Stonington, Through My Lens

If I could go back to Maine, I would go in a heart beat, but I have other fish to fry. So I scan my image library and sigh. There is no place quite like Maine. It's beautiful. It's rugged. It's unique in so many ways. I drove into Stonington, Maine, on Deer Isle, on a very foggy, Summer's mourn and headed straight for the waterfront. I reached the dock just in time to see this beautiful tall ship making its way across the harbor.

As the fog began to lift, I drove from one side of town to the other, creeping slowly through a busy, tiny town to find the opposite side of the harbor. As I approached the waterfront, camera in hand, this beautiful tall ship was sailing by. I absolutely love the old dock in the foreground with the sea gulls perched on top.

With the fog fully lifted now, I turned and made my way to the car, having driven way out on the main dock. Before I got in the car, I looked up and saw this scene. The quintessential Maine clapboard houses sitting next to the the water's edge, while a wharf side restaurant complete with log stilts jutted out in the harbor itself. What a perfect setting. Stonington is such a quaint, albeit teeny tiny town, situated on the southern most edge of Deer Isle. If you have never visited, you've missed out.

Before getting back in my car, I also noticed these small boats tied up to a smaller dock. The sun was bright and the water was a gorgeous blue. I couldn't not snap a few photos. This tiny town is so remote and isolated, and to think of the harsh Winters, and to see that tourism was, and still is, thriving here was such a comfort. I am amazed to think about the fishermen making a living out on the open ocean working their lobster traps, but that is exactly what they do.

Before leaving Stonington, I stopped at a small shop in town. Curiosity took over as I walked to the back of the shop next to the waterfront. A small sailboat was floating aimlessly through the harbor. At the water's edge lay a tangled mess of rope and bright pink buoys. Oh, how perfect. Throw in a bit of rocky coastline that Maine is so famous for and you have the perfect seaside image.

If I visited Stonington today, I would stay a while and snap more images and immerse myself in this quaint, tiny seaside town. I had dreamed of this trip for years and to live it was absolutely surreal. I'll be back with my next stop at Burnt Cove on Deer Isle. And yes, I've shared this trip before, but I just couldn't not share again. Can you see why. I hope you are staying warm in the throws of this Polar Vortex with negative degree days and even colder nights, not to mention snow squalls in the north every other minute. And before I leave, goodbye January. You seemed so short and sweet. Oh, and least I forget, these beauties (photos) were all taken with slide film on a manual Pentax camera. Take that you DSLRs! ENJOY!

Colorful Chincoteague

I have shared various images from my trip to Chincoteague of all types of Egrets and many types of Herons, various sizes and shapes of Gulls, even a photo of a strange looking bird called an Oystercatcher. And, of yes, let's not forget the Ponies. Brown, black, checkerboard, tan. Well here's an image I like to call Colorful Chincoteague. Scrounging around in my archives I found these photographs I had taken on my trip to Virginia's Eastern Shore in mid July, in the throws of a heat wave no less, to visit Chincoteague Island and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. On my first day out, after trekking to the wildlife refuge, I drove back across the short bridge to the main island and headed for the road that ran parallel to the bay on the north side of the island. One of the first things I noticed and stopped to photograph was an old fishing shack which had a nice array of crab traps stacked up outside right off the porch.

As I made my way back to the road that lead to the wildlife refuge and my hotel, I noticed this sailboat. The guy at the helm was readying to bring down the sails so I grabbed a quick pic before he did. Not far from the sailboat hanging off the side of the dock was this life preserver shrouded in rope. Who could resist such an image. A few days later, I found myself on the east side of the island right the bay cuts through and, more notably, where the Ponies make their way across the water for the Pony Penning every year. As I drove the road traversing the bay, I looked over to see this large group of kayaks sitting idle. What a colorful array. It's been a mainly 'single digit' temperature day here in the Bluegrass State. If you go outside, your breath travels through the air leaving you to wonder if it just might freeze mid air. My God is this what the Upper Midwest has been dealing with all these years? Not to mention the Canadians. I feel for all of you. ENJOY!