November 17, 2024

Agecroft Hall

In June, Jourdan and Stefani came over to spend the weekend with Melanie and I for Fathers day. They had proposed a trip to Agecroft Hall in outside of Richmond as a nice day out. Having never heard of Agecroft Hall before, I investigated. It’s a fascinating story of an English manor which fell into disuse and was purchased by T.C. Williams Jr in 1925. The useable parts of the building were disassembled, shipped across the Atlantic and reassembled overlooking the James river in Richmond. It’s an interesting story, and we like old buildings, so it was perfect for a day out. The camera used for these images is the…

August 27, 2023

Apple Blossom Festival

Well, this is a bit awkward…. Completed missed this opportunity to yapp about a wonderful experience. H’mmm, “old-timers” disease perhaps? Well, we’ll leave that discussion for another day. As part of my retirement celebration, the kids and I decided to visit the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA. It’s kind of an odd thing, as this is held at the same time as the Wine Festival in Winchester. The difference is the Apple Blossom Festival is free to enter while the Wine Festival is a paid entry. It made for an interesting situation getting around in Winchester, and it definitely wasn’t an ideal situation. Hopefully the Winchester folks can see…

August 16, 2023

Fairfax Cemetery

A couple of weeks ago, I grabbed the Fuji X100f and headed out for a walk to the Fairfax Cemetery. I’ve walked through the cemetery a couple of times before, but this trip was solely for photographic purposes. It prolly wasn’t the ideal day for photography as it was very bright and sunny that day. I’m fond of dark, contrasty imagery, and that can be a challenge in the bright sunlight. Oh well. The cemetery is about a mile away on the other side of the Fairfax Courthouse. An interesting factoid about the Fairfax Courthouse is this is where the infamous Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial was conducted. Don’t ask me…

June 18, 2023

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Fathers Day out there to all “fathers and father like figures” out there. LOL. I saw that phrase in the media recently and had to chuckle. Sign of the times I suppose. Looking back in the photo archive for Father’s Day entries, I found a particularly memorable Father’s Day where Meghan and I hopped into Agnes (her Mini Convertible), put the top down and did a complete run down Skyline Drive. For those who don’t know, Skyline Drive runs 105 miles north and south along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park and is the only public road through the Park. We are no newcomers…

April 15, 2023

Yorktown Battlefield

Before we start, a heads up. I’ve turned commenting on in the site. Comments have to be approved so your witty remarks won’t be immediately posted. Let’s see how this works out. I’ve also set WordPress to accept comments on posts less than 14 days old. Seems logical. Anyway, it’s all a work in progress. Melanie and I decided to spend New Years in Williamsburg getting to know our new “home town”. I used some Hilton points to book a room at the Embassy Suites in Williamsburg. All in all, if I’m honest, I can’t recommend this facility. We have stayed here a couple of times and it’s just not…

December 18, 2022

Manassas National Battlefield

Precursor: Some time back, I stumbled across a “final post” on a blog I had never before heard of; Leicaphilia. I don’t consider myself to be a particular Leicaphile, but this final post was quite poignant. The blogger, who was a dedicated Leicaphile, had been fighting stomach cancer for some time. He had just been sent home from his latest visit to the hospital to die. Doctors gave him a week, maybe two to live. So he posted a farewell to all the friends he had made worldwide via his blogging about Leica’s and film photography. Only. he didn’t. This was several months ago and Tim is still with us….