Photo of the Week #2 - Glacier Bay- Alaska

Taken in 1999 with Nikon film-based camera and scanned.

Photo of the Week #1

I’m going to take a page out of my daughter’s book on blogging! Although what I am doing is an idea I got from what she does with her weekly scrapbook entry, but what I will be doing will not come close to what she does; but I can dream!

So what I plan to do is post at least one photo of places we have been in the past few years. I mean, this blog was started as a blog to report on our travels and it came about at my daughters suggestion. So here goes with the first of many to come:

So for the first photo why not post one from right here in the U S of A. This photo was taken in 2001 in Moncks Corner, SC just north of Charleston. It a great place to visit, not for the beautiful scenic views but one can rent a canoe, as we did, and really enjoy the beauty.

Methodist Orphanage - Raleigh, NC

The state of NC erected the above State Historical Marker in Raleigh, NC celebrating the history of the Methodist Orphanage (currently named Methodist Home for Children). This event is near and dear to my heart, since two of my sisters, one of my brothers and I, called this place our home; for me, just over ten years from early 1946 until I graduated from high school in June 1956.

The Methodist Orphanage (MO) was founded in 1899 by the North Carolina Methodist Church and has served over 2700 orphans before transitioning between 1979-1984 to a community based family services organizations.

Orphanages over the years have gotten a really bad rap, but this orphanage was the “cream of the crop”. The best way to judge this is by looking at those who graduated from the MO. This can be done, because each year there is a reunion of the MO graduates in Raleigh, NC. A finer group of men and women you will never meet. It is a rare graduate who did not become a pillar of his community. This is a subject I would love to explore in more detail in later blogs.

Entrance to the Orphanage ca 1953. The address was 1001 Glenwood Avenue and was know by the orphans as, "the foot of the hill" since to get to the the main part of the campus one must go up a hill for about 1/2 mile.

This is the Van Building: the administration and School building where all twelve grades had classes. The student body was, at most, around 200 kids at its peak. In the mid to late fifties it was much smaller and one of the reasons why the charter of the Orphanage changed

Class of 1956: This is all there was; we started high school with about thirty students. Some left because their family changes and was able to take them out of the orphanage, some funk a class or two and some just dropped out of school.

Old Pictures from Around the World

Since this is a blog about trips made over the years, I thought I would take some of my favorite pictures taken over the past fifty years and publish them. This may be the first of many to come and maybe more back and white; we will see. Thanks Peggy for the thought!

This is one of my favorite of a bridge in Frankfurt am Main, Germany taken about 1957 with my first 35mm camera: a Cita camera or at least I think that was the name. I also developed and printed this picture, so that may be why it isn't too good! I doubt if this bridge is still standing. If any knows, let me know.

A junk cruising the South China Seas in Hong Kong. It is a little foggy so not really clear.This was taken in 1982.

The last train stop on the Orient Express: Kowloon, Hong Kong. I love this tower and thank God when they moved the station they saved the tower. Picture taken in ca 1981 before the Culture Center was built and before the tower was added to the Peninsular Hotel.

Just one of the many canals in Venice. I like this one because of all the colors. As anyone who has been to Venice knows, every corner is a "photo moment". Picture was taken in 2001.

This picture was taken in Guangdong Province ca 1982. I missed getting the picture of the baby, but I thought this would make a good picture. I love to take pictures of people especially when I think it is an unusual situation.

The old Peak Tram Station in Hong Kong. I believe the new station was opened about 2002. Picture take in ca 1982.

Manchu Picchu, one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is, how does one describe this shot, like maybe: spiritual!

A little girl in Cusco, Peru.

I love these old trucks, well I guess you could call them trucks even though it looks like it has a motorcycle engine. Taken on one of your tours to China; Jenny and her sister were shopping which left me to my own devices: taken pictures.

This shot was taken in Salzburg, Austria in ca 1958. A color slide I scanned several years ago. I can't believe that this slide and about 150 other slides I took in the '50's are still in pretty good condition. I have almost thrown those slides away several times when I moved many times over the past years. I'm just so happy I didn't!

Boscobel Mansion - Garrison, NY

This mansion is so much different than Lynhurst; it is what we might call a gentleman farmer’s home, albeit a rich gentleman. Its design is from the Federal design school made popular after the Revolution War and copied much from Roman and Greek Architectural (sometimes called Neoclassical Design). I like it a lot; it is simple and to the point.

The origination of the word Boscobel is believed to have come from the oak tree in which Charles II supposedly hid after his defeat by Oliver Cromwell in the battle of Worcester (1651). The tree was near the Boscobel House, which still stands today near Albrighton, England.

The Boscobel Mansion was constructed in 1804 in Montrose, NY (about fifteen miles south of present day site of Boscobel)by States Dyckman. He was a descendant of one of the early Dutch families of New Amsterdam. As a Loyalist during the American Revolution, States became a clerk for the British Army's Quartermaster Department in New York. He was recalled to London in 1779 and stayed for ten years. When he returned he married his neighbor, a very rich young lady and proceed to build the Boscobel Mansion. Unfortunately in 1806, Mr. Dyckman died.

The Boscobel Mansion eventually ended up in the hands of Veterans Administration who decided to raze the house. A committee was formed to save the house; purchased land in Garrison, NY; and about 1955 the house was moved to Garrison,NY.

State of the art washing machine for early 1800's.

And the matching dryer!

Jenny standing beside the beautiful view: Hudson River and West point in the distance on the right (west side of the Hudson).

Lynhurst Mansion - Tarrytown, NY

Lynhurst was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1838. It is an excellent example of Gothic Revival Design and in fact may be the best in the US. The first owner was Retired NYC Mayor and Congressman William Paulding; around 1864 merchant George Merritt bought the mansion and double its size; then the infamous railroad tycoon Jay Gould purchased the mansion in 1880. I will not go into all the financial manipulation and dealings of Mr. Gould; you can read it yourself, but suffice it to say that he would have fit in perfectly with the likes of Bernie Madoff.

The one puzzling thing I saw in the mansion was the use of “faux finish" Design. I guess it was popular in early 19th century but to look at marble and leather walls and find out that it is paster and paint, left me a little cold.