Charleston Flower Cascade
Charleston Flower Cascade
Charleston is a city of gardens and flowers that show so well against the elegant architecture of the old town.
Eat country cooking and live to be 112. Meatloaf, fried pork chops, pecan whiting and grilled cheese are staples of Jestine's Kitchen menu in Charleston, South Carolina. There are no heart smart symbols on this menu. The restaurant had been recommended to us by an artist friend who occupied a studio just around the corner. As a native of Charleston, he knows the best places to eat in the Low Country, and this modest street-side gathering place was at the top of his list.
Glacier and Mountains
Glacier and Mountains, Alaska
Travelling south along the coast of Alaska, we encountered many technicolour panoramas of this sort. Funny isn’t it that after seeing some gorgeous things repeatedly, the viewer becomes jaded to the spectacular.
It is a long stretch between Sir Elton John and a cruise ship, but ice is common to both. Let me explain.
It is ironic that after seeing ice chunks calving from the main glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska, we returned inside for an ice carving exhibition. Chips of ice whiz through the air as the small, brown-skinned man crushes the giant chisel into the block of ice.
Courtyard at Soniat House
Courtyard at Soniat House
This French-style courtyard in our hotel, the Soniat House, is typical of the interior spaces of many townhouses in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
For $15 million U.S., it is possible to buy four quite respectable townhouses in the French Quarter of New Orleans. That is the sum paid by the United States Government to France for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. That fire sale price did include New Orleans, already a thriving French port at the mouth of the Mississippi River, along with more than 800,000 square miles—basically the land west of the Mississippi over to the Rockies.
Bunnies by the Bay
Bunnies by the Bay
Kitchen utensils are the main feature of the fence surrounding this Victorian shop in La Conner, Washington.
"Bunnies are our best friends, indeed, they do delight and give glad dreams". When I first saw this slogan on a Victorian-style sign outside Grandma's house turned store which is home to Bunnies by the Bay, I thought how incredibly quirky or possibly how soul-saddened. It turns out that possibly both of these responses are right for the two sisters who founded this company.
Wall, South Dakota
Wall, South Dakota
The small town of Wall was paved with shiny motorcycles. I am sure that hearing damage is a result of the barking Harleys driving up and down the main street. Clubs and individuals across Canada and the U.S. were represented as well as a few Europeans.
Badlands National Park in South Dakota is 244,000 square miles of land that is wedged between broad sections of Buffalo Gap National Grassland and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This piece of real estate begs for the Sons of the Pioneers' song, "All day I face the barren waste without the taste of water." When we drove through this horizontal oven at 95 degrees, we were able to appreciate its true parched flavour because the air conditioning on our car died.
Open Gates, Battery Carriage House, Charleston, S.C.
Open Gates, Battery Carriage House Inn, Charleston, South Carolina
We’ve visited the historic jewel Charleston many times. Driving north from Key West, Charleston provides a memorable springtime stop. We know that as we journey north the flowers and blossoms of South Carolina will give way to fawn coloured landscape devoid of colour, spotted by remnants of snow. Charleston also is home to many outstanding restaurants, hotels and historic buildings, all of which beckon to us.
We have visited delightful Charleston five or six times. This oceanside city with its large historic district offers solace in the early spring for northerners driving back from Florida. Unwilling to re-enter the land of cold, the traveller is offered a preview of what is to arrive in Ontario, seven weeks later however.
San Jose Mission
San Jose Mission
This historic mission on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas is now run as an interpretive and research program by the National Park Service. This Spanish Colonial edifice displays many beautiful carvings and architectural features.
This pretty vestige of Mexico is located just outside of San Antonio, Texas. Missions of this type are sprinkled across Texas and California. Although these adobe brick buildings tell us of the colonial past of Texas, they are really detached from the modern Lone Star State.
Hubbard Glacier
Hubbard Glacier
In this view of the Hubbard Glacier, I wanted to emphasize several ideas. I was taken by surprise by the iridescent colour of the glacier. The sound of the pieces breaking loose and cracking, known as calving, was also quite a spectacular feature of this tidewater glacier. Just as at Mount Edith Cavell in the Rockies near Jasper, the retreat of the glacier is obvious and disturbing. We were able to get a close view of the Hubbard Glacier from our ship, our travelling home.
For over twenty years I have enjoyed many distant cruises to dramatic spots such as Alaska and Argentina. Some of these voyages were short, such as a luxurious adventure we enjoyed on the rivers around New York City and the jungles that line those shores. A much longer journey through the Caribbean passing through the Panama Canal and on to California with stops along the way swallowed eighteen days.
Ocean Shore, Florida
Ocean Shore, Florida
I spent a month on Sanibel Island, Florida and had a chance to join a weekly painting group there. After the outside painting session, we would retire to the clubhouse where a critique was led by a retired architect. The painting of mine that joined one Tuesday line-up caused a good deal of consternation, because, as a frail mid-western lady pointed out, “He didn’t paint the view.” My idea of looking down at the beach rather than looking out at the view did not seem … well, attractive to her.
spent a month on Sanibel Island, Florida and had a chance to join a weekly painting group there. While most of the participants in the weekly plein aire painting sessions were old enough to vote several times, there was an earnestness and eagerness about the group that reminded me of some classes for teenagers that I have led.
Across From the Plaza Hotel, New York City
Across from the Plaza Hotel, New York City
I spend most of my year perfectly happy as a resident of a small city. I enjoy the time I spend in the countryside and painting the countryside. However, I am delighted when I have the opportunity to visit a huge city such as New York. The crowds, commotion, and cacophony alert my neurology. I quicken as I view the shops and restaurants, the museums and theatres. The spot that I painted here joins my regular life to this frantic metropolis time. Here at the edge of Central Park, that countryside in the city, there is a balance of quiet and chaos.
I spend most of my year perfectly happy as a resident of a small city, surrounded by countryside that I enjoy and love to paint. However, I am delighted when I have the opportunity to visit a huge city such as New York. The crowds, commotion, and cacophony alert my neurology. I quicken as I view the specialty shops and restaurants, the galleries and theatres.
