Posted in photographs, travel

Angel wings

You attempt to get a photo at the famous Nashville Angel Wings.

Imagine a line full of bridal parties and tourists. It’s at least 30 people deep.

Then imagine you have to go to the restroom because you decided to take a gamble by getting a second drink at the farmer’s market. No public bathrooms are visible.

You also are on a time crunch. So you opt to take this photo from far away. You can at least say you saw them.

Then today you go to get your breakfast. You stumble upon pizza wings. So instead of angel wings, you can be happy with pizza wings instead.

Later on during your adventure home, you find angel wings in a small town in Kentucky. Plus Monarch butterfly wings.

So even though you didn’t get a photo with the iconic angel wings, you find something original. As you tell people, you make plans but leave room for straying away from those plans. You never know what you will find.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Posted in Animal, Dayton, local sights, photograph, photographs, Photography

Eagles at Carillon Park

The Carillon

Carillon Park is a park full of the history of Dayton.

Carillon Park is also known for their eagles. For the past few years, the Eagles have laid eggs in a tree above the building that holds the 1905 Wright B Flyer.

Today I decided to go and hopefully take some photos of Orv and Willa and their eaglets. I was successful. YEAH!

So I think this was a successful day! I had my zoom lens on the camera and just took photos. It was not until I got home and edited the photos did I realize how lucky I was at getting photos of the eagles.

Since I now have a membership to Carillon Park, I just went to watch the eagles and to check out the new printing building. The next photos are of the new printing press building and some of the exteriors of buildings or exhibits.

Posted in Holland, Michigan, photograph, photographs, Photography, travel

ET phone home

On Saturday morning, we decided to go to Lake Michigan. Really close to where we were staying was the Saugatuck Dune State Park. The directions on my Google Map lead us to a convenience store, so we ended up driving around in circles. Luckily our GPS unit lead us to the correct spot.

When we got to the parking lot, Hubby still thought we were in the wrong spot because there was no beach there. All we could see were trees.

In order to get to the beach, we needed to hike through the woods.

Some of the woods reminded me of the scene where Elliot flew his bike with ET in the front basket. It was totally worth hiking through the woods to get to the beach because of the views.

Once we saw the outhouse, there was an opening in the trees. We finally made it to the beach.

Even though it was in the 40s, I had to take my shoes and socks off. I wanted to dip my toes in that cold lake water.

Hubby wouldn’t let me roll down the dunes. He told me that he didn’t want to take me to the hospital. Spoilsport.



The beach – Absolutely breathtaking . . . I wanted to feel the sand between my toes. There is nothing like that feeling. It feels like Heaven and freedom all rolled into one.

Oh, and the shoes I was wearing are Sketchers. I highly recommend them. I walked over 18,000 steps on Saturday. My feet never hurt.

Once we got to the wooded area, I went down the other path to the beach. I found this bench on top of a dune. The view was breathtaking. If you look closely, there is a photo of a shadow of me sitting on that bench.

Then there was the walk back to the car. It was a little more difficult because of the hills. Finally, we made it back to the car. Then it was on to our next adventure.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Posted in Columbus, photograph, photographs, Photography, travel

Columbus trip | August 2021 | Saturday morning walk

Hubby decided to sleep in on Saturday. I was anxious to do some exploring, so I left the Air BnB and walked to get breakfast.

The first group of photos is where our Air BnB is located and the murals across the street.

Some of the flowers and the chicken on the building. It was a deli or a small convenience store if I am remembering correctly.

The reason I went for the walk was to go to this coffee shop called Fox in the Snow. Boy, it did not disappoint. When I got there, there were a lot of people waiting for it to open. It is a popular place and for a good reason.

Check out the pastries. People were lining up to not only get coffee but also get the pastries.

The coffee I got is the New Orleans coffee. It’s made with chicory instead of coffee. So good.

Some photos of my walk back to the Air BNB.

Here is my gluten-free breakfast sandwich from the Fox in the Snow:

So delicious!

Join me next time for our visit to the North Market.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Posted in Columbus, photograph, photographs, Photography, Street Art

Columbus Trip – August 2021 – Part 3 of MANY

After we got done eating, we walked back to our Air B’nB and went to bed. This are the photos I took on our walk back to the where we were staying.

My next post is going to be my Saturday morning walk.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Posted in Columbus, photograph, photographs, Photography, travel

Columbus Trip – August 2021 – Part 2 of MANY – Dinner time!

We were on the hunt for food. I had worked a whole day before we drove to Columbus, so I was starving. They had interactive signs on High Street which helped us decide on where we were going to eat. However, we never made it there. Instead we ended up at SeeSaw. Someone had told me about this place, so we ate there.
I love the fact they have gluten-free on the menu. It made it so easy to pick what I wanted to order.

Posted in Columbus, photograph, photographs, Photography, Street Art

Columbus Trip – August 2021 – Part 1 of MANY

I’ve been editing photos from my adventures in 2021. I needed to make a decision about what I was going to start sharing with you. After much thought, I decided I needed to start in Columbus.

On the 5th anniversary of my sister’s death, we went to Columbus, Ohio. We stayed near the Short North Shore area which is an eclectic area of Columbus. Located down from Ohio State, it’s a place that college students party. Behind the main street, there are neighborhoods with gardens.

Join me next time for our dinner at See Saw, a bar and restaurant, with the coolest stairs.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Posted in photograph, photographs, Photography

My First Wedding

My sister-in-law got remarried yesterday. She asked me to be the photographer for the wedding. I was nervous but willing to shoot the wedding. In all honesty, it was an honor.

So I got everything ready to go for the wedding. I had 3 batteries fully charged along with my charger. Both of my camera lenses were with me. I showed up about 45 minutes before the ceremony to take photos.

Then my camera suddenly stopped working. I changed the batteries to see if it was one of the batteries that was the issue. NOTHING happened. No green light showing some sort of charge. ARGH.

So what did I do instead? I used my iPhone’s camera. For the most part, it worked out great except for a few photos I used Zoom. I feel as though you can’t see the features of the people which reminds me of a more cartoonish photo.

Needless to say, it all turned out well.

After I got home, I began to use Lightroom to edit the photos. Not the hyperfocused part of my brain begins to take over. I want everything to be perfect. As an enneagram 4 taking photos is my creative outcome.

About a month ago, my sister-in-law texted me a concept for a photo. I kept the concept in my text messages. When we showed their children, they were less than thrilled to do the concept and to see their parents kissing. I think this is my favorite photo from yesterday.
The ceremony was an intimate affair. This is both of thems second marriage, so they wanted a small ceremony with little fuss. After the ceremony, the majority lined up against that back wall while other guests mingled in the pews. My new brother-in-law’s father had been the pastor of this church.
Both of their fathers had passed away, so they honored them with photos. The only thing is there was a reflection of the lights in the photo. Boo, hiss! During the processional, they played Jingle Bells to honor my father-in-law and Amazing Grace to honor his dad.
Okay a photo of them with the photos without that reflection.
My niece showed up with these shiny shoes she had found a thrift store for only 5 dollars. I kept bugging her until she allowed me to get a photo of them.
The grandkids with my mother-in-law. This is after my Youngest announced his zipper was broken. Really boy.

So even though it didn’t go as planned, we got some really great photos of the ceremony.

Have a great day,
Traci