Historic Venice in Pictures

Here are some pictures taken of Venice, Italy in the 1989-1990 time frame. First is a picture taken from St. Mark's Bell Tower.

A view of one of the canals.

Paddle Bell Memorial to Submariners

I found this memorial to submariners lost at sea on the U.S. Naval Academy campus. See also a previous post of mine, "Courage Runs Deep."


Picture taken in May 2006 in Annapolis, Maryland

Downtown Knoxville, Tennessee

View from the 18th floor of the Hilton in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee in late October 2006. I was in town to interview University of Tennessee students for jobs. Picture taken through the window so there are some reflections of lights in the room in the picture.

Memphis World War I Memorial

I found this memorial to Memphis, Tennessee and Shelby County soldiers who lost their lives in World War I just outside the entrance to the Memphis Zoo in Overton Park.

Chattahoochee River near Atlanta

The Chattahoochee River as seen from a park on the northwest side of Atlanta, not far from where I75 meets I285. Picture taken in late September 2006 on a recent business trip.

Egyptian-Flavored Zoo

I got to visit the Memphis Zoo with my nieces and nephews a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful September Saturday. I hadn't been to the Memphis Zoo in probably 25 years or more. I was struck by the Egyptian theme taken from the "other" Memphis... Memphis, Egypt on the Nile River.








There is also a Chinese themed area where the Pandas are.


Complete with coy


Some of the animals of the Memphis Zoo

Surprising Pittsburgh

I had the good fortune recently to have my employer send me to Pittsburgh for some training. I don't know what I expected, but I must say I've been pleasantly surprised. The weather in mid-August has been wonderful. Downtown where the class is and where I'm staying is clean. People mill around like they're enjoying themselves and I've felt completely at ease walking around. As an amateur photographer, I carried my digital camera along and took a few pictures.

Here's a picture of a tour boat making its way upstream at the mouth of the Allegheny River where it joins the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River. Just to the right and out of the picture is Heinz Stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers play. The Dequesne Incline goes up the cliff along the opposite riverbank.

A view up the Allegheny River showing some of the many bridges of Pittsburgh as seen from Point State Park. You can see the lights of PNC Park where the Pittsburgh Pirates play home games.

The fountain at Point State Park and a view of downtown. I was staying at the Hilton just left of center.

Park benches along the Allegheny at Point State Park.

I got up and went walking before class in the mornings and caught this shot of a barge entering the Monongahela River from the Ohio River. This shot reminded me of my hometown of Memphis.
The view up the Monongahela River from the break room where I was taking my class.

Sunrise over Pittsburg from near the base of the Duquesne Incline.
Looking down the Duquesne Incline
The confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburgh as seen from the top of the Duquesne Incline, over 400 vertical feet above the river.

Backyard Butterflies

Here are some shots I took in the backyard. Butterflies are harder to catch in a good picture than I expected. About the time I would get a good shot framed they would fly to another flower.

Why You Shouldn't Plant Bradford Pears

Here are a few photographs of storm damage in my yard to discourage anybody who might be considering planting some Bradford Pear trees. The damage below happened about 3 weeks ago during some high, straight-line winds associated with a thunderstorm which occurred after a long dry spell.

Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge Vacation Recommendations

It has become a family tradition of sorts to venture off east of home to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee at least once a year. Some of the family have been doing this for decades and have strong opinions on their favorite restaurants, things to do, places to shop, and more. Parking places are all important in Gatlinburg as well. I have decided to share some vacation photographs and reveal some of the family recommendations.

Family Fun

Chimneys Picnic Area – Great Smokey Mountains National Park – We like to take KFC to the park for lunch and climb around the moutain stream. Our picnic table was right up against the creek bed. There hadn't been a lot of rain so there wasn't as much water flowing as in previous years but it was still pretty.



Roaring Fork Motor Trail – Great Smokey Mountains National Park – Got people in the group who can’t exactly go hiking? This trail lets you ride in your car. Many historic cabins, historical markers, some foot trails you can take to waterfalls, and more.

Dollywood – Pigeon Forge – Theme park with kid’s rides, thrill rides, water rides, carnival games, shows, arts & crafts, steam engine train, food, etc. Bigger and nicer than you think. One of the best wooden roller coasters around!






Dollywood’s Splash Country Water Adventure Park – Pigeon Forge – Water park associated with Dollywood. Water slides, lazy river, wave pool, and other excuses to get wet.

Davy Crocket Mini Golf - Gatlinburg - A well maintained mini golf course popular with youngsters.

Favorite Places for Breakfast

Pancake Pantry – Gatlinburg - A must for breakfast at least one morning each trip. Very extensive breakfast menu with almost every flavor of pancake you can think of. (i.e. lemon-apricott, pecan, blueberry, M&Ms, buckwheat, and more)

The Old Mill – Pigeon Forge – Also great for breakfast and has a historic grist mill next door on the river. Massive wood beam architecture inside. See my picture of the mill.

Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant – Pigeon Forge (more commonly called “The Apple Barn” in my family) – Country style cooking in country style building with apple orchard behind it. Homemade apple fritters. Has several gift shops, candy stores, etc. next door.

Favorite Places for Lunch and Dinner

The Peddler – Gatlinburg – Great steaks and huge salad bar. Waiter brings around steaks for you to look at before you order.

The Park Grill – Gatlinburg – Interesting assortment of menu items and an absolutely beautiful building made of massive wood construction also worth seeing.

The Brass Lantern – Gatlinburg – My family always shares a “tureen and skillet” (soup and a skillet of corn bread) any maybe several of them.

Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant – Pigeon Forge (more commonly called “The Apple Barn” in my family) – Country style cooking in country style building with apple orchard behind it. Homemade apple fritters. Has several gift shops, candy stores, etc. next door. There is now one open in Gatlinburg too but I’ve never been to that one.

Best Italian Cafe and Pizzaria – Gatlinburg – We love the pizza and the wonderful garlic rolls. Can’t see it from the main drag. You have to turn in a driveway into the Elks Plaza Shopping Center. Not a lot of parking places but we always seem to get one somehow. There is often free bluegrass music in the Elks Plaza in the evening.

The Wild Plum Tea Room – We always stop here for lunch when driving through the Great Smokey Arts & Crafts Community.

Favorite Places to Shop

The Village Shoppes of Gatlinburg – Gatlinburg – Right on the main drag. Many smaller botique-type shops and a few eateries for desserts, coffe, donuts, etc. Behind the Pancake Pantry mentioned earlier. You generally have to pay to park, however.

Here's the entrance to The Village Shoppes from across the street from my parking secret at the bottom of this post.

Tanger Outlet Center – Sevierville, TN – Many upscale outlets. Sevierville is adjacent to Pigeon Forge.

Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community – An 8-mile loop where local artisans, demonstrate and sell their arts and crafts. Stop by the Wild Plum Tea Room for lunch. I aways poke my head into watch the glass blower on the far left of this stretch of shops.




I saw some beautiful handmade rocking chairs on the front porch of this shop for $275, though I didn't buy one. They had a similarly beautiful handmade porch swing.


Ely’s Mill – Antique shop at the end of the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. The Roaring Fork stream is behind the mill with lots of green moss-covered rocks. See the picture.



Gatlinburg Parking Secret

Phi Beta Phi Elementary School on Cherokee Orchard Road – The school charges $5 to park in their parking lot during the summer. If you leave and come back you have to pay again. Within easy walking distance of The Village Shoppes of Gatlinburg and the Pancake Pantry. Earlier in this post is a photograph of the flower-lined back entrance to The Village which is just across the street from the school parking lot.

Back from a Long Blogging Hiatus

I am hopefully back from a long blogging hiatus. Things just got a little crazy for a couple of weeks at work and at home. I spent a lot of extra mental energy at work for a couple of weeks on a special project. It was fun and I learned a good bit while I was at it but it suffocated my blogging-related brain cells. I also spent numerous weekend hours braving the June and July heat in Nashville to scratch a couple of items off my “honey do list.” These items were however only belatedly off the list as I was reminded “if you’d done it earlier in the year it wouldn’t have been so hot.” Also during this time I have been trying to take better care of myself and get some much needed exercize on weeknights. Put those three things together and you have very few discretionary hours left for blogging. Surely, I am not the only blogger to have this problem? Oh.. our old cocker spaniel died, too.

Copenhagen, Denmark

This picture of a frozen Copenhagen taken in the winter of either 1984 or 1985. Note the footprints on the frozen wanter.

Images from the USS Texas

I took the following pictures onboard the USS Texas in the summer of 1985 somewhere northwest of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS Texas is a Virginia class guided missle cruiser.

The sea for this Pacific ocean sunset was glassy smooth, smoother than I thought possible on the ocean.