Tag Archives: beach

A Beach Weekend

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After spending a weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I can still remember the first view of the ocean and hearing the sound of the waves.   Add a bright blue sky and a light breeze and it was just about perfect.  As I walked toward the beach I saw seagulls, sand dunes and people walking their dogs.  This was a great start to the weekend.

Myrtle Beach

First view of the beach
Blue sky, blue water
There’s always a seagull
Time for a walk
Afternoon shadows

But on Saturday the weather changed and it was gray and rainy most of the day.  I didn’t mind because it gave the beach a dreamy appearance.  I decided to spend time looking for seashells as souvenirs.  I also went to a nearby public sculpture garden to see some beautiful flowers and scenery.

Rain is on the way
Seashells on the beach
Cloudy day at the beach

Late Saturday afternoon the rain stopped and it was time to enjoy another view of the sand, water and the sky.

Myrtle Beach

This was a weekend of interesting contrasts.

Wall

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I like to find unusual walls when I travel just as much as I enjoy looking for interesting doors.  I particularly liked this wall that was between a walking path and the water in St Ives.  It had been raining that afternoon and everything looked fresh and green.  I thought that the wildflowers and vines growing in and around the wall were charming.  Later on I realized that I’d taken as many pictures of the wall as I did of the beach.  This shows where it began.

St Ives

Here are some details of the wall.

More walls can be found here.

Travel theme: Orange

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When I’m at the beach at sunset the sky changes dramatically as the evening progresses.  Depending on where you look the sky could be changing color or it might still look like daytime.  One evening I decided to watch the entire sunset from a bluff overlooking this bay in Cornwall.  The color of the sky changed from blue to orange to even deeper orange.  The next evening it rained so I didn’t have another opportunity to take pictures of this scene.  Here are some different ways of seeing the color orange at sunset.

An early view from a seating area:

England

A little later:

England

And then…

England

More examples of this theme are here.

Travel theme: Still

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When I think of this theme I remember my visit to Prince Edward Island, Canada.  During the time I was there (it was summer) the water was often calm and still.  Here are some of my favorite scenes from that trip.

still

Calm at sunset
Quiet afternoon…
Flowers on the beach
Cliff view
Along the shore

Travel theme: Fragrant

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My family used to take weekend trips to the beach when I was growing up.  Whenever we got close to the water we would roll down the car windows to be able to catch the fragrance of the ocean even before we could see it.  This was one of my favorite childhood memories.  These pictures from the coast of Maine remind me of the excitement of that first scent of the ocean.

looking at the ocean
calm water…
the beach
local lighthouse

Greetings from Cornwall

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Cornwall

Hello again!  I’m having a wonderful time in Cornwall and I thought it was time to send some postcards.  The weather has been sunny, rainy, windy, sunny again, cloudy – and that can be repeated hourly.  I thought it might be like this so I’ve been dressing in layers and it is working out just fine.  Here are some of the places that I’ve seen so far.

the beach
just a wall…
at a train station
all the steps are going up!
for a better view

Everywhere I look I see something charming.

Cornwall

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea

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One of the best parts about a beach vacation in Maine means the opportunity to see the sunrise.  I decided to do this and I actually was awake and outdoors early enough to see it two days in a row.  It looked completely different each day and yet I couldn’t say which one I liked better.  This is the kind of research I enjoy and I’ll have to repeat it next summer!

First morning with a person walking the dog:

Maine

Second morning with clouds:

Maine

Read more about the challenge.

Summer Vacation

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Taking a vacation in the summer is something I did with my family when I was growing up.  Everyone enjoyed the time off and I remember collecting seashells in my brightly colored pail and building sand castles at the beach.

Maine

Now I’m likely to take a vacation in May or sometime in the fall because the places I want to go are less crowded at those times.  I like to go somewhere that’s on my travel list and really explore.  Since I prefer not to travel when the weather is too hot I actually avoid the summer months.

a bench in Paris…
so many choices!
stop and have a look

Still, there’s something special about taking time off during the summer and relaxing by the water.  I have pleasant memories of being by the ocean and realizing that the biggest decision of the day is whether to have vanilla or chocolate ice cream.  This is actually quite difficult for me and I would probably have a scoop of both.

Maine

Summer and vacation go together well.

Maine