Happy fall, I just love this time of year except for the pumpkin spice, it is really lost on me. Anyway, before we get into fall we took a final summer trip, this time a road trip to North Carolina. Stopping in Asheville along the way before reaching the final destination of Wilmington.
Asheville is bigger than we expected, even being there on a Sunday it felt a bit hectic. It seems living in a small town has really changed me. I would guess it has a lot to do with being surrounded by the mountains and the narrow streets. I felt a bit claustrophobic, which is odd as I never really get that feeling. A short walk and drive around followed by an amazing lunch at Dilbar and we headed out.
The final destination was Wilmington, NC, another 5 hours of driving. It was a return to the water, we hadn’t been to the ocean in what seemed like forever. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to stay at a beautiful house right on the Intracoastal Waterway. I had never been to Wilmington before, and to be upfront I didn’t go exploring much except when in search of food. When you see the view you will understand why, it was hard to leave and go do other things. However there was also this uninvited guest that showed up.
We saw the warnings before leaving, Hurricane Idalia was going to be hitting Florida and the weakend storm would arrive in Wilmington later that week. Knowing it wouldn’t be a hurricane made it less concerning, however we know tropical storms are no joke either. Knowing that the place you are staying is rated for a Category 4 Hurricane, whatever the tropical storm was going to throw at it seemed like not too big of a deal. That was until the tornado warning that hit 15 minutes after walking in the door from dinner.
We get a bunch of tornado warnings here in the Miami Valley and are used to them, however being in someone else’s house when it happens is a bit odd. The winds were estimated to be 100 mph, luckily the worst hit area was a mile or two away and the damage seemed to be limited to trees.
I am really not much of a wildlife photographer but I couldn’t resist taking these two photos, felt like they were waiting for me, even though I know they were looking for breakfast.
The biggest issue was the humidity in the morning, I was continuously wiping the lenses and ended up missing a few shots and had some photos that were just too soft. In the end the morning before the storm provided some amazing photo opportunities, my favorite is below.
When all was said and done, the last day everything was quiet and back to normal.
Thanks for reading!
-Karl
Good read and stunning photo’s 👏