Outer Banks

We drove down to Kill Devil Hills, NC today.  Apparently it rained most of the day here, but, just after we finished dinner, a little blue sky was visible from Collington Island. 

Illumination Night

Illumination Night was back on June 15.  It's a neighborhood thing, where the people on the block or street it's held on illuminate their porches.   Since I got roped into working on painting the gazebo, I thought I ought to get a few shots of it in use.  Below that are a couple decorated porches.

Cicadas

When we were in Virginia, the cicadas were in full strength; the volume was almost deafening.

There were holes all over where they had crawled out from their 17 years underground.

They then crawled up trees and shed their outer shells, leaving them behind.

And here's a live one.

When I wasn't shooting grandkids this weekend ..

... I shot a few for myself.

Lily pads in Forest Park

and a House Wren on the cherry tree.

Weekend with Adeline & Maggie, part 2

Weekend with Adeline & Maggie, part 1

A Few More Wineries

Back on May 31, while visiting brother John, we visited a few wineries.  Among them:

Mountain Cove Vineyards, at the end of a very long, narrow, unpaved road.  They are one of at least two vineyards which claim to be the oldest in Virginia.

Lovingston Winery, much newer,  much more accessible, and also much better.

Lunch at Lone Wolf Brewing Company.

Last stop, an old favorite, Cardinal Point Vineyard and Winery.

Lexington

First stop:  Rockbridge Vineyards

Beer tasting at Devil's Backbone Brewing Company

The house CL grew up in; now it's a B&B.

Natural Bridge, VA

The last of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Next planned stop was Lexington, VA, but I was getting into the theme of going to tourist traps, so we stopped at Natural Bridge.  We passed on the Wax Museum and should have skipped the butterfly exhibit.  But the bridge itself was truly impressive.

Most people turn around at the bridge, but we continued for a mile or so on their nature trail.

At one point I looked down at Cedar Creek and saw an area of clean, small stones, in contrast to the layer of silt over the rest of the creek bottom.  Upon closer inspection, we noticed several fish in the area.

Then we noticed that the largest of them kept swimming away and returning with a new pebble to add to the collection.  I'm assuming that this is a nest.  If anyone can identify the variety of fish, please let me know.

End of the May 28 leg of the trip:  Carolyn Jean's country house, Whip-poor-will farm.