We visited Newtowne Neck State Park in St. Mary's County twice to enjoy the beach at the end of Newtowne Neck Road in the perfect weather. First we stayed to the West and then returned to see the Eastern side of the beach. There are quite a few coves created by rock jetties. Beautiful! We didn't exactly have to fight off the crowds in September. I've heard it is quite crowded in the summer.
Kayak Launch area
Sunbather
I assigned myself a project to photograph the beautiful Crepe Myrtle (or crape myrtle) trees in the County. They can be planted in late fall to early spring, because they bloom in summer. Recently they may be attacked by an Asian pest called Bark Scale that slows the growth of the tree (but probably won't kill it), due to a substance called Honeydew. The substance gets on the leaves and bark and can be scrubbed off with 1 Tablespoon of soap to a quart of water or use horticultural oil instead. You can also trim the branches and burn them.
I still found the trees to be fairly beautiful, especially compared to 2022.
I particularly like the pink ones (light or hot pink), but I did find some white and lavender flowers as well. In the County, they are found near buildings, in parking lots, roadways and on lawns.
Quite a few years ago, I was delayed getting to work by a car accident and the police had me detour through some big farms to get back to work. I went back to visit the area (Brown Road, Cedar Lane Road, Blacksmith Shop Road), to find some photos of the scenery that makes our County what it is.
Some lovely beach scenes from Solomon's Island. I used a magenta filter to enhance the setting sun creating a lovely pink glow on the beach area. (not a public beach)
We are so sad about the terrible fires in Lahaina, Kula and Kihea. Here are some memories of our visits there in 2010 and 2015. I think we have visited 5 times, but the older ones are mostly slides. We visited Kula Lodge on almost every trip, but so far I think it is still there, although a lot of places nearby are badly damaged. In Lahaina, we visited the Old Lahaina Luau, stayed at the Makai (Sunset) Inn, took the semi submersible submarine from the Lahaina harbor, walked Front Street and saw the huge banyan tree and more. We have also stayed in Kihea, but I haven't heard much about where the fires are there.
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