All posts tagged: travel

Chasing Foliage at Reed Creek Gold Mine

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I had another post planned, but never finished it due to the tumultuous events this week. So here’s some calming content of my hunt for fall foliage at a local gold mine last year instead. ****** I never appreciated the fall foliage I grew up with in Massachusetts until I moved to North Carolina. In New England, brilliant hues of yellow, orange, and red would begin to appear in early September. Here in Charlotte, the leaves mainly turn a burnt orange in mid October. If you go looking for it though, you can still find a burst of color amount the duller hues around the end of November. And what better place to look then the trails around an old gold mine? In addition to foliage, you may spot veins of white quartz that may or may not contain gold, and the oddly placed raccoon skull.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a place I can visit over and over again. Named after the woman who spent her life collecting the art within it, and commissioned the unique building it is housed in. She personally oversaw the construction of the museum in Boston’s Fens neighborhood and personally arranged all of the artwork. When she passed away in 1924, her will stipulated that nothing in the museum’s galleries would be changed, and no items be acquired or sold from the collection. The museum is known internationally for the shocking theft of 13 paintings by renowned artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas in 1990. One of the stolen paintings was Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee (his only known seascape.) If you visit, you will see the empty frames the paintings were cut out of still on display. Visitors can only take pictures of the museum’s intricate courtyard and gardens, but it’s Instagram account shares works of art, museum events, and pages from Isabella’s many journals.

24 Hours in a Flood Plain (A Cautionary Tale)

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Reposting this account of an ill fated trip to Myrtle beach a few years ago. I know for many there is an urge to rush back to pre-COVID activities for a sense of normalcy. I can definitely sympathize, I almost became stranded in a flood zone because I didn’t want to give up a much anticipated beach weekend after a major hurricane passed over the area I was traveling to. Trust me, ignoring warnings and red flags for a trip, a party, or other high risk activity is not worth it. ***** I wish I could say the above picture was from a quiet weekend at Myrtle Beach, spent relaxing on the beach and catching up on submissions. Unfortunately, it was the single bright moment in a 24 hour nightmare. I scheduled my trip to Myrtle beach back in late July, long before hurricane Florence was even a rainstorm. I even added trip insurance to my hotel booking, well aware that September is an active month for hurricanes. The week before left, I had confirmed …

Eastern State Penitentiary 

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I absolutely love exploring historical sites, and out of all of the ones I’ve visited, Eastern State Penitentiary is one of my favorites. It’s a massive prison on the edge of Philadelphia, well known for famous prisoners, brazen escape attempts, and ghost stories. It’s a fascinating place to visit, maintained as a “preserved ruin” that has been left largely in the same state as when it was closed and abandoned, with a few cells restored to their original state.  Eastern State was the first penitentiary in the world, holding each prisoner in solitary confinement in order to inspire penitence, or strong regret. It opened in 1829, and featured an imposing exterior designed to inspire a foreboding fear. The inside of the prison was quite different, with running water, flushing toilets, and architecture that resembles a church. As time went on, the prison began to function as a more traditional prison, housing inmates together until it was closed in 1971 It was reopened to the public for historical tours in 1994  after being discovered by Steve Buscemi. …