Mountain Island Lake

Carole and I took the canoe over to Mountain Island Lake today. The lake is one of the sources of Charlotte's drinking water. It's also only a mile from Carole's mom's house. When we go, we always access the lake from Latta Plantation Park, which is a county-run park. As county parks go, it's very nice. Superlative, I'd have to say. It has a nature museum, a historic exhibit (the Latta Plantation Home) and the Carolina Raptor Center where birds of prey are rehabilitated. And several hundred acres of woods and shoreline providing trails for horseback riding, hiking, and canoe/kayak launching. Lots of good fishing, too. It's a great county park and I can't say why we don't spend more time there. It's also a short jog from Carole's family church.

We spent the lion's share of today canoeing around the shoreline. We put in at around 11:00 am, thinking that we needed to beat the after-church crowds. However, as things turned out, the park never got that crowded, at all. There were some speedboats and skiers on the lake, a few jet-skis, but mainly other canoes and kayaks. It was nice not having to worry about getting run down by speed demons on motorboats.

We went to one of our favorite places on the lake--a series of boulders at the water's edge (and in the water) where we went swimming and sunbathing. After that we headed back to the canoe launch where we'd parked the truck and returned to Carole's mom's place where we grilled chicken and had supper. It was a day well spent.

Early in the paddle. We actually passed between these two rocks in the lake. I was hoping for sirens, but all we saw was big piles of bird poop.

One of the rocky beaches where boaters like to pull up.

This was taken as we paddled beside a big rock formation called Buzzard's Rock. They have a nice overlook platform built on top.

A huge boulder at our favorite lakeside spot. The young ladies on the right thought I was taking their photograph, I suspect.

I took the Kodak waterproof camera, as I did not want to risk any damage to the Canon. One nice option is being able to take it out in the water where I got this perspective.

We swam across the lake at this point.

Underwater shot. Murky water nothing like the clarity of the springs of Florida.

The flat rock where we like to sunbathe.

This spot was weird. We noted a park bench in the woods. Once there, it became obvious that the bench was on a now-abandoned trail forgotten by the park. The bench probably only sees occasional use from people like us who spot it from the water.

This shot made me wish I'd had the Canon with me. A Great blue heron in flight. But of course I lost all the detail with the cheap little waterproof camera.

First Blush

I went out to the northern part of the county today so that we could hang out with Carole's mom. She hadn't visited with us for a bit so she was getting lonely.

I mainly relaxed, but I did make the very short drive to a local county park (Latta Plantation Park) to go for a brief hike. I was looking for things to photograph to help me continue to learn how to use the new camera. I still don't have a macro lens for the Canon, but I'm trying to learn how to take close ups with the lens that I do have.

As I was hiking down one trail I noticed these little berries. They have a brightly colored husk that had opened to reveal the berries inside. I'd never seen this plant before and I have no idea what it is, but it made a good subject to use for learning the camera.

From above.

And from below.

A dogwood in Carole's mom's yard. Dogwoods are the first to begin changing color in Fall around these parts.

Birthday, Dead Dogwood, and Fences

Sunday was a good, lazy day. We started it by sleeping very late. I always sleep late after I've had a five-day work week. It was Carole's birthday, so we drove over to the mall near her mom's house to meet up with her and Carole's aunt for lunch at Mimi's Cafe. Mimi's is a chain restaurant, but pretty good. We had a decent meal and it was A-OK.

The waitress took this shot of me and Carole. They gave Carole a slice of chocolate pie since it was her birthday. And I swear that dessert in front of me was not mine. It was a three-dessert platter which I shared with Carole's mom and aunt.

After that, we drove a short distance to her mom's house. I can only take so much of the female chit-chat and I have to hit the outdoors. So I mucked about in the yard for a while. Carole's dad planted many dogwood trees when he was alive, but they're getting old and dying off, now. One of the nicest ones fell over this past Monday after the heavy snow caused it to break off at the base. We need to start planting new dogwoods, as we've lost about four in the past year.

It just fell over from the weight of the wet snow.

The base was as rotten as a Republican's heart.

Still feeling antsy, I jumped in my truck and drove a few miles to Latta Park. It's a large county park with plenty to see and do. If it had been earlier, I'd have loaded the canoe and gone paddling in Mountain Island Lake. As it was, I just took it easy and went to gaze at the park. The set piece is the remains of the namesake Latta Plantation. It's a restored farm complete with barns, tobacco houses, root cellars, etc. They charge admission to that, so I was content to stand outside the fence and take photographs of it from a distance.

Latta Plantation

The house and immediate yard.

They have a guide dressed as the lady of the house, in traditional garb.

She came out and walked around the lawn, looking very ghostly from my viewpoint.

Lots of really nice fence work at Latta.

Fence and barn.