A Walk in the North Woods

With prior commitments Friday night, Saturday morning and Monday morning my weekend getaway had it's limitations. A long drive, a relaxing evening by the campfire, a restful sleep and I was well on my way. Late this morning we took a walk and we kept going. Just to the top of this ridge, out so we could look into the meadow, "I'll bet that trail goes somewhere." (famous last words). "Hey, there a cabin... and another one" "Lets ask these guys where we are at." Their response, "Are you lost?" Lost is such a harsh word, just because you don't know where you are at doesn't mean you are lost, besides maybe lost is where we were headed. "Down the road that way is the main road... maybe 2 miles." All in all it was a good weekend and a good walkabout. Probably 5 miles in all and we now know where that trail goes. Not much wildlife on the way but those stories are for another time. Where was I? Ask me tomorrow.

Festival Ahead

This is the last Saturday in August. That must mean it's Corn Festival day, Woo Hoo. I was up at 5 and parking cars by 5:30 and the lot was full by 8. Not a bad day. Now it's time to get out of town. The Corn Festival is celebrated in Shippensburg every year, closing down King Street from Fayette to Prince. Depending on the weather there could be upwards towards 30,000 people, or more, shopping for crafts and food. And to head off (or start off) the discussions about food I only sampled an egg roll and a chicken gyro, both very good. Last year I did the the pulled pork and lets just say I'm planning a late lunch so I didn't repeat that this year.

This is my final Saturday Post Live, I said I would do it through the summer. But there will be plenty of others 'live' post. Now it's off to clear out the cobwebs so check back tomorrow night. And in the name of full disclosure these pictures are from 2006. The brain doesn't start working until closer to 6 AM, I left the camera at home.

Pride

Day two of being uninspired. I can fell the weekend coming on... tick... tick... tick.

This is the side of the Vigilant Hose Company of Shippensburg's Tanker 52.

No Title

Sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day. This past week it seems that I've had no time to take pictures for the blog and no time for anything else. School starts soon so maybe then. This weekend could involve some miscellaneous picture taking and general nothingness. I'm looking forwards to that.

This is the building that sits just west of the Shippensburg Public Library.

St. Thomas & the Lincoln Highway (PG LXXII)

As promised this week is tobacco free. Traveling the Lincoln Highway, US Route 30, is to the northeast that Route 66 is to the southwest. Along the way you find treasures of the past. This mural celebrating the famed Highway is at a fruit stand on the outskirts of St. Thomas, Pa. St. Thomas sits just west of Chambersburg and among other things is home to Baseball Hall of Famer Nellie Fox.

This is my second Lincoln Highway Mural (PG 17) and my third Lincoln Highway post (PG 33).

The Landmark

Sadly the Landmark Crabhouse Restaurant is closed. It sits along Main Street in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, we used to hit this place once every summer we come down. Sit along the windows to the bay and eat some really good food. It's been closed now for a couple of years. The best was the Smithfield Crab. Crab meat mixed with Smithfield ham. The Brandt was a gift shop in the same building. Same fate.

Birds in the Glasshouse

These birds live in the Lush Rainforest of Costa Rica Glasshouse at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. As near as I can tell the blue guy is a male Red Legged Honeycreeper, aka Blue Honeycreeper. And from what I've read on the CBG website the green bird is the female version of the same bird. I like how her wings look transparent in the last picture.

Surprise

We got this flower back in late Spring. We weren't sure what it was and to say the anticipation has been breathtaking would be a lie. Actually we had given up on it. Then we noticed last week it budded (is budded even a word?). Then twice in the past three days it bloomed. Don't know what it is but is it cool or what?

Scrimmage

Well, as for my Saturday Post Live, the first picture was taken this morning while I was out and about taking some more senior pictures, they were watering the football field. The home regular season opener isn't for another two weeks but last night was one more step towards the new season. A scrimmage. As the sun set and the temperature dipped it sure felt like football season. And the sunset... Wow... It must be that time of year, we've seen quite a few of these beauties this past week.

The Air Force Academy Chapel

The Chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is a site to behold. Designed to look like fighter jet shooting up into the sky it has 5 different areas for worship, one each for Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism and two separate rooms for All-Faith services. The interior is just as breath taking with 99' ceilings and a pipe organ with 4,334 pipes. (the bottom picture was taken handheld with the old Kodak point and shoot digital). The building and parts of the campus are open most days to the public. The day we were there the incoming freshman were there beginning their basic military training prior to the start of the academic year.

Sunset at the Mall

Leaving the mall this evening I was greeted by this awesome sunset. It reminded me so much of the northern lights. The Aurora Borealis was actually visible from South Central PA back maybe 10 years ago. I also saw it once while working an overnight while I was stationed in Utah. Both of those times there were lots of greens and purples. Tonight's sunset stuck to the traditional reds and oranges.

Mail Pouch Along 655 (PG LXXI)

Mail Pouch this week folks. This one is along Route 655, 2.7 miles south of the Lincoln Highway, Route 30, on the outskirts of a little town called Harrisonville, in Fulton County, PA. The curve and drop in this road makes my picture look crooked. Next week, I promise, will be tobacco free.

Fairport Harbor Lighthouse

This is the old Fairport Harbor light on Lake Erie in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. I posted the newer West Breakwater Light a couple of weeks ago. This picture was taken from the west breakwater near the newer light. The first light was established here at the mouth of the Grand River in 1825, this light was built in 1870-1871 at the same site as the original light that had deteriorated into a "hazardous condition." It's 60' tower gave it visibility for 18 miles. This light was deactivated in 1925. The lighthouse sat in disrepair for the next twenty years when the town rallied, founding the Fairport Harbor Historical Society, whose mission was to preserve and celebrate the town’s nautical heritage. And in 1945 it was reopened as the country’s first lighthouse marine museum.

Reading all of this since I returned from vacation I wish I would have taken the time to get a closer look. Check out the Lighthouse Friends.

Ominus

These kind of look like popcorn, don't they? We did get some distant thunder, the flash of lightning and a little rain out of these last week.

The Clothes Line

This evening was a lot more interesting than yesterday. Maybe I should be doing Sunday Post Live. While at my parents house this evening and while the kids were playing I watched these finches coming into the thistle feeder. I got my camera from the truck and snapped a few pictures. Since the sun was directly away from me, and setting, I tried to maneuver to the other side of the feeder. Nothing here to hide behind. After a long wait I left it alone. Not too much later they returned and a second attempt failed to keep them hanging around. Oh well, it's time to go anyway.

Busy Doing Nothing

Today was the day I knew would come when I started Saturday Post Live. I mowed the grass today. I whacked the weeds today. I painted some crates today. I went to Wally World. The End. Top that.

Cleveland FD Station 13 (OSFD #17)

I ran across this Old School Fire Department in Cleveland, Ohio. It was across the street from my Honest Scrap Tobacco building on Broadway. One look and I new by the layout that this was an old station house. Turns out in was built in 1877 and had the facade changed (what a shame) at some point and eventually was abandoned in 1981 when Station 13 moved to a new station across Broadway. Check out the old station here.

Busted 2

Not much to say today. I'm just not feeling it. You know, sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.

Day & Night Tobacco (PG LXX)

From the corner of Seymour and Beaver Streets in Lancaster, PA comes this week's edition of Painted Gentleman. Number 70 if you're counting. This is a first and only for me, Day & Night Tobacco. Google worked for me this time and I found an ad for Day & Night Chewing and Smoking Tobacco, by the Mack Tobacco Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. The ad was from 1897. You can faintly make out the word "Grocery" at the bottom left of the building, apparently this store must have been a corner grocery way back when.

Fireworks at the Yard

These are my firework pictures from Friday night's Orioles Game. These were handheld so please excuse the little bit of camera shake. Most were taken with just a 1 second exposure. We sat in left field down at field level and they shot these off from the grass plot next to the bullpens. What a great show. Something like that around here on the 4th would be nice. In the top picture the little white flashes were the booming noise makers. With the shape of the stadium and the warehouse my ears were still ringing when I got to my car.

HAR

The House That Rock Built

OK, it's finally time to do my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame post. We hit it early and spent a good three and a half hours wondering around. We hit most of it. there were some movies, like the Beatles Help, but that was an hour and a half we didn't commit to. Unfortunately for you viewers they do not allow cameras inside. I did get this picture of the Neil Young replica guitar. (Rust Never Sleeps, get it?) Four years ago there were these guitar all over Cleveland. There were so many great exhibits here. One of Elvis' rhinestone outfits. ZZ Top's Eliminator car and the fuzzy drum kit. Mick Jaggar had a bunch of jumpsuits, he was obviously a very skinny guy. My son would say, "Hey, what did David Bowie sing?" Well with one song in one ear another song in the other ear and I'm reading original Aerosmith lyrics I could not think of one Bowie song. There's one about a space guy and spiders from Mars. Later while walking around outside I was able to sing a few Bowie songs for him. (He asked me to stop). The heads from Pink Floyd's Division Bell and parts of the Wall and the teacher puppet were there. Original Jimi Hendrix's artwork, he was quite an artist. A purple Continental that was Elvis' and Janis Joplin's Porsche (I thought she wanted a Mercedes Benz?). And guitars, guitars and more guitars. Oh, yeah and some of Madonna's cones. If you know what I mean?

Oriole's Magic

Friday night we went to Baltimore to watch the O's whoop up on the Ranger's. This game found us sitting in the left field seats. Three home run balls found their way into our section, but nothing close. With an Oriole win they play the Oriole Magic video on the Jumbotron. They remade the song and video this year with Kevin Millar instigating the whole thing. He got Guthrie, Loewen, Jones, Sarfate and their closer Sherrill to help him out and watching the video they had fun and did a good job with it. The evening was topped off with fireworks. I got some good pics of these too, check back later for those. They shut out Texas last night but, of course, watching them today they continued to not be able to complete a sweep. With a forgettable 5th inning Texas took one today.

More People Pictures

Today, or at least part of today was spent on another high school senior picture shoot. A week or two ago and again Thursday I rode around looking for places to take these pictures. I found some interesting places. Some , of course, I would need to hit in the morning and some in the late afternoon. We were out at these seldom used train tracks late in the morning and when I got home and looked over what I had I really liked what I had taken. But. There's always a but. But with the location of the sun and the direction she was walking the entire back of her coat was in shade. Oops. We went back out later in the afternoon and reshot them. I can't decide if this is a vertical or horizontal picture. Well, I don't think it matters. This is week 9 of Saturday Post Live.

Urban Renewal

Eight. Eight. Oh-Eight.

Kilroy Was Here

Actually just about everybody but Kilroy tagged this tree. I wonder how long this tradition has been going on? I didn't get close enough to see if there were any dates. It sits along a very narrow Conodoguinet Creek on the outskirts of Roxbury, Pa.

Third Federal (PG LXIX)

The Third Federal Savings and Loan was founded in 1938 by Ben & Gerome Stefanski in Cleveland. The first office opened at 7007 Broadway (as seen advertised here). Still around today, in 2000 they became the nations largest mutual savings and loan and in 2003 had $8 billion in assets. This is the building that the lady on her smoke break told me about while I was taking pictures of the Mail Pouch building on Broadway. This building is at 6412 Fleet Street in an area called Slovak Village, just a few blocks off of Broadway and almost into Newburgh Heights.

The sign reads:

THIRD FEDERAL

SAVINGS

7007 Broadway at Forman Phone 441-3000

blah, blah, blah

blah, blah

Third Federal Savings

17 Offices to Serve You

Open Saturdays

Barnstormers

Here's one from way back. This is Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pa. Home of the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League. 2005 was the inaugural year for the Barnstormers and the kids and I went to a game here on July 31st. Chalk up a win for the home team this night they beat the Newark Bears. And every once in a while you get to check off something on your baseball to-do list, this game allowed us to witness our first bench clearing brawl.

The Atlantic League continues to grow adding a team in York, Pa. last year and one in Southern Maryland this year. Tickets are at times hard to get, which is a good thing for the franchise, and the league plays through mid-September, two weeks longer than the Minor Leagues.