a bit of wrap-up from yesterday. When Rachel and I returned from hiking yesterday, we encountered Aly boating with Grandpa Bill in the peapod and Leah playing on the rocks with Grandma Jan, having a great time with their grandparents in Maine.
About a ten-minute drive from downtown Stonington, the Edgar Tennis Preserve is another beautiful shore area maintained by the Island Heritage Trust. Rachel and I hiked there on a sunny Sunday afternoon, doing both the loops that travel along the water (about 3 miles total of easy hiking, with a few rock scrambles along the way). Similar to the quarry hike, there are few parking spots available, perhaps 7 total. The views throughout the walks are stunning – ocean views, tidal bay views, and mossy forests dotted with ferns.
On Sunday morning, we took Leah to Settlement Quarry, which is just a short drive from downtown Stonington. We’ve been by the quarry before on our way to various nautical experiences with Bill Baker at Old Quarry Ocean Adventures, but had not hiked through it previously. Part of the Island Heritage Trust, there are scant few parking places at the trailhead. It takes about ten minutes of uphill walking along a two-track trail to reach the top of the quarry, but the scenery while hiking along the trail is gorgeous forest. We also encountered an abandoned furnace near the summit.
arrived with what the folks around here call “ribbon fog” weaving around the islands in our view. It made for a picturesque view of the old lighthouse and some neighboring islands.
What else would we start with? Unfortunately, we have no pictures of the wonderful lunch at The Mermaid restaurant in Saugatuck. I’m sure you’d all love to see Louis’ Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich w/Fries (or mine), Karla’s Shrimp Bowl, Amy’s salad, Janene’s veggie burger and whatever Steve and Jef ordered. So the committee apologizes for the lack for visual imagery regarding lunch consumption.
We stayed at The Homestead in Glen Arbor, which is a large development of condos along the lakeshore, and we stayed in the Logger’s Run section. Our condo was fairly high up in the trees, which yielded tremendous views of the sunsets each night. I shot tons of pictures with my EF-S 17-55mm lens and 75-300mm lens, along with a batch shot with a rented 10-22mm Canon lens. I also had a visitor one night who very nearly got up on the deck with me:
This was our second trip on AirTran, after our trip out east this summer. We upgraded to business class both ways when we checked in online for our flights, and it was worth every penny. We picked the first row on both flights, and it worked out great to have the extra room for Leah, and the endless animal crackers for Aly. The crews on both flights were polite, friendly, and engaging, which is a nice departure from what we had been accustomed to flying NWA and Delta over the years. Aly got to spend quite a while in the cockpit on both ends of the southbound leg, and another good chunk of time in the cockpit upon our return to GRR. The pilots were great with her in both instances, and she absolutely loved it – can’t say enough good things about AirTran at this point. 10/10 for air travel.
If you take pictures with a DSLR camera, you should check out the Luma Loop camera strap. I saw someone using one this spring and immediately asked what it was, having never seen anything quite like it. The guy told me it was a Luma Loop, and he loved it – after taking a close-up look at his, I knew I needed my own.
