Cape May, NJ with Colleen in 1988
Colleen and I drove from Philly down to Cape May, NJ in the fall of 1988 and stayed at a Captain Mey’s Inn (B&B). It was a photography weekend and Colleen joined in and took several good pictures of me. We got some good pictures from the lighthouse and the local bird observatory.
Duck, NC with Family from 1986 to 1996
Before I went to the Naval Academy in 1976, we went to the Outerbanks and loved it. Four years later after I graduated, Colleen and I went to Kitty Hawk, NC with Joe and Eleanor for a week at the beach. They were looking for some beach property and we joined them. We found a great development called “Sea Hawk” in Duck, NC and is was affordable. Joe and Eleanor bought a lot and so did we. My parents heard about our purchase and wanted one too. They eventually built a house in 1984 and we went there many times between then and 1996. They visited their house in the late spring and early fall because of the lower temperatures and lighter crowds. These weeks were half fun and half work on upkeep. We had a Eckles Reunion there in 1996.
Longwood Garden with Mary Kate and Joelle and Family in 2014
I was working on the east coast for almost a year in 2013 and 2014. I visited with Mary Kate many times and we went up to visit Joelle Wickens (First Cousin) in Wilmington, DE one weekend. It was a chilly January day and Joelle took us up to Longwood Gardens and we had a great day exploring the Conservatory with an amazing orchid exhibit.
Longwood Gardens were established by Pierre du Pont back in 1906. Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, PA in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier horticultural display gardens in the United States.