Beech Mountain Peak

This is the peak of Beech Mountain. It's situated inside the Land of Oz, making it one of the most picturesque theme parks in the world — not to mention one of the most unique. As afraid as I am of those flying monkeys, I hope the Land of Oz is able to build a new following and regain it's former glory. It seems to be undergoing a resurgence since it was officially shuttered in 1980 and is now open for private tours as well as public events periodically throughout the year. 

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

Marina Towers

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

Chicago's world-famous Marina Towers have put an exclamation point on the city's architecture for the last half a century. As a kid, I was always fascinated with these twin buildings as they towered over the Chicago River.

The Marina Towers — and the array of attached buildings called Marina City — were built during an urban decline in the city as Chicagoans started flooding the suburbs. At 65 stories tall, they were the tallest residential buildings and the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world. Interestingly, they were built at a cost of $36 million, financed largely by a union of janitors and elevator operators as a last-ditch effort to convince people to stay in the city at night (source: Wikipedia). 

Chicago's architects have never stopped innovating and there are functional works of art all over the city but these twin buildings have earned their spot in history for their unique design and construction techniques. 

Go Cubs!

Game Seven! Go Cubs! 

(Video) Late Summer on Beech Mountain

Beech mountain is beautiful in the late summer, even before the leaves start changing. This is Oz Run, on the backside of the mountain. If you want to plan a fall visit or ski trip to the area, check out Slopeside, our Beech Mountain cabin.

This video was captured with a DJI Phantom 2 drone with a GoPro Hero 4+ Black camera.

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.