The Annual Pilgrimage

The nearest beach is a six hour round trip in the car. I have a bit of a summertime tradition of driving out there at 3 AM, watching the sunrise and then driving back. I suppose this annual pilgrimage began when I was teenager and couldn't really afford to stay in a hotel, but had a deep longing to be near the ocean and the sun. So I figured, it's a short drive, why not catch the sun come up with my camera? I've been doing it every year since. Usually, I go alone, but this year I felt inspired to ask my dear friend to join me. We arrived on the shore just after the sun made it's first full appearance for the day. It was big and round and glowing so bright in the pink sky. There was a mellow fog enveloping the land, lending us a settled feeling of serenity as we watched the waves dance around. I was particularly mesmerized by the water that morning, it was so calm and frothy. The ocean seemed to have a  glow of it's own in the morning light. I snapped away with my camera, capturing these ever so brief moments with my time capsule forever. I thanked God for creating such beautiful artwork for us to live in and then off to breakfast we went. As per my tradition, we ate at my favorite mom n pop pancake shop. I devoured the best sweet potato pancakes I've ever had. Afterwards, we wandered back out on the board walk and eventually we made our way to the bay side. 

Our visit was only a few short hours, our eyes were growing weary fast from little sleep. We headed home, but decided to make one more pit stop on the way, Assateague Island. The sand there was cool and soft and covered with shells and smooth pebbles. Assateague is a sort of magical place, with wild horses roaming around amongst the tourists. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture any of them on the shore, they had all wandered out onto the street for a grassy lunch. But they were gorgeous nonetheless. It was an amazing 12 hour journey, leaving me with a refreshing new state of mind and a grateful heart! Can't wait for my next adventure. After all, Summer is not over yet.

Have a gorgeous day!

MacK Mars