'Tis the Season...

For lighthouses!

Since it is a little less than a week away from Christmas, I thought I would share some gifts that any lighthouse lover would love all year round.  First, here is an ornament that we acquired this year.

We love it!  We bought it at a local Hallmark store and it is a perfect addition to our Christmas ornaments.

Now on to the lighthouse lovers' gifts.  Some of our most cherished items are the lighthouse books that we have purchased or been given over the years.  Here are few that we have in our collection:

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I'm sure that any lighthouse lover would appreciate a book about these amazing structures.  They can act as a "coffee table" book or can be brought on lighthouse sightseeing trips and used as a guidebook. 

Another item that lighthouse lovers would love to be gifted is home decor.  We have a few pillows on our couch that have lighthouses on them.  Here are a some other ideas:

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These are so adorable!  They even come in a set of four and if money was no object I would consider purchasing these.  We even have a soft spot for Adirondack chairs, unfortunately these pillows are too expensive for us!

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This bread board would be a great functional and/or decorative addition to any lighthouse lover's kitchen.  I love that you can personalize it at the bottom.

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These are pretty cute! They would look nice in someone's beach house or out on a porch over looking the water.

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This coaster holder is quite unique and could be a conversational piece.

There are some unique and functional lighthouse gift ideas!  If you are still stumped, any lighthouse lover would be thrilled to receive the gift of a lighthouse tour.

Happy Holidays from the Western New York Lighthouse Lovers!!

Trashing a dress near a "lighthouse"

This past summer Mike and I got married!  A month later we did our "trash the dress" session with our amazing photographer, Ryan Collier.  In addition to hanging out near a graffiti wall, getting in the lake and spending time at a local amusement park, we took one photograph with a "lighthouse".

Photo credit: Ryan T. Collier

Even though this is not an official lighthouse, we were happy our photographer agreed to photograph us near it.  He must have thought we were crazy, but we explained that we are a little bit "lighthouse obsessed". 

Mike and I are planning an addition to the blog called "The Anatomy of a Lighthouse".  Mike will take the lead on these series of posts in order to explain the structure of lighthouses in detail.  Hopefully you are just as excited about this addition as we are!

For a three hour tour (Part 2)...

After seeing Bear Island Lighthouse, Great Duck Island Lighthouse and Baker Island Lighthouse we took off for the last two lighthouses on the tour.

The fourth lighthouse was Winter Harbor Lighthouse.  

 One view of the lighthouse.

The other side of the lighthouse.

The Winter Harbor Lighthouse is offshore of Schoodic Peninsula, another part of Acadia National Park.  Earlier in the week that Mike and I had been visiting Maine we drove to Schoodic Peninsula, specifically, Schoodic Point.  Ironically, we didn't drive far enough to where you could see the lighthouse.  The view from the tour most likely was better anyway, so we didn't mind. 

The final stop on our tour was Egg Rock Lighthouse. 

This lighthouse had the most unique look, more like a house, of all five of the lighthouses on the tour.  While we were stopped there a Bald Eagle was sitting on a walkway on the island. 

So there you have it, our first lighthouse tour!  Of course we didn't just see lighthouses, so here are some of the other highlights of the tour.

 Little Cranberry Life Saving Station

Mansions

 Osprey

 Turtle Island's buoy tree

And of course, beautiful scenery (I may be a little biased)

We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone who loves lighthouses and sightseeing.  Of course, if you get seasick you would miss out on this tour and most of the lighthouses on it because the best view is from the water (or air).