On Friday we were headed to the Heritage Gardens, which I posted about. But I forgot about our stop to see this pretty gristmill along the way.
We purposely looked for this grist mill to take a few pictures, but it turned up right on the route.It was prettier than I expected.It was a quick stop, but so fun to see it.This church was equally pretty but an unexpected find. St. Patrick’s in Falmouth.We came across this church while we were driving around, and when we parked to take some photos we found a vendor setting up in advance of an event of some kind.Here he is, the proprietor of Reid’s Real Baking. He was fun to talk to, and his bread and blueberry handheld pies were great. Stop if you see him, okay?We stopped again when we saw these quite small cottages on stilts. They were cute, but I’m not sure I’d like to be inside looking out the window at a raging storm.This is the Nobska Light, the same lighthouse that’s in the feature photo. With only a few parking spaces we felt lucky to snag one for a closer look.
I’m a lucky woman. Not only have I had someone special to enjoy this journey with me, and spent time with old and new friends, and family, but I’ve also spent the last couple of days with my daughter and family. So I’ve spent more time face to face with people than on the computer. And all the while I’ve been taking pictures, but I’ve lost track of all the places I’ve been and photos I’ve taken. But I’ll find them, they are in this computer…somewhere.
Heritage Gardens was supposed to be about the hummingbirds. I was there two years ago and came across a shrub that was just off the walking path and the flowers there were making the hummingbirds very happy. And the hummingbird moths too. So in my usual way I totally expected them to be right there waiting for me to take more pictures of them this time. So much of life has changed in the last two years, why should I expect the hummingbirds to be carrying on in the same way? I’ve certainly chosen a bit of a different path for myself these days, I guess they can too.
I was attracted to the intense blue and purple colors of this hydrangea.. The bee was a bonus.Gorgeous hollyhocks.The charming windmill.Chipmunks are so cute, and we don’t see them in Florida.
Wait, I said this was about the bees, didn’t I?
Orange bee…Pink bee…Purple bee…Oops, this is a butterfly!
Lego sculptures were found throughout the gardens.
Same picture from this angle…And then from this angle.And now we see how this was done…
We had such a nice day. And when we got back my friend got to reunite with two close friends from childhood for the first time in over 20 years. After all my travels and reconnections these past few years I know just how great that feels. What a very nice day.
We spent Thursday driving around the Cape, stopping at Race Beach in hopes of seeing the three lighthouses off in the distance. The feature photo is one of them. If we could have found parking I might have taken more. It seems P-town is having an up-tick in Covid so we didn’t walk around there. But at the Cape Cod national seashore we found the Three Sisters Lighthouses.
And the closing of the parking lot near the Nauset Light caused us to find and walk the trail and take pictures from the grounds as opposed to a photo from the parking lot. Serendipity.
As we headed toward home we stopped at the marina in Wellfleet and saw some pretty scenery. And we ate some really good ice cream too. All in all a nice, relaxing day.
We reached the canal on Wednesday, but too early to continue on to check in to our motel. So we found a bench in the shade, and sat and watched the world go by. Or the boats, one speeding faster than another. And people on bikes. We got out our bag of snacks and munched, and took pictures for quite a while. And then it happened, just as it was time to leave. Something different, a tug boat pulling a barge came into view as it passed under the Sagamore Bridge. It was a treat to see it after an hour of more ‘normal’ shots.
But when I looked at the pictures later I saw that they looked dull, and I blamed the snow-white sky. Yesterday I said I needed to learn how to replace the sky in photos, and today that’s what I did. While it’s easy to do, there is a learning curve and lots of additional adjustments you can do, so I chose only a couple of pictures with sky involved, tweaked them just a little, and called it a day. The wonders of technology.
As the tugboat and barge continued toward the Bourne Bridge I saw that the tugboat was called the Sapphire Coast, and was out of Chesapeake City, MD. And the barge was a cement hauler. I guess I never wondered how cement got from one place to another, but I don’t think I would ever have imagined it traveling on a barge through the Cape Cod Canal.
If there ever was a time for me to learn to replace the sky in an image then today would be the day. My day in Rockport really was lovely, after all, it wasn’t raining. But the sky could have been a lot prettier. But the lack of color in the sky couldn’t spoil the colorful scenes I was seeing everywhere I looked.
This, I was told, is the iconic image of Rockport, so it was the first image we tookIf I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, then this sign would have convinced me.As we walked to the waterfront these glimpses down the alleyways made me anxious to get there.I have been seeing these gorgeous hydrangeas everywhere, but none prettier than these.Hollyhocks are a favorite from my childhood.And then we were there.The restaurants touted fresh lobster, and it probably doesn’t get fresher than this.Another view of the iconic building. It was destroyed in 1978 by a huge storm, but the townspeople pitched in to recreate it.The scene behind the facades.You would likely have a view like this no matter which of the waterfront restaurants you might choose to have your lunch.Or a view like this…This parade of little sailboats was being towed by the speedboat ahead of them. We decided that it was a group of kids being guided in after sailing lessons.Where ever you choose to eat you will have seagulls staring longingly at your lunch. But we had this house sparrow keeping us company.When we finally arrived at our room for the night we found this great potential sunset view right from the doorway. But the clouds took over.
When you are retired every day is a vacation I know, but to be back ‘home’ with time to enjoy places I never visited when I lived here is the best of all possible worlds.
The feature photo is one I forgot about because it was in my iPhone. I took it on our trip over that rough road to the Gurnett Light. And at the graduation party that we attended on Sunday I met a slightly smaller version of a dog named Ozzie than my mastiff was, so I had to take his picture. I hope that my Ozzie came back as a chihuahua, because being carried around like this would have made him one happy dog.
That’s all the inspiration I have for tonight. This has been a very nice trip so far. My friend has made connections with friends from his childhood, and found a cousin he didn’t know he had. And she is a high school friend of mine! We got pizza at the Cape Cod Cafe with family and friends. Then we took tons of pictures at Rockport, MA today and I’m too tired to process them tonight, but it was a beautiful day so I think they will be nice. And I’m still looking forward to seeing my daughter and all her kids in DE next week. Lots of fun so far and more to look forward to.
