“Really Eliza? I don’t think they’ll ask you about the carousel ride since you didn’t make the height requirement. He he he!”

Really HT, you want to go down this road? It’s a short one. Ha ha ha! Enough! We can trade insults later.

Salem Willows is for Family

Parents, couples, young and old flock like a bunch of seagulls to the seaside park.

“Flock like a bunch of seagulls. I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

Swallow it and keep writing.

Mature couples on a date and people enjoying their lunch break. With swimming, plenty of benches and an arcade, families of any size can find plenty to do on a summer afternoon.

Salem Willows is for Fishing

There is a pier at the park which while we were there had plenty to see and do. A private party boat was loading their musicians and beverages both of which my human seemed particularly curious about. But I had bigger fish to fry, mainly the one in the pictures below.

Some called it a striper others a bass but whatever it was kept me and at least the fifteen people watching it get caught entertained. The fisherman and an assistant ended up dragging to the rocky shore since it was too heavy to be hoisted on its hook. Regardless, everyone but the fish was satisfied with the catch.

Salem Willows is for Food

After working up an appetite watching people fish we decided to hit the row of carnival like food counters. We got to choose from ice cream, hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, ice cream, and Chinese food. Yes, you can get ice cream at almost every counter and there is a Chinese takeout place, complete with a Chicken Chop Suey sandwich for less than 2 dollars. This worm look-a-like sandwich, an ice coffee and small ice cream all came in for less than 5 dollars. That’s right… a bargain.

Our visit was cut short but in retrospect instead of disappointing us that we didn’t get to ride the carousel, it just whetted our appetites for more.

She wandered down the walkway grinning like a loon & scaring others walkers, asking if she could take their picture. It started to drizzle but she felt nothing. It started to spray but she focused on the construction cranes. It started to pour and she hung out in the gazebo. Now up until this point while she was still stupid she hadn’t breached the threshold of dimwit. Don’t worry she’s about to go there.

After taking an exorbitant amount of shots inside the gazebo she decided to walk back to her car. If she had just put her camera away then I would not have had to listen to her moan, groan & outright go Nancy Kerrigan.

People, don’t take pictures in the pouring rain unless you protect that camera, especially if it is digital. All those little buttons work because of electricity & it doesn’t get along well with water. She recorded her walk back, why? I don’t think even she could tell us the answer & when she got back into her car scrubs soaked through she noticed that something wasn’t quite right.

This is when she reached dimwit status & learned a valuable lesson. If your digital camera gets wet, never, never, never try to use it. And don’t sit there taking pictures with the flash trying to see if it will start working. After a Google search and talking to friends who like their camera she found out these valuable steps.

• Don’t take anymore pictures.

• Take the battery out & open all doors.

• Try to pat dry as much as possible.

  • Some say use a hair dryer on low heat & not directly on camera. But others sat NO WAY!  My human decided to opt out..a smart move in her case.

• Let it dry out for 3-7 days, some say even more.

If you can leave it alone that long. After unknowingly breaking almost every rule my human decided to give it a shot.  Six days later before running out the door for a trolley tour ( I know how lame right) she popped the battery back in and tried it out. No zoom or menu capabilities but it could take pictures. Devastated but determined she took it and played the tourist in Boston for the day. Two interesting things happened that day:

She realized that her battery lasted way longer when she wasn’t zooming like crazy.

About three hours in everything went back to normal.

Now she understands that it was truly amazing for it to fix itself and she is very fortunate & the money she was willing to spend on upgrading to a DSLR  should now go to me instead.

Looking for helpful articles on water damage and digital cameras?
Here are a few my human read in desperation.

How to Dry a Digital Camera from eHow

7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay from DPS
And you guessed it one it water

Rice Can Salvage Your Wet Digital Camera
Never heard of this one but wonder what the rice would taste like afterwards…

What happens when a digital camera gets wet?
A lovely personal story to learn from…

HP offers a few smart wet weather photography tips

Do you have any reckless camera stories you’d like to share?
Add it below, it might make my human feel better.

If you’d like to see more pictures from the full day look here on Flickr.

Taken in Lynn Woods this winter.