The Best Beach Ever!

On the morning of our last day together, we loaded up the van and took off for a very special beach! A beach on the Atlantic Ocean owned by NASA, and the US Navy! Through some sort of cooperative agreement, we were allowed a short time on this deserted beach after being cleared through security of course. I was warned to be very careful with my camera or risk it being taken away
(me too presumably). After the space shuttle is retired this is where the Taurus 2 resupply rockets for the International Space Station will be launched from (in the distance we could see the construction of the launch pad...I dared not bring my binoculars..I didn't want to appear suspicious...after all I'm just a nosy
tourist. As hot as Gibbs & Callen are
from NCIS/NCIS LA...I really don't
want to learn first hand about that sort of thing.


2 deer, darted in front of the van and off into the woods to some clandestine location that is off limits to us!

After a brief drive thru the compound we arrived at the beach of the US Navy. Truly a deserted beach! I was like a kid at the gates of Disney just chompin at the bit! I could hardly contain myself during Mark's lecture on dune ecology...I didn't hear most of it..I was about ready to explode with excitement! Perhaps if the weather had cooperated the day before (a kayak to a beach & beach day were planned) I may have been a little less excited....maybe...

All of a sudden, a golf ball thing MOVED on the sand and I shrieked
with excitement, surprise, terror as I ran toward it..with my camera of course! I had interrupted Mark's lecture...a ghost crab he calmly explained...usually they are out at night, but this one had come out of its shelter temporarily..until apparently I frightened it back into hiding.

Mark continued his lecture but I simply was wayyyyy to excited to stand there and listen....perhaps they should have medicated me with a tranquilizer dart. I bounded off in search of all things beachy as the rest of them exhibited some manners and patiently listened. First up, I wanted to get a closer look at that crab! There were many tracks indicating his home was a very busy place...I really wanted to put my hand in there.....but I wasn't quite sure of these critters and I am fond of my fingers...I passed and moved along.

It was the best beach I had ever been on! No people, quiet, no footprints ...only the prints of critters and seashells galore! The really good ones! I could have EASILY spent a whole day exploring such a special place....but time here was limited, we were there only maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. Sad. So little time and so much to do!


Do I photograph in this exquisite light? Release my inner 5 year old and play? Explore? Collect shells? AAgh! I needed MORE TIME! So, I explored when photographing, and ran around like a 5 year old collecting shells! What a treat! We weren't bound to the "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" thing. We were encouraged to take stuff! I had brought a quart ziplock baggie. WHAT A MISTAKE! I needed like 2 garbage bags! I quickly filled up my bag and started cramming larger shells in every available pocket, I had to give up photography because I needed to cradle more shells in my arms!

A huge treasure trove of whelks...
oh yeah, you know I picked up 3 or 4....why oh why didn't I bring a larger bad or my backpack???!!

A large bay scallop that made its way into my pocket......








A molt of a blue crab...quite colorful I picked it up as well!








There were HUNDREDS of molts of horseshoe crabs EVERYWHERE! But they were bigger than my arms for the most part, and so full of sand, that every time I tried to pick one up, it broke from the weight of the sand
:-(





A molt from a horseshoe crab about 30 yards from the Atlantic Ocean and others from the group checking out the treasure trove.







Mark found an egg case from a skate...he asked if I wanted it to add to my collection....eeeewwww no.








He also found a whelk egg case! Still wet and possibly viable it got put back into the ocean.


















With my arms loaded with shells, and my pockets overflowing, I determined that I now had time to run in and splash in the ocean! YAY! ...until I lost a few shells and barely got them scooped back up before the next wave appeared!






I just HATED to go! I would do this program again just for the opportunity to visit this beach again!






Kayak buddy Bobbie picking up a few shells for her collection! It was a miracle that I could even take photos with such an armload of treasures! And they sort of stunk....I put them waaay in the back of Bessie Blue and hoped they wouldn't pose a problem when I passed through customs! No one asked! And now, my tropical ocean themed bathroom has some nice additions!

Lighthouse Climb..Assateague

After saying my good-byes to my new friends from the Road Scholar/Elderhostel program, I made my way back through Chincoteague to Assateague Island to ascend the 198 steps to the top of the 154 foot lighthouse built in 1867. It was electrified in 1933 and its beacon is visible for 19 miles.

At the end of the trail stood the sturdy light but I didn't realize that there was a separate entrance fee and I had left all but my camera and binoculars in the car! So, back I went down the 1/4 mile trail....and back again to pay the $3 or 4 fee. Rule#6 is now...always squirrel away $20 somewhere even if you don't think you will need any money! Short on time, I'm certainly glad it wasn't a mile hike each way!

The internal brickwork was some of the nicest that I have seen in a lighthouse! It is said that 500,000 bricks were brought in from Philadelphia in the 1860's.

The stairwell was quite spacious all the way up, never narrowing! A sign said that the inside walls were vertical and that the outside walls sloped inward (it is usually the opposite)!

The windows all had curved alcoves, unfortunately the lighting in this photo does not show the true beauty of it's interior.

198 steps and several minutes later I had reached the top! This is the view to the southwest, the Assateague Channel separating Assateague Island from Chincoteague Island. The beach we went to earlier in the day on Wallops Island is at the south end, and the sunset kayak trip started on Chincoteague and was visible from here!

Here is the view to the North West, with the Assateague Channel still in view. Our sunset paddle ended somewhere to the north of here.

This was the only view I could get in the eastern direction of the Atlantic Ocean. A swarm of 100+ wasps prevented me from venturing any further!

Safely down the steps without incident, I took the trail (once again) back to the parking lot in search of just 1 more adventure before making my way back home.

Assateague WildLife Loop Trail

The bright sunny day was so inviting, I hated to leave Assateague Island for home..but it was only a little after 12, and I figured I REALLY didn't NEED to be on the road until 3pm. So, I pulled into the parking lot for the Wildlife Loop trail and unloaded my bike out of the back and hit the 3&1/2 mile bike/hike path! Only bikers and hikers are allowed until late afternoon, then it is opened up for vehicles. It was a bit of a struggle, trying to ride being weighed down with my binoculars and camera around my neck, but I managed. I couldn't bear to leave either behind..who knows what I would spot!
Only a minute in, I braked for a Woolly Bear Caterpillar! His colors didn't show up to well on my extreme closeup, as he kept inching toward me. In an unexplained moment of calmness and curiosity, I decided to pet him! I'm not really sure that he liked it...he just sort of froze. He certainly wasn't soft...more like a bristly brush that you would scrub something with. Was an interesting moment.

Back onto the bike, I pedaled a few yards further and came to a nice patch of goldenrod (NOT...I'm horribly allergic), but I got as close as I dared and used my zoom to get close to this Buckeye Butterfly!





I stayed in the prison of pollen for a few more moments to see this unknown butterfly land and feed! AAAAAHHCCCHHHOOOOOO!
Time to move on away from the pollen!




In the Snow Goose Pool, were lots of
gulls and egrets cormorants and Canada Geese, as the snow geese were still a few weeks away from arriving.

A White Egret stood around watching the bikers and hikers stroll by.

A Great White Egret stalking something.....

View of the Snow Goose Pool with the Assateague Lighthouse in the background.

I was riding and I saw 3 folks stopped looking into this band of trees and asked what they saw....a Sika Elk!
Hard to see, its in the center of the photo to the left of the tree trunk. It looks like a tree trunk with a swollen trunk 1/2 way up! It was still hard to see until it raised it's head from grazing and then bounded off into the ticket! Native to China, Japan and Korea, they were released here in the 1920's.

Just after the elk sighting, I came across another large area of goldenrod that had dozens of Monarch Butterflies and some other insect. Once more I braved the pollen (and continued sneezes) to see them up close! I really would have loved to get closer....but the sneezing and my swelling eyes, kept me back!

Around the next bend, was a sand dune and a path to the ocean! Time was getting short and I decided to skip this and continue on.




As I continued riding, I saw something slither across the path! A snake! But I was too slow and it escaped into the tall grass, even though I had my hiking boots on, I was NOT going to go looking for it!

Fortunately, a few yards later, I
saw an identical one along the side of the road and was able to zoom in on it WITHOUT dismounting from the safety of my speedy bike! It turned out to be a Black Rat Snake according to an interpretive ranger.



I found it to be a rather enjoyable trail and in several spots there were these nice benches that you could sit down and rest or reflect...or wait for something spectacular! I'm glad that it is reserved mainly for bikes and hikers and that cars are only allowed for the last few hours of the day.

Drive through Central New York

Saturday, October 9th I left Allentown, Pa for a scenic drive through Central New York and Ontario to arrive back home by about 9pm. This billboard was near Chincoteague and I found it pretty funny....however, I must have thought it didn't apply to photography while driving!

The color was near peak and it was just a beautiful sunny day and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the autumn color...just not enough to pull over and take pictures (I probably would have never been able to pull back onto the road with the heavy traffic!).

So, I learned to look ahead, and blindly aim the camera out the passenger window...I did manage to capture a few shots of the interior of the car due to bad aim or a bump!

I pulled off 81 at LaFayette, NY to take a side road (20) as decided by Richard the GPS. However, Richard was NOT aware that this weekend was the LaFayette Apple Festival! It was stop and go traffic for about 3-4 miles and took about 30-40 minutes to get past the entrances. It really looked like a good time, but I really
wanted to stop in Seneca and wanted
to be back home in my own bed by
that evening! So, I continued on my way, but...if I'm ever in central NY in the fall...I will make it a point to return and enjoy the festivities for the day!

Women's Rights National Historical Park

On the way back home from Virginia, I decided I had a few extra hours that I would be able to stop in Seneca Falls, New York to take in the Women's Rights National Historical Park. It's basically a collection of historical buildings and items related to the struggle that started in the 1800's for the equality of women. On July 19 &20 of 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, MaryAnn Mcclintock, Lucretia Mott, Jane Hunt and Martha Wright organized a convention in just a little over a week's time to bring their grievances public by issuing the "Declaration of Sentiments", a document modeled after the Declaration of Independence, which demanded equal rights for women. Not just the right to vote, but also for the right to own property, keep their wages (by right they were to give their wages to the male head of household), the opportunity to advanced education, and a myriad of other areas.


Lloyd Lillie's sculpture "The First Wave" depicts the women who hosted the convention in Seneca Falls and also of Frederick Douglass, an invited guest. These ladies were active in the abolitionist movement, but also became active in wanting to procure the same rights for women as they were trying to obtain for black men. After all, why should women be excluded?
The ladies hosted the convention

at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

and it was attended by more than 300 men and women. This was quite the feat to get this many folks to one area in only a few days, and it was the women who lead and spoke at the convention (at this time it was inappropriate for women to engage in public speaking!) and I think nearly 200 attendees signed the Declaration of Sentiments, including some men!

The doors to the church were locked, but I was able to peer in the window, I would think that back in the day, there was probably a balcony, but seemed such a crowded space to have a 2 day meeting with 300 people!

The house of Elizabeth Cady Stanton where she raised her family and fought many years for the rights of women, sadly she died in 1902 and did not live to see the ratification of the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote.

A sculpture by A.E.Ted Aub in Seneca Falls "When Anthony Met Stanton". A beautiful bronze that depicts the 1959 meeting of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth's husband, Henry, used to tell her.."You stir up Susan and Susan stirs up the world!". Anthony was also instrumental in women's suffrage and other issues.

A pretty church near the above statue. It was a lovely fall day and it was a nice way to spend a few hours.