As previously promised, here's some vacation pictures. We drove to Disney World and I snuck in 6 lights. Just click the links to the web pages. All I have up so far are the pictures, and some aren't so great, but here's a run down on the trip.

On Saturday, June 15 we set out from home, drove 12 hours and spent the night in Savannah, GA.

On Sunday morning, we got an early start for Tybee Island, about 18 miles east of Savannah. Along the way, we stopped at Emmett Park in Savannah, where they have restored an old gas powered river range light. It mostly just looks like a light post, so I'm not sure if it qualifies as a lighthouse, but more like an "aid to navigation". Anyway, after looking at it and photographing for a few minutes, my 12 year old daughter pointed out all the homeless people sleeping on the benches. I didn't want to wake them from their slumber, so we didn't spent too much time there. Good pictures are hard, as the light is under a bunch of trees. Savannah Harbor Range Light

From there, we headed to Tybee. Along the way, I thought I recalled reading that you could get a good view of Cockspur Island from Fort Pulaski. So we pulled in to Fort Pulaski, and I said to the ranger, "I hear I can get a good view of Cockspur Island from here." He said, "I wish I knew who was spreading that rumor." So we left and headed for Tybee. I would get Cockspur on the way back, from the side of the road.

So it was off to Tybee Island. They open at 9am, and we arrived at about 8:40. We parked in the metered lot across the street, dropped in 50 cents for an hour, and walked around until 9. In our travels we found the free parking behind the lighthouse. Tybee has beautiful grounds and many displays. And a real nice cat. It was bright and sunny and we got nice digital and film pictures. Kris (age 12), Amanda (age 9) and I climbed the light, while mom waited below. We returned to our car at 9:51am, just as the meter maid was placing the $10 parking ticket under the wiper. I shrugged it off and headed for a roadside stop to see Cockspur Island. Tybee Island

Just before crossing over the bridge leaving Tybee, I pulled off into the grass, opened the hatch, got out my trusty Nikon N70 and my brand new cheap tripod (that's a whole other thread under Lighthouse Photography). I made my way through the tall grass while the girls waited in the car, opened my new (did I mention cheap?) tripod, and pulled a leg off (of the tripod ). So all photos were hand held for the rest of the vacation. Cockspur Island

Back on the road, our next stop was St. Augustine, Florida. Another very nicely maitained light with many fine displays, and a huge gift shop. They had all sorts of rigging on the back of the lighthouse. I guess they were painting it. By now, we were approaching a mostly cloudy day, so neither my digital nor film pitures were great. Tall trees make your angles difficult, too. Kris and I climbed, while Donna and Amanda waited downstairs. St. Augustine

After St. Augie, we headed for Disney and spend five gloriously soggy, drippy, rainy days with Mickey. Okay, I'll admit, there was probably more sun than rain, but the rain was torrential when it was coming down, mostly during peak park times. We have some good pictures from the Animal Kingdom, that I'm eventually going to scan and post, but that may be a while. Also while in Disney, I lost the battery and charger for my digital, so from there on, everything was done handheld with film.

On Sunday, June 23, we left Orlando for the two hour drive to Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. It was cloudy, but no rain...until we were ten minutes from Ponce. And it poured. When we reached the light at around 10am, it was tapering off, but never stopped. The lighting was terrible. All of the pitures from in front of the light were really dark. Actually, one I posted turned out sort of nice. Anyway, Ponce is another beautifully restored lightstation, with several very nice out-buildings including one filled with lenses. I hope to get the lens pictures scanned and posted soon. Ponce also has a nice gift shop and two fairly nice cats. Kris, Amanda and I climbed in the rain. Donna waited in the car, she wasn't felling well. Ponce Inlet

After Ponce, it was off to St. Simon's Island, Ga. We arrived mid-afternoon and it was sunny, but the sky was a white as could be. The lighthouse actually gets lost in the sky on some off the pictures (how do I correct this in the future?). I kind of rushed through St. Simons. All three of the girls were beat, and no one climbed with me. They walked around a little and checked out the tiny gift shop. This light is also beautifully restored and sits right next to the beach. It is a gorgeous setting. St. Simons

I wish we had had more time to hit a few other lights (Sapalo, Amelia Island, Mayport), but I guess we'll just have to take another trip someday.

As I said, hopefully I'll get around to doing lens and animal pictures soon.

Hi Larry,

Sounds like a nice trip. Ponce and St. Augustine are great lights. They are the only one's of the lot that I have visited but look forward to visiting the others sometime in the not too distant future.

Did you see the ghost(s) that supposedly haunt the St. Augustine light?? Ooooooooooo......

Be Well, Dan

Larry,

Thanks for sharing your pics. Lots of pretty lights in the southeast, making it very hard to choose a favorite. Probably have to go with Ponce because of the lens display.

You can get a view of Cockspur from atop the walls of Fort Pulaski. Actually, the fort is worth a visit of its own merit. A great place, in excellent condition (except for all the holes in the outer wall from the Civil War...)

Dave

Thanks for the photos Larry. When I.O. visited St. Simons he also encountered those white skies. When he went to Ponce he was too cheap to pay the admission fee. But his photos were pretty good as they captured the whole complex. Unfortunately his friend Frank seems to be in quite a few of them!

Larry,

Great photos! I especially enjoyed the photos of St Augustine and Ponce. I do have a question. Ponce seemed, well, really red! I know they did a large restoration project not too long ago (I haven't been down to the lighthouse in two years). I know they were going to work on the lantern room. Was it really as red as it appeared in your photos? Or was it some weird lighting thing with all the clouds?

Anyway, thanks for sharing the photos. Hope you enjoyed the trip, bad weather and all.
You've made me wistful for a trip to Florida!



------------------
Diane

Diane,

My first impression of Ponce was, "WOW, that's red!" I think, too, that those pictures were affected by both the wettness of the fresh rain and the sun starting to peek through the clouds. It made it real shiney. I really like the affect.

Larry,

Like those pictures. We were at just about every light you went too- just on different trips.(Never made it to Ponce Inlet)

I took a quick look at your web page- very nice. I've got it bookmarked so I can go back and look at all of it.

I liked the part about Absecon- even if the Lighthouse wasn't the best part of the visit.

Dennis

The Lenses page has been updated.