Hawaii 2011

September 21st, 2011

Hawaii, Waikiki Beach, and Diamond Head

It’s been a few years since I’ve visited Hawaii.  We flew out on Saturday, stopping in San Francisco for a few hours.  The first day we drove to Waikiki and had lunch at Duke’s.  After strolling around for a while, we returned to the Hawaiian Princess in time to capture sunset photos.  To view the some of the photos from Day 1, click here.

The next day we went out around the mountain next to the resort where I knew there was a cache of coral.  After walking around and taking photos there we hung out on the lanai for a bit.  There was someone at the other end of the beach playing with a dog.  I looked out into the ocean and it looked like a dog was swimming, but since it was so far out I wasn’t sure it was.  It approached the beach near where the dog was.  As it started to come out of the water we could tell it wasn’t a dog, but a seal.  Perhaps it was a Hawaiian monk seal.  I captured a photo, but I’m not too sure you can see it very well.

We drove to the north shore and beside visiting stores there we also went on the beach.  While we were there, a few people started walking towards something.  One of them commented about a sea turtle being there.  We went there and did see the turtle.  Another photo shows the turtle’s head out of the water.

As we went on our trips, I noticed a bust or statue of someone in a park we passed.  Finally on the way back from the north shore, we stopped.  It looked like IZ, a Hawaiian singer, and after being able to view it and see a plaque, that confirmed it.

We made it back in time for more sunset photos.  You may view the photos from Day 2 here.

The first time I went to Hawaii in 1976 we went on a tour of Pearl Harbor.  Since it was not the Navy tour, we could only view everything from the boat.  This time we went to Pearl Harbor on the Navy boat.  There were very interesting things there including old photos, movies, and models.  The photos from Pearl Harbor are here.

Atlanta Botanic Gardens Annual Orchid Show – March, 2011

June 1st, 2011

It took me a little while, but I finally put together a gallery of photos from the orchid show.  I believe there were a few different species this year.  I hope you enjoy the gallery.  Click here to view it.

Camp Pendleton, CA – May 2011

May 30th, 2011

Formation at Camp Pendleton, CA

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with Addison when he completed MCT at Camp Pendleton base in CA.  On Sunday, when I flew there, he was able to go off base since he had a buddy to accompany him.  We went to the Claim Jumper restaurant and stuffed ourselves on chicken pot pie.  The food and service were excellent.  Monday I went to the San Diego Zoo since I was unable to visit with him.  These photos will show up eventually on the blog.

On Tuesday I attended the graduation.  In the photo gallery, you’ll see the first few photos of marines that may have been assembling for some training.  The next few show the deck where graduation would occur.  After the deck photos, you’ll see them assembling for marching onto the deck for graduation.

After they marched onto the deck, you’ll see the 4 units assembled, followed by Addison coming up into the stands. I guess he was able to pick me out of the crowd.  Perhaps the camera equipment was a tipoff!

The last 2 photos are of the inside of the mess hall.  We had a quick lunch and then he had to head outside for formation, go collect their gear, and be off to their next destination.  I met with him after he was packed and ready to go.  Soon after that I left for the airport only to be enough minutes late to miss the flight.  The next flight was about 8 hours later.  I knew I might miss that flight, but being able to spend more time with Addison was worth it.

Click here to see my view from the bleachers.

Starr’s Mill – 11/2010

December 14th, 2010

Starr's Mill - 2010

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Starr’s Mill was revisited.  I went there about 2 years ago and decided it was time to get back there.  Knowing it was a little late to find trees with leaves in color, I could only hope for the best.

There were some decent photo opportunities.  The wind was still which allowed me to capture some reflections off of the water.  Click here to view the gallery page of photographs.  I hope you enjoy them.

Christina & Shannon

September 21st, 2010

The foots rest!

A couple of weeks ago I attended my cousin’s daughters wedding in Massachusetts.  Saturday morning I flew into Providence, Rhode Island airport and was picked up by Tom.  We went to their house, which is where I stayed Saturday night.  After we got to the house, I walked around a bit and captured some photos.  Soon enough, some of Tom’s relatives started showing up.  Tom had planned an cookout for later in the evening.  Chris and the wedding party were still out getting their nails done for the wedding the next day.  It took them a while for all of them to have their nails done.  They showed up in time for the cookout, which was great.  It was fun meeting the relatives.

On Sunday I drove with Chris and Tom to the wedding.  The wedding and reception were held at the same place.  It was a nice day for an outdoor wedding.  The setting with the gazebo worked very well.  I photographed the wedding instead of being a  spectator.  You can see how I did by clicking here to view the photos.

It was a great & quick weekend. This is the first time I’ve been to visit them and hope it is not the last!

Amicalola Falls

June 9th, 2010

Amicalola Falls

April made for a great time to visit Amicalola Falls.  The web pages are ready, and in addition to them, a slide show you may view is available.  If you click on the link, it may open in your browser but may not automatically play.  I suggest that you right-click on the link and select Download, to place it on your PC.  After the download completes, double-click on the file and it should play in full screen mode.  After you give your permission for the file to play in full scree, the slide show will begin.

The web pages are done and available here.

Italy, 2010

April 5th, 2010

Sorrento, Italy - 2010

About 2 weeks ago, a group of us flew from Atlanta to Rome, Italy.  We left on Wednesday, arrived on Thursday, and rode 2 trains to Sorrento, Italy where we stayed for 3 nights.  Day 1 is the trip and arrival in Sorrento.  For day 2, we hopped on a ferry to the island of Capri, where we took a smaller boat to the blue grotto.  It was very cool.  The dark cave and the glowing blue water made capturing photographs difficult.  Upon our return to port, we rode the funicular up the mountain, enjoyed what Capri had to offer, and then returned to Sorrento on the ferry.  Traveling to Pompeii on day 3 by train, we strolled through the city while listening to a Rick Steves audio tour.  I am in the process of creating a web gallery for the remaining days.  Stay tuned for further developments …

Day 3 lead us to Pompeii.  We saw a market area with depictions of what vendors would be selling there,  castings of people caught in the ash, cafe areas, a brothel with more depictions of services available, and a bakery.  Back in Sorrento as we walked through the streets with vendors we saw a couple of them selling tomatoes (without the smooth outsides) and very large lemons that are used to make limoncello (a liqueur).  We also wound up having a lemon cake dessert with frosting almost daily.  It became affectionately known as a ‘lemon boob’.

Our return to Rome on day 4 was by ferry instead of by train.  After checking in at the hotel, we walked around to see some of the sites.  One of them was Trevi Fountain, where I captured a few photographs, with my Olympus point and shoot camera, for a panorama .  Another was the Spanish Steps, which also had a fountain.  All of the walking left us parched so we stopped for refreshment, which is where I saw an older MINI. We went to an area that had restaurants around a plaza and in the plaza were vendors with items for sale, like paintings.  As night approached our travels lead us to the Pantheon, where we spent a little while before retiring for the night.

I added two panoramas from Pompeii that were captured with my DSLR.  The first one is near the center meeting area and shows Vesuvius in the background.  The second one is a view from just outside of the area that you have to pay to enter.

Orchids at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

March 4th, 2010

Orchid at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

The orchids are in full bloom at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  “Towers of Flowers Feb 6 – Apr 11” is the name of the event this year, and they certainly did have towers of orchids!  I highly recommend making time for a visit.  If you don’t get there, you may still enjoy some of the flowers I captured by clicking here.

The aftermath …

February 17th, 2010

Cold enough?

On Saturday, I went out in the morning to capture what the storm left behind.  The snow stopped somewhere around midnight.  Some of the photos are here.

Snow? In Hapeville Georgia??

February 12th, 2010

Snow in Hapeville

The forecasters were correct about the snow.  They only missed the start time by a few hours originally stating it would start around 9 AM when it really started snowing here around 1:30 PM.  I snapped a few photographs which are available here.