The balcony at the top of the lighthouse was a nice respite from the stuffy climb up the stairs. There was a nice breeze and the great view. I did have to tell Wesley, “I don’t care if your shoulder does fit through the railing, that’s not something your show your mother. For my sake, pretend there’s no way you can squeeze out and fall to your death.” And they wonder why I get all twitchy. read more
We visited the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse and Museum located between Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach. It is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest in the United States. (The tallest is Cape Hatteras and is now on my to do list.)
It was only $5/adult and $1.50/child, a huge bargain considering the ticket prices of other attrations in the area. (For example, the Kennedy Space and Rocket Center is $41/adult and $31/child.)
They don’t allow backpacks or food and drinks inside, so I had to take my backpack back to the car and just carry my camera and the extra lens. I managed to drop the lens on the asphalt in the process because I’m awesome like that, but it seems to have survived. I think it’s because I said the magic words: “Oh, shit! No, no, no, no, no…” Worked every time I dropped one of the kids.
One of the nice things about dragging myself out of bed at 6:15 was the friendliness of the other crazies early risers. Everyone seemed happy that I was taking pictures of the beautiful sunrise and I got a lot of waves and smiles. Turns out I had forgotten to put pants on. Kidding!
I got tickled at the people who would stop so they wouldn’t get in my shot, even though I was really just fiddling with the zoom or checking to see if the camera was level. Don’t worry, folks, that sun isn’t going anywhere. After it happened a few times, I was sure to stand up when people were about to go by so I wouldn’t interrupt their walk.
A group of women waved, asked if I’d seen the dolphin, and pointed down the beach to where they had spotted one earlier. I thanked them but I had no intention of walking along the beach because I was sleepy and probably suffering significant blood loss from all the bugs. The sun had risen, the pelicans were calmly gliding along the tops of the waves, and nothing else was going on so I decided to pack it in.
I had the tripod back in its case and was packing up the camera when I heard a few splashes behind me. The pelicans were diving for their breakfast. I had to try to catch them in the act. read more
I got up early one morning to take pictures of the sunrise. This is the first glimpse I saw of the sun. You have to look closely….
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