Sun Flares at Sunset

Near Rob's house is a great gash in the countryside through which the Transco gas pipeline runs, pumping gas along a 10.000 mile system up the east side of the country. Although ugly, noisy and sometimes odorous, it does provide a useful short cut to the rail line, which on Sunday was where I wanted to go.

The sun was low in the sky and currently I have a thing about taking photos late in the day and catching star bursts, sun flares and lots of bokeh in my images. Dark photos with bright light glaring and creating kaleidoscopic patterns. Today was a superb day to do that with no breeze and a low winter sun that dazzled. We put some coins on the railway line and waited for a train.

No train came by but I got some interesting shots and so was happy with that. Rob called on Monday to let me know he'd found 3 of the 7 coins that had been flattened by a train later on Sunday evening.
During Monday afternoon and overnight we got snow in Marshall. Not a lot but enough to get out of bed early, prise open my watering eyes and set the tripod up outside briefly. I got these 2 photos as the sun came up over the horizon.

I sent the landscape one to ABC 7 news where it was shown on TV at 6:20am on Wednesday. Cool!

Exploring in DC

On Saturday I met up with DCUE to go into an abandoned hospital in DC. Some of us had been here before on an outside tour but this time we were here to see inside. Being a Kilbride building we were very excited to take part in a tour that hadn't been offered before. Our guide had requested that we complete waiver forms, wear hard hats, safety vests and glasses and also not advertise the tour so I'm not revealing the hospital's name but regular readers will know that I'd written about this place previously.
But alas and alack, it seemed history was repeating itself. As soon as the guide mentioned that we were going into a building next to the parking lot, several faces immediately dropped and groans were stifled as us return visitors realized that we wouldn't be going into the Kirkbride building that held such beautiful architectural treasures. We were led to a relatively new building and told we had roughly an hour to check it out. That took 5 minutes. So then it became a challenge to try and shoot some photos that would hopefully be interesting.

That was pretty hard and there were no stragglers when we met outside the building an hour later as our guide had requested.

We had a group photo which I had to laugh at when I saw it. Emily and I are at the back looking really tiny, as though we'd been Beetlejuiced! Our guide then allowed us to walk over to the Forbidden Kilbride Building which is starting to be renovated. Some shutters had been removed revealing beautiful windows, even the main doorway was open and a few of us positively drooled as we wistfully peered through the openings.

We greedily grabbed shots through doorways and windows, desperately wishing we could step inside, but knowing full well that we'd never get access to this building again while it still showed glimpses of its past. I just hope the internal architecture will be saved but we knew many of the metal grates, brass doorknobs and stair rails would be removed and the building's personality would be changed. We sadly turned our backs as we trundled towards our cars. If only this was an area where we could've gained access without 'permission'. Emily summed it up in one sentence, "Legality has its limits."
But the tour had sort of been worth while if even just to savor the lingering atmosphere of the old hospital and we all cheered up once someone uttered the word, 'Beer!' So we drove to a nearby grill where we had lunch and wondered where we could go to next.

Across the road from the restaurant was The Big Chair, the largest chair in the world, link here for info.  Then we went back to Emily's house to collect cars and try Huguette's Pietra beer, a tasty brew from Corsica, while we waited for others to arrive. Once assembled we traveled in convoy down to Arlington where we came across an old abandoned motel. There are plans to knock this down so Boeing can build offices here. We set up our tripods and started clicking, even attracting the attention of some locals who also came over to explore.

We took a few photos here but unfortunately attracted the attention of a couple of police cruisers who although they admitted to us that they were unauthorized to tell us to move on, we chose not to provoke them and decided to call it a day. Daylight was fading and the air was cooling and as we said our farewells, I realized that it had actually been a great day. We'd got some OK photos but more importantly had had a fun time with great friends. Can't beat that!

A Museum Day in DC

After being completely lazy on my vacation days and refusing to push a computer button or lift a camera except for my daily photo, I was ready for a day downtown with Rob. He wanted to see the red shoes from the Wizard of Oz and Archie Bunker's chair, (who the hell is Archie Bunker?)

On Friday the weather was good to us and gave sunshine with mild temperatures which was convenient as I guessed a fair amount of walking would be involved. We parked and then started off with the American History Museum. This was a first for me and did actually hold some treasures which really interested me, but first we needed to get Rob's wish list checked off.

Sorted. Two photos for proof and then we moved on. I was a little disappointed with the shoes though, I'd envisioned bright red and very sparkly shoes, not faded slightly twinkly clodhoppers that looked as though styled for a witch not a heroine.

This was the actual hat worn by Lincoln when he was assassinated at Ford's Theater. I was also entranced by an image of him without a beard, a portrait rarely seen. Click here for a link to the story of how 11 year old Grace Bedell prompted Lincoln to wear a beard. I thought he looked far more handsome and stronger without it...

A British rifleman from The Civil War peeking round the door at Rob.

A George Washington bust reflected in some glass.

These posters were from WWII. Wish they had sold replicas in the museum store, I would've bought the top one.

Julia Child's kitchen. I'd never heard of this iconic woman until I saw the movie, Julie & Julia. A wonderful film. I was actually quite excited to see this room.
This was a great museum with many exhibits that I loved, Stradivarius violins, first Ladies dresses, a Southern Railway 1401 steam locomotive, master key to the White House and some old Muppets puppets. I couldn't believe as I looked at the clock on leaving that we'd spent nearly 5 hours in there.

Rob holding up The Monument.

We then walked to the Smithsonian Castle. This building is beautiful but the public can now only see a small part of it inside. I was fortunate to have seen a lot more when I visited a few years ago.

After here we walked to the Air & Space Museum. I wasn't too bothered about this one as the sister museum at Dulles is far more impressive. It was very crowded in here also so I was glad to leave. The only thing that perked up my attention was seeing the Wright Brother's actual plane that they made their first flight in. There are many copies around the world but the original resides in DC.
We were only a block away from The Botanical Museum so we got in line there to see the Christmas Railway display.

We were lucky enough to have seen most of the plants before the garden closed and with the humidity and crowds we were glad to be back outside. The sun was just setting so the timing was perfect for some photos of the skyline and The Capitol.

The light faded fast and the temperature dropped. With no tripod there was little point in taking any more photos so our attention turned to another important subject, beer. All good day trips have to end with a beverage and we found a small and very friendly bar across the road from the car park. They had Fat Tire on tap so I was a very happy bunny. A superb way to finish off our day in DC.