Early April Morning …and the Moon

                                                         Yesterday, April 8th

Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

The Smith Tower – Seattle, Washington

At forty-two stories, 462′ (141 m,) the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle for fifty-five years, 1914 to 1969. On a vacation some years ago, we enjoyed the history of that building and climbing to the observation level near the top.

From the NW corner,  eleven-year old Steve stands before the Seattle Space Needle seen here to the north.

                      Eastern Elliot Bay forms the waterfront of Seattle.

And the view south is the old King Dome, which we thoroughly toured earlier, with the King Street Train Station (with tower) and I-5 in the distance to the left, here looking south

         Thanks for viewing, zoom in for a closer look and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

Walking in Annapolis, Maryland

 

While in town for a wedding some time ago, we walked past the impressive Maryland State House, still in use, and dating back to 1772.Above is the upper portion of the building including its lightning rod, designed by Benjamin Franklin.

Thanks for viewing, …zoom in for a closer look, and comments are always welcomed.  M 🙂

Promises, promises.

Within the invisible digital world we play in, the past three weeks have been frustrating as about 35,000 select archived images appeared to have been lost. As of this morning, however, all have been recovered. 🙂 As promised (in a comment on my last post,) below is the “missing” 1987 capture of the now long gone Swiss Army Knife at the Museum of Contempoary Art, Downtown Los Angeles.


Thanks for viewing and comments are always welcome. Zoom in for a closer view. M 🙂

Fun in Downtown L.A. Then and Now

Family Vacation, 32 years ago. American Airlines 747 from NYC’s Kennedy Airport to LAX. After the image below, is the story of  “Early A.M. in L.A.  on 11/10/87”   

 Images: Above: Giant Swiss Army Knive at Museum of Contempoary Art, Downtown L.A. – and L.A. as seen from Griffith Observatory, 11/11/87 with  City Hall to left – 5.6 miles (9 km) distant.
Above, the iconic L.A. City Hall, known at the time as “The Dragnet Building.”

Twelve hours after landing, I would be exploring Los Angeles by foot before the morning’s rush hour, while the family slept off jet-lag in the Holiday Inn about a mile away. An awesome two hour adventure into an “architectually diverse” downtown, with parks and plazas, and… WHAT??? – a Giant Swiss Army Knife???   Yes indeed!  

 

And, not far away, …Swinging Cars!hi

Years later, and of course living 3000 miles away, I wondered exactly where these two photos were taken. I searched maps, and photos where I could, without success – until now. Thanks to the remarkable 3D satellite image and orientation tools available on most any smart phone and/or computer, I “flew” between the buildings and first found the cars: W. Fourth street, and S. Grand Ave.  See it below?

The Swiss Army knife was a lot harder. In fact, it’s not there anymore. BUT, by looking at the photo I took in 1987, and specifically for the glass pyramid in its background,  I zoomed way in on the “Tom Tom” 3D map, and searched until noticing the glass pyramid structure. Below is from today’s mapping app, zoomed in showing that same glass pyramid. A “new” contempoary display is in the exact place where the knife was 32 years ago. 

Above: The Plaza at The Museum of Contemporary Art, on S. Grand Street, L.A. (From Tom Tom Maps,  Apple I-Pad)

Below, another photo of downtown Los Angeles on that beautiful morning.

Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

Boscobel and the Hudson River School of Art

Happy New Year

Last week we toured the Boscobel Federalist Mansion near Cold Spring, New York. Below is the view from its front lawn overlooking the Hudson River, …the i-Phone capture reminiscent of a genre of Early American Art from the Hudson River School.   Information on this impressive site can be found at

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As always, thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂