Parkway Supermarket, Saint Albans, WV...

...used to be one of the best grocery stores in the Kanawha Valley.

1st Day Back

Tuesday was my first day back from a 23 day vacation and I'd had 'bout all I could take from that guy, so we tied him up ;-)

Sci

Random Shots

Well, I made it through a part of my vacation without hauling all of my digital SLR gear around with me. The last day of our DC trip and all of our SC / GA trip I just used my Fuji f100fd point and shoot. I had my dslr stuff with me in DC but I didn't even take it with me down south. It was hard leaving it behind, but I wanted to travel light and take the minimum amount of stuff since there were 5 of us traveling. It always looks like we're moving to Beaufort whenever we go, but with all 5 it seemed like a lot more. All the pics from this post down to the first cemetery shots were with my F100. I know Rick Lee says "it's not about the camera", but I think the camera did a pretty good job. I missed my dslr stuff a little, but we were so busy it would've been a hassle to carry it around all the time.

beaufotbrunswick 7-2008

This is How I Like Beaches...

...not crowded!! The top picture is Hunting Island near Beaufort, SC and the other is Jekyll Island near Brunswick, GA. My wife's Dad lives just a few minutes from Hunting Island and about 2 hrs. from more family in Brunswick.

Jekyll Island

We had a rough day at the beach on Jekyll Island Thursday, fightin' the crowds and everything. The ice cream on the way home made it all better though.

Storm at the Sands

My daughter and I were waiting out a storm at the "Sands". The "Sands" is a public beach area right across the sound from Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot. We go there to look for shark teeth and watch the dolphins. We found 3 shark teeth in about 5 minutes, right before the storm rolled in. We also saw the most dolphins we've ever seen at one time, there were at least 15 jumping and playing in the water. I don't have any pictures of them, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Knees

Our knees took a beating while we were down south this time. My daughter skinned hers while she was boogie boardin' at Jekyll Island. I ended up with 4 stitches in mine from cutting it on an oyster shell while we were swimming at Brickyard Point on Lady's Island.

Brunswick Cemetery 2

A few more from the cemetery in Brunswick, GA. I love walking around in old cemeteries.

Gas Prices

Here are some gas prices I saw today on the way home from Beaufort, SC. The "cheap" gas was in Rock Hill, SC and the expensive gas was in WV. They were about 200 miles and 3.5 hrs. apart on I-77.

Fresh Figs

My father-in-law has a fig tree right outside his patio door. Man, those babies are good!

Brunswick Cemetery

An interesting tombstone (to me anyway) in a Brunswick, GA cemetery.

South Lawn of the White House

I was sitting on a wall near the old executive office building waiting for the girls to buy some souvenirs. While I was sitting there a uniformed Secret Service officer came by and told me that the south lawn of the White House was open for tours, so we went. It was pretty cool gettin' to be that close to the White House.

Library of Congress

We didn't get to see what's on page 47.

Triple Custom

Butterfly Weed

Random DC Pics

Here are some photos from our DC trip. All were taken with my Fuji f100fd.

Random DC 7-08

My Fuji F100

Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

The girls and I split up on Sunday, so I went to the Holocaust Museum that afternoon. The last couple of times we've been up there I've thought about going but never got to. It is definitely something you have to go see. I only got to see the Permanent Exhibit "The Holocaust" because I got there late in the afternoon. Before you get on the elevator that takes you to the exhibit you pick up an ID card. That card tells the story of a real person who lived during the Holocaust. My card was for Jakob Frenkiel. We've been to DC several times and we've seen a lot of museums, but the thing I noticed about this one was how quiet it was. All you could hear were the sounds of peoples footsteps. The part of the exhibit that sticks with me most is when I walked into a large room that was filled with thousands and thousands of shoes confiscated from prisoners and the old, musty smell that came from them. The next time we go to DC I'm going to make sure to go through the rest of the museum. I've been reading some of the Holocaust Encyclopedia available on their web site and have learned a lot. There was no photography allowed in the exhibit, but I got this shot outside. I can't help but wonder if they are survivors.

One Through the Window

Traveling I-81 South.

I'm movin' to Virginia

They're givin' gas away!!!

Engine Co. 20 DCFD

I walked by DCFD's Engine 20 today on my way to the Washington National Cathedral. The station is located in the Tenleytown / Friendship Heights section of DC.

Washington Monument and WWII Memorial

Today was our second day in DC. We walked over 10 miles, but had a great time. We've been in the Washington Monument before, but we had some family that haven't been before so we went again. It's always cool to go inside the monument. I just wish they'd let you walk up instead of riding the elevator. We also cooled our feet in the fountain at the WWII memorial. That felt good!

Sideling Hill Rest Area

Caught in a Storm

We went for a hike at Kanawha State Forest today and got caught in the severe thunderstorm that passed through around 5 pm. We rode the storm out under some rocks on Polly Trail. We had a good time waiting and we didn't get a bit wet. We hiked Polly, Wildcat Ridge and Beech Glen trails. I took the pictures with my Fuji f100. All but one were either 800 or 400 iso. This is the second day in a row that we've been caught by a bad storm. Yesterday we were on a canoe trip on the Coal River when that storm came through (we got soaked).

My Fuji F20 Croaked

These are some photos taken last summer with my faithful Fuji f20 point & shoot. It was a great little camera and will be missed very much. :-( My daughter had recently taken it over and had made some great photos with it. She took her prize winning photo "After the Game" with it.

Hunting Island, SC

Tedious

Man, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to create this photo.

My Tomatos are Gettin' Ripe

Back to the Greenhouse