Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Stupid Camera

October 16, 2009
Cheoah Dam and Lake, Tennessee. October 13, 2009.

Cheoah Dam and Lake, Tennessee. October 13, 2009.

Betsy and I were home for about 12 hours Thursday evening and early this (Friday) morning.  That gave us just enough time to repack for Ray’s memorial service and to do a quick post to let you know we survived the first of our quick trips.  By the time you read this we will be on the road to Jacksonville, Florida.

As you know, we went to Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia to see what the waterfalls looked like when water was released from the dam above the gorge.  We hiked a new trail (for us) and the views were wonderful.  There was a light rain most of the day, but that didn’t stop us from our quest to enjoy the waterfalls.

Unfortunately about half way through our hike my camera decided to start acting up.  For the rest of the hike I could only take wide-angle shots if I could get any at all.  That was definitely a bummer, but as Betsy said, that just gives us another excuse to go back.

Now that Betsy has her laptop, I’m hoping Santa will bring me a new camera.  I’ve been wanting one with interchangeable lenses so I could get closer to waterfalls we can’t reach on foot.  I would also like to be able to get macros of our flowers.

I know many of you are great photographers.  I would appreciate any advice you may be able to give me regarding a camera that will fit my needs.  Thanks.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 15 Comments »

Yorktown, Virginia

October 3, 2009

On a sad note we learned that Betsy’s brother, Ray, died yesterday (Friday) afternoon.  Please keep Betsy and Ray’s family in your prayers.  Our posting and visiting your blogs are likely going to be hit and miss for the next few days.

*********************

Betsy in Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown, Virginia. June 22, 2007.

Betsy in Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown, Virginia. June 22, 2007.

While we were in Virginia in 2007, we visited the town of Yorktown, Virginia as well as the battlefield there.  The town was formed in 1691, and was a thriving port at the time of the Revolution.

There were three things that we found to be of particular interest in Yorktown.  The first was Grace Episcopal Church, which was built in 1697 and is still in use.  The churchyard contains the grave of Thomas Nelson, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Nelson’s home is still standing and we were able to go inside.  Thomas Nelson was  a general in the American army during the Siege of Yorktown.  When he heard that Lord Cornwallis was using his house as headquarters, Nelson directed the artillery that was firing on the house.  There is still a cannonball in the outer wall of the house on the side facing the American siege lines.

The third interesting thing for us about the town was the Ballard House.  Betsy’s mother was a Ballard and Betsy thought there might be a connection between her and John Ballard, the owner of the house.  She has since learned that John Ballard was an ancestor.

To see more of our visit to Yorktown click HERE.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Travels | 10 Comments »

St. Lucia

October 1, 2009
Betsy on board our ship with Gran Piton, St. Lucia, in the background. September 13, 2001.

Betsy on board our ship with Gran Piton, St. Lucia, in the background. September 13, 2001.

The fourth port of call on our honeymoon cruise was Castries, St. Lucia.  St. Lucia was probably our favorite island.  It really did present itself as a tropical paradise.

We got to enjoy St. Lucia by taking a catamaran cruise along the coast from Castries to Soufriere.  That cruise gave us a wonderful view of the coast, including the Twin Pitons, one of the most prominent landmarks on the island.  We went ashore at Soufriere and visited Soufriere volcano and the plantation museum at Morne Coubaril Estate.

The first European to settle on St. Lucia was a French pirate, Francois Le Clerc known as Wooden Leg, who used the island as a base to attack Spanish ships.  The Dutch arrived around 1600, the English settled in 1605 and the French in 1651.  Fighting broke out between the British and the French in 1651 and continued off and on for 150 years.  The island changed hands fourteen times during that time before the French ceded the island to the British in 1814.  Today St. Lucia is independent, but remains a member of the British Commonwealth.

If you would like to see more of this beautiful island click HERE.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 6 Comments »

Antigua

September 28, 2009
Betsy at St. John's, Antigua. September 12, 2001.

Betsy at St. John's, Antigua. September 12, 2001.

The third port of call on out honeymoon cruise was St. John’s, Antigua.  Antigua was an island we thoroughly enjoyed visiting.  We especially liked the beautiful coastline of the island.

Antigua was a major sugar-producing colony for Great Britain and, because of it’s strategic location, it became Britain’s most important base in the  Caribbean.  In 1784 Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established a naval base at English Harbor.  We visited Nelson’s Dockyard, the restoration of dockyard Nelson commanded.

We also visited Shirley Heights, which offered panoramic views of English Harbor.  Shirley Heights were fortified by the British for the protection of their base and contains the remains of gun emplacements and military buildings.  One of the unusual sights along the heights was cactus — parts of the island are arid.

To see more of Antigua click HERE.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 7 Comments »

Memories of Atlanta

September 21, 2009
Betsy at Stone Mountain, Georgia. June 2, 2009.

Betsy at Stone Mountain, Georgia. June 2, 2009.

One of the advantages of having so much rain over the last few days is that I’ve had the opportunity to work on some of my older pictures that had been copied to disk to be worked on ‘later’.  Well, ‘later’ came this past week, and I have enjoyed working with pictures that I had practically forgotten about.

One of the folders I found was of pictures taken in Atlanta, Georgia, in June, 2001, about three weeks before Betsy and I were married.  We had been invited to the wedding of the oldest son of one of Betsy’s childhood friends.  Since Betsy and Susan, the mother, were good friends, we were invited to come down early for the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening.  I got to meet another of Betsy’s childhood friends, Nita, and learn some things about my future bride that I didn’t know (all good, of course).

Saturday morning Betsy and I went to Stone Mountain Park outside of Atlanta to enjoy the day and see some of the scenic attractions of that beautiful area.  After an enjoyable few hours at the park we went back to the city for the wedding and reception.

If you would like to see more of our weekend in Atlanta click HERE.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 14 Comments »

Eight Years Ago Today — Barbados

September 14, 2009
Barbados

The view from Gun Hill Station, Barbados. September 14, 2001.

Last week Betsy did a post about where we were on September 11, 2001.  We were on a cruise that week (a belated honeymoon) and that got me to thinking about that cruise.

Eight years ago today (September 14) we were on the island of Barbados, the last island on our cruise.  Barbados is the eastern-most island of the Caribbean islands.  Barbados was a British colony from 1625 – 1966, when it became an independent nation of the British Commonwealth.

While on Barbados we visited Gun Hill Signal Station, which was the largest and most important of the British military outposts on the island.  We also visited St. John Parish Church (Betsy was still a Methodist minister at that time and enjoyed checking out the Anglican church), and Sunbury Plantation, a 300-year old plantation on the island.

To see more of our visit to Barbados, click HERE.

Tags:,
Posted in Travels | 4 Comments »

Historic Jamestowne

August 22, 2009
The statue of Captain John Smith at Historic Jamestowne, Virginia. June 20, 2007.

The statue of Captain John Smith at Historic Jamestowne, Virginia. June 20, 2007.

On our anniversary trip in 2007, Betsy and I went to Virginia.  After visiting Jamestown Settlement (a living history museum) we went  to Historic Jamestowne, the site of the first  English settlement in North America.

I assume that the story of Jamestown is still taught in our schools.  We were taught that the settlers were all ‘gentlemen’ who didn’t do anything but look for gold, that the Indian maiden Pocohantas saved Captain John Smith, and that Captain Smith saved Jamestown.  We also learned that later almost all the settlers died and the survivros decided to give up and return to England, only to be met by supply ships and new settlers at the mouth of the James River.

There was some truth in what we were taught, but there was also much more.  Jamestown survived and grew.  The first representative assembly in the New World convened in the Jamestown church on July 30, 1619.  In 1624 Virginia became a crown colony with Jamestown as the capital.  A “New Town” grew up east of the fort which contained wharfs, warehouses, taverns and merchant’s homes.  Jamestown remained the capital until the statehouse burned in 1698.  The capital was then moved to Williamsburg and the town of Jamestown began to slowly disappear.

I must admit that it was very interesting and exciting to be at the site of so much history.  If you would like to see more of Jamestown, click HERE.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 9 Comments »

Battleship North Carolina

August 20, 2009
5-inch and AA guns on the North Carolina. May, 2007.

5-inch and AA guns on the North Carolina. May, 2007.

We got some much-needed rain here on the Plateau today, so I was able to get some work done on the computer.  One of the things I got done was working on some of the pictures we took while we were at the beach in 2007.

One day of our stay was rainy, so we drove to Wilmington, North Carolina, where we visited the battleship North Carolina.  The North Carolina was launched June 13, 1940 and commissioned April 9, 1941.  At the time of her commissioning she was considered to be most powerful ship afloat.

The North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific and earned 15 battle stars.  During the war she steamed over 300,000 miles.  Although the Japanese claimed to have sunk her six times, she survived the war with a loss of 10 men killed in action and 67 wounded.

In 1958 the announcement that the North Carolina was to be scrapped led to a statewide campaign by the citizens of North Carolina to save the ship and bring her to her namesake state.  The campaign was successful and the battleship arrived at her current berth in Wilmington on October 2, 1961.  She was dedicated as the State’s memorial to its World War II verterans on April 29, 1962.

It’s possible to tour almost all departments of this ship, from the engine room to the flag bridge.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit — we were glad that we had a rainy day while we were at the beach.

If you would like to see more of the North Carolina click HERE.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 8 Comments »

Castillo de San Marcos

August 13, 2009
The main gate of Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.

The main gate of Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.

After visiting Betsy’s brother, Ray, in Jacksonville, we headed south to Ormond Beach for Betsy’s birthday.  We travelled through Saint Augustine, and, since we had some extra time, decided to stop at Castillo de San Marcos.

The Spanish started construction on Castillo de San Marcos in 1672.  The detail and architecture of the fort are both distinctive and unique.  Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry and the only existing 17th century fort in North America.

The outer walls of the fort. August 4, 2009.

The outer walls of the fort. August 4, 2009.

The first 300 years of the existence of the fort were times of constant warfare as European countries vied for the economic wealth of the New World.  The Castillo was attacked many times (mostly by the British) but was never captured.

The reconstructed city of St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.

The reconstructed city of St. Augustine, Florida. August 4, 2009.

The present National Park Service Monument consists of over 20 acres and includes a reconstructed section of the St. Augustine city wall.

Both Betsy and I enjoyed our visit to this, one of the oldest structures in the U. S.  If you’re ever near St. Augustine visit the fort.  We think you’ll enjoy it.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Travels | 12 Comments »

Our Prius — Definitely NOT a clunker

August 10, 2009
Mrs. P in the north Georgia Mountains. August 2, 2009.

Mrs. P in the north Georgia Mountains. August 2, 2009.

I’m sure Betsy and I will have quite a bit to say about our trip to Florida in the days ahead, but now I want to tell you about the unsung partner in all our travels.  There’s a lot of talk about clunkers nowadays, but our Prius — Mrs. P — is definitely not a clunker.

We got Mrs. P in February, 2005.  Since then we have traveled many miles — some of them on interstates and some on less-well maintained roads.  Mrs. P has successfully traveled along snow-covered forest service dirt roads in the mountains and successfully gotten over and through wash-outs that turned back jeeps.

Last Sunday we were in the mountains of north Georgia searching for some waterfalls.  We knew there was a stream with two waterfalls on them about two miles from a ranger station.  The sign in the photo above (enlarge the picture to read it more clearly) was on the opposite side of the road from the station.

Mrs. P handled the road with no problems.  I just could not resist taking this picture on our way back.  I wonder where Mrs. P will take us next?

Tags:, ,
Posted in Travels | 16 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »