Penn's Landing, Philadelphia

I like the dangling 'O' 

on this city cruiser 

spotted on Broad Street. 

 

Penn's Landing is located along the 

Delaware River... 

...Across the river 

is Camden, NJ where the Battleship New Jersey resides
as a Museum and Memorial.

This ship was built in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and
was launched during World War II. 

The Moshulu, a tall ship launched in 1904,
now serves as a fine restaurant in the Penn's Landing harbor.

Nearby is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, 

but we all just call him Ben...
The lights occasionally change color,
but most of the time they were this shade of purple. 

More of my photos from Penn's Landing are here:
http://www.rebeccahaegelephotography.com/Travel/Philadelphia-PhotographerPenns/23154121_D5pzLk

St. Martin's Church, Castleton, Lancashire, England

I have always been the family genealogist.  

I spent much time researching family history 

and have all of my lines back at least to the jump across the ocean! 

And that is into the 1600's on my paternal side.

That's usually where things get tough. 

Some lines I have way back...

like into the 13th century,

thanks to a Mayflower passenger. 

(Those people have been extensively researched by professionals.)

Recently, I was contacted by a fellow researcher 

and by sharing info we opened many new doors...

including this church door!

This church, St. Martin's Church,  

in Castleton, Lancashire, England 

is where my newly discovered 

maternal great, great grandparents were married.

I can't wait to see what records from here reveal. 

(Not my photo)

It is so exciting! 

So I don't have any new photos today, 

I have been spending time researching the archives. 

Next week I will be tromping through cemeteries in Philadelphia. 

And forgive me, 

I am so far behind in blogging it is embarrassing. 

I will catch up...soon!

What in Blue Blazes?

What in Blue Blazes was I thinking? 

See those blue blazes painted on the rocks?

Those are trail markers. 

Do you see a trail? 

Well, those boulders ARE the trail.
Miles of boulder trail.



So let's see...
I started the day with a bottle of water,
a camera, and a little headache.

We climbed up from down there somewhere
and headed to the left of the photo
onto the the Appalachian Trail.



Once we climbed up, up, up,
my water was 50% gone and my sinus headache was 50% worse.
After a brief period of level walking,
we followed the blue blazes.



The trail took us across and up the ridge of a mountain:
Hawk Mountain,
passing a rattlesnake on the way...



...to some beautiful views.
But by now my water was 100% gone
and my headache was 100% pounding.
So I really didn't care about the views.
I was more likely contemplating going back and
offering myself to the rattlesnake.



I just wanted to get home.



And the kicker?
You can access the views from a visitor center MUCH
more easily than this trail!
But I was with a large contingent of humans
bearing the Y chromosome...
so what fun would that be?


The smiley faces on the map show our path.

I might mention,
the ride home, with the traffic jams, was torture on my head.
Once home,
I ran into the house,
took lots of pain killers,
and went to bed!

I swear, somewhere along the trail
my husband mentioned getting me a new lens.
Funny, he doesn't remember that.
He thinks I dreamt it.

Take Me Away...

Midweek Blues is the post after this one.

Come away with me to Pemberley...

...and then we'll visit Norland too!

Sigh,
back to reality.
These places are fictional and
only made popular by Jane Austen
in her novels.



But my imagination loves them.



In fact, I  love all Jane Austen novels. 

I just went through a spurt of rereading them 

and watching the corresponding films.

I think
the best place to read one of these novels
is surrounded by the right environment.




So on a lovely day
I take a copy of Pride and Prejudice,
or perhaps Emma,
along with my imagination
to Princeton University.



It is like I am living in the novel.
If the students there would just wear period clothing,
it would be perfect!

Millstone River Kingston Bridge

I found this on a bike ride last weekend.

I love US Colonial History. 

The great thing about living in Pennsylvania 

is that you are surrounded by Colonial history pretty much wherever you go! 

It looks like the wooden bridge was replaced
with a stone bridge in 1798.

If you want to see the pretty red Kingston Mill
near this bridge
check out my post here.