
The next park was Kings Canyon, a deep glacially-formed canyon where the ‘kings’ are gigantic monarch sequoias, including the one called General Grant. We enjoyed up-close views of these giants, and hiking through incredible groves of trees.
General Grant monarch sequoia.
The next park was just down the road, Sequoia National Park. Snow and downed trees had kept the connecting road, Generals Highway, closed this season until just an hour or two before we arrived. This was a much appreciated surprise which saved us hours of driving.
Inside Sequoia, we stayed at Wuksachi Lodge for two nights. It was comfortable, but we schlepped everything up and down stairs here, too. The restaurant and lodge was convenient for breakfast and dinner. But we made our own lunches to eat on the go. We visited petroglyph rock, the Giant Forest of 2000+ year old sequoias, and its museum. We had lunch at Beetle Rock, overlooking the San Joaquin valley. The highlight of Sequoia for me was the hike to, and up to the top of, Moro Rock and its 360 degree views of the canyons and surrounding valleys. It was breathtaking.
Lunch stop atop Beetle Rock.Moro Rock taken from the foothills. We made it to the top of this bad boy @ 6700+ feet above sea level
Even though we were pooped, we made the trek down to see the biggest known single trunk tree, by volume, in the world, General Sherman. Impressive. But I sure wish it wasn’t downhill from the parking lot at the end of day three. 🙂
The next park was Pinnacles, which featured rugged peaks formed from volcanic eruptions. We didn’t spend much time here but we enjoyed lunch and a hike. We didn’t originally plan to hit this park but realized it was close enough to include in our trip after we arrived.
Taken inside Pinnacles NP from Peaks View
We started and ended the trip in Santa Barbara, which allowed us to see Laura’s beautiful new home.
I’m back home now. And scheming my next park adventures.
Happy New Year! I know. I’ve been MIA. Sorry about that. But, I’m still here!
Noreen and David joined us in Austin for the last week or so. They flew down to see the total solar eclipse. Our house and much of Central Texas were in the zone of totality. We wanted to maximize our amount of time in totality. So, Monte picked Lampasas, Texas as our destination, about an hour drive northwest of our house. The forecast was not great for Austin or Lampasas, but we took our chances, and it turned out great.
Lampasas experienced over 4 1/2 minutes of totality, and it was awesome. The clouds cooperated and, like in 2017, the predicted Armageddon didn’t happen. We didn’t hit traffic or crowds.
One thing that was particularly cool, and that I really don’t recall it being as striking during the last eclipse as it was this year, was how upon reaching totality, it was like the lights just turned off. I don’t remember it being that sudden or that dark in 2017.
I guess I’ll have to travel somewhere if I’m going to see another. There’s one in August 2026 in Spain, maybe I’ll make that one!
Photo of April 8, 2024 solar eclipse taken using my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III from Lampasas, Texas
Sheila365 