Some Odds and The End of Gulfapalooza 2011

 All good things must come to an end, and here's the last of our Gulfapalooza 2011 lighthouse-hunting trip.  The odds and ends and um, The End.  Above, a mushroom cloud (oh, if ONLY) rises above Houston and a southbound intermodal train.

 I don't know.  Palms and sky.  Pretty.

 Swampy grass near Lake Pontchartrain.  Sawgrass?  Sugar cane?  Whatever - it's neat!

 Tourist trap!  Tourist trap at Port Isabel!  Hide your wallet!

 This is what Texas looks like.  Okay, that's not fair.  This is what Texas looks like when it's about to rain.

The Orion nebula is the birthplace of stars and worlds.  This part of Texas gives birth to oil rigs.

 Train!  Well, a semi-restored museum piece, but still.  A nice example of an old SW1 switcher.

 ...and an even better caboose.

 Pensacola Light Station's only pelican.  He's very disciplined, though - stood still until completely painted!

We finished shooting lighthouses with a couple of days to spare, but we were nowhere near ready to go home, so we made haste to Kill Devil Hills, and our favorite beach-side balcony.  Best.  Trip.  Ever.

Thanks for visiting.  With any luck, we'll have more pictures to post soon.

Right On The St. Marks - Gulfapalooza 2011 Winding Down

 We have reached the final lighthouse of Gulfapalooza 2011.  This is the St. Marks light, on the Gulf of Mexico about 26 miles south of Tallahassee, Florida.  It lives in the wild and spectacular St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, on a warm and windy peninsula.  The shot above is what happens when one tries to photograph a tall lighthouse from too close.  If I had backed up any farther, I would have been in the Gulf.

 This shot required some trudging around the swampy edge of a potentially gator-infested pond, but it was worth it.  And [Maris] kept an eye out for wildlife.

 Ah, the US Coast Guard.  Not sure what all that gear is listening to - or for - but they sure know how to make a mess of a cupola.

 That's a little better.

 So, I'm in the swamp, shooting the lighthouse.  I turn around, and look who's been coolly watching me from about 25 yards away!  It's (I think) a great snowy egret!

 Another salty pond, another bird.  Not sure what this too-big-to-be-a-sandpiper thing is.  Anyone?

 The skyline of the downtown St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge...

 I like that there is a variety of tropical foliage, but it hasn't been planted in neat rows and groomed and carefully tended.  It's wild.

 And just ever so slightly primordial.   Or something.

 Another bird.  Judging by the various songs and calls, I was tempted to say it was a mockingbird, but I really don't know.  I do know that it and its buddies dropped a lot of those berries on the hood of my poor car, while [Maris] and I talked ourselves out of heading home, and instead made a reservation in Kill Devil Hills, NC.  We just weren't ready to end this vacation.

We still aren't.  

Hope you enjoyed this one.  I have a few odds and ends from this trip, and then . . . nothing.  I'll have to take more pictures.

McKayla Maroney Is Not Impressed With My Photo Blog

 Not impressed with hanging off the American Shoals lighthouse.

 Not impressed by Cape Lookout lighthouse.

 Not impressed by Camaro convertibles.

 Not impressed with Fort Jefferson OR its lighthouse OR its cannons.

 SO not impressed with Texas.

 Another lighthouse.  Not impressed.

Mile Zero in Key West.  Not impressed.

 McKayla is not impressed by big, billowy clouds with faces in them.

 Not impressed by trains.

 

Joe and [Maris] got married.  Not impressed.

And one bonus shot (not at all mine)...

McKayla Maroney is not impressed by Mars.

Thanks for playing along.  And before anyone gets all toe-y on us, we LOVE McKayla Maroney.  We hope she's deeply proud of her gold and silver medals from London, and we hope to see her in Rio.

The Crooked River Lighthouse, Straight-up

 Continuing eastward along the Florida panhandle, we're in the homestretch of Gulfapalooza 2011.  This is the Crooked River lighthouse, near Carrabelle.  The shot above is 35mm film, and includes the grounds of the light station, now a museum and park.

From the southwest corner.

 

 Going up...

Cupola!

 

 Another olde-fashioned film shot.

 Foot!

 From the southeast corner.

 Lizard!  Right on the foot of the lighthouse.

 Door!  Cool old hardware and trim.  Not sure whose star that is, as we are definitely NOT in Texas.

Another cool spot, and tough to leave, but leave we did.  One more light to go, plus some flora and fauna...

Cape St. George Light, Florida

 Moving right along... The next stop on the Gulfapalooza 2011 itinerary is the Cape St. George Lighthouse, which fell into the Gulf of Mexico and couldn't be photographed.  It has, however, been beautifully rebuilt in the middle of the cute beach town on Saint George Island, Florida.  Above is [Maris]'s 35mm shot of the grounds and the tower.

 And from the gulf side.

 

 The grounds were as well-maintained as the lighthouse.

 

 CUPOLA!

 From the south side.

 Red hibiscus.

 Okay, the purple flowers may not look impressive, but it was just so hard to shoot them, flapping about as they were in the gulf breeze.  There were some fluorescent green moths, too, but they were camera shy.

It was hard to leave this one, but not as hard as the next one.  And the next one after that.

Two more to go, and then we're going to have to get out there and take some new pictures...