Marinas, Marinas, Marinas . . .

My sister Alice and I love marinas, I guess because we grew up close to the Mississippi River and that was our family's form of recreation.  Lots of fond memories. 

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on picture, then F11 key to see a larger image.

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on picture, then F11 key to see a larger image.

These are just two of the hundreds of pictures of Marinas we took on our trip to Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania last year.  We had a blast with our digital cameras.

The Cloister at Ephrata

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy.  To see a larger image, click on the picture and then on the F11 key.

I just love old buildings, especially those that are made of natural stone and I found that The Cloister at Ephrata was a treasure trove of such structures.  The grounds were beautiful, lush and green and included several stone structures, some wooden ones and even a cemetary.  There were dormitories, single dwelling homes and a church/meeting house.  My sister Alice and I spent a several hours walking around snapping pictures and taking the tour.

Jackie's Celtic Cross

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on image, then the F11 key to see a larger image.

Here's another shot I took at the Carlisle cemetary in Pennsylvania.  My future daughter-in-law (my that sounds nice) likes Celtic Crosses so this blog is for her. 

Guardians

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on picture then the F11 key to see a larger image.

I don't know what it is exactly about graveyards that attracts me but I am invaribly drawn to them, and the older they are the better.  When my sister Alice and I went on our Chesapeake Bay vacation last year we found this marvelous old cemetary in Carlisle, PA.  I didn't see a single recent gravestone and we were snapping pictures right and left when the owner/caretaker approached us and wanted to know if he could help us.  Actually I think he was planning on politely asking us to leave, but we ended up having a nice chat as we tried to explain to him our unusual love and reverence for old cemeteries.  He introduced himself as Mr. Ewing, the sole owner and caretaker for the entire cemetery. It was a task which looked to be a little more than he could handle all by himself.  He told us to stay as long as we liked and to respect the graves.   

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on picture then the F11 key to see a larger image.

Later we found this monument in a prominent spot in the cemetary and the name on it was Ewing.  Alice and I wondered if it might have been the grave of this man's mother. 

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . click on picture, then the F11 key to see a larger image.

What a colorful and charming little town Chesepeake City is.  It's right on the river and is situated off the highway and sort of under the bridge.  Alice and I just couldn't get enough of it.  We ate breakfast there, walked around taking pictures, had an ice cream cone and even took in an outdoor band concert.  And it seemed like everyone had flowers. . . flowers were everywhere. We even fantacized about someday opening up a B&B in a little town like this. 

More Flowers . . .

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . to see a larger image, click on picture, then the F11 key.

Go figure.  You give a plant a trellis to climb on and what does it do?  It climbs the post instead.  This picture was taken on the vacation my sister Alice and I took last year to Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. 

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . to see a larger image, click on picture, then the F11 key.

This picture was taken in Chesapeake City and the building is part of an Inn/Restaurant there.  Alice and I tried to eat lunch in the Restaurant bit it wasn't open until later in the day.  Too bad, because the menu looked great. 

Who Knows Where

Phone and Enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . click on picture, then the F11 key to see a larger image.

I'd be hard pressed to say exactly where this picture was taken. All I know is that it was somewhere is Maryland, Pennsylvania or Delaware.  My sister Alice and I stopped in lots of little towns during our vacation there, got out of our car and just walked around the streets soaking up the interesting houses and beautiful flowers.  Of course we can't go anywhere without our cameras and they were constantly in use.  I really liked this house with it's sidewalk lined with daisies . . or coreopsis . . or whatever.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . click on picture, then F11 to see larger image.

This picture was taken this past summer when my sister Alice and I took a vacation and went back East to Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware.  This was, I think, the favorite city for both of us. . . Chesapeake City.  It was a sleepy little town with lots and lots of older style homes that reminded me a little of our home town, only smaller.  It too was situated right beside a river.   We had such a fun time galavanting all over a three state area with our digital cameras . . something that would have driven our husbands up a wall had they been along.

Oh, Happy Day !!!

No time to post a nice blog right now.  I gotta get ready for a dinner party tonight, but I JUST THIS MINUTE got my home computer back on the cable modem.   YEAH !!!