Marble Boat

April 15, 2025

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One of the highlights of the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing is the ‘marble boat’.  It’s not really made of marble, although the superstructure was decorated to look like marble.  The original boat was built in 1755 by Emperor Qinglong, but was destroyed by British forces in 1860.  The current boat was built in 1893 by the Dowager Empress Cixi  Legend says she used funds allocated for the Chinese navy to build this boat at the Summer Palace, but that story has never been proven.  The ‘marble boat’ is a pavilion that was used bu the empress for enjoying the beauty of the Summer Palace while she had her breakfast or dinner. I got this photo of the ‘marble boat’ when I visited the Summer Palace in 1987.

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Down Memory Lane: Kunming Lake

April 1, 2025

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I’ve been fortunate to be able to teach English as a second language in China on four different occasions. My first trip was in the summer of 1987 when I took part in an exchange program with other professors from the college at which I taught.  During the summer the Chinese university took us and some of our students to the imperial Summer Palace near Beijing.  Kunming Lake is the largest lake in the palace grounds.  I captured this peaceful scene while walking along the shore.

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Little River Falls

March 18, 2025

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Several years ago, when both Betsy and I were younger and could get around better, we celebrated my birthday by traveling duo Fort Payne, Alabama.  At that time we were tracking down waterfalls and there are several in the Fort Payne area.  One of the waterfalls is Little River Falls, pictured above.

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Redbuds and Blue Sky

March 4, 2025

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Now that March has arrived I’m beginning to do some serious thinking about Spring.  I know that Old Man Winter isn’t going to give up without a fight, and we will most likely have at least one more round of bad (cold) weather.  But even so, I’m looking forward to green grass, flowers in bloom and blue skies.  On a March day a few years ago I captured these redbud blossoms against a beautiful blue sky.  What could be more beautiful?

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Lipan Point at the Grand Canyon

February 18, 2025

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When Betsy and I visited the Grand Canyon in June, 2011, we reached the eastern end of the canyon in the early afternoon.  We thus had the time to stop at a couple of overlooks as we drove to Grand Canyon Village, where we had our reservations for our stay.  I got this photo at Lipan Point along our way.

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Mt. Nebo Sunset

February 4, 2025

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Betsy and I have been going to Mt. Nebo State Park in Arkansas for 20+ years.  We always stay in the same cabin and almost go in February, since we can enjoy the sunsets from the back porch of the cabin.  This picture, taken a few years ago, shows why we keep going back.

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Down Memory Lane: Aberdeen (Hong Kong)

January 21, 2025

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Aberdeen is an area of southwestern Hong Kong Island, and includes Aberdeen Harbor, which is one of nine harbors in Hong Kong.

In 1987 I was a member of a team of professors from Heidelberg College in Ohio who were going to mainline Chine to teach English as a second language.  We flew into Hong Kong, and before going into China we spent several days touring the area.

Back then Aberdeen was known for its floating village and floating restaurants.  We didn’t visit any of the restaurants, but we were able to visit the floating village while touring the harbor on a sampan.  The residents of the village were fishermen, who lived with their families on boats

There were also boat yards in Aberdeen where boats were built and retired.

The area was beginning to change, as there were several high rise buildings around the harbor.

After touring the harbor we visited some of the outlying areas,  We visited Repulse Bay, a beautiful body of water that got it’s name (so a story goes) from a British  warship, HMS Repulse, that anchored there is the mid-nineteenth century.  The bay is beautiful, regardless of how it got it’s name.

To see more pictures from Aberdeen, click HERE

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The Grand Canyon at Desert View

January 7, 2025

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When Betsy and I were younger (and healthier) we used to do quite a bit of traveling and hiking.  Now those days are mostly over, at least trips that involve hiking.  On those long-ago trips I took thousands of pictures, many of which I haven’t worked with.  So now, especially during the winter months, I can relive those trips by going through my photos.

In 2011 Betsy and I took our first trip west of the Mississippi River.  We visited several national parks on the trip, one of which was the Grand Canyon National Park.  We came into the park ‘the back way’, and our first view of the canyon was at Desert View, on the eastern end of the park.  What an awesome introduction to the Grand Canyon!

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Christmas at Biltmore

December 24, 2024

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Betsy and I consider “Christmas at Biltmore” to be our main gift to each other.  We’ve been attending their Candlelight Christmas for nine years now, and always find it to be delightful.  We were not sure what to expect this year because of all the damage caused by hurricane Helene, but everyone at Biltmore did a superb job of cleaning up and repairing the damage and getting the decorations in place for Christmas.

All of the rooms in Biltmore House are decorated for Christmas, with each room having one or more decorated Christmas tree.  (The were 69 decorated trees in the house all together.)  This is the Breakfast room on the main floor, pictured in a photo taken two years ago,

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Palm Court at Biltmore

December 10, 2024

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Christmas at Biltmore is always amazing.We’ve been going for several years, and we always enjoy it.  The house is always beautifully decorated with one (or more) Christmas trees in each room.  Even the Palm Court just inside the entrance to the house gets made into a winter garden for the season.  There are often musical attractions (you can almost see a choir through the palm fronds) which just adds to the beauty of the setting.

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