The "Water and Wings Room" Story

It was an ordinary day. Expecting our daughter Brynn and our two granddaughters Courtney and Camille for a visit. I just finished putting the final touches on the "Lighthouse Room" and the girls will be able to sleep in there tonight. Brynn will be occupying the "Wings 'n Water" room. Told Carol it sounds like we have a bed and breakfast in the neighborhood. Gonna need another license from the township to have people stay in our two spare rooms. Started in 1999 collecting posters from the "Wings 'n Water" Festival which is held every September in Stone Harbor, New Jersey at the Wetlands Institute. My mom's cousin Roy T. and his wife Susan live on 2nd Street in Stone Harbor and started inviting my mom and dad to visit after Labor Day. Seems Roy appreciated so much that my mom and dad visited and took care of his mother when she was in a nursing home in Lancaster, that after she died they started inviting them to visit with them in Stone Harbor. Since mom and dad didn't care to drive that far, they asked if we could come along with them so we could provide the transportation. Fine with Carol and me! Free time at the shore is always nice. Roy is a year older than me and my 2nd cousin. He was a pilot for Delta for years. Was forced to retire when he reached 60 years old and started to spend more time at his summer home in Stone Harbor. Carol and I became good friends with him and his wife, and after dad died and mom no longer felt like she could go that distance, Carol and I continued to visit in September. We started taking our friends from State College, Jerry and Just Sue with us for a few days. Since Roy and Susan met while students at Penn State, it was a natural match for all. Every year we try to arrange our trip for the "Wings 'n Water" weekend. The Award Winning Wings ‘n Water Festival is one of the premier Wildlife Arts Festivals in the United States. It was named one of the Top 100 Events in North America and Best Event in New Jersey. Quite a weekend! Every year they have a featured poster done by an artist from the area. Some are better than others, but all feature birds of the shore. Two posters feature herons; one a Great Blue heron while the other a Snowy Egret which is also a heron, one features shorebirds, while another has the traditional sea gulls in it. My favorite is a poster from 2001 that features a white heron on the road entering Stone Harbor. Taken near a dilapidated and rotting boat dock. Same place that I took a Polaroid photo years ago and is my best selling beach photo. Actually have it for sale at the Wm. Ris Gallery on 2nd Street in Stone Harbor. The "Wings 'n Water" room is complete with a lifeguard style floor lamp I made, a window pane mirror decorated with sea shells and driftwood, a colorful bench, and white wicker furniture. I think after writing this story, I may have to sleep in the bedroom myself for a night. Sounds like the beach! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Photos from the top are: view of the bedroom from the door, mirror decorated with shells, posters and bench, and Polaroid photo taken of old dock that matches the poster purchased in 2001. This dock is very near the Wetlands Institute.