I know that we've discussed favorites before, but since there are more people posting these days let's hear fresh thoughts. The question is, "If you could keep only 1 HL from your collection which would it be and why"? I'll start it off.

ROSE ISLAND #614
Not my favorite lighthouse, but my biggest buying accomplishment, my proudest HL's moment you might say. I was able to buy it on ebay in Feb. for just a few dollars over SRP. Everyone must have been on vacation that day.


Digger

Mine would be Nauset Beach. It was issued in '92 and retired in '95 so not one that a HL Collector born in 1998 expected to be able to afford. I'm a MA native and have been up close to this lighthouse so I really wanted it in my collection. Did finally get it!!!

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Ken T

Grand Haven, MI is the lighthouse I'd keep if I had to choose just one. Grand Haven has always been very special to me and my family. I waited two years after Bill let it leak that it was in the works.

Second choice, would have to be Portland Head. Not just because it was the first piece I purchased but this lighthouse seems to naturally encourage others to understand the desolation that keepers and their families faced.

The one that I would keep (and I don't even have it yet) is the Hudson-Athens lighthouse. The reason why I would keep that one is because I am the lightkeeper there.


"the lightkeeper"

[This message has been edited by thelgtkpr (edited 06-07-99).]

My favorite piece and the one I would keep is the LE Ponce Inlet. It was the first lighthouse I visited. It was also the second HL piece in my collection. It brings back great memories, and isn't that what the best pieces do?

An old poster here with a favorite HL piece. I will have to pick , oh my, this is harder than I thought it would be ! St. Augustine, FL LE . Did you say I could only pick one, Digger?
Derith

I would keep my first HL: Pt. Fermin. I got it when I lived in Phoenix, AZ and drove across to San Pedro to see it. Even went on a boat to see it from the water. It's what started the whole thing with me, HL and USLHS. I don't know which would be my second choice: Buffalo or Pigeon Pt. I'm glad I don't have to decide!

Keep just one??? I don't think I could keep just one. It would look funny all alone in the big curio cabinet.

I have too many favorite HLs to even consider which would be the only one I would keep if the rest had to go.

Bob

Truly an impossible task, to choose just one. But since we are speaking hypothetically and I will not therefor have to live with the consequences of my decision, I would choose (sit down, Tim) Sandy Hook GLOW.

I don't own the Sandy Hook LE and it's not high on my list to procure because (imnsho) it is over-priced and looks silly.

There are other Harbour Lights that I am much more fond of (in their own right) but it would be impossible for me to choose just one on the basis of mere aesthetics, rarity or monetary value. It was at Sandy Hook on August 15, 1979, that I asked for Mariann's hand in marriage. The knot-tyer is the tie-breaker.

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-Art
[This message has been edited by Art (edited 06-08-99).]

I guess that I would have to keep Cape May, New Jersey as it is the first HL that I owned and it is the lighthouse that got me started collecting LH. Just a plain and simple light- but a light that guides nonetheless.

Chris

Living in Tidewater Virginia and never having experienced at "White Christmas", it would have to be "BIG BAY POINT, MI." The snow man, the foot prints around the building, and the decorations. Just looking at this piece puts me in the holiday spirit. Christmas is especially about a special child and children. Big Bay Point was hard to find and to acquire last year, but it was well worth the effort.

Moby

Very Tough Question I must say!!

I have so many favorites it's very hard to choose.

However if it ever came down to only being able to own one it would be the Old Field Christmas piece.

Why you ask?? Old Field is a 15 minute ride from where I live and I'm partial to "my" Lomg Island lights.

I guess it's easier for me to pick one, since I don't have the extensive collections that may of you do. I'd pick Pemaquid Point for two reasons. First, the lighthouse and location are spectacular, and are depicted well in the piece. Secondly, I was able to get this retired piece on sale at a local store.

Didn't sleep a wink last night!
I was tossing and turning !
Anyone remember those lyrics?

Well, among other issues, the selection I made as to which HL piece I would keep, if I had to let all the others go, really kept me awake. How on earth could I empty out all those curios my husband still doesn't believe I have? Well, I think the answer is, I just can't ! Now, I feel better and perhaps can sleep tonight.
Derith

Derith,

Just think about it. One stays, the rest have to go!!!! Sweet dreams.

An interesting, if not impossible task. I considered several, Barnegat for the good times looking for Harlequin Ducks alng the jetties there. Key West for the really fun time we had seeing the sights from it's balcony. I didn't know they did that in Key West .

But the one I would keep is Pemaquid. Apparently I've been waiting for Harbour Lights to come along for lots of years ...



Rick

Boy Digger, you ask some tough questions. It would be easier eating just one Lays potato chip. Anyway, the one piece I would keep is probably Point Arena which was the first piece I got through Retired @ Retail (thanks Sean).

Although this choice has probably changed over the years, if I had to decide today which one to keep, it would have to be Jupiter, FL.

Jupiter is the first Harbour Light I bought. It is the one that started it all for me and my wife. It was a gift for her, my then fiance.

-Todd

That's a tough call between Cape Canaveral LE and Fire Island LE. I live in Orlando and can see the shuttle from my house when it takes off. So, I like the rocket taking off on the LE. But I'm originally from NY and have fond memories of Long Island. I think I would keep Fire Island because of the size of the tall lighthouse.

Keep only one...We now have over 25 HLs, most are retired and we have visited/climbed the majority of the ones we own. So there are many fond memories of those lights on the shelves.

I would have to pick the one that started it all : Yaquina Bay. My husband bought it last Sept. for our 19th anniversary. We had visited it along with four other Oregon lighthouses in 1996 with our boys.

So although there are many closer lights like the NE coast with many other memories Yaquina bay will stay with me always because that is the one he picked from all the many choices that day on the shelf.

Donna

Hey, Little Ricky...

...how old were you in that photo up there??

Me? Pick one? No way. My favorite is usually the one that arrived most recently.

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0 :>) St. John of the Internet

Very tough question, kind of like who's your favorite kid. Since I've just gotten started, I don't have a lot to choose from. But for now it would have to be Point Loma, since it was the first one, and the one that got me hooked on HL. It also represents the only one that I have actually been inside (dare I say?). But I plan to see many more lighthouses, and add many more HL's to my collection.

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Bill
@ @
.<.
_U_

It feels so good to get sleep once again. I can not and will not, choose just one! I'm like the kid who has stuffed her hand inside the cookie jar to grab a handfull of cookies. One HL is just not enough!
Derith

[This message has been edited by Derith Bennett (edited 06-09-99).]

Geez John, how old was I in that picture? That was many, many years ago. I think around 11 or 12, maybe, if the mind isn't playing old-age tricks now.

It was a trip that my grandparents took me on in the early 1960's. Visited Pemaquid, obviously and maybe some other lighthouses. I found the picture and there were old post cards of other lighthouses around Boothbay Harbor, Maine with it.

Rick

This is really tough Digger, and you should be ashamed of yourself for torturing poor Derith.

I picked Sandy Hook because I was stationed there and by Sea Girt with the Coast Guard. I thought about Hatteras with the logic that it was worth the most on the secondary market so I could buy more replacements. If they ever make Fort Gratiot, it automatically becomes the one.

Final thought. They're all insured, so I better just take my wife since she's got the money for future purchases.

Rich

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Just looked at them and decided if only one it would probably be Scituate as I visited it and photographed it in April but think I'll probably hang onto the others so it doesn't get lonely.

I can't possibly pick a favorite. All are great.

Kathy

Don't worry about me, gang, I enjoy the jibs and jabs altho' my sides are beginning to show the scars. Being in public education for over 25 years has made me kind of immune.
Derith

I'm answering this one for Mike. If he has another opinion, he can state it in another post.

By far his favorite piece would be the original Cape Hatteras (mold 1) that he won at the reunion last year.

He has all of the Cape Hatteras' that HL has made. So, he better say Cape Hatteras!!

Patty

p.s. I really don't have one personal favorite...too many to choose from!!

[This message has been edited by Kaiz (edited 06-10-99).]

I changed my mind it's not Fire Island or Cape Canaveral any longer. It's Middle Bay.
I know it's not high on most people's list.

I drove through a severe thunderstorm last night to get to my parents' house to get my UPS delivery. When I opened the box, I fell in love right away. My parents also thought it was the nicest one that they've seen so far. So, Middle Bay and the cow have the honor of the middle of the curio cabinet, for now anyway.

I would have to say Alcatraz, I grew-up sailing with my grandfather on San Francisco, bay. A trip from Sausalito around Alcatraz and back was great fun.

cyberkeeper

Since I am yet to receive the new Baltimore Harbour, I don't have to worry about giving it up, if it's not my favorite.

Right, Digger?
Derith

Derith,

If it's not the "one", then it's gotta go. Could be the fastest turnaround in history!
BTW everyone. All the ones that can't stay, send them to me and I'll make sure they get a proper burial. I promise!

Hey Digger,

If there is to be a burial, I'll take care of it myself. Then when I can't take the anxiety of having only one of my HL, a quick resurrection will be swift and a great relief.

Your offer, admirable tho' it may sound, cannot be accepted. Thanks, but no thanks, in other words.
Derith

Hard choice, but only one I could pick is Barnegat Light. My favorite LH & HL.
Take Care
QC

Wow..toughest question I have ever answered I believe....looks like most people with huge collections have gone to the tried and true of there first one or one that means alot to them for some reason..ok,thats the way I will go then to..lol..I would have to say the Bodie lighthouse is my favorite because of many evenings sitting on the grass at 10 oclock at night and admiring one of the most spectacular sights of the fresnel shining through the tree's and out above into the ocean.Not my first piece purchased..probably around 40th or 50th..lol..but without any wuestion,my favorite :-)

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I guess I have to agree with Bob, Bodie Island would be the one I keep. Like Bob Bodie Island is my favorite light. Unlike Bob it was the first HL I ever recieved.

Hey Bob,

My grandma was raised on the grounds of Bodie Island. The tales she would tell us.

Moby of Tidewater Virginia

Where the tide has abated and the sun is shining!

I guess mine would be Pt. Fermin - I found it not too long ago for it's original price. My first (and only) real find!

Dixie

Geez, what a tough question...probably Coquille River, because I just spent a fortune for it...but then there's Tillamook Rock, because it's my all-time favorite REAL lighthouse and my final resting spot (I doubt I'll be able to get out there while I'm alive!)...

Rock,
If I had the money to buy Coquille it would be my favorite, too.
Derith

If I had to pick just one it would have to be Cape Florida since that was the lighthouse that made me fall in love with lighthouses. What a great vacation that was (long before HL came on the scene).

That is an extremely tough question to answer. My collection just started about a year ago. Growing up on Long Island, I have fond memories of Montauk Point and Fire Island. Now living in Tampa, I have visted Ponce Inlet, St. Augutine, and Amelia Island and enjoy them as well.
If it come down to one piece, I would have to go with Montauk Point.

John

Good pick John, I agree. Montauk Point Lighthouse is my favorite toooo!!!

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Long Island BOB





[This message has been edited by rscroope (edited 06-22-99).]

Hey John,
Are you a member of the HL Tampa club?
Derith

First of all thanks for the warm welcome gravedigger.My favorite HL is #152 Tawas Point.It is special to me bacause it was the first lighthouse I was able to climb it was one of the best times of my life.So If I could only keep one that would be the one

Derith,
No, I'm not a member of the HL Tampa Club. How often does the club meet?
John