Up North Michigan Road Trip

In early August we went on a road trip to stay with family at their summer cottage in the idyllic Bay View community in Petoskey on the shores of Lake Michigan. The road trip there was not all that exciting (mile after mile of high speed driving on the PA and OH Turnpikes and then even more white knuckle driving on the 75 mph route 75 through central Michigan) but, ah, what a sweet destination. The image above is a pleasant gazebo stop off as a pedestrian heads down to the lakeshore.

 The Bay View community, named a National Historic Landmark in 1987, was established in 1875 as a religious campsite for the Detroit Conference and the Michigan Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Today it is a summer community comprising 337 acres, 447 privately owned cottages (including 400 built prior to 1900), two inns, one bed and breakfast inn and 31 additional buildings belonging to the Bay View Association. Most of the cottages are Victorian in style and this is what caused the community to first be recognized in 1957 by placement on the Michigan List of Historic Places. The sweet blue cottage pictured above became an early favorite of mine.

 Complementing the pretty cottages are some picture perfect flower gardens. This was just a small portion of a newly planted rain garden.

 This is one of the newest cottages. It is located right next to Sunset Park where the bicycles just seem prone to gather in happy chaos each and every day.

 Down on the lakeshore are the recreation club facilities. On this day there was a stiff breeze blowing and that seagull on the roof was clinging on and leaning into the wind to maintain it's spot overlooking the hive of activity on the shoreline.

 There is a wide roster of activities available and the youth are well taken care of. In the afternoon there are sailing lessons in one of the Bay View starfish fleet to teach how to sail in all conditions.

This cottage is one of the most photographed in the community. Well located alongside busy route 31 it directly overlooks the lake.

 Same cottage, side view. Check out that detail on the roofline!

 Another view of the rain garden.

 Such a well sited cottage, set back from the road and up on a knoll. Many of the cottages display flags out front and porches are a common feature.

 Why yes, I was captivated by the vision of the children's bikes just dropped off at the park before their riders headed down to the shore activity zone.

 Speaking of the shore, the safe way to get there is to use the pedestrian overpass which takes you from Sunset Park over busy route 31 and deposits you near the gazebo.

 Quick, capture the moment! He did indeed stop which gave me time to set up my shot.

 Can you guess where this was taken from? Why yes, you are correct... Sunset Park.

After the sunset it was a leisurely stroll back up the hill to the family cottage. My sister-in-law pointed out how stringing porch lights has become quite popular.

Come back in a few days for the next installment.

Not Quite a Total Solar Eclipse

Yesterday it was all about nature as she treated us to a total solar eclipse here. I thought I should grab the opportunity to get back to blogging.

With all the scary stories about the potential to damage your eyesight I will state upfront that I did not take any direct photos of the event. We were lucky enough to have a couple of pairs of the special glasses, courtesy of a friend who is a volunteer at the Udvar Hazy National air and Space Museum, but still, I was not taking too many chances.

 People had said to watch for nature using the trees as a "pin hole" camera. The crepe myrtle on the back deck was obliging in that respect.

 Toying with what to make this post about as I had very few photos my eyes lit upon another small miracle of nature; this self seeded petunia in the hibiscus pot and I let my glasses pose there momentarily.

 More crescent shadows. Alas, right at the central five minutes of totality (although, living where we do we were never going to have full totality) clouds rolled over the sun totally obscuring the big moment. But the clouds did keep breaking away for the second half of the main show and we were happy we got to see as much as we did of the big event.

 Much later in the day the sun was full on bright again.

The sunset almost passed un-noticed but I did see this last patch of color.

Now let's see if I can sort through the 500+ images on the photo card from our early August vacation before too much time passes.

Mothers Day Outing to Monticello

 Our Mothers Day trip to Monticello, beloved home of the third President of the USA, Thomas Jefferson, took place a week late. Nevertheless, the gardens were magnificent so if you are not into photographs of gardens you might as well quit now.

 From the west lawn, Jefferson's favorite aspect of his home, you get an early glimpse of the bountiful display currently made by the larkspur and poppies. I have to assume they self-seed as they are plentiful throughout the entire flower and vegetable garden areas just now.

 Glorious color to set off the carefully designed building.

 These are also poppies but not a type I have seen before. Check out the leaves. Do you know what they are?

 This one bloom was almost too perfect to be natural don't you think? Poppies are an enduring love of mine; I collect patterns to make wallquilts featuring them and regard them as an icon of my heritage because of my dad's service in WWII and my grandpop's service in WWI.

We went on  the tour inside the house but no photographs are allowed. Later we went on the garden tour and that was the favorite part of our outing. This view is from the vegetable garden (yes, those poppies are everywhere!) looking towards the textile shops which are currently closed for refurbishment.

Each year Jefferson had a competition with his next door neighbor to see who could have the first peas of the season. Apparently the neighbor usually won. Many different varieties of peas are grown in the huge vegetable garden of today. We had to be strong to resist the desire to pluck just one of these pods to try them. Fresh peas picked straight from the garden and immediately eaten bring back memories of visiting my grandpop's garden when I was a child and thought this was a great treat.

More poppies and larkspur in the vegetable garden area looking up towards the storehouse for iron.

In case you thought there wasn't actually a vegetable garden...here's a more distant view. Jefferson had this small pavilion built so he could go sit and enjoy the views of his estate. We learned that he like to sit in the pavilion in the early evening.

 The west lawn is bordered with a  winding walk bordered on both sides for much of the way by flower beds. The gardeners of today try to use the same methods that were employed in Jefferson's time and here we see the use of twigs to support the sweet peas. You'll note the same method was used for the edible peas in the vegetable garden. And, correct me if I am wrong, the foxgloves in the foreground are making a pretty sight.

 I was reminded of flowers I have had in previous gardens many times during the visit. The rose campions in the foreground grew well in my garden in New Jersey and seem to like the climate up here on the small mountain outside Charlottesville. I wonder how they would fare in the humidity of my Northern Virginia garden?

 

 Tucked away in a corner area out of sight of the buildings is Jefferson's grave and the family cemetery. This is still a family cemetery in use by Jefferson's descendants and is enclosed, for privacy, in a tall metal fence.

I had planned to end your tour at the cemetery but the beauty of these simple flowers so captivated me I had to give you just one more shot.

It was a lovely outing despite the somewhat grey sky and cooler temperature. Back home I am full of disdain for the weeds which are currently flourishing in my own garden and very eager to get out there, weed, tidy and plant flowers for the summer. But the weather has other ideas and rainy days are forecast for the next few days. Perhaps there's time to plan and go out and see if I can source some rose campion and/or poppies.

How grows your garden?

From My Spring Garden

 The Easter bunny made an advance visit around the same time as the bluebells on April 12. My garden must be in a cold spot as I notice my blooms are several days behind others in the area.

 The blue muscari looked good this year and they are echoed in color by the backup of the bluebells.

 Continuing the blue theme I wondered why this chickadee was clinging to the front of the bird house. It never did tell me why but it hung there for several minutes.

 By April 17 the dogwoods were looking pretty and there was a smattering of blue blooms from the vinca groundcover below.

 Like the cherry trees, the dogwood blossoms seem to change color somewhat as they age.

 The early morning sun cutting through the backyard does make for pretty views. The strong wind we have had for much of the month makes it hard to get good clear photos. Oh well.

 Lilac season in my back garden began on the 27th. Last season we pruned the lilac out front but I guess we did it too late because it had no blooms at all this season.

 Following close on the heels of the lilac blooms was the purple clematis out front.

 It has a glorious display this year.

 This one is a different sort of periwinkle (vinca) than the groundcover under the dogwoods.

 The humble volunteer daisies are allowed in my garden.

Rounding out the month was another clematis.

And there you have it - a brief look at my April garden.

A Day Out in Cherry Blossom Season

Here in the nation's Capitol area one of the big events is the blooming of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. This is an event laid on for us by Mother Nature and it is always a surprise as to the timing. For 2017 we had a warm February and early March and then , just as the buds were reaching maturity, we had a March snow event. This threw all predictions of peak cherry blossom out the window.

 On Sunday we took a walk through the major cherry blossom area pausing to look at many of the major monuments of Washington DC. The cold weather in the week of March 13 had clearly had an impact on the cherry blossom buds. As you can see above it was a hit or miss result but the "hits" were as lovely as ever.

 We rode the Metro into DC and got off at Smithsonian station and headed down towards the Tidal Basin. One of our early stops afforded us this wonderful view across the Basin and up the hill on the other side with a great view of the Robert E Lee Memorial within the grounds of the Arlington National Cemetery. The area was alive with visitors intent on making the most of their visit...and wasn't it special if you could take a swan boat out onto the basin and pedal round for a time?

 The Jefferson Memorial is a major focus on any trip to the Tidal Basin area. In cherry blossom season an outing here on the weekend is as much about the people you encounter as it is about the cherry blossoms. People are everywhere enjoying the season and moments to capture the beauty of the blossoms have to be carefully sought if they are not to include people in the photographs.

 Those swan boats captured my attention because I do not recall seeing them in earlier seasons. When we walked by the are where the paddle boats for hire are lined up I was entranced by the vision of the sparkling blue boats waiting to go out on the water watched over by one lone swan.

 People watching becomes a major occupation of the day. Cameras (ranging from seriously big cameras to the more likely cellphone selfie approach) are everywhere and I always notice the people who have consciously chosen their apparel to fit the background. Much less common is those who have their hair match the cherry blossom color theme!

 Walking round the Tidal Basin affords many different views and sometimes a well known building will seemingly pop up when you least expect it. e.g. I could have walked right by this spot and not noticed the view of the Capitol if my companion, number one son, had not pointed it out to me.

On the Potomac River side of the basin the crowds seemed to be not as dense. Maybe that was because the sidewalks are much more narrow and the trees are closer to the waters edge. At one point I saw a fellow who was seemingly walking on water; as we got closer it became apparent that it must have been high tide and the water had covered over the sidewalk for a short distance.

 Almost to the end of our walk alongside the water I paused to capture this moment when the Washington Monument was reflecting in the water. But the real question is - just what is that clock tower to the left of the monument?

Turning away from the Basin we got into the serious monument zone. The FDR Memorial covers a very large area and is not much more than 15-20' high so it is hard to get a good photo when the crowds are large. But the newer Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is a massive statement and hard to miss.

 The Korean War Memorial is very poignant with the seemingly life sized portrayal of the American GI's walking through the undergrowth.

 Did you know there is an Einstein Memorial in Washington DC? It is right there on Constitution Avenue in front of the National Academy of Sciences. A major piece of bronze, Einstein measures 21' from the top of his head to the tip of his right foot. Visitors are encouraged to send their "photos with Albert" to instagram and the likes so it was difficult to catch Albert alone.

 By the time we reached this bay of Capital Bikeshare bicycles, adjacent to Albert on Constitution Ave, I was wondering if I would have been able to pedal my way round the route we had walked and felt any less tired. Clearly some people had decided to use this option. But on we walked.

We headed up hill on 23rd Street with the Foggy Bottom Station as our destination. Passing this interesting building, the Pan American Health Organization, had us pause once more to admire the architecture; a circular building with a concrete lattice facade backed up by a taller building with a mostly glazed exterior.

Finally we walked through the campus of the George Washington University on our way to the metro station to carry us back to Virginia.

A great day out!