boats Archives

This is one of the few times I didn’t have my camera with me so you’ll just have to use your imagination. I’d say close your eye and visualize but since this isn’t a recording that you can play it wouldn’t work very well.

We returned to the campground by taking a boat from the Magic Kingdom to the dock at the Wilderness Camp. We still needed to catch a bus to the parking lot. It’s a really big campground. They have actual campsites for RV’s and sites for tents as well as the cabins.

The bus dropped us off at the parking lot where we started our day oh so long ago. It seemed hard to believe that it was only one day. We’d done so much. I put my camera away in the trunk and everyone piled into my car. I wanted to see the cabin and that seemed the best way to handle it. There was only one parking space.

The cabin was really cute as you’d expect from anything Disney. It had a bedroom with two bunk beds and a full-sized bed. The living room had a pull down Murphy Bed that was also a full-sized bed so if you wanted to share it could sleep 6 people.

There was a kitchen and bathroom of course and a little table and chair set for meals. Joe told me the prices without his “Disney Discount” and I thought it was a bit pricey but of course, it’s Disney. It was very reasonable with his discount and if you had 4-6 people each sharing the cost it wouldn’t be bad either even without a discount.

We settled on our plans to meet up in the morning and then we all decided to take a walk back down to the beach. On the boat from the Magic Kingdom someone said they thought there was an “Electrical Boat Parade”. Since it was a question I decided not to lug my camera gear down plus it was dark and I didn’t have my tripod. It was a decision I would regret although just sitting back and enjoying the show was nice too.

There weren’t a lot of people at the beach so we were able to get nice beach lounge chairs to sit back and enjoy the evening. Lighting was minimal and it was very peaceful, especially after the noise and excitement of the day.

Briefly I thought I heard some music in the distance but it faded out and I went back to looking at the stars and enjoying the quiet night.

About 9:30 I saw a green dot or small ball moving from left to right across the lake. A Few moments later there was another. It was very quiet as I watched first one then another start across from the same area. Pretty soon they were strung out across the lake in front of us…just these small green lights. I joked that it was a pretty poor “Light Parade”. As usual I had to eat my words.

It was in fact the Parade and with a fanfare the music started and the first green dot burst into a dragon breathing fire. Each subsequent dot transformed into another brilliant visual display against the black lake. There was a whale spouting water, Dolphins jumping, an octopus and a turtle. A sea serpent with its many humps and a dinosaur munching water plants accompanied a chomping alligator as sea horses pulled Poseidon’s Chariot.

Then all at once the music changed to a Patriotic Medley of God Bless America, Yankee Doodle and You’re a Grand Old Flag and a flotilla of American flags and blinking stars replaced the animated creatures.

Too soon the lights blinked out and once again it was quiet and the green dots moved off down the lake.

It was a very short parade but it was spectacular. I wanted to go back the next night with my tripod to try to catch some of these images but Joe said they weren’t staying in the campground again.If you stay in the campground be sure you catch this parade. It’s wonderful! (Thanks to the wonder of the Internet I located some photos. The link to another page is below. I must give credit where credit is due. But I wish they were my pictures lol)

I found this link on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzGVpyYGgo

Photos from http://www.allears.net/tp/ewp.htm

I may have skipped driving out to Springfield but I didn’t totally blow off the whole day. After taking my little mid-morning nap I settled in to start backing up my photos. That kept me occupied for several hours and when I looked up in the afternoon I was pleased to see the sun shining in.

Nice days will become more and more rare as the season progresses so I wasn’t going to pass it up. I grabbed the camera and headed out to drive south on RT 138. I wanted to see if I could find the farm, I think it might have been a vineyard, that I had noticed when I drove out to Narragansett. Since they call RT 138 “scenic” 138, I thought I’d drive it instead of the highway.

It wasn’t until Somerset that I spotted anything I wanted to stop for.

Off to my left I could see water. I’m not sure whether it was ocean or river. I will have to check a map. I do know the Taunton River runs through Somerset so it could be that. Anyway there was the cutest little boat out there

and a bridge..of course there was a bridge! So I had to stop.

As I approached the bank I was surprised to see a whole flotilla of swans. Quite a few hadn’t reached the “snowy white” stage yet so I can only guess they were still immature even if they were as big as the adults.

I took my pictures and turned around to return to the car when a movement caught my eye. I walked quietly to some trees and brush and there were some sea gulls having a bathing party. I’ve never seen any bunch of birds have quite so much fun in a pool of water. They were splashing and squawking like a bunch of kids having a water fight.