sharleenstuartTell Me a Story: June 2018
Posted on June 30, 2019
It’s time to blog and I am sitting without a computer so I have pulled up some photo’s from last year that I had edited but not posted. Last year we did an impromptu trip to Maine. I happened to be chatting to my work colleague about how I needed to use up some vacation time but really hated wasting vacation time on a staycation. She told me she had a cottage in Maine that we were welcome to use. Having never been to Maine we jumped at the opportunity. We headed up late September. The weather overall, except for our whale watching trip, was fantastic. Not hot not too cold. The whale watching trip was bitterly cold out on the ocean, and it was foggy. We did not see whales, in fact we saw practically nothing.
If you read my blogs, you will know that when I travel I am a bit of a planner. I see very little point in going somewhere blind. Yes I know there is spontaneity in doing thing impulsively and I am game for that, but I also want to have some idea of what I want to see and have some kind of plan. If we don’t get to see it, all fine well, if we do and it is on my list, I am super happy. There is nothing worse for me arriving in a unknown place, as a co-pilot and trying to find where to go. Don’t ever asking me to do Amazing Race. GPS is my best friend.
On of the places on Richard’s list was to go up to Bar Harbor, and Arcadia National Park.
Here are a few of the images I have already edit. When I get to the rest I will have to come back and share them.
As we meandered up the coast we pulled into little towns that appeared to have places of interest or we just thought we would mosey on through.
Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse was one of those places we decided to visit. It turned out to be an interesting stop. As we started to walk down to the lighthouse there was a group of volunteers handing out garbage bags. They were asking visitors to do some cleaning up along their walk. We did not walk all the way out to the light house. I was still healing from foot surgery and long walks were still a bit of a struggle, but I did enjoy seeing the beautiful bay and watch the dogs playing in the waves.
We stopped in another small town along the way and I loved seeing this older couple walking together along the edge of the water. I hope someday that I will be able to do that as well.
Arcadia National Park was stunning and I do not do it justice with this images. They were edited for a particular purpose. Hoever, I loved seeing the fall colors for the first time in my 18 years of living in the USA. We hiked down through the trees to get to lower areas, and up through the trees to get to higher areas.
From the top of the hill in the Arcadia National Park we looked down over Frenchman’s Bay. On the edge of the photo is one of the very big cruise liners that we spotted in the bay. While this spot look tranquil and maybe a bit lonely, it was honestly bustling with too many people. I love those places were I can go out and enjoy the quiet and this was not one of those spots.
I made a new friend, or rather my lunch made a new friend, lol. I am facinated by how big those birds grow up north. Our gulls down south seem a lot smaller. These guys parade around like they are in charge of the show.
The parking was up the top, and we hiked down to a very beautiful rocky bay. The walk was so pretty with it beautiful colored leaves all around you, and there was a coolness to the air that made the walk rather pleasant.
This is just one of the many bay images taken. At one point I was standing at the edge of the rocks looking down to try and capture the water rushing up into the gulley area. The ebb and flo of the water had me thinking I may just go over the edge. Quick step back
One of the images I had seen while researching was a sunset at Jordans Pond. Sadly we were not there at sunset, however, the area was beautful and I loved getting low down to get this image. Just above this quiet spot, is a bustling restaurant, where you can sit outside and enjoy bar type food and beer. We did take a bit of time to enjoy a cold one.
Bar Harbor was a quaint and bustling little town. We walked all over and I have to be honest, food wise this was probably my favorite meal – lobster tails and calamari. Portsmouth came second with their lobster roll. We only stayed one night, so early the next morning we rose before sunrise and headed down to the harbor area. Watching the sun say hello to the day was special. If you look in the background of the pic you will see the fog that we seemed to see a lot of on this partiular trip.
We had two options on how to plan our day. Explore more in the Arcadia National Park and then head home or explore the adjacent island and then home. Given how touristy Arcadia was I suggested that we head to the next island and see what there was to see. If I have to be honest, not too much. This, however, turned out to be one of my favorite images, and one that placed relatively well in a competition I had entered it into.
Southwest Harbor was nothing really to rush out to and beyond that it was mainly housing. So that probably was not the best decision that I had made but you make choices and you live with it. So we were back on the road and headed to Wells Beach.
Our last stopping point was at Orchard Beach. When researching I found what looked like a very interesting pier. Of course, finding parking was no fun, and my co-pilot was all ready to give up but we eventually foound a place to stop. This was indeed an interesting pier, and while I was going for the silhouette look here when I edited, the pier is actually bright and colorful. We walked through the pier to the very end where we took a break, rested our weary feet and cooled our throats. Of course, we watched the locals swimming in the ocean and thinking that they were crazy, the water was freezing for these Floridians.
Hopefully by my next blog I will have a working computer, but who knows. I pushed the button, hit send after a 3 hours self debate of was I ordering the right piece of equipment. That said it is now ordered and along with that a 34 inch monitor, so I cannot wait to play. I am just hoping that the tech guys will manage to transfer the data and images off my laptop, since I just realized that my San Antonio images were on there and I don’t think I have a disc with them on. Bummer if they are all gone.
Thank you for joining me on this very quick and impromptu trip along the Maine coastline. This is a circle blog so I would encourage you to visit my friend Mindy and see what she has for you this month.
30 Minutes in the Life: June 2019
Posted on June 24, 2019
At some point in your life, you tend to come up with a bucket list of things you would like to do, and you set out to achieve them. Most of my bucket list has involved traveling, and we have done a fair bit of it. We have traveled through Europe, done more traveling in the USA than I ever imagined us doing, and I still continue to look for places to visit.
One of the places on my bucket list for the USA was Niagara Falls. To be honest I really did not think that we would get there any time soon. However, 2 weeks ago my 2 work colleagues and I headed up to Rochester, New York for training for a program we are in the process of implementing in our offices.
I knew that if we were going to go all the way up there, we needed to make time to do the trip to the Falls. We had to fly up the day before to be there to start training the next day at 9am. So with some creative planning I figured if we caught the 5:30am flight to Rochester via Atlanta we would have enough time to drive to Niagara Falls and back before it was too late in the day.
The top of Niagara Falls looking towards Canada
The Canadian Niagara Falls skyline
Of course, I am the furthest from the airport, so I woke up at 3am and began my hour drive. It becomes a very long day when you only get back to the hotel at 9pm but it was well worth every minute that we took to go out there.
On recommendation we decided to drive along the 401, the scenic route, through small towns and farmland. The downside is always the changing speed but the towns were pretty and it was good to be able to see them. Florida is one housing community after another and this was definitely a change of pace.
The day was bleak, cold, windy and overcast, which leaves the images feeling just a little gray. My first view of Niagara Falls took my breath away. The falls are amazing and the force of water going over the falls was just incredible. Water is so incredibly powerful.
The size of the boat will give you some idea of the height of the falls.
This is the Canadian side of the boat ramps taken from the USA side.
Some moments you just had to stop and stare. The image below is one of those moments. Due to the wind there was a lot of water spray coming off the falls and it leaves this hazy effect.
I focused on the tree and flower, while looking at the rocky shoreline below.
The first bridge leads to the elevator that would take you down to the base of the falls, the second bridge is the gateway to Canada.
While we heard that the view from the Canadian side of the falls was spectacular, one of us did not have a valid passport, so there was no slipping into Canada to view the falls. However, I suggested that we head down the elevator and take a boat ride into the bay.
Heading down, they hand out a Maids of the Mist rain poncho. I was still messing with mine when we got on the boat. Too much in my hand with my camera and backpack and rain poncho.
I realized that potentially there would be some water. I have a rain sleeve for my camera. What I did not realize was just how much water there would be and how misty the images would look, partially from the water in the air and partially from the amount was water sitting on my the front of my lens.
My thirty minutes technically ends here, but I did want to make the trip one blog post and so I have shared the rest of our days outing.
There was constant wiping of the lens, and doing my best to keep my camera dry. I will admit I had a few worrying moments when my camera started blinking at me. For a while I put it under my rain poncho and did nothing, but the beauty of the place had me pulling it back out again.
This is the walkway from the Cave of the Winds which gets you right up under the falls. There is a cost to doing the Cave. It’s not expensive, but there is also a cost to the boat. That’s not expensive but it still adds up if you are watching your costs. I opted not to do it based on the amount of water my camera had already seen.
We were seriously wet. My colleagues managed to stay slightly drier than I did. I found it difficult to try and focus on the camera and have the hoodie slipping around my face, so eventually I just lost the hood and decided to allow my hair to get wet. I carry a mini brush with me so at least I could tidy up my hair at the end of the ride.
The last image before I put my camera under cover was this boat coming out of the falls.
Arriving back on the base we had the option to walk up this pathway to get closer to the falls. At the base we were already getting wet, I could not imagine taking my blinking camera up closer to the falls.
Back at the top I resonated on what I had seen from the top and the bottom of these incredible falls. If you have the opportunity to visit Niagara Falls, I would encourage you to do so. We still had 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive back to Rochester. We took the lake road, and so now at least I can say that I visited and touched the water of one of the great lakes, Lake Ontario. To be honest there was not a lot to see along the lake road, but we happened to stop in one small town for dinner. Being the planner, I researched the menu before recommending the stop. I had a cup of lobster bisque to warm me up, and then my all time favorite calamari. I have to be honest the last stretch of the road trip was catching up with me and I was happy when we arrived back in Rochester at the hotel.
Thank you for joining us for another month of 30 Minutes. Just a reminder that this is a circle blog. We have a number of new ladies join the 30 minutes group, making us now 14 bloggers, and so I would encourage you to take some time to visit my very talented friend Caroline of Elles & Eux Photographie , and see what she has for you this year. I am pretty excited to learn more about these wonderful ladies from all over the world. I would certainly encourage you to visit their pages.
Share Six: June 2019: Favorite Quote
Posted on June 10, 2019
Hello, can anyone tell me how we got to June. This year is flying by. And it appears I have been doing a lot of that as well. So far we have headed to San Antonio and the Florida Keys. I just returned from Rochester NY, and we had the opportunity to swing by Niagara Falls and then in July we are planning to head up to New York. Oh yes, I can just hear Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York. It will be a first for me.
Keeping that in mind, let’s turn to Share Six. For this month’s Share Six blog we have chosen the theme {Favorite quote}. There are so many out there but this one has resonated with me for a while now.
The history behind this quote is that some years ago my daughter and I had a conversation about travel. I love to travel. In our 20’s Richard and I traveled through Europe sleeping in a tent. We got to spend six weeks traveling through France, Spain, the French Riviera, Monte Carlo, Italy, Sicily, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. We then headed on to England, Wales and Scotland. My biggest regret was that we did not visit Ireland at the time. We have not done another big international trip like that since then, although we keep thinking about it.
Beyond that we have done a fair bit of exploring with the kids. Various places within South Africa and Mozambique. Richard and I also spent time in Swaziland, Lesotho and the Transkei.
However, since moving to Florida it felt like we only traveled around Florida. As Amy and I were talking, I reminded her about the importance of travel and meeting new people and learning new cultures. Exposure to different cultures and places definitely makes you a more accepting person. I happened to mention that I felt like I needed to get back to traveling again because the older I get, the less time I have to see the places I want to see while I am physically capable of seeing them.
On my very next birthday Amy gave me a card with the following words on it:
Find life experiences
and swallow them whole. travel.
meet many people
go down some dead ends and
explore dark alleys.
try everything
exhaust yourself
in the glorious
pursuit of life.
~ Lawrence K. Fish
I really want to do that. I want to experience as much as I can, see as much as I can. Meet new people. Learn the different ways of life. Give of myself as well.
Since 2012 we have been doing a lot of US traveling and seeing the sights and so it thought it was fitting to share some of my favorite travel pics as we have exhausted ourselves in the glorious pursuit of life. I will confess I went a little overboard, but I wanted to share some of the most beautiful places we have been to.
Denver, Colorado in the snow. We arrived in Denver knowing it may be cold but not expecting snow. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen. I got out and explored, Richard not so much.
Wells Beach, Maine. We visited Wells Beach in Maine in October of 2019. We did quite a trip through various parts of Maine, but Wells Beach was our base. This was a busy little town on weekends, but quieter during the week. We stopped in the bay area to see what there was and found tranquility and some gorgeous reflections.
The Columbia Building, Seattle, Washington. The Columbia Building is a 76 story high building. Around the 52nd floor is Starbucks. Guess where we headed. I have to be honest, my stomach did not feel great, but I wanted the sky line and that was one of the places I could get it. When I got back down to the bottom I took this image looking up. It really does not show the true height of the building. Definitely well worth the visit.
Columbus, Georgia I had a work retreat to Columbus Georgia. This image was taken from the parking lot of the sunrise. We can experience beauty where ever we see it. We just have to take the time to look.
Seattle, Washington. Seattle was one of my favorite places to visit. And yes as you can see, I did do the back streets and alley ways. We explored Seattle far more than I have explored any other place. I would definitely head back there.
Key West, Florida. There is nothing better than a sunset cruise out on the ocean in Key West. Every time we are down there a cruise is on my to do list. Some evenings are spectacular and other are just okay, but I am always amazed at the beauty of creation.
The Seattle Library, Washington. It was suggested that I may enjoy walking through the Seattle Library, so I decided to head out and explore what the library had to offer. The Library is 10 stories high and I started at the top and walked down and around all the floors. It was a very interesting building and a great opportunity for a photo shoot.
The Riverwalk, San Antonio. San Antonio was a recent trip and the Riverwalk was the place to be. It is a bustling night spot of restaurants and guests. There is a place for everyone’s tastes. This was taken in the morning where the one place open for breakfast was a Mexican Restaurant.
Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts. Driving from Boston to Maine, I requested that we go by Manchester by the Sea. If you recall a year or two back there was a movie made by that name and actually made in the town. So I needed to see it. Like the movie it was a quaint little town. When I stopped to speak to one of the local residents we talked about the fact that the movie was made there. She mentioned that they are much happier people than the movie depicts.
Columbus, Georgia. This was a second retreat trip to Columbus Georgia with staff. On this particular day the staff wanted to go to the outlet mall. If you learn anything about me, know that I really do not enjoy shopping unless it is for books. Being the driver, I made the trip to the outlets, dropped my passengers off and said see you later. I then headed down to the river and the river walk. I loved that I got a chance to chat to a homeless man, who went on to share with me about a nesting bird. Little moments like these create memories to draw on.
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, San Antonio. One of the best parts of our recent trip to San Antonio was a visit to the missions. This particular mission was stunning and it was well worth the visit and was a great opportunity to learn more about the role of the mission in the early history of San Antonio.
The Waterfront, Seattle, Washington. There was a Ferris wheel along the waterfront and I thoroughly enjoyed taking photo’s of it. Of course, I did not get to ride it, but I am a little nervous of heights 🙂
Nashville, Tennessee. I really love this image of this woman taking a break during her busy day. We just happened to be walking street towards her when I spotted and stopped and took the photograph. Some days you don’t get to speak to a person, but you learn something all the same. Take time to enjoy the moments.
Old Orchard Beach, Maine. In the process of researching places to visit, and yes I do a lot of research before I head out, I came across this very interesting pier. So as you may have guessed I really needed to stop by and visit and see what it was all about. We got to share a beer at the end of the pier.
The Japanese Gardens, San Antonio. The Japanese Gardens were a treat. I loved the peacefulness that you can find in these beautiful gardens. This picture was of Richard exploring and I loved how the trees framed him on his adventure.
Valley of Fire, Overton, Nevada. While hanging out in Las Vegas we got chatting to a Kiwi and mentioned that we were thinking of going to Red Rock. He told us to skip that and head out to the Valley of Fire. What we found here was multiple colored rock, red, black, white and yellow rocks that made up this amazing area. We got to do a bit of hiking through the rocks as well.
Bar Harbor, Maine. During our visit to Maine, Richard had one place he wanted to visit, Acadia National Park. So we took 2 days out of our plans to drive up to Bar Harbor. The Arcadia National Park is well worth visiting. Bar Harbor was where we slept. This is a busy little town, with lots of restaurants. If you are looking for really good calamari and lobster tails, Bar Harbor would be my go to place. A long way to go for good calamari but since we were there we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our waiter was from Serbia and we got chatting about traveling around Serbia and what it would be like if you do not speak the language. Not a problem, he tells me, everyone speaks English. Well almost everyone. So here is my mind working over time. If we ever get to Macedonia, Serbia is right next door. I am a planner 🙂
Epcot, Disneyland, Orlando, Florida. We do not do Disney all that often but once in a while we head up there. Epcot and the Garden show was our destination this year. We got to have the whole family together for a change and also to watch our new son-in-laws amazement throughout the day. Fortunately it was not too hot and not too many people.
Niagara Falls on the USA side. Last but not least this past week I got to view and experience the spectacular Niagara Falls. I had to travel to Rochester NY for work, but we had a free afternoon, and decided to make the most of it and drive 1.5 hours to the falls. From the US side you do not get the full view of the falls like the Canadians do, however, you are right up against the force of the water and it is impressive.
Niagara Falls from the decks of the Maid in the Mist. We decided that we would take a boat ride into the bay of the falls. So they give you rain poncho’s which is probably a good indication that you are going to get wet. Hello, me with the camera. I had to do some creative photography down there and honestly at one stage my camera was blinking at me. The day was overcast, and windy. The wind, of course, caused the spray to go further.
Niagara Falls from the Maid in the Mist. The power of the water is so incredibly breath taking. To be here at the base of the falls watching the water pour over the edge is amazing. If you have the opportunity to visit the falls I would encourage you to do so.
I could carry on posting images of places that I love, but you will soon get sick of me. I would encourage you head down those alleyways, stop and talk to a stranger, enjoy everything life has to offer you. Life is far to brief to waste it. Me I am in the planning stages of heading to New York.
Thank you for joining me for this month’s Share Six blog post. This is a circle blog. From the sneak peak images I have seen, you are going to want to follow the circle. Please take time to visit my friend and very talented artist Katherine of Cobert Photography and read her quote and see how she has interpreted it. Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their page as well.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_favoritequote.
30 Minutes in the Life: May 2019
Posted on June 3, 2019
Yes I know it says May, and it is now June, but truth is we delayed it one week so that we would all have a chance to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend. For me it was an awesome 11 days of vacation. 5 of those days were spending in the stinking hot sun down in the Florida Keys. Phew, when shade is at a minimum, happy hour seems to be the way to go. But more about that another day.
For this month I wanted to continue with the San Antonio trip. My flu that I had just before the trip left me in a funk and so I am really behind on editing. For our afternoon session of sightseeing, my brother was going to join us. I know that he likes to visit things like Botanical Gardens and such. So we decided to jump on the local transportation (which I highly recommend as a way to get around San Antonio), and head to the Japanese Gardens, and then on to the Botanical Gardens. These photos were exactly 35 minutes of walking around the garden.
We have a Japanese Gardens locally at home, and I know what that one is like and so my expectation was that this one would be bigger. The one we have at home is a 2 mile walk. It normally takes me 3 hours to get around.
The upside of the short time frame was that we were not sure how long it would take us to get around the Botanical Gardens.
Our first view was of the beautiful lakes with pathways going through them.
In the water were koi, and the random ducks.
We meandered along random pathways taking in the beautiful stonework, the rich colors of gardens.
And were impressed by the creative building behind us. Layers of rock had been used to build the pillars, the pathways and the bridges.
The gardens were very peaceful and I guess we were fortunate that there were not too many people visiting at the same time as us.
There were small waterfalls and large waterfalls.
Amazing bridges to cross. Each stone layered one on top of the other.
Typical of our walk about, Richard is 10 steps ahead of Barry, and I am lagging with the camera another 10 steps behind. There was too much that captured my attention.
We walked past the waterfalls and slowly climbed the pathway to get a view of the area below.
We continued to meander along this random pathway until we found our way back to the building area.
My brother started out his career as a Civil Engineer, and he spent a good bit of time looking at the structural layout of these pillars and how each stone had been laid uniquely above the one below.
As we walked away from the structured building I looked down below to what was probably garden storage buildings.
Barry and I meandered along this short bridge to a deck adjacent to what appeared to be some kind of silo.
It gave us a better view of the buildings below.
Of course, it was hot, and so we ventured inside to get some liquid refreshments and sat for a while in the shade of the umbrellas. We all got to try Japanese beer.
We also had company while we were relaxing.
I took one final lookout from the sheltered area. The trip to the Japanese Gardens had been fun and it was definitely well worth going to visit.
Last but not least, this was one of my favorite images of Richard, and I just felt like it had to be in black and white.
Beers were drunk, bags packed up, we are off to the bus stop. Next stop is the Botanical Gardens. Look out for a blog post soon.
Thank you for joining us for another month of 30 Minutes. Just a reminder that this is a circle blog, so take some time to visit my friend Stacey Markel Photography, and see what she has for you this year.
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