Tryon Palace, New Bern, NC

New Bern was the colonial capital of North Carolina around 1770. Tryon Palace was the governor's mansion. Built under considerable controversy, it actually was a pivotal point leading to the War of Regulation. To say that Governor William Tryon was unpopular would be something of an understatement.

The original palace was destroyed by fire in 1798. Like Bent's Old Fort, the modern site is a restoration.

The palace is renowned for its gardens, and we spent a few hours sweating like pigs, on a hot, humid day last week getting some macro shots. It was worth it, we think.

The gallery is up on the WritingPlaces.com galleries page:

Tryon Palace Kitchen Garden

This gallery includes four shots of the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, which is usually the first place we stop, coming over the bridge from US Highway 70. There are also several shots of the palace, front and rear.

Cape Lookout, North Carolina 06.09.2012

We visited Core Banks and Cape Lookout on June 9. We went all the way to the point of Cape Lookout, as far as we could without having to swim to the next sand bar.

Core Banks and Cape Lookout, 06.09.2012

We got some good shots of black skimmers, royal terns, plain old terns, some of the flora, and quite a few of the lighthouse.

This year, we went over on the Cape Lookout ferry service, which is based in Davis, NC.  Susie and Louie had arranged for a fairly hefty diesel-powered ATV to use for getting around. This ferry goes over to the fish camps near Great Island, about the middle of Core Banks and about 7 miles, more or less, from the lighthouse. On other trips, we had used the Harkers Island Fishing Center's ferry service, which puts us right near the lighthouse. Previous years' galleries are on the same WritingPlaces.com's galleries page, and here is a link to our visit last year.

Core Banks is part of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Cape Lookout is the central cape of the three "Carolina Capes" - Cape Hatteras being the northernmost; Cape Fear the southernmost. The capes, especially Hatteras and Lookout, have gained the reputation of being "The Graveyard of the Atlantic", because of the huge number of ships that have grounded and been lost on the shoals extending for miles out from the capes.

In addition to 'natural' losses, the waters off the capes were a shooting gallery for German U-boats during the opening days of World War II. A quick read of U-boat.net's summary of Operation Drumbeat will give you some idea of the terror wrought within sight of our coastal towns and cities.

Leece loves Core Banks and Shackleford Banks not only for the scenery, the pristine beaches and water, but also the shelling. She can't seem to take more than a few steps along the beach without stopping to root for shells. The first three shots below are actually on Shackleford Banks, which extends west of Core Banks, and is still part of Cape Lookout National Seashore.

While these are on Core Banks, near the lighthouse at the south end of the island.

Question: How many pictures can you take of one lighthouse?
Answer: As many as there are sides to the lighthouse.

And the fishing is magnificent.

Budsin Boats

Hand-crafted electric-powered boats, built in Marshallberg, NC.

Leece examines two boats being custom-built for the Broadmoor up in Colorado Springs.

Budsin Wood Craft

On Ryan's Pond

We did some macro shots over at Ryan's Pond this weekend.

Here's the gallery:

On Ryan's Pond

Karidopeta Nistisimi

Or ... Lenten Nutcake:

Lenten Nut Cake
Karidopeta Nistisimi

Prepared during the Lenten season because there is no butter or other dairy products in the recipe.

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 cup raisins (we like craisins)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup sugar (we're thinking of subbing brown sugar on the next bakefest)
2 cups water
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cognac (a decent rum or brandy are also good)
1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange peel
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
confectioner's sugar for topping
ground cinnamon for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour into a bowl with the cloves and baking powder. Sprinkle a little of the flour mixture over the raisins/craisins.. Add oil to flour and blend well. Make a well in the center of the flour/oil mixture. Add sugar, two cups of water, and baking soda dissolved in cognac/rum/brandy. Mix lightly. Add citrus peel, raisins, and nuts. Mix well. Grease a 9x12 inch pan and pour in batter. Bake for about 1 hour, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan, remove, and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and cinnamon. Cut into squares and serve cold.

From The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, by St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral Recipe Club.

St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral is in Hempstead, NY.

Benet Hill Monastery

We spent last weekend up at the Benet Hill Monastery, at the retreat center run by the Benedictine nuns.

Friday evening we sat Vespers with the nuns. Leece thoroughly enjoyed this, as she joined the nuns in singing the psalmody. Friday was also the feast day of Saint Scholastica, making the day all the more significant to the nuns.

We browsed the bookstore, and the library, which is a small but magnificent collection illustrating the wide range of interests of the nuns. Leece was able to find a very nice translation from the German of a book examining the Psalms.

The halls of the monastery, from the entrance to the chapel, have details of illustrations from the Saint John's Bible. You can see some examples of the artwork contained in the bible here.

We had hoped to experience the prayer labyrinth and the Zen gardens, but the recent fall of more than two feet of snow buried everything. So we enjoyed some walks in the frozen forest. While Friday was a bright, sunny bluebird day, Saturday turned downright frigid, with frost coating the trees, and a light snow whispering down through the trees. It was quiet enough to hear the snow falling.

Critters abound in these woods. We saw all manner of tracks in the snow, but during the day, we saw not so much as a mouse's whiskers.

It was a quiet and refreshing weekend.

You can find a gallery of some of the photos we took over on WritingPlaces.com's Galleries page, under Road Trips 2012.

Homemade pizza 02.04.2012

Leece is a pretty good baker. Her breads are first rate. So's her pizza crust.

The kids have been nagging about having some homemade pizza, so yesterday we had a group effort pizza-making.

Leece used bread flour rather than all-purpose flour, which worked very well indeed, as the pizza crust was probably the best ever. Smeared generously with a well-seasoned tomato paste - paste, not sauce - and then slathered with pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, Texas 1015 onion chunks, bell pepper, and mushrooms. A few handfuls of mozzarella and Parmesan topped it off. In fact, this was probably the best pizza we've ever made. It all just seemed to come together so well.

All participated. Kneaders, vegetable choppers, mixers, scullery maids. You can see the gallery over on the Galleries page of WritingPlaces.com: Homemade Pizza in The Holy Land 02.04.2012, under Events.