Friday, November 13, 2009

One Last Trip to the Beach

I was feeling kind of sad that my schedule hadn't allowed me to go to the beach one last time to say goodbye to the ocean and my ponies for the winter. But then we had that warm spell last weekend that extended into Monday, and to top it off, my fortune cookie on Saturday had the following message inside:

So it was pretty much a done deal that we would take Monday off. I worked really hard on Sunday, caulking and painting and mowing the grass one last time. I discovered that the mulching attachment on the mower does a fantastic job of sucking up leaves if you leave the bag on.

We headed out so early that the fields on Rt 198 still had their morning mist.

We had planned a little side trip to the Oxford-Bellvue Ferry because I really wanted to take a boat ride in my car, but they only run on weekends starting in November. But that's the dock back there behind the tree. I wonder if that tree is a descendant of the famous Wye Oak?



There was a singing seagull hanging out on one of the poles near the dock.


The water there was kind of oily, probably from the boats, but it made an interesting background for these leaves.


This giant red ball was decorating the gate post at the end of someone's driveway near the ferry dock.



When we saw this persimmon tree, Doug insisted that we stop and have a taste. The fruit tasted like a mixture of peach, apricot, and mango, with a whole lot of nutmeg added. Doug said this was a highly unusual persimmon in that it had virtually no puckeriness. It was pretty good. I was surprised that he didn't pick a bunch of them to bring home.



We saw this lovely sweetgum tree. I think fall is farther along in DC than it is on the Eastern shore.

The sweetgum tree had these balls hanging from it.



After we passed this sunny sorghum field, we stopped at the St. Michaels Perk for breakfast before hitting the highway once again.



Finally we arrived at Assateague. By then the temperature had risen to right around 70 degrees. Everything looked so clean and fresh. I've never seen the horses manes look so white. I guess they had gotten a lot of rain recently.




We had the beach practically all to ourselves. We were there from noon until about 3:00. It felt wonderful to be in that lovely light and to breathe that fresh ocean air.


I don't usually have very much to do with seagulls because one pooped on my head at Rehoboth one time. But on Monday there weren't too many around, so I decided to make friends with this one. He was very clean and white.

If you've never seen seagull feet closeup, now's your big chance!

I decided to entertain myself by taking a video of the seagull. Of course he poops a little bit right at the end of it. That's what I'm talking about!

12 comments:

lacochran said...

Wonderful images! I particularly like the misty field, the oily water with the leaves, and the gate post. Very interesting shots. Thanks for the travelogue.

Bowie Mike said...

Cyndy, Monday was a perfect day. Glad you took advantage of the weather. Unfortunately, my fortune cookie last weekend said something about working all week and did not include any lucky numbers!

Great pics, as usual. I also like the misty field pic. I have to admit that I looked up sorghum. Somehow the term passed me by.

If you're interested, you can find some Ocean City storm pics from Friday here and here. This is from the blog of an ex MoCo guy that retired to Ocean City.

Cyndy said...

Thanks lacochran - I plan to use this post to cheer myself up in the middle of the winter.

Mike - Yes it was a perfect day. Thanks for the OC links. I hope they recover quickly from the damage there. It's pretty amazing the way the beach gets so small from the storms every winter, but then comes back then next spring.

Barbara said...

Saved me the trouble of driving there. I could almost hear the waves and feel the ocean spray. It's so nice to be on a beach when there's no one else around. What a nice way to say farewell to warm weather.

LP said...

Caw. Caw. Caw caw caw caw.

Poop.

Cyndy said...

Barbara - Yes it was a lovely day. Now I wish I could go there again today.

Tom - Are you perhaps referring to my Yellowstone videos?
Hahaha - I try not to talk during videos anymore because when I do, I sound like a complete idiot!!!

LP said...

No, I was being a seagull. I guess they don't actually say "Caw", do they. "Ack ack", maybe?

Kristin said...

What a great trip and gorgeous pictures! Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

bozoette said...

Beautiful! I'm glad you followed that order on the fortune. I miss the beach, but will be going over Thanksgiving. Can't wait!

Cyndy said...

Tom - I think "ack!" is definitely closer than "caw.

Kristin - Thanks, and I'll look forward to seeing your pictures from Egypt too.

Bozoette - Thanksgiving at the beach sounds delightful!

Brother Without Order said...

What a beautiful set of photos. I cant begin to comment on all of them. They are all georgeous. I love the close up of the gulls face and the first shot of the sunrise with the fog. Those are my favoritees but they are all beautiful.

Cyndy said...

Thank you Garrett - The beautiful day and my camera were cooperating quite nicely. I'm really glad because I'll be able to look back at these photos on the cold winter days that are coming up now. It's kind of fun to lie on the beach and take pictures of the seagulls.