Art deco

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Diamond Resorts Crescent Resort on South Beach is located in the heart of the Art Deco district from 6^th Street to 23^rd Street. This is where one of the largest collections of Art Deco architecture in the world can be found, making for one of the most unique city skylines in the country.

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Ocean Drive is lined with Art Deco boutique hotels overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Lummus Park. Originally constructed in the 1930s after the stock market collapse, you’ll notice that these hotels take up relatively small plots of land—they’re not the sweeping resorts that Carl Fisher previously erected overlooking Biscayne Bay or that Morris Lapidus would go on to design further up the beach—and many are only three to four stories tall. This was done intentionally because if the buildings had any more floors, they’d require elevators and be much more expensive to construct.

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The Crescent has an elevator. Its tiny! When I first arrived I watched another couple struggle to get their luggage and themselves into the tiny space. It didn’t work they had to split up . The husband went up with the luggage and the wife followed when the elevator came back down with the remaining small bags.

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I explored the elevator near the end of my stay. It takes you all the way to the rooftop on the 4th floor. That could have been a nice space if there had been chairs set out but the roof was just an empty, unused area. you could look to the roofs on either side and see tables, chairs umbrellas and guests lounging but not on our roof. At least not yet. Maybe in the future.

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I used the high vantage point to try to get some pictures of a parasailer as they passed by off South Beach.

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Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on October 17, 2015October 17, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Good morning everyone. I’ve been up since 6 am in hopes of spotting some of those deer I’ve been hearing about down at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge located in Middletown , RI.

The first time I tried I overslept so missed the dawn, the best time for those shy little critters. Today I was up but it took me longer to get out of the house than I expected so I saw the sun pop over the horizon as I left Fall River. Darn!

Well I figured I might as well check out the trails. On my last visit I didn’t stay long, just made sure I could find it.

I was surprised to see quite a lot of cars in the parking lot considering it was only about 30 minutes past sunrise, still pretty early. As I pulled out the camera I saw a bird watcher with his big spotting scope but most of the rest were fishermen. I didn’t spot any other photographers so I guess I really did miss my chance. I decided to check out one of the trails anyway.

The Flint Point trail is a 1.4 mile loop with a couple of observation platforms. Everybody seemed to be going that way so I did too. I didn’t intend to walk the whole trail since this was one of my first jaunts since my back started improving but it was a beautiful morning so as long as it wasn’t hurting I just kept going.

There are a couple of benches along the way so it was a cool but pleasant trek. I didn’t expect to see any deer. That window of opportunity had closed, or so I thought but as I approached a corner I heard something larger than a bird off to my left in the brush.

I didn’t see what it was but it made me slow down my pace and I turned the corner cautiously. And there in the path to my right was the tail end of a deer.

Turns out it was a doe and a a smaller deer. No spots so I don’t think it can still be called a fawn but clearly smaller than the adult. The little one watched me all the time while Mama only paid attention when I moved.

Thanks to the sun’s angle and the brush playing havoc with the auto focus, the pictures aren’t going to make it into my portfolio but at least I was rewarded for my trip.

I don’t know how long those deer and I would have stood eyeballing each other if a jogger hadn’t rounded the bend at that point. The deer just drifted quietly into the bushes.

I figured I was about half way around the loop so I finished the walk. No other deer but that was two more than I expected to see. I guess I’ll have to try again only leaving at 5:30 am next time!

There Be Whales

Posted on June 21, 2014June 21, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Last Sunday was father’s day and it was a perfect day, sunny and warm. It was a perfect day for a whale watch. It would be the first of the year for me. The Captain John website was bragging about amazing sightings from whale calves breaching to pods of whales bubble net feeding. I had to get in on the act.

All of the whale watches seem to go to the same place. The difference is how long it takes to get there. They will tell you you’re going to Stellwagen bank, a marine sanctuary. Located between Cape Ann and Cape Cod, in the southwest corner of the Gulf of Maine, is Massachusetts Bay. The bay’s most prominent submerged feature is the kidney-shaped plateau called Stellwagen Bank, which lies at the bay’s eastern edge. But in the last 3 whale watches I’ve been on we’ve never made it to Stellwagen Bank. We’ve been just outside the marine sanctuary near the tip of cape cod. Race Point at the tip of the cape has been a recurring landmark on these trips.

The last 2 trips I went on had last year had minimal activity, mainly finback whales. They are interesting but they aren’t the showmen the humpbacks are.

So I had my fingers crossed that we’d see humpbacks this trip.

The trip started off with a minke whale just cruisin’ on past us. Then we got a look at a finback whale named Blue.

She had tangled with a Provincetown Fast Ferry and the scars from that encounter gave her a distinctive look so she could be identified.

Finally we saw a tail off in the distance. The Captain took off after the diving humpback. Once near where it had disappeared we throttled back and drifted and waited. Everyone watched the water.

Finally there was the blow. The humpback did a series of shallow dives and then there it came, the arched back that precedes the beautiful fluke.

Humpbacks are identified by the markings on the tail flukes and this whale was showing off that gorgeous tail. Pretty soon the naturalist announced that the whale was named Hancock.

We spent the rest of our trip following Hancock around and put on a show he did. There were many deep dives with the traditional tail flukes which never fails to please. Each time he did that the crowd on board exploded into applause and cheers.

But the finale was a waving splashing dive that sent rainbow spray flying .

The naturalist said she had never seen anything like that!

The ride back was quiet. Everyone seemed tired from the sea and sun and excitement of the Hancock the Humpback Show.

Photo of the Week ~ 15

Posted on April 16, 2014April 16, 2014 by Dusty Roads

We did a little better in the Photo of the Week area. Seals off Plymouth just nosed out the Dandy Daffodil by 1 point!

The week 15 tallies are in. The Photo of the Week with the most hits, likes, shares and/or comments is Seals Off Plymouth with a total of 26 points.

Votes calculated from activity at www.dustyroadsphotos.com.

To Order Prints click here: http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p161572686/h285f6d88#h285f6d88

Just Another Monday

Posted on April 15, 2014April 15, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I got myself all excited in anticipation of yesterday. The weather folks said warm weather, no rain nor snow nor sleet. Temps mid 70’s maybe even 80 in some places. Oh yeah I am all worked up. Where will I go? What will I do with such a perfect day before me?

I was so excited I woke up at 4 am. The cats looked at me like I was nuts.

I peeked out the window at the pre dawn and saw…FOG! A thick gray blanket obscured everything. Ok back to bed. After all 4 am is almost the middle of the night.

4 hours later I hopped out of bed. It was pretty dark for 8 AM even with the curtains closed. I peeked out the window and it was still foggy. Not as thick as at 4 am but still a damper on the start of my day.

I got the cats fed, kitty litter cleaned, my breakfast done and shower out of the way in record time when my phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it but easier to just deal with it and get it out of the way. Turns out it was a work call. Oh well I was a good girl and took care of it.

Time now to take the trash out and decide where I’m headed with the camera. I was surprised by how windy it was. I had thought about going to the arboretum but with winds like this I decided to see if the ocean might be crashing…surfs up dude!

As I grabbed my camera the phone rang again. Another work call. What’s going on? No one ever calls me back! I took care of that one and headed out the door again.

I stopped at Oliver Mill first. There were car loads of people which as usual translates to no birds. Only 2 gulls and 1 Canada goose. I left the folks to wander the stream looking for fish and headed to Plymouth. Next stop Manomet Point.

By the time I got there the sun had completely disappeared behind the clouds. The wind was still blowing but there were only a few whitecaps, no “angry sea”, no seals. 🙁 Not to be discouraged I took out the big lens and attached it to the camera. I recently read an article about hand holding these big telephotos and I wanted to try it out.

I spotted a little bird’s head sticking up over a rock. I think it’s a cormorant. So here goes nothing. I hefted that big old lens up , focused and snap snap. I took 3 shots. 2 were only so- so but this one isn’t half bad for my first try.