Monday, November 23, 2009

Faces of the Confederacy, part 3

Another installment from the March to Destiny celebration in Shippensburg this past summer. March to Destiny is based on Shippensburg's involvement in the Battle of Gettysburg in late June 1863 as the Confederates marched through town looted and camped on their way south over the South Mountain and into Gettysburg.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Granite Mockingbird


Another bird from Gettysburg. Found this Mockingbird sitting atop one of the many monuments along Confederate Avenue.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Downy Woodpecker



I've post Downy Woodpeckers before but I got some good pictures of this one so you get Downy Woodpeckers again. I found the guy (male; notice red splotch on head) over on the battlefield in Gettysburg. I think I was somewhere over near the Eisenhower Farm.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Capitol and the County


These are just two of a few old style movie houses I've shot recently. Don't know what it is that grabs my attention. Is it the old neon? Is it the rat pack cool art deco? Could be. I remember as a kid going to the College Cinema in town. Saw Rocky, Superman, Animal House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and many many other movies there as a youngster. Or the Angelica in Coaldale, saw King Kong '76 there and Grease more than once. It was always a fun time. These two have a bit in common, they were both cleaned up and restored in the 1990's. Maybe someone remembers some of the classics they saw there. The Capitol was built on South Main Street in Chambersburg in 1926 and the County was built in 1938 on East State Street in Doylestown, Pa.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Battlefield SkyWatch Sunrise


Well, like I said, I may not have seen many deer on my excursion to Gettysburg Battlefield last Sunday but I did get to see one spectacular sunrise. The lines and shades of orange were awesome. As I drove into and through the town of Gettysburg and turned out Steinwehr Avenue towards Emmitsburg I noticed the fog laying in the low areas outside of town. Yes, I stopped on the road and snapped these from the truck window. I wish I would have investigated which monuments these were but I didn't. I know the top picture shows the New York Excelsior Brigade on the left and the 73rd Regiment of the New York City Volunteer Fire Department Monument (which was part of the Excelsior Brigade) on the right side. The bottom picture shows the Pennsylvania State Monument on the right and I believe the Vermont State Monument on the left.
As always this is the sky where I am, Click on the icon on the right side over there to see the sky around the world.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Hotel Plaza Coffee Shoppe (PG 126)



I would suspect that long before this was the Hong Kong Buffet that it truly was a pillar of Pottsville society where the elite and the working class would stop by for morning coffee and Sunday brunch. Sitting on the corner of East Norwegian Street and Progress Avenue it was a short walk from the courthouse or the brewery and not too far out of the way for the coal crackers coming to town from the mines. I'm sure none of them, all those years ago, figured that the old Hotel Plaza Coffee Shoppe would be the place to go for pork lo mein or some steam table General Tso's chicken.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Egg Rock Light Station




This is the Egg Rock Light located at the entrance to Frenchman's Bay near Winter Harbor, Maine. (Bar Harbor). Built in 1875 and later became automated in 1976 it is actively maintained by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A red flashing light every five seconds and 2 fog horn blasts every 30 seconds. The 40 foot tower puts the light 64 feet off the ocean surface. Most of these pictures were taken in or around the Schooner Head overlook area.