90 Visitors
After my fitful sleep I got up just after 7
am to make my popovers for a nice breakfast to send Kim off for home. It takes
40 minutes to cook them plus time to prepare them. They turned out pretty good
and we enjoyed the popovers with butter, honey and jam. We needed to get Kim
off before 9 am so she wouldn’t get her feet wet. We walked her over to the
parking lot and Fred got her car that was parked down at a local hotel. After
hugs goodbye Kim left us and we walked back to the beach and we looked for some
of those jelly looking agates before the tide covered up the beginning of the
dragon’s back. I did manage to find one tiny agate – success! We climbed back up the hill with people
milling about as usual trying to see the lighthouse and snap pictures. Right at
9 am the Japanese tour bus showed up for it’s usual stop. They all came piling
out of the bus and wandered down to the dragon’s back to cross over. They
obviously didn’t know the tide was coming in. We got back to clean up the
dishes and for me to finish my Chai tea. Our view of St George lighthouse was
the clearest yet and through binoculars we could see details of the lonely
sentinel. I could see she needed a new coat of paint, remnants of the boom,
light through the lantern room and even waves splashing up at her rock base. It
was as if you could reach out and touch her.
We did a few chores and watched as the busload milled about taking
pictures. There were a few other visitors as well and we chatted with one
couple that were going up the coast and looking at lighthouses. The lady asked about getting a stamp in her
lighthouse passport for Battery Point and we said sure. Fred brought them into
the gift store and stamped Battery Point and St. George into her passport. The
tide was really coming in now and everyone went down to cross over. We sat and
watched the show. The dragon’s back was getting covered up and there was soon a
long line on it to get across. Most people were taking their shoes and socks
off since it was almost knee deep at the other end. We watched everyone get
across safely and returned to the house.
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| Asian Tourists trying to get back to the Mainland, Tide comes in Very Fast |
Our tours wouldn’t start till 2:30 pm
and we did a few more things before taking naps. I laid down for ½ hour and
couldn’t sleep so I got up and took a shower and got ready for the afternoon
tours. For lunch we had leftovers of my mango pork and chicken broccoli
casserole. We decided to open at 2 pm since we were ready and people were
milling about.
I handled the gift shop and Fred started the
tours. Multiple groups started to form immediately and Leon and Terrie showed
up just in time to help us with the crowds. We went non-stop through 6 pm. We
got to say goodbye with hugs to Leon and Terrie when they left at 4pm since
this was our last day to work together. They had to pack up their RV and leave
first thing the next morning. They left
us a card and little gift and I gave them a baggie with two cheese biscuits and
popovers to enjoy. We were a good team and worked hard for our month duty
together. We have exchanged addresses and hope to visit each other in the
future. We are less than two hours away from each other in southern California.
They left about 5pm and we finished up the final tours. Whew, our month of
tours was done. Tomorrow we are closed due to tides and have the entire day to
pack up and get ready to leave this beloved place. The time has passed so
quickly and we will have our wonderful memories of our time here. We are
looking forward to returning in another season to experience different weather
conditions.
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| St. George Lighthouse in the Distance |
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| Photo of St. George Lighthouse Taken from the Web |
After closing shop we relaxed outside and
looked to the north to see St. George still clear and beautiful. How we would
love to go out there and see her. After reading and looking at pictures in a
book about her, I really have a better understanding of her and would like a
visit to complete the pictures in my mind and the yearning in my heart to
experience this mysterious and forbidding place. We took our walk down to the
isthmus and poked around the gravel patches for agates and interesting stones.
The sun was beginning to set but there was a thick massive cloudbank that
obscured our orange ball of life. All we had was a thin layer of orange light
that was between the cloudbank and sea which lasted for just a bit. Later there
was bit more color but for only a few moments.
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| The Thin Red Line of Sunset |
I watered my plants and found a cute little Banana Slug by my Forget-me-notes. It was the official end of yet
another day in paradise. We came back inside and I worked on two blogs while
Fred tallied the day’s sales and made a nice salad that was our dinner. Later
we had some chocolate ice cream and off to bed. How melancholy we feel as our
last days are upon us and we dread the sad packing and collecting of our things
to leave. We can only imagine what the Jeffrey’s felt after spending 39 years
upon this indelible rock in their beloved lighthouse home. We now have an inkling
of what they might have felt to be a part of history in this tiny adored
sanctuary of both incredible beauty and serious duty.
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| Slug and Forget-Me-Notes |
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