The conditions finally aligned so that I was able to capture a bit of color here in NC. Nothing that will win any prizes, but it works for me!
Technically I didn’t see the aurora, but my camera did…. 😉
My First Aurora!
Tag Archives: North Carolina
More Fortunate Than Many
Kathy and I were in Asheville, NC last Wednesday, just prior to Hurricane Helene. We knew the storm was approaching, but of course at that time no one knew how severe it was likely to be. Those of us in central and western NC usually take comfort in our distance from the coast, which usually is sufficient to soften any blow.
Our first clue that trouble was brewing was on Thursday morning, when we drove to the Biltmore Estate for a previously scheduled tour with friends. The main entrance to the estate was closed due to flooding along the Approach Road, so they routed us in through a back entrance. Little did we know at that point that the French Broad River, which runs next to Biltmore, had already started to flood.
At 1:00 they announced that the estate would be closing and evacuated. And the storm hadn’t even come ashore in Florida yet! We went back to our motel to decide what to do. We were with friends who were traveling to Florida and had plans to meet my brother and sister in law in Waynesville that weekend, so we decided to stick it out. How bad could it be, right?
Now we know how bad.
Power went out about 4am as the brunt of the storm passed through. By Friday morning the damage was just starting to become apparent. Our friends left to head on to Florida, and Kathy and I headed to Waynesville. We made it, but just barely. What a mess.
In Waynesville, power had just come back on in town but there was no cell phone service, no cable and no internet. Businesses that were open were on a cash only basis, but all the ATMs were down because there was no network.
We stuck it out until Sunday, when it was clear that we could make it out safely. We headed toward Charlotte, figuring that we could at least get back home, although what we really wanted to do was to complete the rest of the trip by visiting Bourbon Country in Kentucky with my brother and sister in law. The map looks a little silly, but we made it and are now safely in Kentucky.
Needless to say we know that we are very fortunate and are counting our blessings. Many were not so fortunate.
More Plain Plane Stuff
Charlotte Douglas International Airport has for years had an Airport Overlook, and like the aviation museum it was closed and then relocated to accommodate expansion of the airport. The old overlook was a gravel parking lot, with a few benches and a port-a-potty or two (sometimes). The view of the airport was good and it was located close to the center runway.
The newly opened Airport Overlook is a wonderful spot. The views aren’t quite so good currently, but a new runway (to be called 1/19C since you can’t have two 18/36Cs!) is being built that will be about as close to the new overlook as the old one was to the center runway.
Besides a large paved parking lot, there is a huge children’s playground, picnic tables and park benches, an F-4 Phantom on display and (not yet open) real restrooms!
Kathy & I visited this past Saturday with our son and grandson. It was a humid morning, with a bit of fog hanging around, and I had fun photographing the planes taking off and creating condensation clouds around their wings as they passed through the moist air.
Tribute To A Miracle
The former Carolinas Historical Aviation Museum, located on the grounds of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, closed several years ago to make way for a runway expansion. It recently reopened as the rebranded ‘Sullenberger Aviation Museum.’
Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III is the pilot credited with saving the lives of all passengers and crew aboard US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ditched the plane, landing on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. This event has been known as “The Miracle on the Hudson.“
Flight 1549 had just departed LaGuardia airport in New York City bound for Charlotte when the accident occurred. Since the plane was bound for Charlotte, a number of passengers were from Charlotte, including a number of high level officers of several area companies. Their influence allowed for the creation of the new organization and a campaign to have the salvaged aircraft brought to Charlotte as the centerpiece of the new museum.
Kathy & I visited the Sullenberger Aviation Museum shortly after it opened in early June along with our son and grandson. It is a very nicely done tribute to Flight 1549 as well as a showcase for the aircraft housed in the previous museum. In addition to the aircraft from Flight 1549, there are a number of military, corporate and civilian aircraft on display, as well as a number of hands-on spaces for kids both small and large. We enjoyed our time there and look forward to returning.
For The Birds
Posting this for Ken, who liked the bird in my last post. I think I got the right one, the right way. 😉
Trying Something
I just purchased a new tablet and am hoping to use it for some of our upcoming travel in lieu of a laptop. Of course that means figuring out how to get photos from my camera to the tablet, then getting them from my tablet to my blog. I’ve used Fuji’s mobile app before but it sucks, so my best choice is to use a card reader, which I had never tried on a tablet.
Earlier this week we visited Greensboro, NC with our son and grandson, visiting the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum. I took a few photos there and along the way. 😉
Since I don’t want to confuse my workflow too much, I want to be able to selectively choose photos from my memory card and only import the ones I want into Lightroom Mobile. That process worked great. One weird thing is that when I plugged the card and card reader in, my tablet set up a folder scheme as though it was going to back up files to my tablet. I’d rather not have it do that but haven’t figured out how to turn it off!
For fun I imported a few files on to my tablet, processed them on my tablet and let them upload to the cloud. I cheated a bit by outputting them from my computer, and my next step will be to refine the tablet outputting in order to do it from there. I’ve done that before and it’s not a big deal.
So far so good. 🙂
Branching Out
Kathy & I visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC recently. I carried a camera with me in case I came across anything interesting. This was a bit of a “happy accident” as I photographed the hood ornament on an old truck repurposed as an ice cream shop. Sadly the ice cream shop was not in operation at the time…. 😉
Almost Forgot: ‘Italian Renaissance Alive’ At Biltmore
I was going back through my photos from Biltmore on this rainy afternoon, and realized that I had not written about and shared photos of our visit to the Italian Renaissance Alive exhibit at Biltmore.
Several years ago, Biltmore contracted with a company called Grande Experiences for a series of “immersive, multi-sensory experiences” in one of Biltmore’s conference centers. The company has been doing these shows nationwide. Charlotte recently had a Van Gogh Alive exhibit, and Biltmore had previously hosted (if memory serves) Monet & Friends and Leonardo Da Vinci Collection – which we attended in October – and this one titled Italian Renaissance Alive.
The exhibitions are nicely done, with an introductory series of rooms showing physical reproductions of many of the works featured in the show. The Da Vinci exhibit included scale models of several of Da Vinci’s inventions as well as prints of many of his famous works. This introduction leads the viewer to a large room, where there are lots of screens, playing a continuous loop of images, accompanied by appropriately dramatic music.
My biggest issue with the show was that there was a lot of animation, from the relatively tame “Ken Burns Effect” of panning on a portion of an image, to actual animation of some of the artworks themselves. Imagine “The Creation of Adam” from the Sistine Chapel, with the figures of Adam and God floating toward each other in space, or moving limbs or the eyes of one or more of the subjects blinking. That was a bit unsettling, coupled with the fact that very few of the paintings were shown in their entirety, or if they were, for only a few seconds. For me that made it more about the entertainment factor than the art, but I guess that is today’s world.
Both of the shows were interesting, and for many people probably the closest they will ever get to famous art so close to home. Not to boast, but for me it was a bit of a letdown compared to having seen many of the original works in person. Still, something interesting to do for a couple of hours!
Spring Splendor At Biltmore
Last week, Kathy & I ventured to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville to take in the spring flowers in the gardens, check out the Renaissance Alive art presentation, and of course to eat and to buy wine. 😉
Biltmore is an easy 2 hour drive from Charlotte, suitable for a day trip but also a nice way for an easy overnight. We had reward points that allowed us to stay for free at a motel in nearby Biltmore Village, so we had the better part of two days. As Annual Passholders we didn’t have to pay extra for the visits, which can otherwise be a little pricey.
Even without visiting Biltmore House itself, the grounds and gardens are such a nice place to spend a day or part of the day. The gardens are extensive, and the Conservatory itself is larger than most homes. We concentrated mostly on the outside gardens, although as we were getting ready to leave, the sounds of a hammered dulcimer drew us inside for a listen.
Merry Christmas!
An oldie but goodie from the archives. Belhaven, NC 2010.