My wife and I have just returned from an adventure that was 50 years in the making – our 50th Anniversary Tour.  My wife is the planner and organizer.  I’m a typical tourist.  When she suggested a cruise for our anniversary, I thought, “Great idea.  She gets to relax and enjoy life without cooking and keeping house.  I get to take pictures.”

It wasn’t exactly that way.  The cruise she was suggesting was on a 137 year-old wooden ship with few to no modern conveniences.  She had booked passage on an historical old schooner that would transport us to and through the islands off the coast of Maine, as well as some of the most scenic ports ever to be visited. 

That was just the beginning.  Our anniversary celebration lasted seven weeks with historic and cultural excursions through twelve states, mountains, oceans, coastlines, safe harbors, farmlands and a few irritatingly large cities,  Much of it was strictly spur-of-the-moment decisions.  Only the cruise and a leased cottage near Acadia National Park were pre-planned.

I can’t effectively cover the entire adventure in one post.  It would be much too long and, for some, bore you to tears.  I’ll break it into sections to please myself and give any readers the opportunity to pick and choose what to read and when.  Chronological order may seem the best approach.  But, remember, my wife is the organized one. 

As stated, this will be approached from a photographer’s point of view.  i will drop a few tips or provide references throughout.  I’ll mention right here that this article is especially relevant for photographers using “point-and-shoot” cameras.  A lot of what I have submitted to my stock agencies was shot with a Sony Cyber Shot, DSC-W170, 10.1 Mega Pixel camera that I carried around in my pocket. 

I bought this camera shortly before leaving for the cruise because I was afraid that the salt water would ruin my “Professional” equipment.  Man, did this baby perform.  My wife used the camera for the above picture of me in a canoe.   I love it.

Since our grandson spends summers with us, his return to the DC area was incorporated into our plans.  We decided that driving would provide the best opportunity to enjoy the history and culture of our nation’s birthplace, the East Coast and especially New England.  Besides, Dillon is seventeen.  He helped my drive through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia.  Parts of that section will be included in our adventure.

We will relax along the Blue Ridge Parkway; curse frantically along New Jersey and New York’s toll roads; recover along a calming, tree-covered Connecticut trail; see hardly any of Massachusetts; gape, open-mouthed at the beauty and cleanliness of our greenest state, Vermont. 

Hunting a moose will bring us into Maine a few days before our scheduled windjammer departure from Rockland, Maine.  The early arrival will allow us time to thrill at the plethora of lighthouses along our coastal shores, learn more about lobster men and the rugged life of fishing and fishermen;  step back in time as ancient airplanes and historic vehicles are on display and demonstrate their capabilities at the Owls Head Transportation Museum. 

We will document our six days of sailing on a strictly authentic schooner as we are offered the opportunity to learn sailing as hands-on crewmembers of this beautiful relic from our coastal history.  Our ship will follow no particular course as we let the wind lead us to the best harbor for the evening, or the most interesting of the thousands of islands along Maine’s coast. 

We will view much of Acadia National Park from the deck of our schooner and spend time ashore at our own lobster boil; gawk at the “cottages” of several of America’s wealthiest citizens and shop in quaint shops of Stonington, Maine on the ever popular Deer Isle.

We will spend another week in a small fishing cottage in Stonington, using that as headquarters as we explore Acadia National Park and eat lobster almost every day.  Jane will take in the local farmers market and we will see a movie in the hundred year old Stonington Opera House.

This already has gotten too long.  I will add pictures and anecdotes as we work our way around Moosehead Lake, the Catskills, Pennsylvania’s Amish Area and on to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I promise something for everyone and a generous selection of images and photography techniques.  Please stay tuned for more on our great adventure.

l8r

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