Krankies Coffee

Check out a few scenes from a quick trip to Krankies, on a sunny afternoon, for a cup of coffee and a walk around downtown Winston-Salem, NC.

Most of my shots capture details of the building decor that incorporates aspects of the coffee grinding and brewing processes to contemporary art and interior design.

...A Final Reflection...

Duke University

On Saturday, March 14, Scott and I took a day trip to Durham, NC,

specifically to visit the campus of Duke University.

(This had nothing to do with the fact that they just won the ACC; of course we could not have known this a day in advance anyway. Read more on the ACC here.) (Note: We are not necessarily Duke fans but in this case NC team fans...)

Duke University, http://www.duke.edu/, originated in 1838 and was established by Methodists and Quakers. At this time, "Duke" was known as Union Institute. It went through several changes and transformations over the next few years, and in 1859 became Trinity College. Quakers turned their attention to their own college in Guilford County and Methodists continued to support the institute in Durham. To read more on Duke History,

visit the Online Library Archives or the Wikipedia Article about Duke.

Much of the West Campus today looks quite traditional with original buildings and architecture, including Perkins Library, our main stop.

Here you can also see views outside of the library.

While Scott visited the special collections section, I spent time photographing the hallway.

The stairs and doorways are quite artistic in their styles and forms.

Finally, the lighting differences between the entry ways and library created an interesting effect for photographing.

Day Trip to Virginia

A day begins.....

On Saturday, February 14, Scott and I had dinner plans, but for the day, we just got in the car and drove. We ended up in southern Virginia.

We stopped at a town called Fort Chiswell. It is small, but with a major highway running through it. We stopped to check out an outlet center, which we thought was new, but we realized it is over 20 years old but with many stores closing due to the economy. However, the view was gorgeous, and there was an "interesting" graveyard/cemetery on the hill beside the outlets.

We drove further, to the next town and exit and stopped in Wytheville, (pronounced Withvul.) We explored downtown and enjoyed taking photos of historical sites and unique decor.

In Wytheville, our dinner plans changed when we discovered "Wohlfahrt Haus," a dinner theater. (Click here for more info.) We decided to have dinner here and see the play, "Smoke on the Mountain."

The drive was a day of enjoying sites of the Great Creation, exploring towns close to home but not yet experienced by us, and fun with laughing and always photography!

Click forte and motif to check out my art blog and see some of my more "artist" photos from the day.

A Day Trip to Lexington, NC

A Small Town

~with Barbeque

~pig decor

~traditions

~banks

LEXINGTON, NC

The Candy Factory was one of our first stops on the Main Street area. It is set up like an old general store with a few antiques in the back.

Lexington was not very busy, especially on Saturday.

Many businesses were closed but we were about to sneak a peak of some of the "artistic" pigs in Uptown Lexington.

The town is full of traditions and history.

A Weekend Trip to Our State Capital

Scott and I traveled to Raleigh last weekend to visit our friends, Aaron and Lauren.
(I first met Lauren in college; she transferred and graduated from NC State. She also met Aaron in Raleigh.)




(I doubt anyone guessed, but Lauren is around 6 months pregnant!)

We had fun at their house, playing with their animals, (Maxwell the Rabbit, Lyra the Macaw, Simba the Cat, Bailey the Dog, a snake and geiko, (what were their names, Lauren?)

My camera click and flash caused Lyra to drop her toy...

Aaron and Lauren gave us a tour of downtown, including a trip to the NC Museum of History and a view of the governor's inauguration parade. (We had no idea the inauguration was that weekend.)

To see more photos, click here for our Raleigh Picasa Web Gallery!

The Northern Neck of Virginia

Before Christmas, we visited northern Virginia. Several of Scott's relatives live in small towns in that area: Warsaw, Farnham, Kilmarnock, and Dahlgren.


This area is the northern part of 3 peninsulas, traditionally called "necks" in Virginia, and runs along the Chesapeake Bay on its western shore. The Potomac River is northern border of this area while the Rappanhannock River runs along the south of the peninsula. Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland Counties make up the Northern Neck. For more information, click wikipedia and check out the map.


The Northern Neck of Virginia is also historical. Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, Stratford Hall, (click here for info,) and George Washington's birthplace, Pope's Creek, (click here for info,) are in the area, not to mention several other historical sites and markers and churches that are a few hundred years old. Fortunately, this area preserves its history. Older buildings are well kept and functional; if they are not being used for their original purpose, they are often turned into museums, restaurants, or other businesses.


A Few Sites...

A Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Montross, VA

Views of a Shore Line

Kilmarnock Inn

An Old Theater in Mathews, VA

Biltmore Estate

We visited the Biltmore Estate on Monday, December 29 with some friends. The estate is located in Asheville, NC.

For more information or history, visit: http://www.biltmore.com/




To see our photo album and slideshow from this trip, check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/mandolinartist/BiltmoreEstate#