What are your top 5 lighthouse trips or adventures during 2006? Many of us met up in Virginia and Maine, and added side trips to enhance the experience. Please add some details/photos to your list.
Bob

Top 5
1 - Climbing Oak Island Lighthouse as a finaley to visiting all the NC Outer Island LHs.

2 - Orient Point LH - Christmas wreath decorating in a mini northeaster.

3 - NY Harbor Lighthouse Cruise which included 8 lighthouses, SoL and 3 lightships.

4 - Little Gull 200th Birthday Celebration! First civilians on the island and to climb the light in recent history.

5a - Virgina, North Carolina, Delaware lighthouse trip including Portsmouth Regional and Dave's lighthouse trips. Cruising by Chesapeake Tower LH. Climbing CapeHatterasLh in 98% humidity!

5b - Maine Regional including Dave's lighthouse trips to 38+ lhs including climbing Cape Elizabeth and Portland Breakwater.

Honorable Mention
Finding Savannah Light!

John and I didn't go on any specific lighthouse tours this past year but we did see a few lights while on cruises.

#1...hiking to the lighthouse on top of the fort in Corfu, Greece.

#2...seeing the 2 lighthouses in the Bosporus Straits in Istanbul, Turkey.

#3...seeing my first lighthouse on the African continent in Alexandria, Egypt.

#4...arriving into the Port of San Juan mid-day so that I could take daytime pictures from the water of El Morro lighthouse.

I need more lighthouse trips next year so I can at least have 5 choices.

# 1 - 40+ lighthouses in Maine (by boat, plane and land). Spending time with our lighthouse friends.

# 2 - Cape Flattery in Washington State by plane. I could have circled Tatoosh Island for hours. Also got to see some other Washington lights for the first time.

# 3 - Huron and Stannards Rock during the WILD Lake Superior cruise

# 4 - Annual lighting at Split Rock on November 10 and 11 (My pictures suck, but it's always fun to be there.)

Dave's Virginia Region trip with a side trip to Wolf Trap and New Point Comfort by boat for closer views (had seen both from land previously).

Dave's Maine Regional trip with the highlight of climbing Cape Elizabeth and Portland Breakwater.

Chipping bricks for Cape St. George Lighthouse in Eastpoint,Fl.

Helping build and climb on (to put on the Christmas Lights) the lantern room for Cape St. George Lighthouse on St. George Island, Fl.

Climbing Sanibel Lighthouse.

Well, this was my very first inaugeral year of lighthousing! I started in July.

I can say that I have had a blast exploring and learning and photographing these great treasures of ours!

Tough to rank any of my trips as they were all very exciting.
I'll just post them but not in any order:
1. The Maryland Lighthouse Challenge.(completed it)
2. The New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge.(completed it)
3. Visit to Long Island NY and saw some great lighthouses.(didn't know about the challenge but will try to make it in 2007)
4. Visit to Staten Island and Manhatten and saw even more lighthouses including the Statue of Liberty!
5. North Carolina vacation...Cape Lookout, Ocracoke, Currituck, Cape Hatteras, Bodie...very fun trip for lighthouses!

All total for my first year was 37 lighthouses and 1 lightship!

Not bad for my rookie year!

It was a very busy year for lighthousing, listed below are five of the many adventures I had in 2006

# 1 Visiting and photographing over 70 lights in Ireland and getting to climb 5 (when only one in the whole country is open to the public)
# 2 Seeing the lights in Grenada, St. Vincent, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Thomas & San Jaun at the ports we visited on a cruise.
# 3 Going to some lights in England that I had never seen.
#4 Dave's regional in Virginia and then onto the outer banks, getting to climb Hatteras.
# 5 Weekend in Maine, boat trip to Petit Manan, Libby Island, Nash, Moose Peak, Narraguagus (Pond Island, then visiting and climbing, West Quoddy, Little River, Prospect Harbour and on the way home Fort Point!

Well, seeing as I only went on 2 lighthousing adventures this year.

1. WILD cruise around the middle part of Lake Superior and my own 3 state road trip around the cruise. I was able to see about 60 lights in 10 days.

2. Dave's VA beach trip.

Well, most of my lighthousing this year came on the return from our CO trip, but I'll break it down a bit.

1 - Volunteering again at Sea Girt for the Challenge - always a great, albeit tiring, experience.

2 - Seeing the Michigan City Light after hearing about all the HLC's efforts with it.

3 - Seeing my first Michigan light, St. Joseph's Pier.

4 - Driving along the coast of Ohio and finally hitting some of the lights there.

5 - Walking along Navy Pier, doing our best to talk loudly about seeing the lighthouses from it to avoid looking like touristas (I would not be caught DEAD on Navy Pier if it wasn't for the lighthouses).

1 - Pemaquid from the water on Dave's Maine boat/bus trip..

2 - The rest of the Maine Regional and bus/boat trips with our friends..

3 - The Norfolk Regional and bus/boat trips with our friends..

4 - HLClub events at the OMC Lighthouse..

5 - Bill store events with our collector friends plus HLClub picnic with Bill..

Only 2 trips this year, but a great year all the same. Missed not having Bill or Nancy come to Colorado for an event though.

1 - Portsmouth Regional including the boat and bus trips. Highlight for me was climbing Old Point Comfort.

2a - Spent a week at New Dungeness Lightstation, Sequim WA. What a great time being a lighthouse keeper!

2b - Private tour of Mukilteo prior to heading to New Dungeness.

Tammy, I can not believe your pictures suck. You most likely are being way too hard on yourself.

I did not get to make any lighthouse trips in 2006. But I did get to meet some wonderful people right here on the forums and enjoyed all of your pictures.

I haven't taken many specific lighthouse trips

Not in any order

1) Barbados lighthouses (4)
2) Aruba lighthouses (3)
3) Pensacola lighthouse
4) Mobile Bay lighthouses
5) Dominican Republic (1)

Top 5 huh, For me it's tough,

1. Point Bonita because I was born and raised in the area and never knew it was there.

2. Body because I never thought I'd see it.

3. Curituck because It is so well presurved and a fine example of what a non-profit can do.

4. The Oregon Light because I came so close to seeing them. (Email me if you want the explaination)

5. Point Kiloea because it was the first one I saw (on our Honey Moon) after I married Edith.

For 2006 that choice is easy:

1. visiting "new" Point Loma in San Diego
2. seeing the "Angels Gate" albeit from far off
3. visiting Schleimünde Lighthouse on my birthday trip
4. taking pictures on the Neuland Light on the German Baltic Coast
5. Taking a tour of Point Fermin, CA

2007 will be differnt. Wonder I we are going to see any lighthouses this year.

2006 was a busy year for us. To list all of our trips for the year in best order we had several choices but here goes nothing!

1} EAST Quoddy our first Canadian light & staying the night at West Quoddy Life Saving Station.
2]The week we spent doing the outerbanks. 3]Daves Virginia trip.
4]Shooting Pemaquid from the water.
5]The Maine Regional Event & our first tatse of Maine Lights.

After #1 no particular order; Our trip to Ireland and visiting over 70 lights and climbing 5. I was on the same trip as Hilari

Dave's regional in Virginia and my bittersweet return to Cape Henry and climbing both, and then onto the outer banks, and climbing Cp. Hatteras.

Weekend in Maine, boat trip to Petit Manan, Libby Island, Nash, Moose Peak, Narraguagus (Pond Island, then visiting and climbing, West Quoddy, Little River, Prospect Harbour and on the way home Fort Point Again with Hilari and Jim etal.

NELL's LHHC&Y 2006 with access to and a climb of Cape Elizabeth. Finally got in there with ALF's help.

The painting of Long Point Lighthouse and using and sleeping at Race Point Light as our home base while doing so.

2006 was an excellent year for me for lighthousing and 2007 is shapping up the same way.