Footloose in Philadelphia

I took the train to Philadelphia with no plans other than to walk around and take pictures of whatever caught my eye. This is just a small part of what I saw today. Maybe I should grow a beard like the guy in the bottom picture. :-)

I took some pictures that will be great for Skywatch Friday, I can't wait to post them.

To see other My World Tuesday posts please click here.

Philadelphia Foursome

The weather is supposed to be nice this week so maybe I'll go to Philadelphia, Camden New Jersey or even New York. I need my city photo fix. I just noticed that not only are there four photos, but also four bicycles and four eagles.

Bird Watching is Serious Business

Last week I presented Simba with his "I want water look." Today he is in bird-watching mode.

To see other Camera Critters please click here.

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The Gloved One

I've heard stories of Elvis Presley, "The King of Rock n Roll," being spotted in donut shops after his death . Then I saw this guy in a Dunkin Donuts and wondered, am I the first person to see the "King of Pop" in a donut shop? Could that be....................?

At that moment he did a quick spin, then up came the glove, and I knew. I just stood there smiling as he moon walked out the door. I'm sorry for the poor quality of the pictures and for not having Billie Jean playing in the background. :-) This was a sight that was too strange to keep to myself.

Have a great weekend!

Awards

I really do appreciate awards even though I don't always pass them on. Today I would like to accept these two awards from Thom. Thom has a really lively blog called Thom's Place 4 Well Whatever. Join him in some fun Hawaiian Style. Thanks Thom!

Now I would like to pass these awards to the following bloggers whom I follow and enjoy regularly. If you wish to pass them to others feel free, if not just accept them with my compliments. I would also like to encourage anyone who reads this to stop by their blogs and just say hello. It's always nice to get comments. OK, OK here they are. :-)

1)Lucy the Cat at Lucy's Cat Lounge

2)Malyss at Chronicles from the Shore

3)Martha at The Daily Grind

4)Sistertex at Spacial Peepol

5)M_M at Nowy Sacz Daily Photo

6)Bonnie Bonsai at Australia:quadrat in focus

7)Sunny at Barnyards and Barnacles

8)Ebie at The Main Ingredient

North vs South

This is the Smith Civil War Memorial in Philadelphia's Fairmont park.

Fairmont is the park that just keeps on giving. (things to photograph)

The Memorial was erected between 1897 and 1912 under a bequest of Richard Smith. Among the military and naval men immortalized here are Generals Hancock, McClellan, Meade, Reynolds, and Admirals Porter and Dahlgren.

It looks like the heroes of the South are on the left and the heroes of the North are on the right.

I was surprised by the size of this monument, it's really tall and very impressive.

To see other Skywatch Friday posts please click here.

Nostalgia in Overdrive

These are some pictures I took yesterday at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley Pennsylvania. It was a pleasant surprise to see this classic California scene.

Sure ,the classic car was nice, but what really caught my eye was the Bob's Big Boy tray and the drive-in movie speaker on the car's door. Immediately, wonderful childhood memories flooded in.

Bob's Big Boy was a huge part of the Southern California food culture, In-N-Out Burger is another. When I was growing up, Bob's was the go-to restaurant for a good Big Boy hamburger or even a delicious stack of pancakes. They also had wonderful milkshakes. There was always a larger-than-life, colorful statue of Big Boy (like the mini one in the tray above) in front of every restaurant. Sometime around the 1980's Bob's started to disappear.

The original Bob's Big Boy is still in Burbank, CA, and I see that Big Boy restaurants without the Bob are popping up around the country. I'm not sure I would trust the nouveau Big Boys sans Bob.

Is there any American over 40 years old who doesn't have fond memories of drive-in movies? What happen to them? I don't know if they were popular in other countries.

I mentioned In-N-Out Burger, which in my opinion has the best fast food hamburgers, fries and shakes in the world. They can only be found in and around Southern California. I look forward to my next trip home in January. :-)

A Strange Duck Making a Big Splash

A few months ago I saw this strange sightseeing vehicle in Baltimore, and didn't think much about it.

Then a few weeks ago I saw another one in Philadelphia. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it rolling in to the harbor.

SPLASH! Duck sounds, loud cheers and clapping! Quack Quack!

My camera was clicking and my mouth was open as it drove away on the water.

Later I heard a horn and saw our duck friends enjoying themselves on the water.

I need to give this a try. I just wonder if they fly? Quack!

To see other Watery Wednesday posts please click here.

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Deco Blues

The Art Institute of Philadelphia meets l'heure bleue.

The Ruins of Bridgetown Mill (c1704)

A window to another time.
The Mill being reclaimed by nature.

Let's take a peek through the old shutters.

A tree took root on the side of the old mill many years ago.
This is the side that catches my eye every time I pass.

You may remember last month I posted half of an old millstone that I found on the side of this mill, or the window view that framed the sky. Today I would like to share more of the old Bridgetown Mill ruins that I see from the road when I pass by. One day last month I decided to stop and have a closer look. I found out that the ruins are part of The Bridgetown Mill House Inn. The Old Mill House (c1791) is nearby and I'll post some pictures at another time.

I was fortunate enough to be the only person on the property when I took these pictures.

The following is the history of the mill taken from its website:

"In 1777 Joseph Jenks purchased The Bridgetown Mill. Joseph Jenks was a prominent family of Quakers in Bucks County. They traced their decent from Thomas Jenks (1699-1797), who, born in England, traveled with his parents to Pennsylvania in 1700. In 1731 he married and in 1734 established his 818-acre homestead in Middletown Township.
In the early 1700's Thomas Jenks built and operated a fulling mill, one of the first in Bucks County, specializing in homespun goods. The mill was formerly located along Core Creek, approximately one and one half miles northeast of the (Preston) Bridgetown Mill. His son Thomas (1738-1799) played an important role in local and national politics, serving in the Colonial Assembly (1773), Constitutional Convention (1789-1790), and the State Senate (1790-1799).
His son Joseph (1743-1820), who first purchased the Bridgetown Mill built in 1704 by Jonas Preston, is reported to have been a major agriculturist in Bucks County. Not only did he operate the Bridgetown Mill, he also operated his father's fulling mill and among other land holdings, assembled a 51-acre tract immediately east of Bridgetown, known today as Edgemont.
Joseph's son William (1766-1818) not only operated the gristmill, but also farmed the 51-acre tract. In 1791 Joseph built a handsome mansion house on the same tract as the Bridgetown Mill and made a gift of his homestead and mills to William and his wife Mary. The house was referred to as The Bridgetown Mill House.
Before William's death he bequeathed the homestead and mill to his sons Joseph (1792-1869) and Charles (1798-1823). William's wife Mary was to receive at least one half of the mill house, two horses, two cows, sufficient firewood, and an allowance of $600 per year. Charles is credited with the construction of the Federal style dwelling known as Edgemont, shortly after he inherited the 51-acre farm in 1820. Joseph continued to operate the Jenks mills until the mid-1840's. He is said to have amassed considerable wealth as a merchant miller.
The Bridgetown Mill and Mill House were sold in 1847 to Samuel Comfort, who operated the mill. In 1876 the property was sold to Benjamin Woodman and remained in the Woodman family until 1953. The mill continued to operate until 1939. In 1995, the Da Costa's purchased the mill and mill house along with 8.2 acres. The last of the 818-acre original homestead. After over two and a half years of restoration, The Bridgetown Mill House opened for the first time as an Inn in June of 1998. In April of 2003, we also added a full service restaurant, making it a true Country Inn.
As for the gristmill (c1704) it is only a structural shell of what it once was, but a complete restoration is planned in the future. As you enter The Bridgetown Mill House you will experience the grandeur of the past. We welcome you to share in the splendor!"


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Give Me Water and lots of it!

Things get ugly really quick if Simba doesn't get his fresh water right away. :-)

Actually Simba is the friendliest cat around, and he loves people. We adopted him about 10 yrs ago and he only has the use of three of his legs because he was hit by a car when he was a kitten. Now he is 13 yrs old and he gets around fine and shows no sign of pain despite his crippled back leg. He loves to hear running water and drinks plenty of it. He also likes to talk and he sleeps by my head at night.

The vet says he is in great shape for his age.

To see other Monochrome Weekly posts please click here.

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To see Simba in a better mood please click here or here.

Anything for the Shot

So I had my snacks by my side and just started to settle in and get comfortable enough to take a really great shot. Then BAM! I got trampled by a crowd of people! All I asked Vicki to do was warn me if somebody was coming. So what does she do? Yep, you guessed it. She takes my picture while I'm at my most vulnerable. :-0

That was a joke. Actually I saw this guy on the ground with snacks taking pictures so I had to get a picture of him. Then I took a picture of the same building, while standing on my feet of course.. :-) It's the top photo.

I've seen this type of thing before. If you want a good laugh click here to see the picture that I took of a photographer on the ground in Dallas.

Have a fun Weekend!

Turtle Rock Light

This light house is right next to the Viking statue on Boathouse Row , and was built in 1887 to aid traffic on the Schuylkill River.

To see Skywatch Friday posts from all over the world or if you would like to post your own please click here.

Something's Missing

When I was walking around Lambertville New Jersey this Catholic school wall caught my eye, and I thought it might look interesting in sepia.

To see other Sepia Scenes please click here.

Thorfinn Karlsefni Gaurding the Schuylkill

It was such a beautiful day when I went to Fairmont Park so let's continue with a couple of views of this very imposing statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni who seems to be the gaurdian of the Schuylkill River. The Ballon in the background is from the 135 yr old Philadelphia Zoo, a place that I hope to visit soon. Can you imagine the pictures that I could get if I was in that balloon?

The statue was created in 1917 by Icelandic sculptor Einar Jónsson and the plaque was added some years later.

To see other Watery Wedneday posts please click here.

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Please Touch Me?

This is Memorial Hall which is now home to the Please Touch Me Museum. I really like the look of the building, but have no interest in the museum.(It looks like a great place for kids though) It's located on the other side of the Schuylkill River ("SKOO-kull") from where I took the other Fairmont Park pictures. This is a really great park.

Last week my world was New York this week it's Philadelphia, it's nice being in the middle.

To see other My World Tuesday posts please click here.

A Closer Look at the Bridge and Beyond

Fairmont Park continues far past the sturdy old railroad bridge, but this is as far as I ventured this time.

Working on the Railroad

This is the Connecting Railroad Bridge in Philadelphia which I think was built in the 1860's or 70's. Above it is a statue called The Laborer; it's by Ahron Ben-Shmuel 1952 (inscription: He wrought miracles).

The statue looks to be of an Asian laborer who are famous for building America's railroads in the 1800's.

The statue is the same one that I had a little fun with on Something Sighted.

Looking up in Philadelphia

Once again it's time for Skywatch Friday. I love taking pictures of interesting things with a beautiful sky in the background. This week I present part of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Some of the middle fence posts seem to be pointing to the train headed for Camden New Jersey.

The bottom picture is the color version of William Penn and his Pigeons. I can't imagine what William or Benjamin would think of the colossal bridge or the speeding train in the picture above him.

To see other Skywatch Friday posts please click here.

Happy Skywatching!

A Nice Day in Philadelphia

I took these pictures last Friday. Do you recognize the lamps in the bottom picture?(Hint=yesterday's B&W photo) This is the restaurant where I had lunch and took the picture of the battleship from my table. The middle picture is the top of the Seaport museum which I haven't been to yet. The top picture is a cool old ship that has been turned into a restaurant. I'll post more pictures of it at another time.