Dilapidated Fencing along the Dunes, Destin, Florida

After developing a roll of film from my then-newly-acquired Fuji GS645S (read about it, here), I came upon a couple of additional photographs from our beach vacation to Destin, Florida, this summer. This is the second of two.

Dilapidated Fencing along the Dunes at Miramar Beach in Destin, Florida

Overlooking Miramar Beach, Destin, Florida

After developing a roll of film from my then-newly-acquired Fuji GS645S (read about it, here), I came upon a couple of additional photographs from our beach vacation to Destin, Florida, this summer. This is the first of two.

Overlooking Miramar Beach in Destin, Florida

Paddleboarding at Miramar Beach, Destin, Florida

What's a week spent at the beach in Destin without trying something new?! On this occasion, Blake and I decided to try our hands at paddleboarding, which went better than I had anticipated. A few things I learned: 1) Paddleboarding takes less effort than kayaking; 2) You had better only first attempt this on a day when the water is pretty calm; and 3) When you're on a YOLO Board, it causes you to want to say "YOLO!" about every other sentence, and not because you think it's cool to do so!

Beachside Kite Flying, Destin, Florida

While I really rather enjoyed my time at the beach in Destin, I did experience a phenomenon that I did not fully understand.

There was this fad whereby people attached kites to their beach chairs or coolers and let them fly for the duration of their beach stay on that day. The kite fluttered around getting ever higher until reaching the end of the line.

I just don't comprehend where the joy and satisfaction came from in so-doing; it's not like the folks were actively flying the kites themselves, or playing, running, and frolicking on the beach. 

Nope, they just had a bit (albeit a long "bit") of floating string attached to the chair in which they were sitting. Nevertheless, it was kind of nice to look at.

on to the Greek Isles

In order to keep going what appears to be a theme in European travels, due in large part to my recent inability to get out and take photographs, I present photos from the Greek isles of Santorini and Naxos.

Santorini, Greece :: Greek Orthodox Church :: Canon A-1, FD 50mm f/1.4, Fuji Provia 100F

One of the most interesting parts of our 10-week trip in 2004 occurred while we were on Naxos. All of Europe was engrossed in the EuroCup. Greece had never advanced in international competition, having previously only made the field in two - the Euro in 1980, and the World Cup in 1994. On July 4 (as it turns out, nobody else cares about American Independence Day), Greece defeated Portugal in the Finals. As the match wound down and it was apparent that Greece would win, my companions and I went to the town square. Our efforts were gratified, when Greece won and who island erupted into bodies painted white and blue, fireworks, and people hanging out of car windows and flooding the streets. It was easily the most exciting event I've ever witnessed. 

Naxos, Greece :: Ruins :: Canon A-1, FD 50mm f/1.4, Fuji Provia 100F

Naxos, Greece :: Star Trails on the Beach :: Canon A-1, FD 20mm f/2.8, Fuji Provia 100F

Each of these photos can also be found at my website: Europe.

Hilton Head Island

Anna and I took a trip to Hilton Head in August, as a sort of delayed anniversary celebration. Thanks to a family friend, we were able to stay at a condo that was a mere nice-boardwalk-over-a-salt-marsh stay from the beach.

The salt marsh and proximity to the beach were fortuitous, because while Anna exercised in the mornings, I was able to wander out and take photos.

 

And I learned a lot about salt marshes while on the trip. They are the densest ecosystems in the world for biomass and are integral to the maintenance of healthy coastal environments. They're also kinda pretty.

We took one day to go to Savannah. It was a really hot day (as should have been expected in Georgia), so the trip to the city that General Sherman offered to President Lincoln as a Christmas present in 1864 was a little less pleasant than it might otherwise have been. We also made it out to Tybee Island for a quick visit.

The church above is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. One of my favorite photos from this trip (below) causes me to chuckle inside a little. Then the photo below that is one that was taken about seven years previously on another day trip to Savannah.

Our final excursion was to go on a boat tour in an effort to sea some dolphins. We were successful, but even more memorably, I was able to photograph a shrimping boat and a really splendid sunset.