Summer is Here–at Least in Spirit

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Joe Benning

Summer is Here--at Least in Spirit

Summer has arrived, if not officially, at least in spirit. The brand new Marina Grill opened for business in Belmar—and it was packed. The tent houses in Ocean Grove are being readied for the summer season, and the rides at Jenkinson’s Pavilion on the boardwalk at Point Pleasant are open for business on the weekends.

JFB

Point Pleasant, NJ USA — May 14, 2017 Adults and children riding the “Wave Swing” at Jenkinsons Pavilion on the boardwalk.

Riders wave thier arms as they go around the bend

Ocean Grove, NJ USA — May 12, 2017 — Tent houses are set up for the summer season in Ocean Grove, NJ.

The Fishing Pier at Ocean Grove

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Spring Time in New York

Thursday was a fine day in New York. The weather was great and the city was full of people taking in the sights. There is an excellent retrospective of the photographs (like the one shown below) of Irving Penn at the Met to mark the centennial of his birth. The exhibit includes a guided tour by people who put it together. The exhibit will be open through July 30, 2017.

Penn Exhibition

More information about the exhibit is available here.

Below are some photos from New York taken Thursday.

Traffic Cop

Traffic Cop and Frustrated Pedestrian

Musicians in Central Park

Musicians in Central Park

Ukranian Embassy

Ukrainian Embassy on 5th Avenue

JFB

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New Hope, PA

It was a beautiful day yesterday in New Hope, PA. We went for a long walk through town and down the Tow Path, which is next to the canal where the mules used to tow small boats through the water–hence the name. Anyway here (below) are some photos from walking around. Photos from New Hope can also be seen in a Gallery labeled–New Hope–which is in an Album titled “Around the U.S.

JFB

Fishing on the Delaware

Hotel on the Bank of the Delaware River

Fishermen in Small Boats on the Delaware River

No Parking

Bucks County Playhouse

People Dining at a New Hope Restaurant

Walking Path by a Stream

Tree Lined Hiking Trail by a Stream

Outdoor Restaurant Seating

Red Bridge across a Stream

Men Working on Roadway

Red Bridge over a Canal

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The High Line--April 12, 2017

Now that the weather is turning nicer New Yorkers are back to leissurely (by New York standards) walks around the city. Here are some shots from a recent walk around the High Line.

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Joe Benning

Spring is Here

Springtime is finally here. It’s still a bit chilly, and it’s pretty gusty. But today is the first day of the fishing season in Spring Lake, the lake has been restocked, and the fisherman showed up to try their luck. And the Cherry Blossoms are out. The trend looks good.

Anglers come to Spring Lake for the opening day of the fishing season

Some fisherman fish, and some relax

Cherry Blossom by Spring Lake

Young fishermen try thier luck in a fishing contest on the first day of the season

Fisherman on the banks of Spring Lake for the beginning of the new fishing season

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Spring in Spring Lake

The Spring in Spring Lake includes 20 degree weather. Not the plan. So that provided time to collect a whole bunch of photos from the recent trip to Maui, where it was considerably warmer. They are displayed below. You can go to the light box display and roll a slide show by clicking on one of the photos below. The slide show will start automatically with the slides changing every 5 seconds. The slideshow can be frozen, stopped and restarted by using the navigation icons over the light box.

Joe

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Back in Spring Lake

We are back in Spring Lake after a 21 hour trip–but not before stopping at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge in Maui on the way to the airport. It actually bears a slight resemblance to the Edwin Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in South Jersey–except that it lacks the swarms of mosquitos that the Forsythe Refuge has.

Some photos from the Kealia Pond Refuge.

Joe

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On the West Side of Maui

Aloha

It’s getting close to the end of our trip so we decided to book into one of the resort hotels on the West side of the island for a couple of days. Needless to say, the views were spectacular. Among other things, we were able to sit on our deck and watch the whales go by and an occasional porpoise. The sunsets (and moonsets) were stunning as well. Not only that, we could watch the boats and Kayakers float by. Finally, we got to watch the divers leap off Black Rock into the waters below. Not something I would try.

We’ll be back soon to enjoy the springtime snow in New Jersey. Photos below (of Hawaii).

Mahalo

Joe

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Going to a Luau

Aloha

A trip to Hawaii necessarily means an outing to a Luau. We went to one in Lahaina complete with a pig roasted on a fire, native deserts and a Mai Tai or two. The highlight is a show with native dancers performing traditional rituals and dances, including the hula. Here are a couple of photos from the show.

Mahalo

Joe

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Sunset Cruise in Hawaii

We all decided to go on a sunset cruise sponsored by the Pacific Whale Foundation, of which Mary Anne and I are now members. The PWF has guides on the boat who act as spotters and teach everyone about how the whales live and behave. Not to mention that they serve cocktails and appetizers during the cruise. Nature never looked so good.

And—while we were on the sunset cruise, we bumped into some friends from the 2016 Crystal Serenity world cruise. Hello Beth! Great so see you. Who knows where we will meet again. Anyway, the pictures below are from the Maui sunset cruise.

Joe

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Gardens of Maui

Maui is an explosion of primary colors. At first, it looks like one of those planets that Kirk, Spock and McCoy get beamed onto where the plant life constantly and rapidly regenerates—except that there are not any devious Kling-on traps waiting for us.

There are gardens pretty much everywhere. It turns out that plants that are annuals elsewhere don’t grow in Maui because there really aren’t any seasons. Everything just grows all the time. So perennials aren’t suited for Maui.

Bob and Barbara and Mary Anne and I visited the Lavender Gardens Saturday after visiting a farmers market in Makawao. On Sunday, Mary Anne and I headed off for Kula on the side on the mountain overlooking the central valley. Some photos from those explorations are below.

JFB

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Sightseeing around Maui

After taking a day trip to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor, we spent the next few days sightseeing around Maui. From wide expanses of green farmland, to meadows and beaches, mountains and volcanoes there is no lack of stuff to see. Including Makawao, a town about 5 miles away that it is, believe it not, a bit of a cowboy town. And if you want to live in a place that never quite left the 1970s behind, you might want to visit a small town on Maui called Paia.

A final piece of very important news: we are close to a Whole Foods store that has excellent wines at very good prices.

Anyway, here are a bunch of photos from our sightseeing adventures.

Joe