Happy Halloween!

The window decorations in Hogsmeade Village and Diagon Alley at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando are fantastic. This one was animatronic and promoting "Eyeball Bonanza." In addition to smiling and looking around, the skeleton will also lift his hat to reveal a crow who is picking at his eyes. And thanks to Homer J Simpson, we all know that a flock of crows is called a murder... how appropriate for Halloween! Stay safe out there tonight!

This photograph was captured with a Sony NEX-7. 

Country Road

This is the gravel access road down the backside of Beech Mountain just as the leaves are starting to change. On most maps, you'll only see a single way on and off the mountain (Beech Mountain Parkway) and I always felt like there must be another way down in case of a forest fire or other emergency. After  a little exploring, and asking around, we found it. It's actually one of the best maintained gravel roads I've ever seen as it winds its way down the mountain for a few miles. 

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.

Beech Mountain Kite Festival

The Beech Mountain Kite Festival is held every Labor Day weekend and is a great time. They even give out little kites to the kids to decorate and fly. This is our daughter — she dressed herself Punky Brewster-style — taking her kite for a test flight. She spent at least an hour running at top speed from the bottom of the big hill to the top and back. Apologies to anybody she ran over along the way! Today is her fourth birthday so I thought I'd post a photo of her to celebrate!

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Growlers and Fire

It's Halloween weekend! Even though we're still consistently hitting high temps in the 80s, it is cooling off to the 50s in the evenings. That's perfect weather for a pint of your favorite beer and some time around a campfire.

If you live in Charlotte and are out of beer or you don't have a fire pit in your back yard, head over to Blue Blaze Brewing this weekend and they'll hook you up!

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Extreme Car Camping

The guys who were camping next to us at Overland Expo explained it to a friend back home as "Rube Goldberg Camping." That's pretty fitting. Some of the rigs and tent setups require advanced degrees just to operate. If you're wondering where we are, look for the black Jeep in the lower, right portion of the photograph parked next to a green, tan and orange tent that is just slightly larger than the Jeep. That was our home during Hurricane Matthew and it held up fantastically. 

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.

Fort Sumter Tours

We spent an afternoon boating around Charleston Harbor this summer and had a great time. Charleston will always be intertwined with the ocean so seeing it from the water just seems natural. This boat takes tours from the docks next to the South Carolina Aquarium to Fort Sumter and back. Pictured in the background is Castle Pinckney. Some day, I hope to get inside Castle Pinckney for a little photo tour. Its history is almost as fascinating as Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, located just on the other side of the harbor. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Bamboo Tunnel

If bamboo wasn't so difficult to keep under control, I would totally line my yard with rows of it and pretend I was off on a distant island somewhere. I guess when you are George Vanderbilt and you hire Fredrick Law Olmsted (the same guy who designed Central Park), you aren't so worried about maintenance. This bamboo stand lines the road as you enter the Biltmore Estate. It adds a whimsical effect to the entrance as though you are visiting a castle in a far-off land. And you sort of are. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Comicon Jawa

There were a ton of great costumes at the Heros Convention in Charlotte this year but this little Jawa was my favorite. Here he/she is posing with Simon, our 6 year-old fan of Iron Man and matching outfits. Seriously, the kid can really dress!

Back to the Jawa, though. The costume was really on-point and he/she even had a bag of little bells to trade with other convention goers. Whoever you are, Jawa friend, you really impressed Simon (and his sister and parents)! 

This photograph was captured with a Sony NEX-7. 

South of Broad in Charleston

These are the magnificent homes of Charleston's White Point Garden Park on the Battery. Rumor has it that during Hurricane Hugo, the first floor of most of these homes was underwater and dolphin were exploring the interior of these houses. 

This video was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 professional drone, which is super cheap right now since the Mavic Pro release is right around the corner. 

L-I-V-I-N

Those Vanderbilts sure lived large! This is the 135,000 square foot Biltmore House. It was built in 1895 and is the largest private home in America by a considerable margin. If you ever visit Asheville, the Biltmore Estate is definitely worth a visit. In addition to the house, you can also visit the winery, Antler Hill Village, the farm and even go on an adventure with Land Rover!

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.