A Week at the Beach, part 3

I finally got the rest of my beach pictures scanned in. (The larger ones require a trip out of the house to visit a scanner with a large bed.) Above is the view down into the pool from our third floor balcony. I loved staying on the third floor -- it gave us a lovely view as well as privacy both through the windows and on the balcony. I could sit and play my banjo without being eyeball to eyeball with anyone. Most people didn't even notice.

The above two are from my favorite morning's painting. I took my kayak out to a tiny, kayak-sized beach Elmore and I had stopped at the day before. It is surrounded by sawgrass from land, so it truly is solely for small boats like ours. Elmore wanted to do a three hour training paddle, so I headed back to this tiny beach with my art supplies to paint the scenes I had spotted the day before. It was a lovely, restful morning, but there is also a great feeling of accomplishment when you paddle yourself somewhere, paint the view, and then paddle yourself home again.

We left the island on the 6:30 am ferry, and it's a two and three quarter hour ride, which is lovely -- it cuts off driving distance, and you can sit and have your breakfast, play your banjo, read your book, or sketch on the ferry. I enjoyed hanging with the family and doing a little drawing at the same time before we hit the highway in different cars to different destinations. A lovely ending to the week.

An equally lovely coda to the vacation was a stop in Lincolnton, NC on the way home. We spent the night with our nieces and nephews, and I went out sketching the next morning while Elmore finished his coffee, checked his email, and relaxed before we hit the road again. Lincolnton is a lovely small town, just oozing old-fashioned Americana, and I can't wait to go visit and do some more sketching there. This one is a Methodist church in town that I've admired every time we've visited. Hopefully I can paint some more there soon.