Ariel's New Home
This photo was captured with a Sony a6300.
D'Italia
D'Italia is just one of a dozen excellent restaurants at El Dorado Royale on Mexico's Riviera Maya.
This photo was captured with a Sony a6300.
Brews and Stews
This photo was captured with a Sony a6300.
Peaceful Japanese Garden
This peaceful Japanese garden sits behind a replica of the coronation and ceremonial halls of Japan's Imperial Palace. The building is home to the Mitsukoshi Department Store. The entrance to the busy "shopping mall" of the Japan Pavilion is on the other side. This side, however, is reserved for a peaceful bonsai garden. The Disney Imagineers do such a great job of making the most of all of the structures in Epcot's World Showcase.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
The Fort Sumter House
In President Kennedy's own words: "They shipped my ass out of town to break us up."
I've always been fascinated by this building that just doesn't quite fit in South of Broad.
I did a little research on it and learned that President John F. Kennedy was stationed in Charleston for a brief period and spent three nights in this hotel turned condominium building with a former Miss Denmark who had connections to the Nazis. The FBI monitored the entire thing and reassigned him to a PT boat in the Pacific after sharing the information with his influential father.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
The Hollywood Tower Hotel
The Tower of Terror must have been one of the most ornately-designed ride exteriors when it was originally created. It may have set the standard for the modern-day amusement ride. This is the back of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and you can see that they didn't stop at an impressive façade — they went all the way around, making it an icon for Hollywood Studios. It's looking like it has aged a bit over the years, but it just gives it an even more authentic feel to it.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Coral Walls of Old St. Augustine
We spent a few hours wandering through historic St. Augustine on the way home from a Florida road trip. Founded in 1565, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States. They used to just say it was the oldest city in the United States, which obviously isn't true. Regardless of the terminology, it's pretty old. Especially for America.
While its founders would be proud of the many pubs that line it's streets, I'm certain they never imagined it would be the tourist destination it is today, full of shops selling everything from gummy bears to magic tricks to plastic samurai swords.
Some things have stood the test of time, though, like these walls constructed of coral bricks likely pulled from the nearby ocean. The architecture and street design of St. Augustine is the true treasure of the city. That and maybe the pubs.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Carolina Blue Dilworth Church
I hate to use our beautiful church as a metaphor for the UNC victory last night but this photo has been in my queue for about a month and I just realized I had titled it "Carolina Blue Dilworth Church" so it seems quite appropriate. I'm sure plenty of people were praying for a win last night, too.
If you live in Charlotte and you haven't visited Dilworth Church, you should check it out. It's a historic church and the 11am service is traditional but not stuffy at all.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Cherry Neighborhood
Happy Friday from the Queen City!
I was testing out some new drone mapping systems over Cherry this week and managed to take a few photos of the city. This buildings in the foreground are all part of the Metropolitan in Midtown. I was both surprised and not at all surprised by the volume of historic Cherry homes being torn down and replaced with row upon row of townhomes.
This photograph was captured with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.