What I Learned From a Week at the OBX, Part II

5. Speaking of the Hobie Cat – they are SO much fun. We spent the entire time being wet, but the water is warm and not nearly as salty as the Atlantic Ocean. I really don’t like getting saltwater in my mouth – waaaaay too salty for me. But since the Atlantic can’t “feed” the Currituck anymore, it’s become less salty.

6. Wild mustangs are cool – no matter how many times you see them! We were lucky enough to see the horses every day, except the morning we left. It was pretty early when we packed up and said goodbye to II If By Sea. No horses to see us off. We were lucky enough to see a dolphin or two cruising for an early breakfast. And there were these crazy, little tree frogs stuck to the house. But no horses. I was excited every time I saw them and regretted when I didn’t have my camera. It was amazing the one time they grazed in our yard, just a few feet from us.

7. Dolphins are also cool – no matter how many times you see them! Andy got the closest for sure. He was out on the boogie board and thought he’d swim out a little father than usual. I was watching and noticed the school of fish jumping out of the water on the next wave. And then the familiar fins! Andy was right in the middle of their lunch. He said it freaked him out, all the fish under and around him. And he’s pretty sure he kicked a dolphin in his haste to escape! We just observed them from the water, as close as we could get. They did get very close to shore a few times – and it was magical being so near a wild dolphin.

8. The water in the Carova area was nasty – at our house, at least. Andy said it was well water and had sulphur in it. It smelled SO BAD. If we didn’t leave the lid down on the toilet, then the bathroom smelled. I wrongfully accused Andy of stinking it up several times! It nearly made me gag when I brushed my teeth, and we certainly never drank it. I was NOT prepared for the stinky water at all!

9. Good shells (like good men) are hard to find. I am used to this – having always vacationed on the Atlantic (growing up in GA and NC). We found plenty of broken shells and “junk” shells like mollusks – but nothing really worth keeping. I guess that’s what souvenir shops are for!

What I Learned From a Week at the OBX, Part I

1. The BEST breakfast was at Uncle Ike’s in Corolla. The pancakes were truly fantastic – and after two horrible meals, a welcomed meal. Taylor and I split an omelet, and Andy had French toast – all very good! Nothing beats those pancakes, though! We shall start every vacation there.

2. Driving on sand can be scary. I didn’t try it – it was stressful enough being a passenger! I was very concerned the first time we did it – for some reason, it reminded me of our Road to Hana trip in Maui. The back part is known as the “Divorce Highway” (at least, that’s what a local told us!). I understood why after we made the trip. I wouldn’t call the drive on the sand the “Divorce Beach” or anything! But it does try the nerves when hubby is experimenting with what his truck can do!

3. The beach is windy. Whoa, was it just the week we want or always like that? We went the last week of July, and I plan to research this a little more. Don’t get me wrong – the breeze was VERY nice. Without it, our long days on the beach would have been far less enjoyable. But I had sand in my hair, ears, nose, teeth…..just a fine coat of it on my face, which I didn’t much like.

4. The Currituck Sound is warm and shallow – well, parts of it. We rented a Hobie Cat and went sailing the last Friday of our trip. That was a BLAST! We took the pram with us, too, and both girls went sailing on their own. I tried to captain the Hobie Cat and didn’t get us into any trouble. I usually just crew and pull the rope to move the front sail back and forth (CLEARLY, I don’t know all the lingo). Anyway, we took a little swim break and soon discovered we could stand on the bottom! This is something else I’ll have to look into – how deep is the sound?

4th of July Wedding - Beth & Dan

Beth & Dan, July 4, 2009

We were lucky to meet Beth and Dan - a truly fun, happy couple! This is another crazy story. They had a photographer lined up for their wedding, but it was a friend who was going to charge them next to nothing.

Well, last minute, the "friend" decided they would be out-of-town and couldn't do the wedding! That is when Beth began to frantically search the Internet for someone else. Some magic combination of keywords brought her to us, and they booked during our first meeting!

See a mini slide show of photos from their wedding here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gotbaby/sets/72157621856831147/show/

Congratulations, Beth & Dan!

Beth and Dan are getting married today - photos to come! After we shoot the wedding, we are off to Columbus, OH to celebrate the holiday with my family. My older brother's friend is having a pig roast, and my younger brother and part of his family will be up from Charlotte, NC, too. Should be a fun day!

Capture Cincinnati is Back! Please Vote for Moi!

Goodbye, Abbey Dog

Just found out that my sister's 13-year-old Golden Retriever, Abbey, passed away. Very sad day. She was the best dog. I will miss her.

What is it with Scammers???

Recently, we upgraded our Canon 5D, Mark I and got two new Canon 5D, Mark IIs. We picked up a 70-200 f/2.8 L lens and another 580 EX II Speedlite while we were at it....boy, that L lens makes some gorgeous, buttery-smooth backgrounds....but I digress.

The 5D Mark I is now for sale on Cragislist. I've had a couple legitimate inquiries, but the majority of them have CLEARLY been from scammers! I even changed my ad and said don't contact me if you think I'm going to ship to another country or accept overpayments and then wire the balance somewhere....

Here's a recent e-mail I got:

Hello,
Thanks for your response,Well am buying the item for my son
abroad,and i will be paying you via paypal.i will give you $150usd
for the postage fee through usps/express mail international,so you simply
get back to me asap with your paypal email address or you can easily
send me an invoice through paypal.so that i can send the payment to
your paypal account asap.I look forward to hear from you soon.
Many thanks and God bless.

Needless to say, I didn't write back. I had another one that seemed to be legit until I got this:

Would you be willing to ship to victorville, CA 92395,?If so let me
know.how much is the shipping cost via www.usps.com an how much are you willing
to sell your item for buy it now,how can i trust you??because moneygram or paypal
would be my prefer method of payment,once you are okay with this e-mail
me back,an i will need your name address city state zipcode for the paypal i will only need your e-mail address.thanks.

As soon as the grammar starts to go and the words "God bless" are used, I'm pretty sure they are looking to scam me. I've seen this scam run so many times - from ads I've posted on Craigslist, auction items on eBay....even from a paid referral source! That one truly gets me.

This one just makes me laugh.....

My name is mark Fish,I'm a professional MALE Agro-biotechnologist (PGD/M.Sc.) working on Crop Protection & Crop Biotechnology project with International Institute of Biological Control (IIBC), in one of the regional office in London; Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB,i was born in
london,england.i saw your advert and email and thought it will be nice if u be the event planner on the day,My wedding is coming up on April 5th and i
will be needing your service for the
occasion, pls let me know if you can handle this asap so we
can be able to start the preparation and also how much do
you charge for this service.
Mark Fish

I wish these scammers would leave me alone and let me sell my camera and book weddings in peace. Speaking of which, if you are looking for a like new Canon 5D, Mark I (purchased late July 2008), low actuations, and all the original packaging, etc., let me know. Extra battery, too. Only $1395. NO SCAMMERS!