Of Muskets and Manned Flight

I’ve accumulated some more photos from disparate sources. Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada has its share of hyphens. Despite that it is a rather large tourist attraction hosting some of the best vineyards in the Great White North. Besides the trodden grapes the area has a great deal of history including action during the war of 1812 (when it was the capital of Upper Canada) and before. If you want to see Niagara Falls do yourself a favor and take a day trip there while making this quaint town your home base.

Closer to home (mine, at least) is the Yankee Air museum. It’s a non-profit organization that restores and flies vintage WWII aircraft. When you take into consideration the vast, and I mean vast, quantity of military aircraft made under the stars and stripes for the great war (part deux) it is mind boggling how few survive. It’s a good thing that some groups preserve this heritage.

So, here are some pictures captured at the above.

Fortress Of Focus

So my blog is broken. I’ve not posted anything in so long maybe it decided to commit suicide or at least invite the grim specter of death to come a knockin’ early. I have managed to get things functioning OK but the plugin I use for displaying images still refuses to load. ‘Tis a wasteland of empty posts with no images on this blog. Well, it’s not like people read the old stuff anyway but I do hate it when shit happens.

As a placeholder till I get things running well again and put up a post with some information in it (yes, I’ve been working on one so stop snickering) here are some pictures. These were taken on a  Caribbean cruise over Christmas to the ports of St. Thomas; San Juan; and a brief stop in Savannah, GA. You may notice I went crazy over the forts of San Cristobal and San Felipe del Morro in Puerto Rico since they have an unfair share of images. In my defense they are stunning.

Eye Candy

Hershey, PA is the land of chocolate or something. Well, not really since nothing seemed to be built with cocoa anywhere within the city limits. I expected something a bit more like this.  Still, it was founded on and continues to subsist on the tasty, tasty slopes of chocolate kisses (among other diversified products).

As you can see I’m trying to hide that this post involves more pictures of automobiles by first tempting you with sweets. In fact I attended the very, very large AACA Eastern Division auto show in Hershey. It’s probably the biggest show I’ve ever been to with a dizzying array of autos displayed, for sale, and vendors of automobilia, Of course I got there just late enough to see the procession of cars driving past me on their way home. Still, my tardiness at least allowed me to buck the crowds as I ran about trying to see it all before it vaporized in a plume of blue exhaust.

From brass era to the mediocre cars of the 80s it was all there. You will not be surprised I took some pictures.

Baltanical

When I think of Baltimore television shows like Homicide: Life On The Street and Hot L Baltimore or the movies of John Waters mold my vision of that coastal city. All stellar works that stick in my mind but not a rounded representation of the place. Now I find myself living about an hour from there and occasionally I visit that area of Maryland.

With a long history and varied social landscape there is a lot to see and experience in Baltimore. I went a few weeks ago there to see some roller derby semi-finals near the inner harbor. The visit I just completed isn’t quite as colorful sounding but was more colorful in actuality. The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens has a very long name and a rather modest size. I’m not complaining since seeing the whole deal in one short trip is a lot better then my usual fractional intake of a big institution’s treasures after the same amount of time. So here’s a vote for modesty in scope and time suck.

The first thing you notice is the lovely 1888 Palm House in front. Like an overgrown doll house it has a small footprint that enhances the sense of verticality. Sprinkled about it is just the right amount of Victorian ornament to finish it off like a finely done pastry. Inside are varied plants with variations on tall, leafy, smooth, and spiny. I especially loved the orchid house which nicely displays the dazzling range of that largest family of flowering plants.

So, take a look at a few snaps I did. I hope you enjoy this rather random tour.

 

Simone Says

A few weeks ago I took my first trip to Philadelphia which isn’t that far from my new digs in Pennsylvania. I went ostensibly for an NAWCC chapter mart where I could look over watches and such for sale. Afterwards I had planned to go to the Simone Foundation Automotive Museum with a fellow horological student. Some of the world’s most famous sports cars are in this facility on display. There are not an overwhelming number of cars (which is good) but they make up for that in beauty. Pre-war Italian, British, French, and American vehicles are in tableaux to show the era they raced. The sensuous curves and touches that are form without function are as lovely as any sculpture.

As I usually do I took some pictures of the details of many cars. Also as usual the endeavor of photographing in available light meant that some images did not turn our even though I take a vast number of exposures. I’m happy the ones below were acceptable to me.

 

I’ve Been A’Sitting On The Railroad

Why do we get nostalgic for things we’ve never experienced? I have no idea but I am guilty of it. The golden age of rail travel seems so foreign yet attractive when compared the crowded, uncomfortable sardine can modern air travel can be. I long for the slower, more open, and more luxurious accommodations we often associate with steam trains, ocean liners, and distant times.

If I were logical I’d realized that then travel was much slower, coach tickets meant you were packed in a car with many other people, and boredom probably got the best of you. But reality be damned as I let the hazy, warm glow of misinformed past imagery carry me on. And so you can imagine that I love seeing old rail stock and engines enough that I visit them when I can. I’ve been to the VA Museum of Transportation many a time to view the most lovely engine I’ve ever seen (The Norfolk and Western’s Class J) Now that I’m in Pennsylvania I was happy to discover both a working steam railroad and a railroad museum across from each other in the town of Strasburg.

Strasburg, like so many places here, is picturesque in a way that only well-preserved-mid-19th century towns can be. On its outskirts I visited the PA Railroad Museum and the Strasburg Railroad. They are across the street from each other which means you can ride the rails behind a vintage steam engine and then see a lot more on display.

The railroad there is festive and geared towards families. The station has a number of the usual tourist traps such as vintage portraits, gift shop, snacks of dubious merit, and miniature train rides for the very young. That’s not a criticism since I saw many folks have a great time enjoying it. I am often a skeptic of “family fun” but I think it was nicely presented and you can’t argue with happiness.

The train ride has a steam engine fired by coal and belching smoke. Environmentalists please remain quiet. The clunking and slow take off of a puffing train is entrancing. The brief 45 minute 9 mile journey was a nice vacation from modern times.

When I crossed the street to the museum I was stunned by the amazing indoor display of rectangular things on tracks. There were the typical recreated stations and storefronts but I do love that kind of thing. It’s always amazing to walk by and feel how huge and powerful these old technology behemoths were.

I’ll let my pictures speak from here. Hold on for a crazy batch of images screeching by you at 10 miles per hour. Yes, the train moved very slowly.

Click on both galleries don’t forget.

My Favorite 0b1000100 Photos of 2010

I take way too many pictures it seems. This was supposed to be a post about the 10 favorite pictures I took in 2010. That expanded and expanded till it is now almost 7 times that amount. Oops.

Since I’m too lazy to cut this amount down to a more manageable size I’m leaving well enough alone. There is no rhyme or reason to my selections other than I thought they weren’t too bad and I noticed them. I’m far from a professional photographer but I do get lucky from time to time.

I must admit I did cheat once on the flamingo photo which was taken the last day of 2009. Please bear in mind that when that was taken in places like Manila it was 2010. So there.

If you want to see them larger click on the thumbnails to get a large window type thing with a next button.

P.S. That’s binary in the title of this post. Sorry to be so confusing.

P.P.S. There are three screens of pics. Click the next number under them to see another batch.

Warmth In Winter

I was thankful to spend Thanksgiving in Florida. That’s because while it was getting chill here in Virginia the weather was perfect there. The Sunshine State is a strange place full of natural loveliness and so many new urban areas that it often seems like there are only two times: now and the future.

We landed on the West coast and spend time in Naples. After that we drove across the narrow peninsula and arrived on the other coast in Stuart. It was fun to visit both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic in back to back days. We saw a sunset over a beach and the next day a sunrise. You can’t really beat that.

On this trip I visited two wonderful gardens. The Naples Botanical Gardens were pristine with tropical plants from many areas of the world. After being in gloomy fall weather to see the visual pop of colorful flowers was fantastic.

On the other coast was the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Finding this in Florida feels a bit strange but there is a compelling story about why an elderly Japanese-American man donated the land for this endeavor. You can find it on their web site.

As usual I took way too many pictures and it took forever to sort them out. I’ve included a few from the trip here and I hope you enjoy them.

That’s Capital!

I’ve never visited the capital of the state I live in at all. After over 10 years here you’d think that would have happened but so far I’ve skirted it instead going to the coastal, mountain, and northern (mega-urbanized) regions of Virginia in the past. Last weekend I was thrilled to travel to Richmond for a couple days to visit a friend and eat far too much. The city was wonderful with so much history, beauty and activity. I managed to go picture crazy too and here are a few of them.

Richmond

Hollywood

Maymont


Old Salem

Another day and another bike ride somewhere new. This time I decided to try a greenway on the outskirts of Winston-Salem, NC. Recent floods made it a bit dirtier than I expected but the strangest thing was the construction. A section had some workman and vehicles installing what looked like pipe or drainage corridors underground. What was odd is that much like what you would see on a busy street they had a person at both ends of the work holding a “Stop” or “Slow” sign to give directions to us intrepid path users. I always thought a bike was pretty slow to begin with.

The ride was nice as it wound along the side of a creek on this crisp early fall day passing a ruined railroad bridge which I took a few snaps of. Eventually I reached a rather confusing spot where I couldn’t figure out how to continue on. The greenway went up over and under some roads and ended. I knew you needed to ride along a road to rejoin the path the signage was lacking. I set out in a likely direction and discovered to my surprise I was in Old Salem which I’ve not been to for a few years. I spent a good part of my day wandering around and taking photos of this historic neighborhood. Take a look below for some of them.