To The End of Orient Point, Long Island, (N.Y.)

The approximate distance from Times Square to the North-Eastern tip 0f Long Island is 100 miles, or 160 kilometers. Some time ago I explored this sea-washed lands end, known as Orient Point, while over looking the 1899 lighthouse by the same name.

Walking back, I noticed I was not alone!

Zoom in for a closer look and comments are always welcomed. 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 🙂

Resilience in the wake of Hurricane Isaias

About one month ago Hurricane Isaias brushed our area with 70 mph wind gusts carrying an abundance of salt water onto vulnerable trees and shrubs. Our Red Maple Tree suffered a significant loss of foliage facing the east side.

BELOW: One week after storm, 8/4/2000

                       BELOW: Five weeks after storm, 9/8/2000 

Below: Normal view at this time of year, (from a previous year.) Original leaves would already have been losing color saturation.


Thanks for viewing.  Comments are always welcome. Zoom in for a closer look.  M 🙂 (The old car was included to show
something more interesting than an old tree!)

 

The Piermont Pier

 

           About four weeks ago, in one of our last ventures before the Corvid-19 Pandemic, we visited the little town of Piermont, New York …on the Hudson River, and explored its 182 year old rock and earthen pier, which by 1851 served as a loading and unloading track bed for Erie Railroad trains picking up steamboat passengers from Lower Manhattan, twenty-five miles to the South.  On the then longest rail line in the world, vacationers would travel 450 miles (724 km) to Dunkirk, NY and the shores of  Lake Erie.   Some hundred years later, long after the excursions were outmoded, tens of thousands of WW II troops would depart from this same mile long pier to ferries, and transfer onto troop ships in NY Harbor. Sadly, thousands would literally leave their last footsteps on U.S. soil right here. A monument nearby is solemnly named “Last Stop, USA.”

The Piermont Pier is located about two miles (3.2 km)south of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, jutting out a little less than one mile (1.61 km) into the Hudson River.

The old steamship/ferry slip from years ago is seen above,  …to the left.

Above: Today, the pier is a commercial, residential, and hiking park.

Remnants of the steamship/ferry docks can still be seen in this 2/23/20 view looking south. New York City would be just beyond Tallman Mountain to the right.

Above: A bollard, used for securing heavy lines, is seen here near the end of the pier, looking south.

Above: The trestle part of the new bridge, carrying the New York State Thruway, is about two miles (3.2 km) to the North; and Hook Mountain, overlooking the Hudson, is seen beyond.

Above: The striking new Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge; and two miles (3.2 km) further, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse off Tarrytown, NY seen to the left of center span.

Taken some years ago while boating on the Hudson, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, also know as Tarrytown Lighthouse or Kingsland Point Lighthouse, was “installed” in 1883.

Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look.

And a special note: BE WELL, …and please use best judgement practices as we “navigate” through these un-precedented difficult times.    M

I’d like to thank the Piermont Historical Society for their added information concerning this topic, and Wikipedia. I am a proud contributer/donator to both sources.

 

 

 

1813 Turnpike – Stone Arch Bridge

On a road trip in Pennsylvania last week, we came across a 207 year-old bridge spanning “Jacks Creek” in Lewiston, (located roughly in the center of each map image below.) It was constructed as part of the increasingly important “Harrisburg to Pittsburgh Turnpike.

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

Swiss Army Knife meets Mt. St. Helens

         Lately, I seem to be hung up on Swiss Army Knives. See here.  Originally, in that post, I wanted to compare the enormous display with my real knife. Unfortunately,  I couldn’t find the knife. But …here it is. I had used it as contrast to the ash from the Mt. St. Helens explosion, nine years earlier.  The two pictures below, from our vacation in August, 1989, were taken on the banks of the Toutle River some 30 miles downstream from the catastrophic event which literally blew the top off the mountain.

ABOVE: A few miles east of the Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center in Washington State, Rt. 504 crosses the Toutle River, (located near “Toutle” on the satellite image below.)  BELOW: Topless Mt. St. Helens is visible from Interstate 5, about 35 miles away.


                    The Visitor Center is between “Castle Rock,” and “Toutle.

                     Thanks for viewing, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

 

 

More Marginal Doodles

Again, from the pages of higher (?) education notebooks -or- what to post when you temporarily run out of material! Epoch: 1960’s – 70’s!

Devine Intervention: Quashing  Nuclear War – 1960’s

 

 

CONVERSATIONS

 

Apologies for posting, but thanks for viewing anyway. Comments are always welcome, sometimes feared!  M 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

A Northbound Adventure to the End of the Road – Part One, Prologue

07.058 8-31-1966 Cananda-North Trip_edited-1

It was late August. Summer jobs were finishing and my friend and I wanted to do something different before returning to school. “Let’s drive north, as far as we can go!”

(Three-second pause …) “Ok!”

Although my 1962 Austin Healy Sprite was slightly damaged by a rear-ending just a week before, its fun handling characteristics and open-air ambiance was an easy choice of vehicle, not to mention great mileage for college kid’s stingy budgets.

There was little debate, and in the warm, humid air of a New Jersey evening, we decided, …the trip was on.

Back in 1966, there was no internet or Google Maps. Preparation was more fly-by-wire as our available time and financial resources didn’t allow many options besides just …going! The Sinclair, Mobil, or Exxon paper maps were our planning media, and if it wasn’t on the map, we’d have to resort to local advice along the way.

Below is the 1098 cc Sprite as it appeared ten months prior our trip, when it was …clean! (“FANG,” the dog, agreed to be the model!)

See Part Two here. 

As usual, click on or stretch for a closer view, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clearing the Air – of Fog… and Raising the Bar

My last post featured a barely visible bridge across the Delaware River near where George Washington famously crossed from New Jersey to Pennsylvania on Christmas Day, 1776. That experience was interesting because of the heavy air and dense fog, but the picture  didn’t quite convey the ambiance.

I like the following two images a lot better however, near where George Shaw has gained some notoriety…

Background Of These Images

Jeanne and I were in Canada at “Niagara on the Lake,” which hosts the Shaw Festival each year, …the second largest repertory theater company in North America, staging plays written and inspired by George Bernard Shaw. Located on the shoreline of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Niagara River, this quaint little town is about 24km (15mi) north of the Falls.

These positive slide film images were taken from the scenic Canadian Niagara Parkway on April 23rd, 1997.

As always, thanks for viewing and you can click-on or finger-stretch to zoom in. Comments are always welcome. M 🙂