Thanksgiving Day Drive

Following a drive to Concord, NC from Richmond, VA and a great meal here made by my wife Patty; went out to see the lights of the city. Thanksgiving night is the first night of the Christmas holiday, and the time when the city light displays get fired up. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year hands down, and will be featuring that here on the next few posts. Seen at left is Cannon Village near the NC Research Park. I was wondering if they would do that again this year, and was pleasantly surprised (as was Patty) that the lights were on this year. Nice display along the tree lined streets, and a very festive look indeed!
View at left is of the Concord City Christmas Tree. They had the big tree lighting a few days before and it is a nice event with some music, food, big crowds, carriage rides, and fireworks. Unfortunately, I could not make it this year, but did get out to see the tree during our drive. Nice tree, though artificial it is a nice looking tree. The tree sits next to the Concord Police station, and across from the big parking garage near the old downtown section of the city. Item below is an animated Christmas display, like this one especially as Santa tosses presents into the stocking. There are many such displays (with different themes) around the city.
At any case, a good time and enjoyed checking out some early Christmas lights. For the rest of the visit, worked on my own display at the house in Concord, and on Sunday got in a motorcycle ride around the area before relaxing with the family and watching a little football. Enjoyed a very wonderful four days in Concord with family and friends, and a nice start to the holiday season.
Got some interesting stuff coming up in Richmond as well, there will be a number of Christmas displays (including some of the amazing "Tacky Light Tour" houses to check out, which I hope to be the focus of my next post on this blog.

Showing off Richmond (November 21, 2010)

Friend of mine from Louisville and Concord (like me, has been following the job) wanted to see some of the sights of the city. Took him to see some of the things that I find interesting; sort of a short (though took some 8 hours) to tour around the great city of Richmond, Va. We started at Drewry's Bluff, where the Confederate defenders on May 15, 1862 drove off a Union fleet which was planning to shell Richmond. The ships included the USS Monitor; the famous Ironclad. Interesting historical site, but also a place now of great beauty with one of my favorite views of the James River. Richmond is a river town, and has many great views like this.
We then wandered around Monument Avenue, which has a number of monuments to the historical Confederate heroes of the past (as well as a statue to tennis great and Richmond native Arthur Ashe). Just a beautiful street with some very stately houses. Dennis was impressed both with the monuments and also the houses. I am told (or read) that it is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the US, and I certainly can not argue with that. One of my favorite areas, with the nearby Virginia Historical Society, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, as well as nearby Carytown; there is a lot to see in this section of town.
Made a visit to Hollywood Cemetery where I took the photo of the dog statue. It is looking (I remember reading) at the grave of its owner. Lots of history there, many of the movers and shakers (plus 2 US Presidents and Jefferson Davis) from Richmond are buried there. The Pyramid, a memorial to the Confederate War Dead is just a hell of a thing to see; can't imagine the construction that went into that. Following that visit, we rolled to Belle Isle, lots of photos of that in nearby previous posts, but a nice place to check out the river as well. Certainly one of, if not the great park of Richmond, Va Belle Isle has a lot of uses, dating to the early days of the city.
The train station at Shockoe Bottom was fun to photograph. Like Shockoe Bottom as it is a very lively part of town, with a lot of places to eat and explore. Wandered around at the Farmers Market, visited a local sports bar, and checked out some of the other sites. We then went to Church Hill to see St. John's Church. They were closing the gates though, and made everyone head out..so now I can finally say I have been thrown out of church! Very interesting sight with it being the place where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death" speech. The mother of Poe is buried there, plus George Wythe; one of the founders of the nation.

Finally, later on went (sans Dennis) to Stony Point Fashion Park for the tree lighting, and the visit by the "Jolly Old Elf" seen here. Went last year and enjoyed it; also returning this year was the KOS Band, and they sounded great. Big kick again was the snow machines, for as they noted "its not snowing anyplace else in Virginia tonight, but it is here". A great end to a very fun day. Though I had seen all of this before, I don't get tired to checking it out, and enjoyed sharing it with a friend. Richmond has a lot of interesting sights, history and events, and have been having a great time here in the soon to be two years of my history here.

Fall in Virginia and Carolina

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year, and wanted to share a few fall views as the peak of color came to both Richmond,Virginia and Baden, North Carolina at about the same time. It also made for a pair of beautiful drives between my two places of residence. The photo at left was taken during a walk around the neighborhood, where I checked out the colors in the area. This is actually at a nearby Industrial Park; but loved the lake side view and the color that was popping all over. Love to walk around the area where I can see the sights here up close and personal, without having to stop a vehicle and head back to see something remarkable just passed.
This was actually taken just outside of my neighborhood in Richmond, a very nice tree lined road. I did not think we were going to get much of a fall this year, due to what has been a very hot, and abnormally dry summer. Seemed that trees took a real beating this year, saw dead trees in both Virginia and in Carolina in great numbers. In fact, had to cut down a tree in my backyard which died this summer due to the drought. I thought this view though was a gift indeed; as yellow, orange and red were seen all over during the walk. Walking is good for health, and also good for the soul on days such as these, and it really made my day to enjoy views such as these.
One of my favorite things to do is motorcycling; and one of my very favorite areas to ride in the fall is near Baden, NC. I did not make it to the North Carolina Mountains this year. The Boone, NC area is remarkable in the fall, one of the great wonders in the Blue Ridge Parkway (which also runs through Virginia) but I did ride on November 14 to Morrow Mountain where I saw this amazing sight. Fall was in full bloom, and a number of people were for sure in "Oh Wow!" moments there. A lot of "do you believe this?" comments from both fellow motorcyclists and people in their cars (and being North Carolina, their pickup trucks).
Nothing brings people together like the beauty of nature, and this was a remarkable ride during the day. Morrow Mountain is where the last two photos were taken near Baden, NC and really enjoyed both the ride, but especially getting off the bike and wandering around the multi-color display before me. To be honest, I did not want to leave when the time came, but spent a great deal of time at the overlooks and just wandering around the area. There is nothing like a beautiful day with average temperatures (which certainly beat the ride to the air show the week before) on a great motorcycle, surrounded by nature and bright blue skies. It was a remarkable ride!

Warriors and Warbirds (November 7,2010)

Great weekend in Carolina, lots of fun family things during my latest "migrant factory worker"life phase. I also got in some motorcycling, and another great combination of airshow and riding. A previous ride to the RideNow Open House (a bike shop in Concord, NC) got me a new (and warm) motorcycle jacket. That came in handy on another clear but unseasonably cold day in the Carolinas. I rode to Monroe to the air show; this being my third in the last few weeks! Been on a roll with planes, and I do enjoy them. Seen at left are three classic WWII aircraft: A P-40 Warhawk, a USN Dauntless Dive bomber, and (mostly hidden) a P-51 Mustang.
I like air shows, where you get to see some thrilling flying, and some very amazing machines. This is a biplane, which takes flight back to an earlier era. I like these classic aircraft, and it is fun to meet the pilots who fly them. It also is fun to see how aviation has changed over the years. This air show was the smallest of the three, but its local, and has grown over the years. I have some more photos posted on my photo page which you can check out. I wandered around a bit, and saw the booths that were set up. Nice airport and this show was a good source of revenue for the airport; read they were expecting 100,000 for the two days of the show.
I took this photo of the replica Japanese aircraft of "Tora Tora Tora". I believe they were used during the filming of the movie "Midway" and a few other WWII films. Tora Tora Tora puts on a thrilling show, and the planes are interesting as well. Unfortunately, I did not stay for much of the flying; having to settle due to time constraints with checking out the planes as they sat (though I did see the Black Daggers Parachute team, and some flying). Got in a great backroads ride (took a more direct route there) on the way back to my family and some fun with them during my stay. Visits to Carolina seem to last a matter of hours, but always something wonderful to do, and great times with the family to get me though the rest of my time spent in Richmond. It helps that Richmond is an interesting town, and I have found a number of fun things to do and see here. I will be bringing more from Carolina and Virginia in my next posts. Coming up is the holiday season, and that is a most interesting and special time in both places as I have found over the last two years in Richmond, and many more years in Carolina.

Hampton, Virginia (October 30, 2010)

In my last two posts I wrote about Air Power Park (the latest one after this one) and before that a visit to the Virginia Air and Space Museum. Being an aviation and space fan both (the museum I planned to see, the Air Power Park I just stumbled across by luck), but I was also pleasantly surprised by Hampton itself. I did not have a great deal of time to see a lot but I liked what I saw of this very interesting town. One such area was "Riverwalk" with its great variety of ships. I saw pleasure boats, fishing boats and sailboats during my visit there, and enjoyed walking around and checking them out up close and personal. There were also places along the docks to enjoy some food or a beverage.
In the area near the Virginia Air and Space Museum was the courthouse. This one was rebuilt from the ruins of the old one which was burned during the Civil War. There were a number of old and interesting buildings in the area, and many of them has historical plaques attached to them. Many of the old buildings were used as offices, stores, and restaurants. There was a good crowd in many of them, and the streets were clean and very well kept. I enjoyed walking around and checking out some of the sights in the area, it is a very comfortable place to explore. It is a city with a lot of history, and a lot of fun places to wander around.


One of the oldest places in the area was this church site. St. John's Church seen here was built in the 1700's, but is on the original site where three other churches of the same congregation stood since 1610. Yes, the church is celebrating its 400th year, and is the oldest continuous Anglican Church in the United States (well before it was the "United States." With an amazing aviation history (Langley Air Force Base and at least one NASA facility if not more are nearby) as well as being close to NAS Oceana and Norfolk Naval Station (the largest Navy base in the World if memory serves me right) there are many interesting things to see in the air and on the water. From what I saw in a short time, as is much of Virginia, it is filled with interesting people of many types. I have no doubt that I will return to Hampton, Virginia in the days to come.

Air Power Park, Hampton, VA (October 30, 2010)

Made a visit to the Virginia Air and Space Museum (previous post), and after exploring some of the area around it and especially Riverwalk (which will be my next and third post) headed back to Richmond. A sign on the highway which told of "Air Power Park" caught my eye, so I took the exit, and headed up the road. I came to this roadside park which featured a number of interesting and rare aircraft, plus missiles of various types. The combination was both interesting and amazing. I saw a great many rare and unique items, and spent quite a bit of time walking around the site. Many of the items could use a coat of paint, and some repair, but it was still amazing to check out.
Rare planes such as this F-100 Super Sabre were common. This plane was in pretty good shape as many were, though some had seen some damage from the weather. There were a number of Vietnam era planes, some dating to the Korean War and before (though nothing earlier than just after World War II). There was even a NASA flown Hawker Kestrel which was the direct forerunner of the AV-8B Harrier which is (still) flown by the United States Marines, and the Royal Navy. In the background of this photo you can see (left to right) a US Army Jupiter missile, and a US Navy Polaris submarine missile. This is stuff you just don't see everyday!
In much better than typical shape, was this Mercury/Little Joe combination. Very, very rare, the Little Joe was made to save money (costing some $200,000 each) in testing of the Mercury escape system. The orange rockets at the very top were designed to pull the spacecraft (and its single astronaut) away from an exploding or failing rocket in the event of an emergency. Some eight Little Joe's were used to test the system. Though this system (also used on the Apollo Spacecraft) was never used in the US, a Russian crew was saved when their rocket exploded and rockets much like this lifted their capsule away and parachutes lowered them back to earth away from the blast. Such a system is being developed for the Orion spacecraft which looks much like Apollo and is planned to replace the Space Shuttle (though that program is facing some problems due to being behind schedule and over budget. Plans are to let private companies run flights into Earth orbit outside of the government (who would pay for their services) rather than running "government spacecraft".
Many of the planes were common type aircraft such as A-7's, F-86's, and F4's (not that it was not neat to see them) but also very rare types such as this F-89 Scorpion which first flew in 1948! Neat to see a very early US jet fighter (this one built by Northrop) as well as a research aircraft such as the NASA flown Kestrel. Throw in rockets such as the Jupiter (seen behind this plane) as well as some "badly needing paint" rockets such as the Nike-Ajax and the Nike-Hercules and you have a very interesting park to visit. I should also mention that admission was free, and you can't beat that in times such as these. From the condition of many of the items, it was apparent that they do get attention from time to time, so while some may need some work, others have gotten some. Air Power Park was a neat and very fun find indeed!

Virginia Air and Space Museum (October 30, 2010)

Day in Hampton, Va turned out to be most amazing; and will be the theme of three posts; starting with this one. On a cool, crisp Saturday morning, got in the car and headed to the Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton, Va. A nice pleasant drive and less than 90 minutes later and I was paying the admission price plus the cost of the IMAX 3-D movie (that was " Frontiers of Flight" and I enjoyed it a great deal) for a total of $18. Liked the very striking building that houses the museum, and enjoyed the walk up to it. Inside though was what I had come to check out, and was amazed at the variety of sights inside the massive complex.

Have been a fan of the space program for a number of years, so was excited to see the Command Module of Apollo 12. Apollo 12 launched on November 14, 1969 and landed on the moon in the area known as the "Ocean of Storms" November 19 in the Lunar Module "Intrepid". Richard Gordon orbited alone in the "Yankee Clipper" seen here. Both were Navy names, as the crew was all-Navy. The LM left the moon on November 20, and the three men landed back on Earth in this ship on November 24. Many other space items can be found in the museum, including some other spacecraft such as a Mercury capsule and many unmanned craft.

Of course, there are a number of interesting aircraft, such as these seen at right. Not just warplanes though, they include civilian aircraft, replica aircraft (including a good replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer), and a number of rockets of various types. Also of interest to me were a number of space and flight simulators covering a wide range of air and spacecraft. I was pretty good on the aircraft simulators, not so good on trying to land the Lunar Module (managing to crash it into the moon in all three modes). I did have a great time trying it. There is a lot of things of note for just about anyone with any interest in space or aviation.
Many of the displays can be seen up close, many others from the raised walkways around the displays. The aircraft and other displays were all in good working order (in the case of those items that simulated or demonstrated something of aviation interest) and and the planes being indoor were in very good shape (that will be of note in my next post on the Air Power Park in Hampton, VA). There were also a number of other items such as flight suits, and other aviation artifacts of note. I thought the museum did a good job of covering flight from its earliest days, to future missions to Mars and beyond. I felt it was well worth the money. The IMAX had good comfortable seats, and was in good repair.
Finally, had to close this section with this moon rock. Seen here, the photo does not do it justice, it was the largest one I have seen on display (and I have seen a few. Brought back from Apollo 17's mission in December 1972 it was found to be some 3.67 billion years old. There was also a piece of Mars which came from the famous Mars meteorite of many years back.
I did not know quite what to expect, but found the visit very worthwhile, the museum staff friendly and helpful, and my time spent there very enjoyable. The variety of items and the quality of what was on display made me glad I went, and I can see myself returning for another visit in the future.