As much as Kathy & I like to explore new places, there is a certain comfort in the familiarity of places we return to often. Such is the case with our recent visit to Belhaven, in eastern North Carolina. Whenever we visit that area, we return to places like Swan Quarter, perhaps best known as the location of the ferry to Ocracoke Island, but also the location of a number of fishing companies and their boats. Englehard is also the location of an inlet that houses a number of fishing boats. Lake Mattamuskeet is the location of a number of interesting places and the photographs that can be made there.
Boats on Far Creek in Englehard, NCFishing Boats at Swan Quarter, NC
While I rarely return with anything truly new, it is a good place to go and look for things I haven’t seen previously. Storms wash away old piles of debris and sometimes bring in new subject matter. Businesses come and go and sometimes the change in decor can mean new material. Sometimes returning to a place with fresh eyes can mean new opportunities.
Belhaven, North CarolinaBelhaven, North CarolinaPorch SwingBelhaven, North Carolina
This is another collection of photos from the Leica D-Lux 7 that I took on our recent visit there. I’ve got a few more batches that I’ll post once I’ve worked out the words to go along with them!
Kathy & I are visiting friends in Eastern NC this week, and I am trying out this Leica D-Lux 7 that I rented. The more time I spend with the camera the more used to it I get, and it is overall pretty comfortable to use. A few observations so far:
– Just because it is a non-interchangeable lens does not make it impervious to sensor dust. Dust is quite evident in solid skies at f-stops smaller than f11.
– I’ve been very happy with the files, and pleasantly surprised to find that Lightroom handles the processing of RAW files very well. In fact, this is the first time that I have consistently imported a bunch of files, added the Adobe Camera Natural Profile, hit the Auto Exposure button and didn’t need to touch them further, other than straightening horizons or cropping slightly.
– While the camera is very light to tote around, it is well built and feels like a “serious” camera in my hands.
– I like having all of the manual controls this camera has – exposure compensation, aperture, shutter speed and auto/manual focus are all mechanical.
– The menus are no worse than any other unfamiliar digital camera, and seem like something that would be easy to navigate with a bit more time.
Fishing Boats at Swan Quarter, NC
I’ve got a few more days to mess around with this camera before I box it up and send it back. I’ve come to no conclusions or purchase decisions yet. Frankly I’m seriously considering renting the latest Fuji body, which coincidentally is about the same price as this Leica, to see if upgrading my body that uses all of my existing lenses would make a better choice. We’ll see!
Boats on Far Creek in Englehard, NCGiven UpStylin’Wright Brothers Memorial (with lens flair!)PromisesBird SkeletonM R DucksPostsTied UpPorch Swing
Once in a while I get an itch to try out a new camera, just for fun. Fortunately it is easy to rent cameras and lenses to satisfy that urge.
Held CaptiveConstruction Project
I’ve always owned some kind of compact, point & shoot camera as a supplement to my main camera gear, and although I’ve taken a lot of good pictures with them, I’ve never been completely happy with the compromises required of the smaller sensors and compact lenses. My first-ever digital camera was a Canon Powershot G5, which I still have. I’ve also owned the G9 and G12 plus a Fuji X10. I currently have an Olympus TG5, which I bought because it is shock resistant and supposedly waterproof, although I have yet to actually that feature!
Gated
As camera technology advances, I’ve had it in my mind that, at some point, the quality of compact cameras might possibly advance to where the results from a small point & shoot camera could – in theory at least – be good enough to be a realistic “only camera.” We’re not there yet, but we keep edging closer. I just hope the camera manufacturers don’t give up on the idea before cell phone cameras take over completely!
Empty Lot
My definition of the ideal “only camera” would be one with a compact and lightweight body, a large (4/3 or larger) sensor and a high quality 24-70 equivalent lens. There are a handful of cameras that meet the size and sensor requirements, but most of them have fixed lenses. The B&H website shows 21 “advanced compact” point & shoot cameras with 4/3 or larger sensors, but when the box for “zoom lens” is checked, there are only 5, although realistically there are only 3, since two of them are older versions of current cameras. The choices are: Leica D-Lux 7, Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II and Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III. The Leica and Panasonic are essentially the same camera, with the red Leica badge costing a mere $300 (after a $100 rebate on the Panasonic).
Sprinkler Beams
Since it was just for fun, I opted to rent the Leica, because what the heck and why not? The box came via FedEx on Thursday and I took it out for a little spin on this morning’s walk. I shot all of these photos in RAW, imported them to Lightroom with the Adobe “Camera Natural v2” profile, hit the “Auto” button and tweaked the white balance. That’s it. Pretty impressive so far.
Circles
We’re off on a little road trip to the NC coast this coming week (boy it’s nice to be able to travel during the week!) and plan to use the Leica as my only camera, so I’ll have a chance to put it through the paces. Hopefully I’ll be able to post a few more shots from the road, and will have more photos and a summary of my impressions once we return home. TGIF!
People in our neighborhood have gotten used to the fact that we’re gone a lot. When we first moved here it was because we worked all day and often traveled on the weekends. Recently we’ve been off on one adventure or another. A couple of our neighbors say they can tell when we’re home because our window shades are open. I guess that’s a reliable indicator, although I’ve thought about leaving them open just to fool ’em! It is nice to have someone keeping an eye on things, although that has its limits.
Ready for ShuffleboardShip’s Lines in Aruba
One of the most asked questions when we talk to our neighbors is “where are you off to next?” When we got back from our recent trip to Ohio and Virginia we didn’t have anything on the books. But within a few weeks of our return we got to planning, and we now have (I think) 5 trips in various stages of planning. Kathy says she has finally found her calling – planning vacations! For us!
Hazy sunshine in Puerto VallartaHats for sale in Puerto Vallarta
One day we were sitting on our porch talking about our upcoming plans and I said, ” you know, when we were younger, one thing would lead to another and we’d end up with a baby. Now, one thing leads to another and we end up with a vacation! Life is good!
Lunch at Johnny Rocket’s aboard Symphony of the Seas
May 25 marked the first anniversary of our retirement. And boy, what a year it’s been! What we most wanted to do in retirement was to travel, and I’d say we did a pretty good job of it. Looking back over my Lightroom catalog provides a visual history of our adventures, starting with an amazing trip to Italy, shorter trips to the NC mountains and NC coast, a road trip to Ohio and Virginia and a month at the beach in Hilton Head. And that was just in 2018! So far in 2019 we have been away 61 days out of 151. We’ve taken two cruises (29 days at sea, including two back-to-back 7 day cruises and a 15 day cruise through the Panama Canal), made a road trip to Florida, another to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, and we just finished another Ohio-Virginia road trip. But we’re home for a while, I think. Frankly, we’re a little tired! The next scheduled trip is a trip to the beach in August, although there is a pretty good chance that something will come along in the interim!
Our visit to the Colosseum in RomeAltesino winery near Montalcino, ItalyAboard the train from Florence to Rome at the end of our Tuscany photo tour
One of our neighbors asked us the other day if we were trying to spend all of our retirement money in the first year! We’re not, of course, but we obviously have done more than our financial advisor might prefer (sorry, Steve!). But travel is what we do – we don’t have other expensive hobbies, our kids are self-supporting, and we have very reasonable monthly expenses. We are very aware of how fortunate we are to have started the savings habit early and to live (mostly) within our means for the last 39 years (our 39th wedding anniversary is in October).
Sunset Beach Bar at Maho Bay, St MartinIn Nassau, Bahamas aboard Symphony of the SeasFirst Cocktails Aboard! Symphony of the Seas
Here are some of the things we have learned and experienced in our first year of retirement:
Expected (good & bad)
LOTS of time to do whatever we want.
We really like being able to come and go as we please, without having to check vacation schedules and “request” time off from a boss.
We especially like not having to stick to a week-to-week or weekend routine.
We love to cook, and having time to shop for good ingredients and be creative in the kitchen has been fun. As a result, we rarely go out to eat any more.
Less going out to eat has meant that we’ve both lost weight and saved money (to spend on travel!)
We manage to get in a good walk just about every day, continuing a habit we had established at work.
Unexpected (good & bad)
Lots of time means it is easy to get lazy.
We didn’t expect to miss work, and we really don’t. At first, we missed the people and were really good about checking in. We still miss the people, but the farther away we get the less often we seem to make contact.
It’s hard to keep track of what day it is!
We’re even more laid back and relaxed than we thought we would be!
We’ve gotten a lot more reading done, although we read more at home and less on the road. It used to be that we needed to go on vacation to read! Now our vacations are busier and we’re more relaxed at home with more time to read.
We can go for days without getting in the car. Other than going to the grocery store or visiting the kids we rarely leave the neighborhood. We need to make a point of getting Kathy behind the wheel periodically so she won’t forget how!
Our monthly expenses have gone down, due mostly to not eating out as much and not using as much gas, but also due to just not buying stuff.
Without an alarm every morning, our sleep schedules have diverged. I like getting up early in the morning and don’t mind going to bed early. Kathy is just the opposite and our schedules can some days be a couple of hours different.
‘Tween Waters Resort at Captiva Island, FloridaHilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunset on the beach, Palmetto Dunes Oceanside Resort, Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaLooking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina
So what’s in store for the next year? We’re telling ourselves that we need to do a better job spacing things out. The first 5 months of this year have seen a lot of travel, partly because of the last-minute addition of the Panama Canal cruise but also because of the January road trip immediately followed by the two cruises. We’re anxious to continue checking off states as we try to get to all 50, so there will undoubtedly be a few more road trips. I wouldn’t be surprised to find us on another cruise or two, and there will most certainly be visits to the mountains and the beach.
US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama
Bus tour of the Marshall Space Flight Center at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AlabamaJungle Gardens in Avery Island, LouisianaLunch at Johnny Rocket’s aboard Symphony of the SeasOutdoor display area at Homestead Furniture Company near Mount Hope, Ohio
So watch this space! I’ll do my best to keep posting articles and photos – when I have time!
During our visit to Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica, we took an aerial tram tour and nature walk through a tropical rain forest. I had been taking photos of this ginger blossom when I noticed a hummingbird flying nearby. Just as I fired off a series of shots of the ginger the hummer flew into my frame! I got off a burst of just a few shots before he flew away. While this is the best one, it certainly isn’t “perfect” enough to win any nature photo contests but it works for me.
Transit through the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific Princess
Kathy & I recently returned from a 15-night cruise through the Panama Canal on the Pacific Princess. It was a terrific cruise, and at only 600 +/- passengers this ship was a welcome relief from the 6000+ passenger behemoth we sailed on in February. But like bottles of wine we’ve never had a bad cruise, so there are always great things to experience regardless!
Morning approach to the entrance of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific PrincessTransit through the Pedro Miguel Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific PrincessTransit through the Pedro Miguel Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific PrincessTransit of the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific Princess
The highlight of our cruise, which took us from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Los Angeles, CA, was of course a full transit of the Panama Canal. These photos are just a sample of the ones I took during this event. I will add more photos and commentary as I get through the 3000+ photos I took! But we’re leaving soon for another quick trip and I’m planning to leave the computer at home, so they will need to wait until we get back.
Transit through the Pedro Miguel Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific PrincessTransit through the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific PrincessTransit through the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal during our Panama Canal cruise aboard Pacific Princess
Tabasco sauce is one of those condiments that I think everyone has heard of, and that many people always keep on hand. I’m not particularly a big fan, instead preferring sauces with more flavor and less heat such as Cholula (Mexico) and Pickapeppa (Jamaica, mon). But when it comes to pepper sauce, I’ve got a bottle and suspect a lot of readers do too.
Tabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, LouisianaTabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, LouisianaTabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, LouisianaTabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, Louisiana
When I realized that the Tabasco plant and museum, located in Avery Island, was just a few miles from where we stayed in Lafayette, Louisiana, going there was a no-brainer. Adjacent to the grounds of the Tabasco plant is Jungle Gardens, a 170-acre botanical garden and bird sanctuary created by the father of Tabasco, Edward Avery “Ned” McIlhenny. Jungle Gardens is a separate story and a separate post.
Tabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, LouisianaTabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, Louisiana
I learned a few things about Tabasco during our visit. I hadn’t fully realized the time, effort and craft that goes into making hot sauce. And I didn’t realize that there were so many varieties! We got to try a number of them in the store after our tour, although I stopped myself before my taste buds got damaged!
Tabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, Louisiana
All in all, the Tabasco story is an important part of Louisiana heritage, and I’m glad we had a chance to pay a visit!
Tabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, LouisianaTabasco Factory Tour in Avery Island, Louisiana
