I've never been a beach person - nor much of a water person for that matter - there are only lakes and rivers in the land-locked Prairies scoured out of the ground by the glacial action of the last ice age and the meltwaters of the Rocky Mountains . But, I think I could be... Place name links like Carolina Beach, NC go to Wikipedia. Place name links like Carolina Beach use the local tourism or government website.
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| 2012.11.25 | A Little Bit of Home from Afar |
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This time of year, Sunday is football day. Today is the Grey Cup game, the Canadian equivalent of the NFL Superbowl . This is the 100th game for the Cup, which I saw in person near the beginning of this beach adventure. I think our trophy looks much better. In a game more lopsided than the score would suggest, Toronto beats Calgary 35-22. | | | | 2012.11.27 | Beach Morning |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A warm beach morning, the first in quite a while. Interesting clouds over the ocean, back-lit by the sun. A fishing boat swarmed by pelicans as the larger ones usually are. The sun lighting the water's surface when it can. | | | | My deck desk. A large 25-cent coffee, 2 newspapers usually, remnants of the previous evening's beverages, electric blankets for TFS and I, an electric heater which we don't use anymore, binoculars to watch some of the ocean's happenings. | | | | | 2012.11.27 | The (Secret) Art of Dr. Seuss |
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I took a field-trip to the North Carolina Ukelele Academy to see what it was about. Ukeleles, of course, more than I had thought were possible, along with books of music re-scored for the ukelele for artists like Taylor Swift and the Rolling Stones. Can't Get No Satisfaction? You can here, if you're ukelele-inclined. I didn't take any pictures, because it's a one-room store that has plenty of pics in their online shop. However, on the way out there was an art gallery, and since I was in a wandering mood I wandered in and found a surprise - an exhibition and sales of paintings and sculptures by Dr. Seuss , aka Theodor Seuss Geisel. While he is best known for his children's books, he was also an accomplished, though largely-unknown, artist and sculptor. His widow has been releasing a few limited-edition prints and sculptures each year since his death, and this gallery is one of 99 in the US selected to sell his works, for hundreds to tens-of-thousands of dollars. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 
The Economic Situation Clarified |
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Cat From the Wrong Side of the Tracks |
| | | | | | | Note the different styles of his various works. The Escher-like "The Economic Situation Clarified" caught my eye immediately, and the gallery owner explained that when Seuss was told he wasn't a "real artist" he set about to paint one picture in each of several styles prevalent in the "art" world. | | | | | 2012.11.30 | Sky, Land, Water |
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| | | At home, the view out my window offers a great view of the sky, and with a small airport north of me and a larger one south the clouds are often joined by contrails . Between the busy airports in the US northeast and Atlanta, there's a lot of air traffic, leaving marks across the Atlantic skies day and night. Daytime contrails | leave a mark. Night-time too, if the moon is bright enough, but my photographic equipment and skills aren't up to capturing them. On this morning I counted 16 (at least), I think a record. | | | | | Just before docking in Southport, there is a small lighthouse: Price Creek Light that I never gave much thought to photographing until TFS asked me to snap it. It's one of three lighthouses visible on the Southport-FortFisher ferry route, the only ferry route in the US to have so many lighthouses visible on its route. I saw the | Oak Island Lighthouse on Thanksgiving Day, and have seen the Bald Head Island Lighthouse from the ferry, which is as close as I'll probably get given the cost of seeing it up close. | 
Southport Pier at Dusk |
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Southport Mainstreet |
| | On this day Southport had a Dickens Christmas Festival, with people playing Olde Tyme Charles Dickens characters on the streets, various musical and performance acts in- and outdoors. We didn't partake in many of the activities but wandered around enjoying the free stuff and the charm of their efforts. | | | | This is the first time we've taken the last ferry back, in the dark. We didn't have a choice: the earlier ferry was cancelled for mechanical problems. Just out of port the ferry slowed and then stopped, and in the disorientation of darkness on the water we and other ferry-goers couldn't figure out why, until this container ship loomed out of the darkness to suggest why our dinky little ferry needed to stand aside. | | | |
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Wrightsville Beach Christmas Flotilla | | Start
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