Pumpkin Juice

Pumpkin Juice or Butterbeer? I'll take the latter over the former any time. The rest of my family is in Team Pumpkin Juice. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Memorial Day Jeep

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Restaurant Marrakesh II

Sorry for the late post today... er, tonight. There was too much racing action today and we snuck off for a waterfall hike in the mountains this afternoon. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Bike Beech

It's a beautiful morning on Beech Mountain! Come on up for some mountain biking or disk golf!

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional.

Summer Fun Opening Weekend

It's opening weekend at Beech Mountain Resort! Time for downhill mountain biking, mountain disc golf and mountain beers on the mile-high 5506' Skybar deck! 

Need a place to stay? Check out Slopeside, our private chalet located in the ski village. 

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

Deathly Hallows and the Invisibility Cloak

No trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be complete without sitting down for a show from Tales of Beedle the Bard. In this case, we watched "The Tale of the Three Brothers." Pictured here is the third brother revealing himself from underneath his invisibility cloak. 

Here's a video from the series if you have no idea what I'm talking about! 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Perfectly Imperfect Fountain

This tranquil fountain is found in the back corner of the souk in Epcot's Morocco World Showcase. Most people don't make it that far back into the souk so it's usually a nice place to relax. Note that there is a certain imperfection in the tiles that is very unlike Disney's usual meticulous approach to design elements.

The tiles were designed and laid by workers appointed by the King of Morocco so they were likely very talented craftsmen. It's a common Western belief that islamic tiles are imperfect by design as a way to show homage to Allah as only he could be perfect. However, this "intentionally imperfect" philosophy is not as widely-held in the Islamic World. There, it is said that it's more likely that the construction and design techniques simply create natural variations as patterns bend around corners or behind arches. Simply put, there's no need to intentionally make something imperfect that by design is likely to have a few natural variations in the first place. Perhaps the difference, then, is simply that those imperfections are more likely embraced by artists and patrons than they would be in other cultures. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Red 5 Standing By

Yes. That's Luke's helmet! 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Borgin and Burkes

We completely missed Knockturn Alley on our first visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I read about it later and made sure it was on our itinerary on our next visit. It's such a cool concept and like everything else in Diagon Alley, really well executed. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Sail Day

This photograph was captured with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.