Category Archives: Travel

Making The Best Of It

January 16, 2022 Tom Dills 4 Comments

Frog fountain. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida

So what do you do when you’re in Florida for a cruise and the cruise is cancelled? Well, for Kathy & me, we find something else to do! We had already been planning to visit our friends Bill & Cathy, who spend the winter in a community near Lake Wales. Our original plans called for us to visit them after our cruise, so we called them and said, “guess what?” They were somewhat relieved that we would not be coming to visit them after having spent a week on a Covid-infested cruise ship, even though we had planned to take a test after getting off the ship.

Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida

We were able to shift our motel reservation to a week earlier than our original plan, then take a few days there to decide what to do with our newfound time (and money). Since the cruise line cancelled the cruise, they are going to refund all of our money PLUS give us the equivalent amount in credit toward a future cruise. A deal for us – we get a few days in Florida and still get a free cruise in the future! Some strings are attached, of course, but nothing we can’t deal with.

Photo spot. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida

We decided to play tourist in Lake Wales while we were there. We visited the Bok Tower Gardens, a relatively famous landmark that we had heard about but never visited. We stopped by the Florida’s Natural Visitor Center and learned about the history of Florida Orange Juice. Who knew?

Door detail. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida

The Singing Tower. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida

So what to do? We looked at the weather forecast and decided that it was just going to be too cool to head to a beach resort somewhere. Yes, the temperatures were forecasted to be in the upper 60s to low 70s, which is warm if you are coming from Minnesota or Canada, but for us thin-blooded North Cackalackians it just wasn’t warm enough! We settled on a few days in St. Petersburg, another town we had heard about but never visited.

The Dalí (Salvador Dalí Museum). St. Petersburg, Florida

Over the course of three days in St. Petersburg, we visited the Salvador Dali’ museum, the Chihuly Glass Collection at the Morean Arts Center, and generally wandered around town exploring.

Glass works by Dale Chihuly at The Chihuly Collection at the Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, Florida

Glass blowing demonstration at the Morean Glass Studio, part of the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida

On our way home we stopped by Ocala and visited the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, and were even treated to a “Big Daddy” sighting!

Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida

We’re home now and watching an assortment of winter weather passing through the area. Yes, it might be warmer if we had stayed in Florida, but it is nice to be home in our house any time. We’re well stocked and shouldn’t have to leave the house for a few days. So it can snow/sleet/freezing rain all it wants – the sun will probably be back out tomorrow then it can be almost spring!

Skyline from the Teak Restaurant on the pier in St. Petersburg, Florida

Travel

An Unexpected Turn

January 14, 2022 Tom Dills 4 Comments

The Helical Staircase in The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida

Kathy & I were halfway to Tampa, FL last Friday, and in fact had just crossed the Florida state line, when we got a message that our cruise, which was scheduled to depart the following day, had been cancelled. Well, dang it!

All was not lost, of course. We rearranged some plans, made some new plans, and salvaged a few days of sunshine. We returned home this afternoon just in time to hunker down for a winter storm. But we figure better here in our own house than somewhere else!

I’ve got stories to tell, but it’s late and cocktail hour is underway. More to come as I develop my film!

Travel

Cars On Cruise Ships

December 23, 2021 Tom Dills 6 Comments

Jaguar XK120 in the Royal Promenade of Harmony of the Seas

Many of the larger Royal Caribbean ships have an inside area known as the ‘Royal Promenade.’ It’s actually an indoor space lined with shops, restaurants and bars. Often there is a British pub, and to go with that theme there is usually a sports car parked somewhere along the way. Such was the case on Harmony of the Seas.

If my research is correct, this is either a 1954-ish Jaguar XK-120 or a really nice replica. In the “correct” color, too! It seemed to be missing some key components, such as door handles and a license plate holder, and I couldn’t tell if there was a motor in it or not. And of course the cockpit was filled with Christmas presents so I couldn’t check out the interior! It may be a replica but was still a pretty sweet car. You could keep all those boxes and give me the car, and that would make for a pretty nice Christmas gift!

Travel

Out Of This World: Kennedy Space Center

December 22, 2021 Tom Dills

United States Astronaut Hall of Fame and Heroes and Legends Exhibit Hall at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida

It had probably been 30 or so years since we last visited Kennedy Space Center, and wow have things changed there. Whenever it was, the shuttles were still flying and the visitor center consisted of just a few buildings with basic exhibits and some people in space suits walking around.

Since then, the facilities have been expanded greatly. KSC has gotten their own space shuttle – Atlantis – housed in an amazing building complete with a shuttle launch simulator, replica of the Hubble telescope and play area for kids. It’s a real multimedia attraction and very popular. After watching an introductory video on a nearly 360 degree screen, the screen opens to “reveal” Atlantis in her in-orbit configuration, complete with open cargo bay doors and robotic arm extended.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida

Hubble Space Telescope replica at the Atlantis Exhibit at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida

For me the highlight, other than Atlantis, was the Apollo/Saturn V Center, dedicated to the race to the moon in the 70s. The Apollo era was the height of my space geekness, having been a little young for the Mercury era, interested and impressed by the Gemini period then fully engrossed during the Apollo era. For some reason I don’t remember much about Apollo 13 but do remember the Christmas greetings from Apollo 8 and staying up all night to watch Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. And the Apollo/Saturn V Center captures that history in all its glory.

Saturn V Rocket at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida

Apollo 8 Firing Room at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida

Apollo 14 capsule on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida

Getting to the Apollo/Saturn V Center requires a bus ride with reservations required but not available to make until you are on site. We arrived early enough to get an early time, spent several hours there including lunch, then returned to the main part of the center to visit Atlantis and the Heroes and Legends exhibit which includes the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The bus ride goes past the humongus Vehicle Assembly Building, where the Saturn V rockets and the space shuttles were assembled and which is still used today.

Friendship 7 (John Glenn) control room at Heroes and Legends Exhibit Hall at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida

We spent the better part of the day at the space center and barely had time to see everything. In fact, we didn’t get to the IMAX movie or several of the smaller exhibits. They recommend two days for a visit, which may be a bit much for most, but I could see it. It is definitely worth the time for anyone passing through the area.

After the space center it was on to Port Canaveral for a night before our cruise!

I’ve added a gallery of more photos from Kennedy Space Center on my Adobe Portfolio website.

Travel

Back At Sea!

December 20, 2021 Tom Dills

Sky Princess departing Cozumel, Mexico at sunset

Kathy & I spent last week on our first cruise in nearly 2 years, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. It felt good to get back on the water and we had a great time.

There has been a lot of sensationalistic reporting in the media about cruising, with much hype around the occasional rare but real report of some kind of outbreak. Covid is only the latest hand-wringer. I’ve said for years that cruise ships have been among the cleanest places we’ve visited. They have always been very vigilant about cleaning in an effort to reduce the spread of all kinds of passenger-borne bugs. A report of an outbreak of any kind is fresh meat for a media looking for anything to wring their hands over. Yes, it happens. But relax. It was fun. Yes, we had to take a Covid test before we left home. Yes, we had to wear a mask on occasion. But we have to do that at home anyway, and it was a lot warmer in Cozumel than it is back here in NC!

We paid a visit to Kennedy Space Center before the cruise. I took a few photos and will have more to share over the next few days.

Gridwork on the canopy of the Solarium area of Harmony of the Seas

Travel

A Great Place To Base: Boothbay Harbor, Maine

November 22, 2021 Tom Dills 4 Comments

When Kathy & I were planning our journey through New England, we knew we would want to spend plenty of time in Maine, and most of it along the coast. But we were pretty sure we didn’t want to spend all of our time in Acadia.

Evening on the Boothbay Harbor Footbridge in Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Boothbay Harbor is the current home of photographer Bob Krist and his wife Peggy. Bob frequently writes and posts photos about Boothbay and the surrounding area on Facebook and Instagram, and his descriptions of the people and places caused us to look seriously at staying there. One of his posts shared a promotional video he made for Capt. Fish, a cruise operator in Boothbay. Another profiled a long-time boat builder, another a painter. It looked like the kind of place – people, pace and atmosphere – that we enjoy visiting.

I corresponded with Bob several times before our visit, and while he was off on assignment during the time we were there, he made a number of recommendations of places to go and even places to stay. He actually suggested that we stay somewhere more centrally located than Boothbay, but his suggestion was based on the assumption that I was there to photograph all of the “iconic” landmarks such as the lighthouses and coastline. But Kathy & I enjoy the charm and character of small towns, and the more we looked and researched, the more we thought that Boothbay Harbor would be a good place to spend a few days.

As an added bonus, we arranged to meet up with our friends Joe and Katherine in Boothbay. Joe & I spent a little time photographing, and we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at Harborside 1901, a local restaurant. It was an excellent meal, so good that we went back a second time!

One of the notable features of the harbor in Boothbay is the wooden pedestrian bridge that connects the “downtown” with the quieter side of the water, which is where we stayed, at the Boothbay Harbor Inn. The bridge is strung with lights that illuminate the way at night, and it made for a nice scene.

Boothbay Harbor turned out to be a good place to call home for a few days. We had a nice stay at the Boothbay Harbor Inn, with a waterfront room that allowed us to enjoy the harbor, located close enough to everything that we could walk to breakfast and dinner. One morning we got to see a lobsterman servicing his traps that were scattered around the bay. We took a coastal tour on Capt. Fish’s “Pink Lady” and it was a delightful way to see some lighthouses and coastal spots you wouldn’t otherwise see. We drove to a few other lighthouses, visited a few small towns and even happened upon a photo shoot for LL Bean that was happening near the Marshall Point Lighthouse. They have more assistants that either Bob or I do! The model we saw is one that we have since seen in catalogs and on the website!

Sailing between Boothbay Harbor and Ram Island on a coastal cruise with Capt. Fish out of Boothbay Harbor

It was nice to enjoy the quieter pace of that part of the Maine coast before heading off to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. It was just a bit busier there! I’m working on those photos now and hope to have some posted later this week.

Waterfront dining in Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Kenneth E. Stoddard Shell Museum in Boothbay, Maine

It’s a keepah! Lobsterman hauling up lobster traps in the harbor of Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Marshall Point Lighthouse near Saint George, Maine

LL Bean Catalog photo shoot at the Marshall Point Lighthouse near Saint George, Maine

Travel

A Rockport Icon: Motif #1

November 3, 2021 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Night time in Rockport Harbor in Rockport, Massachusetts. Pardon the noise – ISO 12,800!

To the casual observer, and likely to most tourists, the quaint, red-sided fishing shack with lobster buoys along the side is just another – albeit very nice – old fishing shack. It’s identity goes a bit deeper than that, however. According to Wikipedia:

“Motif Number 1, located on Bradley Wharf in the harbor town of Rockport, Massachusetts, is a replica of a former fishing shack well known to students of art and art history as “the most often-painted building in America.” The original structure was built in 1840 and destroyed in the Blizzard of 1978, but an exact replica was constructed that same year.

Built in the 1840s as Rockport was becoming home to a colony of artists and settlement of fishermen, the shack became a favorite subject of painters due to the composition and lighting of its location as well as being a symbol of New England maritime life. Painter Lester Hornby (1882–1956) is believed to be the first to call the shack “Motif Number 1,” a reference to its being the favorite subject of the town’s painters, and the name achieved general acceptance.

In the 1930s, painter John Buckley used the shack as his studio. He sold it to the town in 1945, dedicated “In 1945, the town of Rockport purchased the Motif as a monument to Rockporters who had served in the Armed Services.” The town, recognizing its iconic value, has taken pains to preserve both its structure and appearance, finding a red paint which appears weather-beaten even when new, and keeping the area clear of overhead wires, traffic signs and advertising.”

Motif #1 at Rockport Harbor, Rockport, Massachusetts

For me, Motif #1 was a primary reason for deciding to visit Rockport. Going out early in the morning virtually assured no tourist traffic, and if another photographer happened to be wandering around, we likely wouldn’t be in each others’ way. Over the course of several mornings and evenings the only people I saw were the few fisherman that were up and about even earlier than me.

I don’t think I came up with anything special or unusual in my compositions, but just like photos of the gondolas in Venice or the famous views of the Taj Mahal or Machu Picchu, if you’re there it’s just something you have to do. And I’m very glad I did!

Morning light in Rockport Harbor, Rockport, Massachusetts

Rockport Harbor in Rockport, Massachusetts

Travel

Scranton, Pennsylvania

October 25, 2021 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

After Staunton, VA we spent a night in Scranton, PA. We stayed at a Radisson hotel in the former Lackawanna railroad station in downtown, and the following morning visited Steamtown National Historical Site before heading off to Rhode Island.

From Wikipedia:

Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located in downtown Scranton, PA at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities. The roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. site.

The Electric City Sign in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania

This is but a small sample of the photos I took there, and as usual mostly just scratch the surface of the place. A real railroad fan could spend days there!

Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Union Pacific #4012 is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. The Big Boys were among the largest and most powerful steam locomotives in the world, capable of speeds up to 80 mph. Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania

I’ve posted a New England Part I gallery on Adobe Portfolio for anyone wanting to see more of my snapshots. The photos in that gallery take us through Rhode Island, which I’ll cover in a future post.

Central Railroad Of New Jersey Freight Terminal in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Building appears to be abanonded and is for sale.

Travel

Meeting Friends Along The Way

October 20, 2021 Tom Dills 4 Comments

Joe Smith photographing on the Boothbay Harbor Footbridge in Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Over the years we have managed to create a nice group of “photo friends” here in the Land of Blog. As Kathy & I travel, we like to make a point of seeking out our photo friends whenever we are nearby. Interestingly, it seems that the friends we do meet are often the ones farther away. For example, Faye lives near Charlotte after a having lived in Atlanta, but we have never met. We saw Earl numerous times when he lived more than an hour away, but since he moved closer to us we haven’t seen him. We have visited Monte in Colorado a number of times. Although Jeff lives in Wisconsin and Michigan and we have visited him there, we met for the first time in Italy!

When we planned our trip to New England, I knew that we would be “in the neighborhood” of several of our friends and worked to set up some meetings. Paul and Ken, both in the Rochester area of New York, and recent Maine transplant Joe were on the radar.

Kathy, Me, Michele Bello, Paul Maxim and Ken Bello at Jines Restaurant in Rochester, New York

Joe and his partner Katherine were up for meeting for lunch at a lobster shack on the Maine coast before spending time in Boothbay Harbor. He and I spent a little time photographing in Boothbay before we parted company. We managed to meet up with Ken, his wife Michele and Paul for lunch while we were in Rochester visiting the Eastman Museum.

Photographers being photographers, Joe and I never thought to get a photo of us together, although we each managed to get photos of each other so there is photographic evidence – albeit circumstantial – of us being in the same place! We asked our waitress in Rochester to take our picture, but when I looked at the camera she had never pushed the shutter button! Fortunately we corralled a waiter who was also a photographer, so he did manage to shoot a few photos, although the lighting could have been better.

Paul Maxim, Me and Ken Bello at Jines Restaurant in Rochester, New York

It’s always nice to put faces and personalities with names and websites. We hope to do some more as we continue to travel!

Travel

We Got Cameras: The Camera Heritage Museum

October 15, 2021 Tom Dills 8 Comments

The Camera Heritage Museum in downtown Staunton, Virginia

If you have any interest in cameras and find yourself in central Virginia, the Camera Heritage Museum in Staunton (pronounced STAN-ton) is a must-see. Located in a former camera store, this place is crazy full of cameras of all kinds, and the stuff in the showroom is only part of the collection. According to the guy we talked to (mostly he talked to us!) they have store rooms throughout the city with more cameras. They just don’t have room to display them all. They claim to be the largest camera store open to the public in the US, and although I have nothing to compare it to and even after visiting the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, I believe it!