St James Beach
Here is one more shot of St James Beach on a lovely Saturday morning, before the awful weather this week. At least Summer is starting to make appearances. This section is a little rocky, but still a lovely spot where you can stop for a few minutes to watch and listen to the waves.
By the way, I took with my Canon S95 point and shoot, which I am loving. Small, light and easy to take with you. A perfect companion while my 50D is in hospital.
Flying High in a DA40
This is the last of the current batch of USA shots.
One of the highlights (excuse the pun) of our time in Delaware was our flight in Marc’s aeroplane. He is the proud owner of a Diamond Air DA40 aeroplane, which is incredibly cute! We took off from Wilmington Airport, and took a 40 minute trip over Delaware Bay.
DA-40 during the pre-flight check
A technical aside, for those of you that say the iPad is just a toy, the flight plan was logged using an iPad, and maps of the airport, runways and flight were on the iPad during the flight (in addition to the Garmin flight deck stuff in the aircraft).
Ready to go – (Photo by Lois Strachan)
The trip was great fun an uneventful (which is a good thing), two days later we were braced down for Huricane Irene, so it was a good interlude with the wonderful weather.
HDR shot of the aircraft, a copy is now on the wall in Marc’s study :-)
Coming in to land on runway 19 (ie 190 degrees on the map).
While the runway looked very short, it can easily land a 737, it is over 2km long. The trip was fantastic, and definitely a highlight of our trip. Thanks to Marc for taking us on the trip, and a huge thanks to both Marc and Patti for looking after us so well during our (extended) trip. Hope to do more flying soon.
Last shot, just before takeoff
Dogfish Head Brewery
I first read about Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE in Smithsonian Magazine. So when we arrived in Delaware and discovered that it was just an hours drive away, or course we had to go for a visit.
The first thing you notice when you arrive is the strange treehouse outside the main doors. This 8 ton treehouse was originally created for the Burning Man festival, and apparently was bought by the brewery for $1, and it cost a few thousand dollars to move it (at least according to the tour guide).
The brewery is home to some unusual but yummy beers (but at 12%, be careful. Some of these beers will knock you down). My favourite was Midas Touch, which according to their website is made to a recipe which
“…is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! It is an ancient Turkish recipe using the original ingredients from the 2700 year old drinking vessels discovered in the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between wine & mead”
At 9%, Midas touch is quite a light beer (by their standards). Smooth with a lovely honey taste (but not sweet), a very refreshing drink. The brewery offer a free short guided tour, followed by a tasting of four of their beers (it is best to book for the tour well in advance – we were lucky to get on the tour at the last minute).
Some of the beer is fermented in these huge wooden tanks, made from a really heavy and hard wood (you need diamond blades to cut it), and the tanks last for 10 years.
About 20 minutes drive from the brewery is their restaurant, where you can (again) drink their beers along with a selection of pub meals. A very civilised way to spend the day. If I could get their beer in South Africa, I would be stocking up.
Finally, thanks to much to the waitress that gave me a free pack of beer coasters for my braai room, much appreciated and they are safe in their new home.
To find out more or to contact them, call 1-888-8dogfish.
Las Vegas at night
Vegas never sleeps! You can walk onto the strip any time of day or night, and there are people walking around, street performers and traffic.
This street performer is one of the best acrobats I have ever seen. I can only assume that he used to work for one of the Circ de Soleil shows, because he was astonishing. I could not believe the positions that he put himself into.
The strip at about 10pm on a Sunday night, note the bumper to bumper traffic. I also love the hotel on the top right; it reminds me of the matrix.
This hot air balloon is outside the Paris hotel, one of the Vegas landmarks.
These retro signs are found outside many of the casino’s. It really reminds me of the old James Bond movies.
Finally, the entrance to Bally’s Hotel. The red lighting continuously merges into different colours, so you can probably shoot whatever colour you want if you have patience.
Bally’s Hotel
It is really hot in Vegas at the moment, about 35 degrees or so. So while it might look lazy to use these moving travellators, it simply gets far too hot in the heat of Vegas to walk around everywhere. So you find yourself taking every shortcut possible to remain a little cooler, such as using the covered walkways and taking shortcuts through the hotels.
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