Category Archives: Travels

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Bloggers: The Most Incredible Gathering of Friends!

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We’ve all said it, and many of you have as well.

WordPress Blogging has become so much more than we ever thought it would be.  What started out as travel diary, forum for writing, sharing of photography, enlightenment about art, gardening, or crafting, or keeping up with family has become a community of international friends.

Over the last several days, 8 WP bloggers from 3 countries and 2 states, have met in various locations to continue in person, the relationships that have been forged through the world of blogging.

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Laurie, Boomdee,  Pauline, Alys, and Julia in Old Town Alexandria.

We marveled that while most of us had never met each other, we talked and laughed as if we’d known each other for years.

Which, of course, we had.

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Laurie, Stacy, Boomdee, Alys, Lisa, Pauline, and Patty in Georgetown

What might have seemed unusual to friends and family (“you’re letting someone you’ve never met stay in your home?”), to us seemed natural.  No doubts.

Our days have been full of laughter, many hugs, lots of delicious food and the sharing of stories.

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Pauline, Shelley, Boomdee, Alys

We’re still in the middle of this amazing gathering of friends, but I wanted to share the joy, because of course, there are so many of you out there that I would love to meet!

Let’s get to planning.  I promise it is worth the effort!

We’ve got another couple days here in Radford before I put Boomdee, Kelly, and Pauline on the train back to DC.  Until the, we’ll fill every single moment with the joy of being together.

And now, while the others get a bit more rest, I’m off to work on the campaign for a couple hours.

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Until Tomorrow

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It was lovely to visit many of your blogs this evening, which kept me from doing much work on the photos from my recent trip to Florida.

There’s always tomorrow, right?  G’Night Ya’ll!

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Myakka River

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A wonderful weekend in Florida with friends was well worth the craziness of life upon my return.  The Myakka River, designated as a Florida Wild and Scenic River, flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks, and pinelands in the Myakka River State Park.

And while I cannot wait to share stories and photos, I’m firmly convinced it is time for a zoom lens!

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I look forward to checking out your latest posts!

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Infinity … at Keswick Hall

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Isn’t it incredible how sometimes all we need is 24 hours away from life’s routines and life’s chaos?

We drove through a snow storm to get to Keswick Hall and while there, soaked up the many comforts that we found.  Next time, we’ll make sure to enjoy the heated infinity pool.

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The steam rising off the water added a misty quality to the images,

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whether in color or in monochrome.

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Beautiful scenery in a historic building, incredible food and drink, and a wonderful friendship = 24 hours of fabulous!

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How incredibly lucky am I?

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Inside Keswick: The Pampering Continues

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When you left us last, Jan and I were enjoying a bottle of champagne and yummy chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room by the incredibly attentive and caring staff of Keswick Hall.  Restored and refreshed after our snowy ride to the resort, we set out to explore.

When I made the reservations, I did not realize that the Hall was originally a private residence.  “The seventeen-room Villa Crawford, the north wing of Keswick Hall, with it’s original fireplaces, ornate ceiling molding, and grand staircase, was built in 1912”.

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“Designed to resemble an Italian villa, the 8000 sq ft, two-story, stucco clad, slate roofed home originally cost $100,000”.

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We enjoyed a delicious dinner in Fossett’s Restaurant,

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and then wandered down to Treble, the wine cellar named after Thomas Jefferson’s use of the word:

“I have lived temperately….I double the doctor’s recommendation of a glass and a half of wine each day and even treble it with a friend.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The cellar features a glass entrance door framed with handmade wrought-iron gates and lanterns reminiscent of old-world European wine cellars that were kept– like prison cells or bank vaults– under lock and key. Two adjoining rooms offer both informal and more formal dining. You’re also surrounded by 600-700 labels, at least 5,000 bottles in all” (http://www.readthehook.com/89940/stellar-cellar-treble-it-over-keswick)

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Treble is a wine lovers paradise,

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and a photographers challenge.

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Our nightcap in the Villa Crawford Bar, the original family dining room, was happily interrupted by the engagement announcement of one of the employees.  We felt a part of the family and joined in on the celebration.

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The staff of Keswick completely pampered us and their kindness and care added so much to the experience.

How’s this for a view while eating breakfast?  Those of you who checked out Monochromia yesterday may recognize the two chairs off in the distance.

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 Here they are again from another angle.

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The weekend was coming to an end and it was almost time to begin the journey home.  In a couple days, I hope you’ll join me for one final post about Keswick.

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Keswick Hall

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The destination was Keswick Hall, a 100 year old resort just outside of Charlottesville, VA.  The purpose was a long planned reunion with a dear friend from college.  Jan has been a big part of my life through the years, and was instrumental in my recovery from the motorcycle accident.

The drive to get there?  Near whiteout conditions (cell phone image)

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I left early in the morning, hoping to beat the snow but instead spent almost 5 hours driving through it (the drive would normally take 2 1/2).  It was certainly not the deepest or the worst, but driving through any snowstorm is challenging.

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You know me though.  I am nothing if not up for an adventure, and oh, how glad I am that we didn’t reschedule this 24 hour getaway to Keswick Hall.

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“Built in 1912 as a gorgeous Italianate-style estate, the property was converted to a country club in 1948, and restored in the early 1990s as part of the world-class hotel that now graces a most beautiful piece of Virginia countryside”.

Keswick, at least for us, is one of those once in a lifetime type places to visit.

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An historic home, beautifully renovated, Keswick is a place where “guests feel as though they are visiting a grand country estate rather than a hotel”.

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Our plan was to take a tour of 4 of the 30 wineries in the Charlottesville area, but once we arrived in safety, we decided to nestle in.

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What an incredible place in which to ride out a snowstorm!

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In the next post, I’ll share some indoor images of Keswick Hall.

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Cheers to a fabulous reunion!

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Uptown Charlotte

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My visit to Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, was all too brief, yet a vigorous walk the evening that I arrived and another the next morning gave me an introduction to this city of just under 800,000.  I dropped my bag in my room, grabbed my camera, and headed towards the door of the hotel.

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It was early in February, and while the northeast was getting hammered with snow, Virginia and North Carolina were experiencing a clear 50 degree weekend.

Il Grando Disco (The Grand Disc) is a coin-shaped piece of art that sits at Bank of America Plaza on Tryon Street. The piece is a large, bronze wheel with dark edges and designs etched throughout. Created specifically for the space by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, Il Grande Disco was installed on October 2, 1974 (http://charlotte.about.com)

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Across the intersection is a far more traditional installation.

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My friend Tim pointed out that for a brief moment, the sounds of the traffic were drowned out by this fountain.

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In the previous post I shared two images of the fence that surrounds the First Presbyterian Church. Built in 1857, the church is a one-story, Gothic Revival style stuccoed brick building.  The evening light was waning by the time I got there, so I’ve processed these two images differently, although they were taken just moments apart.

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The power line remains in this photo, because it is a more accurate portrayal of the street scene.

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The next morning, with my visit drawing to an end, I took a walk in search of coffee and breakfast.

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The morning sun cast a bright light on this fountain and also of the homeless man still sleeping.

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The Mariachi crepe at Hazelnuts Creperie, was filled with egg, black beans, bacon, tomato, mozzarella, onion, avocado & jalapeño cream.  Oh my gosh YUM!

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The only other time I’d been to Charlotte, other than for runs to the airport, was to see my beloved Hokies play football, and I didn’t see much more than the stadium.  I’ll definitely return for more explorations soon!

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Oh How The Mood Changes

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A quick trip to Charlotte, NC offered me a chance to have a mini 12 hour vacation.  The day was beautiful for driving (I very much regretted not riding the bike) and I met friends in Uptown.

How wonderful it was to walk and wander, to point and shoot, to breathe and relax.

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As an aside: I wondered why the residents of Charlotte call it Uptown and learned that this is a common question, one that Brad Panovich, Chief Meteorologist a WCNC-NBC TV answered in this blog post.

While I have many photos to work through and share, I loved the contrast between these two. Without a tripod, I took one with, and one without, flash.  The mood changed dramatically in comparison, and the second begged to be converted to monochrome.

The first evokes a lovely evening stroll …

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while the second encourages you to turn around and head home.

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Oh the joy of photography!

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The Gift of Friendship

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The Contented Crafter has now become the Wildly Excited Crafter! Check out this post and see why!

thecontentedcrafter's avatarThe Contented Crafter

If you have been tagging along with this blog for a while you will have read on many occasions of my appreciation for the delightful people that blogging has introduced into my life.   I love how certain folks circle around different bloggers, how we introduce each other to new and exciting blogs – how we click with new people.  I sometimes forget how I stumbled across someone and then will see another name in the comments and remember that I gatecrashed their party a year ago and have been having a growing relationship ever since …..   I’ve made some really good friends while blogging.  And never actually met a single one of them!

But that is all about to change!

Recently some of these friends put their heads together and decided to make something happen.  They invited me to come stay for a few days.  A week of…

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