Hilton Head day 2

I woke up this morning up with no plans what so ever, that changed quickly.

Two blue herons showed up this morning, which was good after we had a total no show yesterday.

I suddenly had the urge to travel and take pictures.  My blessed mother was up for the challenge so we packed up the van and made our way around Beaufort and the surrounding areas.

My favorite part of the carolinas, is the smell.  There is a strong scent of jasmine that hits you, as soon as you leave the house.  And as shown yesterday, my love of spanish moss.  We had to pull over as we passed this tree. 

Next on the list was the old sheldon church ruins.  This church was burnt down twice, and I found the ruins to be absolutely stunning.  

This is one of my first attempts at a panoramic photo that has been successful. The red brick really pops.  The green and the red is wonderful. 

The spanish moss is visible in the background, and I love how the red brick shines through the pale concrete. This church just has a ton of character.

I left the bricks a little more sedate in this picture, I really wanted the trees to be the focal point.  Whether or not it works, is neither here nor there.  I love it.

This is my mother standing against the pillars, the cobalt blue contrasts nicely with the brick.

Then we made our way to the Chapel of Ease.  I guess the theme of the day was historic churches which had burned down over a century ago.

When we drove up to this church, I was just as impressed, even without the stark red bricks.

The trees looked greener, the bark stood out more, and the windows are magnificent.

My favorite picture  :  )

The next destination that we went to, was the avenue of the oaks.  Which was in the boonies.  I have never been in such a rural area and we had the most difficult time finding the place.  But once we got there, the line of trees were to die for.

The final place that we went was the Hunting Island lighthouse.  This lighthouse wasn't even on my radar, I had never heard of it until today.  Like everything else to day, we got completely lost trying to get there.  But it was worth the wait.  I scaled all the way to the top and saw the great view. 

The lighthouse hasn't always been here, it was moved piece by piece to be more inland.  The water was receeding back and the lighthouse would have been ruined if the move had not taken place.  This little periscope has the outline of the lighthouse printed into it.  If you look through, then you can see the lighthouse where it originally was.  Pretty cool.

There were a ton of stairs, but the hike was well worth it.  All in all, I had an extremely successful day.

Love Always,

Meg

HIlton Head day 1

Totally surprised that it is cooler in South Carolina, then it is in B-More.  

My mother and I went to visit the Crazy Crab again and I indulged in a day time Margarita.

The Food is always delicious, but the view of the Marsh was my reason for going.  I don't know who Miss Pugsy is, or if she likes said nick name, but the boat is beautiful. 

I think my favorite part is the dilapidated dock in the back ground. Couldn't have asked for a better day.

Now, one might chose to laugh at this ridiculous sign.  But I seem to remember reading a news article a few years back.  A couple of grad students, driving to their school in Australia, followed the GPS directions, which led them directly into a huge body of water.  Their car was partially submerged.  So I look at the sign in the same way I look at coffee cups which say, "Warning this may be hot."

Now I saw this amazing marsh land on the side of the road, with a dock that led out from a restaurant.  The warning sign simply said that it was prohibited to dock a boat or fish off this dock, and because I intended to do neither of those things, I decided to take a few pictures.

A beautiful Egret landing on some raised grass and mud.

And finally the purpose of us stopping our car, these beautiful sunken ships. 

Love it.

Our final stop of the day was to Shelter Cove Harbour.

Which is home to more Spanish moss, I happen to love Spanish moss. 

Also, we happened across the worlds largest figurative sundial.  How often does that happen...oh yeah...probably only once  :  )

That was enough of an adventure for the day, but tomorrow should be filled with more exciting adventures.  Big Bertha, my beloved camera, will no doubt be in tow.

Love Always,

Meg

Go Orioles

 Our work had a team outing to the Orioles game against the Tampa Rays.  I've been to a few games, but this was the first time going with a big group.  We all met up at Pickles Pub.

Pickles is right across the street from the stadium so we has a quick beer and made out way to the game. I felt so sorry for this poor girl.  It was hotter then hades out there, and she was wearing that polyester pickle costume.  Luckily hit had shorts built in that must have made a huge difference.  

I have been practicing taking panoramic shots, so I was proud of the results.  But I have to work on the perspective, the field is completely out of perspective.  That being said, it makes me feel the energy of the game.  

I'll never forget going to Cal Ripken's last game. Love seeing all the Orange. 

One of my co-workers sat in front of me, which presented a great photo opportunity.  

 I love night games, because you can see the sky get progressively darker.  The clouds always make for a more dynamic picture.  (I swear, I was watching the score a little bit too)

A little powwow.  I love how almost everyone looks so serious, except the one player meandering across the field.

 My final picture of the night, with the illuminated field and the cloudy sky.  I had a great time at the game, I think the girls and I are going to have to go as a group more often.

Love Always,

Meg

Wandering around a food market in Baltimore

And sometimes you just walk past a a hilarious situation and need to take a picture.  In case you can't see, the gentleman has a picture of Gandalf the great on his guitar.  Wandering around the food market after an excellent brunch at Pete's Grill in Baltimore.

Love Always,

Meg

Today my friends Rachel and Alaina and I met up for drinks and gelato.  Sunflowers and Gelato, how much better can it get?

Love Always,

Meg

Ben Folds Five

Today my favorite people and I went to a Ben Folds Five Concert after work.  IT WAS AMAZING.

He sang some a great collection of his old songs and new songs.  First time hearing Brick live.

After Ben Folds Five the Bar*e Nak*ed Ladies sang.  They actually sang the theme song to the Big Bang Theory Live.  I had a totally geek moment.  Unfortunately my batteries were dying on my camera so I have no pictures of the Bar*e Nak*ed Ladies :  (.  I'll have to see them again in concert.

All in all I had a great night with good music, good margaritas, and great friends.  What more can you ask for?

Love Always,

Meg

Italy Day 14

As promised, more pictures of the Piazza of San Marco.  My gut reaction was to run up to everyone who was touching a pigeon and douse them with Purell.  It was only by the second day that I could calm down enough to take a picture. 

Another picture of St. Marc's clocktower.  

The next stop on our trip was a glass blowing factory.  Now this isn't technically venetian glass, because venetian glass is made on the island of Murano. But it was really cool to see this man create a horse in like three minutes.  

isn't this cool?

Now this is the Bridge of Sighs in the back ground.  When people were arrested by the secret police and brought to the Doge's palace, they would then be brought by this bridge to the prison.   

We were able to enter the Doge's palace and this is a view from inside the Bridge of Sighs.

This is the Bridge of Sighs from the other side.  They call it the Bridge of Sighs because the builder imagined that the prisoners would sigh as they saw one last view of venice. 

On our last day we took a motor boat around the sites of venice.  

I love to see the cracks in buildings and the flaws.  There is just so much texture to these buildings.

This was the last day of our trip and I had such an amazing time in Italy.

Love Always,

Meg