Author: Wandering Dawgs

Happily married 55 years, retired baby boomer, mother of 2, grandmother of 4, traveler, Georgia Bulldog fan, Air Force Brat, avid reader, amateur photographer, gardener, ovarian cancer survivor, blogger. Every day is a gift!

Anniversary Celebration in Darien, Georgia

Posted in Celebration, Georgia, Historic SitesTagged , , , , , 31 Comments

We’ve driven through Darien many times over the years and have previously stopped there for a seafood dinner on the Darien River. We had never taken the time to explore the area so for our anniversary this year we decided to spend the night in a hotel on the Darien river.

After taking the scenic drive south on Highway 17 we checked into our room before having a delicious flounder sandwich for lunch at a popular local restaurant.

The first place we explored was the Fort King Georgie State Historic Site close to our hotel. The fort was was built by the British in 1721 at the mouth of the Altamaha River to protect the area from the Spanish and the French. Fire destroyed the fort in 1727 and the fort was decommissioned.

Reconstruction of the fort began in the 1970’s and still continues today. We toured the interesting history museum before wandering around the reconstructed fort.

The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the pool and for a while relaxed on our balcony overlooking the river. After a delicious seafood dinner and a walk along the dock we ended the evening back on the balcony enjoying the view.

The next morning I strolled along the Darien Waterfront Park before breakfast.

On our way home we made a slight detour to visit a recently opened Buc-ees on I-95 in Brunswick. Imagine a huge gas station and a huge store with souvenirs, hot food including Texas brisket, a wall of jerky, groceries, clothes, and even fresh made fudge. It was our first ever visit to a Buc-ees. Now we can say we’ve been there, done that.

National Lighthouse Day 2025

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August 7 is National Lighthouse Day in the United States. On this day in 1789 Congress passed a law to provide federal funding for all lighthouses.

I love lighthouses so to celebrate this event I am featuring the four historic lighthouses that are accessible to the public in the state of Georgia. The Tybee Island Lighthouse underwent major restoration in 2024. The featured image shows the lighthouse flying the American Flag during the restoration.

The following gallery shows the Tybee Island Lighthouse after the restoration was complete. On the right is the Cockspur Island Lighthouse. Although the Cockspur Light is not open to the public it can be seen from the Lazaretto Creek Bridge on U. S. Highway 80 on the way to Tybee Island, from a boat, or from the Lighthouse Trail at Ft. Pulaski National Monument.

In the next gallery the St. Simons Island Lighthouse is on the left, the Sapelo Island Lighthouse on the right.

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #359 – Tools of Photo Composition: Lines, Colors, and Patterns

Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 41 Comments

John’s challenge is to find examples of photographs that feature compositional elements such as lines, patterns, or colors. I see these elements all around me in man made structures and in nature.

In the featured image the black walkway on this pedestrian bridge leads your eye to the figure dressed in red at the end of the walkway. The pattern of the green supports surrounding the walkway frame the walkway.

This wooden dock over the salt marsh is made with lines and interesting patterns that reflect in the water at high tide.

The Monarch Caterpillar is an example of colors and patterns in nature.

Vibrant colors and patterns in these hot air balloons.

Last week Tina’s challenge was Live and Learn. I learned some new things from your wonderful responses. Be sure to check back on Saturday, August 9 noon Eastern Time when Ann-Christine will be hosting the challenge.

Many thanks to John for this challenge Lens-Artists #359 – Lines, colors and patterns

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #358 – Live and Learn

Posted in Birds, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , 35 Comments

Tina’s challenge is Live and Learn. Tina reminds us of the importance of continuing to learn new things as we age. Here is her challenge: “Show me some of the things you’ve learned about photography or any subject you choose. Do you learn by doing as I do, or are you one who learns from classes, or online, or through working with others?”

I’ve never taken a photography class. I learn by doing and by experimenting and by making plenty of mistakes.

Some of the most important things I’ve learned in my photography journey is to always be prepared with batteries charged, space on the memory card, and a clean camera and lenses.

One of the most important editing techniques I have learned is how to crop. When we spotted this bear on the side of the road I didn’t have much time to frame the shot. I cropped the photo and edited the colors to achieve the final image shown here.

One of the reasons I keep participating in the weekly Lens-Artists challenges is because it helps me to learn new things about photography. These photos illustrate some of the photography tips and techniques I’ve learned.

The featured image uses a Bokeh technique. I learned from one of Sofia’s challenges that In photography, a Bokeh is the blurred or out of focus background in a photo. I frequently use this effect when photographing flowers.

When photographing wildlife, always focus on the eyes

I learned about Zooming from one of Anne’s challenges.

Fill the Frame

Leading Lines

Rule of Thirds

Last week Egidio took us Into the Woods for some Forest Bathing. I enjoyed all of the wonderful responses. Be sure to check back on Saturday, August 2 at noon Eastern Time when John will be hosting our next challenge.

Many thanks to Tina for this challenge Lens-Artists #358 – Live and Learn

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift.

Celebrating my Birthday on Daufuskie Island, SC

Posted in Celebration, Historic Sites, South CarolinaTagged , , , , , , , , 30 Comments

We celebrated my June birthday with a day trip to Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

Daufuskie Island is one of the South Carolina sea islands located near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. The island can only be reached by water. You can take your own boat or take a water taxi from either Hilton Head or Savannah. There are tours available on the island but we chose to rent a golf cart and see the island on our own.

Our day trip adventure began with a water taxi ride on the Bella from Bull River Marina in Savannah. We felt like we were on a private charter when we discovered we were the only two passengers on the boat. Henry and I both love boat rides through our beautiful coastal waterways. It was wonderful to watch for birds and dolphins as we traveled the 45 minutes to our destination.

The captain dropped us off at the public dock on Daufuskie where we hopped in our rental golf cart and began to explore the island. The roads are mostly dirt although there are a few paved roads. As we headed in the direction of Bloody Point Beach we saw a few houses but most of the ride was through undeveloped woods. We took a walk on the almost deserted beach. A logger head turtle nesting area was marked off for protection and we could see Tybee Island off in the distance.

As we rode along we stopped to explore some historic sites on the island. The following gallery includes the old Silver Dew Winery, the Bloody Point Lighthouse and former living quarters for the lighthouse keeper and his family (the building is now a museum and gift shop), and the former Mary Field School where the author Pat Conroy once taught. His novel The Water is Wide is based on his experience there.

It was time for lunch so our next stop was the Old Daufuskie Crab Company and Scrap Iron Bar at the Freeport Marina. This is a popular place for boaters and some of the water taxis stop here. I was a little disappointed when I discovered they didn’t have any of the famous deviled crab but my locally caught fried shrimp was delicious. The Scrap Iron Bar is known for it’s Scrap Iron cocktail.

Our last stop was back at the public dock where we waited for our water taxi at D’Fuskie’s Store. I saw a sign for Deviled Crab behind the cash register. I asked if they had any frozen to take home for my birthday dinner and bought the last three they had. They kept them in the freezer for me while we waited for our boat ride home. We enjoyed sitting on the porch talking to some of the locals who live on the island. When it was almost time for the boat to arrive we sat under an oak tree by the water and enjoyed talking to some other locals.

We had another beautiful boat ride back to Savannah. When we got home I heated up the deviled crab for a delicious birthday dinner.

Every Day is a Gift