miscellaneous – Page 8

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

Yes, Giants Matter

I’ve been a fan of kitschy roadside stuff for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it started with the big Yogi Bear statue at the Jellystone Park campground my family frequented in the mid- to late-1970s. It was about 20 feet tall and, like the one pictured on the right, included a basket into which people could climb for photo ops. (I’ll have to dig to see if I can find one of those pics.)

Even before I saw that Yogi, I remember seeing and being delighted by those trashcans at amusement parks topped with lids that were made to look like the head of a clown, lion, bear, or other animal so that you could “feed” your garbage to whatever critter topped the can. Anyone else remember those? If I am not mistaken, some even were equipped with some sort of device that created suction, like a vacuum cleaner, so that when you held trash close enough to the mouth it got sucked in.

I don’t know why the stuff amuses, intrigues, and delights me, it just does. I’m not just talking about big statues of men and animals, but all of the goofy Americana stuff that was once used to advertise and/or make a business stand out. Like Muffler Men.

You knew I was headed there, didn’t you?

Like I said, I’ve always liked these big guys, along with other roadside oddities, but it wasn’t until I met Fuzzy (aka Rachael) that I learned these big guys have names and, even better, a following. Other people think they’re important, too.

Recently, I learned about American Giants, a very interesting and well-done series of videos featuring Muffler Men in various locations produced by Joel Baker (a Muffler Men hobbyist) and his crew. I learned a lot from those videos, which made me appreciate Muffler Men even more. If you want the back story on these big guys, read this article and/or visit the American Giants — Muffler Men website to learn more. Of course RoadsideAmerica.com has a Muffler Men Map within the section of their site dedicated specifically to Muffler Men.

Anyway… I actually saw two giants on my recent loop through Virginia and Maryland.

Fallen Giant

I HAD to visit the Big Viking of Chincoteague before leaving the island. Currently, he is on his back in a field beside what appears to be a property owned by a “collector.” RoadsideAmerica has a picture of the Viking taken in 2008.

Apparently, the property where he was stood was purchased by someone who didn’t want The Viking. So he was rescued and is being stored here until a new home can be found.

I don’t often get a chance to see one of these giants up close and personal like this.

He may be down, for now, but hopefully someone will give him a new home soon.

Old Friend Revisited

Since I was sort of going to be in the neighborhood, I figured I’d stop in Ocean City, Maryland on the way home to visit this guy, who has been at the Jolly Roger Amusement Park since 1964.

I’d seen him before and have always thought him to be very cool. But I wanted a closer look now that I know he’s an authentic International Fiberglass creation.

New Kid on the Block

To reach Ocean City from Chincoteague, I opted to go through Berlin, Maryland to say hi to this new guy.

RoadsideAmerica.com describes him as…

…a 21st Century Muffler Man, made by Virginia’s Mark Cline. Shorter than the classic model, with too-tight jeans, but muscular arms to heft his impressive vanilla swirl cone.

I’ve seen these mini Muffler Men before. They’re actually called Soda Jerks and Mark Cline, a fiberglass sculptor from Virginia, is the guy behind their resurrection. There’s a great Soda Jerks background piece on the American Giants blog if you’re interested.

I don’t usually get as excited about seeing these guys since they’re sorta new, but I should. I mean, they’re the new generation of Muffler Men. And Mark Cline, who I absolutely MUST visit one day, deserves some credit for keeping the muff alive.

Other Fun Stuff

Finally, some miscellaneous fun images I captured while meandering toward home on Sunday.

Also at Frontiertown with the Soda Jerk pictured above is an actual prop from the JAWS movie.

Another reason to stop in Ocean City was to buy some fresh Dolle’s Caramel Popcorn. That stuff is the best!

Dolle’s Popcorn on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland.

Menacing shark at Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

This over-the-top mini-golf course caught my eye on the way to Jolly Rogers.

Miniature golf establishments have always been a mecca of oddities. In a place like Ocean City with numerous putt-putt establishments, over-the-top is sort of required.

gargoyle_golf — The crazier, the better.

There was another place with aliens where I should have stopped, but didn’t. I was getting tired. If you’re curious, use Google Images to search for “Lost Galaxy Golf Ocean City Maryland.”

Anyhow, that concludes the re-cap my latest adventure or non-adventure as some folks may see it. 🙂

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the national wildlife refuge (NWR), but I didn’t get many pics worth sharing. It wasn’t for lack of trying. The light just wasn’t right.

The Chincoteague NWR is actually on Assateague Island, a National Seashore. About two-thirds of Assateague Island — the northern end — is actually in Maryland. I’ve been to the northern end many times, and have seen the ponies there, so I wasn’t too terribly disappointed that I only saw a few ponies during this visit. The few I did see were too far away for a picture, so you’ll just have to trust me.

It was a lovely, easy walk to the lighthouse. There’s sound in the video, believe it or not.

I was hoping to see some Snow Geese, but it was too early in the year. I’m really going to try to get over to the Eastern Shore in December or January to see the Snow Geese.

It’s a shame I didn’t get more “keeper” pics, but I enjoyed my morning at the refuge. It was cold, but peaceful. Few people were around, so the only sounds I heard were waves crashing on the shore, the wind blowing through the trees/reeds, seagulls and other birds squawking, and the crunch of leaves under my feet.

After the museum, which I told you about in my last post, I had one final stop before heading off of the island and, eventually, toward home.

November 17, 2015

The Town of Chincoteage

In my previous post, I said I’d share pics from Cape Charles and Chincoteague, but, truth is, since it was raining, I did a really piss-poor job capturing images of Cape Charles. So you’ll just have to Google that one if you are really curious.

I did, however, get to spend a decent amount of time in Chincoteague. I got to poke around the town a bit — it’s bigger than I anticipated — and spend some time on the national wildlife refuge.

To get to the town of Chincoteague, which is on Chincoteague Island, you head east for about 11 miles on VA-175 from US-13. The landscape becomes rural pretty quickly after leaving US-13, so one would expect it to be less and less populated, with trees giving way to marsh as one approaches the Chincoteague Island (CI). And that’s sort of what happens. But first, you have to drive past Wallops Island, “NASA’s principal facility for management and implementation of suborbital research programs.”

Despite knowing I’d be passing the NASA facility, seeing the field full of radar antennas and other high-tech-looking stuff on one side of the road and a few smallish rockets on the other side of the road just felt odd.

Also odd was the number of billboards along the north side of the road leading to CI. For what seemed like a few miles, there was a billboard about every 50 yards (~150 meters) or so. They were all the same height and seemed to be positioned at the exact same angle in relation to the road. Weird.

It was late in the day when I reached CI, so I headed right for the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, which is located on neighboring Assateague (ass-uh-teak) Island.

The rain had slowed down a bit, but it was pretty windy and cold. And, with the skies so overcast, there wasn’t much light for pictures.

Fall at the marsh is lovely to me, with all of the contrasting colors.

I made it to tow before it was fully dark and captured a picture of the LOVEwork, then proceeded to my motel.

After a long, relaxing evening, I headed back to the refuge early Sunday morning. (I’ll share those pics in my next post.) I planned my day around the 11:00 a.m. opening of the Museum of Chincoteague, which is very close to the refuge entrance. I did poke around town a bit after leaving my motel.

Misty statue in the downtown waterfront park.

As seen in a store window on Main Street.

With CI being a beachy destination, there was a certain amount of kitschy beach-themed and other stuff typical of east coast resort towns.

It seemed odd to me that I saw at least one giraffe every day during my brief journey. In a recent exchange with my buddy Fuzzy about the sudden appearance of giraffes in my life, she said something to the effect that maybe they’ve always been there and I’d just never noticed them.

Perhaps. But why have I all of a sudden started noticing giraffes?!?

I’ll have to file that question under unsolved mysteries of the universe. Oh, and hope I don’t continue seeing giraffes.

The lighthouse in that mural is the iconic Assateague Lighthouse, which was completed in 1867.

In addition to the refuge and one other must-see island sight, the Museum of Chincoteague was a must-visit destination for me.

I’d been wanting to visit Chincoteague since I was a kid and read Marguerite Henry’s book, Misty of Chincoteague. Henry followed with other books, but Misty always played a key role, whether as a character in the book or as the head of a long line of island ponies.

Look what’s at the museum. Or maybe I should say look “who” is at the museum.

Misty! In the flesh. — Misty! In the flesh (Kind of. Is it still called flesh after death?)

I’m still sort of torn between being creeped-out that they’d stuffed Misty and pleased that I actually got to see her.

She looked so real. I mean, I know it is her, but in the above image, she almost looks alive, doesn’t she? She’s much smaller than I’d imagined. Of course, I was much smaller, too, when actually imagining Misty.

The museum is on the little side, but very well done and lovingly maintained.

First Order Fresnel Lens from the Assateague Island Lighthouse (c. 1866)

Apparently, that lens was used in the lighthouse until 1961 when it was replaced by a more-advanced directional coded beacon.

Seafood is still very much a part of island life.

It’s a lovely place. I’m not sure how I’d feel about it in the heat of summer amidst throngs of tourists, but it is certainly a charming place to visit in the off season. I hope to return. One day…

November 16, 2015

The Mouth of the Bay

As I start to write this post, I realize I could potentially bore some of you to tears pretty quickly. So I’ll try to be brief. Why bother posting if I know in advance it’ll be of little if any interest to some? Because crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay was an important part of my most-recent trip. Not that it was symbolic or anything, it’s just an interesting feature of this area I’d like to share with you. Some of you may have seen it on a postcard and others may have actually crossed the thing.

I mentioned in my Whole Lotta LOVE post that there’s no quick or easy way to get to Virginia’s Eastern Shore from here.

I’m a lover of maps, so here’s a quick geography lesson for you… Virginia’s Eastern Shore is at the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula.

Without getting too technical, Delmarva is essentially a large peninsula occupied by most of Delaware as well as portions of Maryland and Virginia. That part of Maryland is simply known in these parts — at least by people like me who grew up in Maryland — as “The Eastern Shore,” not Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The Chesapeake Bay separates the peninsula from the mainland.

From my house, to reach any point on the peninsula, I’d either have to go north and east into Maryland to cross the Bay Bridge near Annapolis or south and east through Hampton Roads/Tidewater Virginia to cross the Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

Of course, if my destination is the northern portion of the peninsula, I’d head up I-95 into the far northern portion of Maryland and head south across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, the digging of which technically made Delmarva an island. Oh wait, I said I wasn’t going to get too technical, didn’t I?

Anyway… I elected to take the southern route to reach the peninsula, which made my trip pretty much a counter-clockwise loop. After capturing all of the LOVEworks in Virginia Beach, Newport News, and Norfolk, I headed north across the mouth of the bay via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT), “the 17-mile link between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and Virginia’s Eastern Shore.”

Crossing isn’t cheap. The fee schedule is a bit complicated, so let’s just say it’s $13 for a car (or motorcycle) to cross off peak. Each way. Unless your return trip happens within 24 hours, then it’s only $5 to return, making it $18 round-trip.

I guess that’s not horrible, considering you get to drive across the mouth of North America’s largest estuary.

Toll Booth on VA's Eastern Shore — Toll Booth on VA’s Eastern Shore

As explained on the CBBT’s website, “From shore to shore, the Bridge-Tunnel measures 17.6 miles (28.4 km) and is considered the world’s largest bridge-tunnel complex. Construction of the span required undertaking a project of more than 12 miles of low-level trestle, two 1-mile tunnels, two bridges, almost 2 miles of causeway, four man-made islands and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads, totaling 23 miles.”

On the southernmost of the four man-made islands (Island #1), 3-1/2 miles from Virginia Beach, there’s a rest area where travelers can stop, stretch, and gawk. You can also grab a bite to eat, fish (there’s a 625-foot fishing pier), watch birds and/or boats/ships, or just take in the natural beauty and sounds of the Chesapeake Bay. The tunnel leading from there to Island #2 goes under the channel that Navy vessels use regularly. So if you’re lucky, you could actually watch an aircraft carrier, submarine, and/or other ships and boats pass out to sea. Wouldn’t THAT be cool?

Traffic was very light, so I was able to capture pics during my crossing without risking life and limb. Sorry, but the weather wasn’t great for pictures.

Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean from the island.

Zoomed-in look at Island #2 from Island #1.

Looking back at Virginia Beach from Island #1.

I was surprised to see how smooth the water was, especially considering that storms were definitely nearby and getting closer with every passing second. I’ve been on the bridge before when seas were so rough that waves were splashing up onto the bridge deck through the storm drains/grates.

Descending into the Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel.

Back on the surface, approaching Island #3, the Chesapeake Channel Tunnel, and Island #4.

Crossing the easternmost North Channel Bridge.

It’s really a shame that it was so foggy and cloudy during my crossing. Imagine how pretty it would be at sunrise and/or sunset.

The Virginian Pilot featured a great multimedia piece in April 2014, When Men Split the Sea, all about the building of the bridge-tunnel.

Here’s a brief video from the History Channel for those of you less-inclined or too pressed for time to read that long article:

It really is a different world on Virginia’s Eastern Shore when compared to areas west of the Chesapeake Bay.

Overview map of Virginia’s Eastern Shore

(note the odd names)

In future posts, I’ll share some images and pics from Cape Charles at the southern end and Chincoteague at the northern end.

November 15, 2015November 15, 2015

Odd and Interesting Fun

Having successfully captured King Neptune and the beach at daybreak (see previous post if you missed it), I set out to capture the other two oddities on my list and six remaining LOVEworks.

The Virginia Beach LOVEwork was first, then I was off to see “‘Hugh Mongous,’ the simian mascot of Ocean Breeze Waterpark.”

How can you NOT smile at him? He’s one big, colorful, smiley gorilla dude.

It was only later when scrolling through pics and seeing the previously unshared selfie of Hugh and I that I realized we are wearing the same glasses.

What can I say? The big dude has style!

From there, I headed inland to capture the LOVEworks in Newport News and Norfolk. On the way, since I’d be passing Mount Trashmore, I decided to stop and see the Whispering Giant (big carved Indian, more on that later) that’s been there since 1976.

I found the Newport News sculpture without incident. The first one in Norfolk was a bit of a challenge. I ended up at the Virginia Zoological Park, adjacent to Lafayette Park (the park where I was supposed to be). That’s where I saw this sculpture…

A VERY cool, life-sized elephant, fashioned of butterflies, holding a butterfly.

How cool is that? Click on it for a closer look at the butterfly skin.

I know I use the word “cool” too much. I can’t help it.

I was on my way back to the car when I spotted this peeking through the bushes at me.

Another giraffe. How odd. I never see giraffe sculptures then, in less than 24 hours, I see two. Hmmm. (I had to manuever a bit to get that picture.)

I eventually found my way to the appropriate spot in Lafayette Park, thanks to the helpful lady at the zoo info desk. I captured the final Norfolk-area LOVEwork at the airport, which felt a bit weird. Who visits airports just to see stuff?

That’s where I realized I’d neglected to take my ATM card along on the trip. I had $5 cash and no ATM card. Crap. Oh well, I’d survive, hopefully without having to get a cash advance on the credit card.

From there, I headed north across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, an engineering marvel I’ll describe another time.

I forgot to mention that the skies had been really overcast all morning. It finally started raining shortly after I reached Virginia’s Eastern Shore. By the time I reached Cape Charles, the next-to-last LOVEwork location, the skies let loose. A downpour. Ugh.

Lighthouse Water Tower in Cape Charles, Virginia

I did manage to capture a picture of the lighthouse water tower, which is one of the RoadsideAmerica stops I’d planned before leaving home.

Oh, and I was really tickled to see this as I was leaving Cape Charles…

I’d never actually seen cotton growing before. To the best of my knowledge, anyway.

I shot those pictures very quickly, since I had to pull into someone’s driveway to do so.

As I continued north, I passed another oddity I had NOT planned on stopping to see. But, since I did actually see it, I figured I should stop for a pic.

Again, road trip pics with the car are not nearly as interesting (romantic?) as road trip pics with the bike. 🙁

I’d been planning on grabbing lunch in Cape Charles, but the rain changed my mind. The further north I drove, the hungrier I got. I was half-hoping I’d see a Bojangles. The other half of me was thinking I’d just eat in Chincoteague, my destination for the day.

Then I saw a pretty big and interesting billboard advertising The Great Machipongo Clam Shack (web site) in Nassawaddox, Virginia.

The name makes me sorta giggle for some reason. also, I like clams. So I told myself that, if I passed it and the parking lot was full enough, I’d stop. Sure enough, there were quite a few cars parked at the place, so I hung a U-turn and visited the The Great Machipongo Clam Shack.

“Healthy” Eats? I was thinking fried clams and french fries!

I’m glad I stopped. The food was delicious.

Fried clams, shrimp, and scallops with sweet potato fries.

The sweet potato fries were served sprinkled with sugar instead of salt. I’d never heard of that, but those fries were damn good. I may never eat them with salt again. The shrimp were, by far, the best fried shrimp I’ve ever eaten.

The crab on the window had caught my eye on the way in, so I snagged a pic before I left.

From there, it was about an hour to Chincoteague. I was anxious to get to the island before dark so I could scope-out the wildlife refuge and maybe see a cool sunset from the marsh. But it was still raining. Perhaps I’ll get to see another marsh sunset sometime soon.

Marsh at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

I’ll tell you all about Chincoteague and Assateague Islands in an upcoming post.

November 14, 2015

The Beach at Daybreak

Thanks to the alarm on my phone, I was able to get out of bed before sunrise on Saturday. I never use an electronic alarm at home, I have two canine alarms.

Neptune was just as lovely in the morning light as I thought he would be. I’d figured the sky would make a nice backdrop for him.

I took several shots, naturally. The one below would be my favorite if it weren’t for the playground equipment in the lower left-hand corner. If you want a closer look, just click on any of these images and a bigger version will open.

As for the sunrise, I captured a bunch of sunrise images, too. Not every frame I captured is worthy of sharing.

None of my followers come to mind when I say this… people who routinely share every single frame they capture make me crazy.

It was quite cloudy that morning (Saturday, November 7). Clouds can be good and bad. Too many, and the sunlight is obscured. I like some clouds because I think it makes the sky more interesting.

IMG_0156_SOC — Sunrise, Straight Out of Camera (SOC)

I don’t always edit (aka PhotoShop) my pics beyond re-sizing before posting. With sunrises/sunsets over water or some other flat horizon, I usually have to. Because no matter how hard I try, I can almost never get the horizon level enough.

I mention editing, because it’s easy to make a good picture look better with image editing software, as shown below, using the same image as shown above, adjusted for light.

IMG_0156_DK — Sunrise, Adjusted for Light

Sometimes, I’ll adjust for composition, too. Below is the same image again, cropped so the sun is in the right third of the frame and the reflection of the sun on the water is in the lower right-hand quadrant.

Why am I telling you this? So you’ll understand that when I say an image is straight out of camera or SOC, it means I think I and my camera have captured it perfectly. That’s not an easy feat.

The horizon isn’t horribly slanted, but it’s slanted enough that I notice.

IMG_0164_STR — Same Image with Horizon Leveled

Leveling makes a difference, doesn’t it? (Sorry if I have just cursed you with the needing to have a level-horizon thing.)

There’s a lot to think about when trying to get a good picture — composition, light, focus, level horizon, etc. — and leveling the horizon is the one I forget and/or fail at most often.

My Favorite Capture of the Morning (SOC)

IMG_0173_STR — My Third-favorite Capture (SOC with leveled horizon)

When using an automatic camera, the point at which you focus will determine the amount of light captured in your shot.

The wider focus in the above shot made the camera let in just enough light to capture the foreground detail, but still leave some blue in the sky.

In the images immediately above and below this paragraph, zooming in/focusing on the brightness of the sun meant the camera let less light in, which is why everything else is darker.

Achieving just the right balance takes practice and experimentation, too. The angle of the light is also important.

That shot would have been nicer with a slightly darker sky, but then you wouldn’t have been able to see my footprints in the sand. I can use PhotoShop to darken the sky a bit if I want.

All of the images shared thus far were captured on my point-and-shoot, i.e., automatic, camera. It has a variety of manual options, but I have yet to learn how to use them. I can be a lazy photographer at times.

The next few images were captured with my digital SLR camera (interchangeable lenses, easier-to-use manual settings, manual focus, etc.).

This could be a tad darker, I think. But it’s still a decent image.

Playing with the light settings and using manual focus let me capture those wispy little clouds in front of the dark, background clouds.

IMG_3143_SOC — My Favorite SLR Capture (SOC)

In the SOC version, you can’t really see the sun’s rays like you can (subtly) in the below version, which I adjusted slightly for light.

IMG_3143_DK — My Favorite SLR Capture (after light adjustment)

Not surprisingly to me, I captured more shots worth sharing with the point-and-shoot than I did with the SLR. I’m out of practice. It takes thought to get the right light settings on that thing, and I am very rusty.

All of the pics would have been better had I thought about using the tripod. I did say I can be a lazy photographer…

I could’ve stayed longer to watch as the sky continued to change and capture more images, but I knew I’d gotten a few good ones. AND I had things to do.

It’s hard to pic a favorite, isn’t it?

Next up, some fun images captured in and around Virginia Beach.