More RVA CHristmas Lights (December 11-13, 2017)

 Got out a little bit for some sort trips to see some of the amazing light displays in Richmond. Got out a bit after work which considering that the week was filled with 12 hour  working days was pretty good  This one is near my house and just a short drive up the road . It is a nice place to visit and has a lot of things going on in the yard. I enjoy seeing this every year 

 Made a short visit to the James Center in downtown Richmond. It is the offical City display and enjoy seeing all the lit reindeer, the Christmas tree and the buildings lined out with white. While that was cool though (as was the model train display in one of the buildings which was up and running) carriage rides are also a part of the Christmas season and thought I would get a photo of one of the teams here. 

Finally made a drive to Wendhurst Avenue for a visit to this remarkable house. According to a sign there there are some 170,451 lights and 1,326 homemade decorations in this yard. It is just a remarkable thing to see. This house won the ABC Great Christmas Light Fight (which gave them a trophy and $50,000) on December 12, 2016. No doubt as this made a long work day very remarkable at the end. 

First Snow (December 8-9, 2017)

 Really was not too bad as snow fall goes, but it was damn cold the day the snow came down. We had a pretty scene with this storm which came out of the Gulf of Mexico and up though the south.
Snow fall predictions changed in the course of the storm from just flurries to a few inches to what turned out to be maybe 2-3. For a very short time there was some on the road, but it was just for a few short hours. Never did get very click though it was very cold.
It was also very pretty. Did get out and get a walk in it. Photos I have are of my house (that tree as was all of them were amazing coated in white) and then the train tracks behind my house and a look down Forest Hill Avenue. The snow was pretty much gone by Monday though some remains in shady places here in the area in very, very tiny amounts. 

Lewis Ginter GardenFest of Lights (December 3, 2017)

 I love going to this every year and it is always something magical to see. The place is located at 1800 Lakeside Avenue, and does charge admission (though there are some free days to visit). It is the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and they make magic during the Spring, Summer and Fall but really outdo themselves during the Winter when they transform the gardens into a winter wonderland. 

 I liked this tree which was really something to see. As well as sights such as these there are places to get something to eat and drink (hot chocolate was popular) and there were other things to see. Conventional Christmas trees were on display as well as a very large and interesting model train set. They also had a wonderful childrens garden for the kids to explore and that was a great deal of fun for older kids such as me.

 It was just an amazingly beautiful explosion of color and tranquility. A good tip if you visit go early as this exhibit gets pretty packed as the night goes on. It will be open from November 24-January 8 though it is closed December 24-25)There are a lot of special events scheduled though the month so checking the web site is a really good idea. Hours of the display are from 5-10 PM

This is the view from the lake. I would also mention that all of these are just a small sample of what the garden has to offer. They even have dog nights (though they dont like the dogs run free). Not sure if the dogs would really enjoy the lights but I do know they would a good walk...and this area is a very good walk indeed. Not sure how many acres but it is a lot and each step is special and magical.   

More Lights in the Night (December 1, 2017)

 Nice House on Grace Street in the Fan. I like coming by this house the past few years and it is always a fun place to see. Of note is the "Christmas Tree " in the front lower left, which is always pretty neat. You see a lot of those kind of trees outside this time of year, that one is one of the best I have seen so far. 

This is a very cool house. The guy who does it dresses like Santa Claus and was out on this very busy night. Always fun to go by and to see him and to check out the amazing lights he has in his yard. Have to give him a whole lot of credit, as he is an older guy and this sort of project takes a lot of work and love. Needless to say though, he puts both into this amazing house and display. 

The Jefferson Hotel (November 30, 2017)

Went by The Jefferson Hotel on the last day of the month after work to see the Christmas displays there. Always remarkable in that place and this year was no exception. They made this airplane out of gingerbread and candy. I love aviation and sometimes wonder if they did not know I was coming. At any case a remarkable and wonderful piece of work. Fun to see this site and enjoyed looking it over a great deal. 

 This is the tree in the hotel, always a grand sight and just a beautiful piece of work. The hotel is Richmond's only 5 star hotel, so let us just say I have never spent a night in it.
However, I have spent many fine hours visiting it and enjoying its fine restaurants and checking out Christmas sites such as this.
The hotel has a long history and it is something special  to visit if you are in the Richmond area, especially during the holidays.

Finally made a stop at Oregon Hill where I saw this amazing house. It is a yearly favorite and this year was no exception. Very bight and beautiful and always enjoy visitng this.

The Trip Back to Richmond (November 25, 2017)

 On the way back from Virginia Beach made some stops in Hampton, VA. Here is Fort Monroe which is a very old and impressive fort which dates before the Civil War. During the Civil War Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned here. Spent a lot of time chained to his bed looking at an American Flag on display. It was also a site of additional fortifications during WW1 and WW2. Very neat place to visit. 

A favorite place of mine in Hampton is the Air Park, which has a number of very interesting planes and rockets. Some are very rare such as the Kestrel (forerunner of the Harrier) and a test rocket (the last remaining) for the Mercury Spacecraft program. Both the fort and the Air Park (which is a few short miles away) are free to visit and very interesting to check out. The Hampton area has a lot of things to see and visit and is well worth a trip. I have been a few times 

Got home just before dark but this house was a stop before I got to my front door. Many places light up here in Richmond, Virginia on Thanksgiving night and they certainly go all out when they do. Fun to see them and there will be many more to see in the days to come on this page!

Thanksgiving Virginia Beach (November 23-25, 2017)

Wonderful Thanksgiving at Virginia Beach. It was a nice day to travel though sure the day before would not have been...with everyone going to and from their various destinations. It was sunny during the whole trip; of course it was just warm during the last day. Did enjoy taking the night beach drive along the Boardwalk (which is now concrete) to see the Christmas light displays. Very nice and enjoyed it a great deal. 

Was fun to see people on the beach. Here are some people feeding sea gulls. Get some sort of chips or cheetos, throw them in the air and presto...instant friends.
Was great to eat there. Yeah they had turkey dinners on Thanksgiving but we enjoyed the fish. Richmond has some great food but not not a lot of great fish. Was told to get that, go to Virginia Beach. They got that right. We had a lot of dinners at Murphy's Irish Pub. It was one of the few places open due to the holiday, and fresh off the boat fish. It was outstanding! 

View from the room. We stayed at the Oceanfront Inn, and I highly recommend it. This is the 25th, Debbie and I got up to see the sunrise (did that both mornings we woke up there) and it was beautiful.
I like going during the off season. Lots of things to see and do, virtually everything is open (except as noted on Thanksgiving) and the crowds are so much less as are hotel room prices. It was a wonderful few days in a special place.

NASA Langley Open House (October 21, 2017)

Up early and down the road for a very rare visit to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. It was the first open house in a long time, this one to celebrate the center which has been in operation since 1917 (that is a 100 years in case you didnt do the math). For much of that it was as NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Became NASA in the 1950's but this Aeronautics is still the first "A" in NASA. 

 Still doing some amazing flight research. A lot of history for the past 100 years have been made in these buildings. Much of the developments in aviation and certainly many in spaceflight have come out of the minds that work in these buildings and do the research there. I got there early and stayed for some four hours exploring the buildings and meeting some of the people who are making the world of flight so amazing and changing the world we live in. 

 One of the coolest things I saw was this. You are inside what is known as the "14-by 22 foot subsonic tunnel. It is a wind tunnel used to test models and larger models of fixed wing and helicopters (and other V/STOL) aircraft. They can be set up in a number of ways such as seen here, or on a tether.
Got to see a number of models, as well as the amazing control room where the tests are conducted.

 This is the outside of the Subsonic tunnel. There were a number of amazing things and buildings and can't forget again to mention the people who make it all happen. It was a very fun and exciting day and want to thank everyone at NASA for making this remarkable event happen. I just hope they do it again real soon...would love to go back again! 

Dayton Trip - Part 2 (October 7-14, 2017)

Went to the Navy Bean and Seaplane Festival in Rising Sun, Indiana where Debbie and I watched planes such as this and enjoyed the festival which was held October 13-14 (we were there the 14th). Bands, food and a rides (amusement park and probably plane rides) were available. It was a lot of fun.

 After a great visit to Indiana for a few days, had to get back to the airport to head back to Richmond. Took this photo right after takeoff and that below is Dayton, Ohio. It was a wonderful time and a very interesting city to enjoy. I have more and more fun there the more times I go to it.

Flight back to Richmond had a stop in Atlanta where I changed planes (from an MD-88 to a Boeing 757). I have to say the 757 is a wonderful airplane to fly in. Between Atlanta and Richmond is Charlotte, NC and this is a view of that city below. It was also once where I lived (well in nearby Concord, NC) for 14 years but explored Charlotte a lot of times. Wonderful place. Never know what the future holds and what will happen in the days and years to come. Sure enjoy the ride though!

Dayton Trip - Part 1 ( October 7-14, 2007)

Add caption

Early in the morning got on board a Boeing 757-200 and headed for Atlanta. It was right about dawn when we took off, and on the way there got this photo of Richmond from the plane. I always get the window seat cause I love to fly and love the view. Love this city too and this was cool to see. Nice flight...the 757 was a fantastic plane and the best part was to and from Atlanta rode it both times. From Atlanta to Dayton flew on an MD-88. Nice way to travel.   

 We saw some new sights in Dayton. Just outside the city was the graves of the Wright Brothers at the very beautiful and historic Woodlawn Cemetery. Here the brothers are at rest flanking their sister. Dayton sure celebrates their famous inventors with a lot of the sites they lived in and created the first airplane (and the ones that followed) which Debbie and I also saw some of both on this trip and a previous trip to the area. I love aviation and this was a real treat for me exploring the city.   

 The city is very interesting and is seen here at left also taken from the cemetery. Smaller I think then Richmond, this was my first time in a long time to actually explore it (last visit we just saw some sights on the outskirts..the flying field, the Air Force Museum, and the Carillon Park with the Wright Flyer III). Got out a bit and saw some new sights in the city. 

Debbie is at left in the pink shirt, this is Warped Wing Brewing in Dayton, Ohio. I have had a couple of their beers at the airport in Dayton, but wanted to try some of them here.
Richmond is a big craft beer town and was cool to have a couple here in this building. I am sure it was an old factory which has been converted to making beer by Warped Wing. The two I had were pretty tasty and it was a nice place to hang out for a little bit. 

We also made a stop at the Wright Cycle Shop and a return visit to the Carillon Bell Tower before making a tour of the Dayton Art Institute. It was a nice art museum with some very interesting items. Much smaller than the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts but a good diverse collection of works and enjoyed looking at them. There is a lot to see and do in Dayton. We scratched the surface of things to do there, both aviation wise but also otherwise. Don't have to love aircraft to have a great time there. It was a very fun day and finding Ohio to be a very, very interesting and fun place. The day before I took a ride on a friends motorcycle there and that was a lot. Wrote about that on my "Racing with the Wind" Page. I will have more on the vacation trip with Debbie on my next post.
 

NAS Oceana Air Show (September 17, 2017)

Felt a bit like going home, went to the NAS Oceana Air Show on Sunday September 17. The show was free and among the many visitors was this US Air Force B-52 bomber. Nice to see one outside and got a good look at this massive aircraft. A very rare treat.

The US Navy Blue Angels were there, and did bring out a massive crowd. I got there early as it opened which gave me time to check out some of the sights and many of the display aircraft on the site. It was also fun to talk to many of the sailors on the base who were both working and out to see the show.

Many of the static aircraft were cool to see such as this F4U Corsair. The Corsair was used both in World War II and the Korean War. The type flew from 1942-1954. The plane actually (not this one but one like it) shot down a Mig-15 jet on November 8, 1950. While thousands were made very few are left and fewer still in flying condition. Pilots who flew these aircraft made history and changed the world.  

I also enjoyed seeing this flight of a P-51 Mustang (a legend of World War II) and the USAF F-16. Neat combination of planes.
There were a lot of remarkable planes flying. There was a hang glider, aerobatic aircraft of many types, an early jet (the Vampire), a number of F-18's and even of all things the original "Batcopter" from the original show "Batman". I got a kick out of that and it was pretty cool.    

As I said, a number of F-18's flew during the show such as these as right. The Blue Angels also fly the F-18 and put on a remarkable show. It was a great time with great people in a wonderful place. Spent a lot of years on Navy bases and the hours spent on this one put a smile on my face.  

Forest Hill Art Fair/Kings Dominion (September 16, 2017)

Great Saturday in Richmond, started with the Forest Hill Art Festival. Always a good time and this free show has a lot of interesting works of art. There was also live music and (not so live) food to enjoy.
The festival is held about this time each year. I think this was the 27th year (or there abouts) and I have been going for like the last 6 or 7. It is a don't miss event and is even better because it is very close to my house.

This was taken at King's Dominion from the 1/3 size Eiffel Tower replica there. Very cool to go up and always some remarkable views of the park and the surrounding area from up there.
Nice amusement park, was able to go thanks to work who basically rents it out every year. Will probably be my last year to go for free because I am planning to retire at the first of the year though told by some I will be invited back.

This is The Intimidator 305, which is frankly one hell of a ride. Yeah, I rode it, usually get up the nerve to do so. It is a hell of a drop from that big hell and the ride gets up to 91 miles per hour.
It is a pretty basic ride though fast and has a few heart stopping moments. I like to get out and enjoy this one.
Park has a lot of good coasters, and also even enjoyed the dinosaur exhibits (though they are recreations but many are moving thanks to modern technology).
Just a beautiful place to wander around and to see some amazing sights and to visit with some friends while there as well
It is located just outside of Richmond, not too far from Ashland, VA. After the visit to the park spent a little time in Ashland with my girlfriend from Ohio. She had not seen it and it is a great town to wander around.
She flew up here for the weekend, and following the day here we got out and explored the NAS Oceana Navy Base for the airshow. Some photos of that which took place on Sunday September 17 will be coming up shortly.

The Journey to Virginia (August 26, 2017)

 Finally had to leave but fantastic memories. Drove from Dayton through the south of the state of Ohio. Peaceful and beautiful drive. Of note saw a hot air balloon, a turkey by the side of the road walking around (and suitable for Thanksgiving) and a C-130 (much like the plane at the museum in the previous post). It was a pleasure being there and fun to ride though. Though sad to leave my girlfriend and Ohio I will be back to see both...and soon.  

This is the West Virginia capital. I think it is amazingly beautiful. Nice dome on top and many monuments on the grounds. Has one monument to Abe Lincoln and even some confederate monuments. Interesting combination and a good idea in my book though in this case the reason for it is simple.
During the Civil War West Virginia split off from Virginia which it was part of and became a new state.
Much of that history can be found on a very fine West Virginia History Museum on the grounds. Though I have stopped there before I had not seen it but took the time this time and was amazed. It is well worth a tour if you are ever in the area and the cost (which is free) can't be beat.
Not just buildings though, West Virginia is a beautiful and interesting state. I have been there a few times with Debbie and have explored many of it is roads. I think its about time to get my motorcycle there as some of the roads are built in my opinion just for riding a motorcycle on.      

 At the Virginia border was close to home though about 100 miles to go from there to Richmond. I saw this sign at the rest area and well...just had to share it with you all.
I do love riding in the state. Close to the mountains, the ocean and many interesting places in between. Richmond is a great deal of fun and has many sights and events to enjoy. I love living here and think its one of the best places I have been in my life.

One final shot from Virginia, here is a view of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the background. In a few few weeks it will be ablaze with fall color and that is a remarkable ride.
Nice to ride the Parkway which is one of my favorite roads and a frequent place to visit in my travels. In fact some great sections can be found in North Carolina where I rode many times while I was living there.
 

Aviation Ohio (August 23-26, 2017)

Even a casual visitor to this site would know quickly I am a huge fan of aviation. So it is with pleasure that I show a few highlights of my girlfriend's home town...Dayton, Ohio. An amazing place and one of the cradles of aviation. Here the Wright Brothers designed their planes. While first flown in North Carolina, here the early design was perfected. That was first done with the Wright Flyer III which can be seen in Carillon Historical Park. The park is remarkable.  

One of the most interesting places in Dayton is Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Not just for the C-17's (one at left) that fly along with many other interesting aircraft but also for the many historic sights to be found near it. Dayton was also the home of many aircraft manufacturers and in fact...it still is. With all the aviation names and tributes to the Wright Brothers it was a fun places to just drive around. It was also a very good place from time to time...to look up.    

This is a recreation, but in looking at old photographs very accurate (though the Wright Brothers used wood no doubt). It is a copy of the type of catapult used to launch the Wright Flyer III which was developed at Huffman Prairie. That happens to be on base at Wright Patterson but though an open gate.
There is actually quite a lot to see there, but the big plus is to stand on the actual ground where history was made.    

Also at Wright Patterson Air Force Base is the US Air Force Museum. I went though it on my last visit to Dayton earlier this year and it is nothing short of remarkable. One of the best aviation museums I have been in..and I have been in a few.
This is a C-130 which is one of the outside exhibits. Most of the aircraft are in a closed series of buildings, but a few are outside. I missed them last time, saw them this trip.  

Rising Sun Indiana (August 21-22, 2017)

Went here for two days, beautiful river city with a lot of friendly people and some great things to see. There is a casino there (Rising Star Casino) but spent a lot of time just exploring the very interesting town.
It has a long history and does a really good job of covering it. Lots of blocks in the sidewalk along the river and in signs tell the story of this area and an interesting story it is. It is one of my favorite places to visit.  

Quiet there, and the Ohio River is majestic to watch it roll by. The actual casino is in the riverboat on the left.
It is fun to go into, lots of lights and noise and interesting people. The boat does not move though I think at one time it did. Believe Indiana changed the law. Early in the casino history they did travel the river, but a few years into it they made it not necessary.

Nonetheless, it is fun to watch barges head down the river and to check out some of the sights to be seen there.