..The calm before the Storm

I visited a beach which I'd visited a year ago. Same beach, but boy was it different. The wind was blowing hard and the waves were around 6 feet or so if not more, the result of a Nor'Easter storm. The second picture does not do it justice.

Beach in 2008...calm day

Beach in 2009 - After Nor'Easter storm

..and the weather

Our first stop in the morning was on the "elbow of Cape Cod" Chatham. The waters off the beach were calm, sky was slightly overcast, but overall it was nice.


In Chatham Downtown, I saw this pretty house. It has 6 bedrooms, sits on a hill, apparently has a view of the water....and it can be yours for the small sum of $2, 475,000!!!!! So I still like dreaming about the house!

We had lunch near the US Coast Guard station on the Cap Cod Canal. Chatted with an officer on site who talked about the vessels, but refused when I asked for his picture. These are the CCG stations in the US, and are part of Homeland Security!

We visited a museum where the art was interesting.....


..and the architecture even more interesting
.
..the end of the tour was seen through the rain splattered windows of the bus. This is apparently a really nice beach of the Bay..

Martha's Vineyard

We left Hyannis at 9:30am to spend the day on Martha's Vineyard, MA today. It's a very pretty and quaint little place with way expensive real Estate. Lowest price I saw was a tiny house (450sq/ft), not winterized (means it has no insulation and you have to find somewhere else to live from October to May or June) for about $500,000 (land not included!). My favorite house wasn't for sale! It was purchased last year for $14Million..yup.. Broke my heart and I didn't even bother to take a photo of it!!!


Our ferry boat to Martha's Vineyard, MA

View of Hyannis Harbour from the Ferry

Kennedy Compound at Hyannis Port

Harbour at Oak Blufs, Martha's Vineyard

Funky Art..it's a memorial to the whalers of the area

Travelling through New England

As I admired the Fall Foliage of Vermont and New Hampshire, it made me wonder how many shades of orange and yellow there could possibly be. Every scene seemed to be more colourful than the last. Truly beautiful. I took a few shots from the bus, as there are no lookouts where a bus can stop to allow keener tourists with new cameras to take photos. For some reason, I could hear the theme song to the Bob Newhart Show ringing in my head.


Shades of Red, Yellow and Orange

More shades of Fall.

Now this next photo was a disturbing scene. Please note the white stuff at the bottom of the photo..yes folks..fluffy precipitation also known as a four letter word beginning with S and ending with W. Apparently we were at a high altitude and its not uncommon to see this early in the Fall season.


White stuff which shall remain nameless.

We stopped for lunch at a Mall in Burlington, Vermont. I noticed this little girl, having lunch with her mom and friend "piggy". He sat at the table in his own spot, and the little girl was sharing her burger and drink with the pig. It was sooooooooo cute.

Best friends

Our last stop before Cape Cod was at a New Hampshire Liquor and Spirits Store. You all know what a fan of Chianti I am, but this was a first for me. I'd never seen this label. At first I thought it was a Gag, but the tag does indeed indicate authentic Chianti. Now is this really the best marketing angle they could come up with? What's next "Please Buy our Chianti"Label? I might have bought a bottle of "GREAT CHIANTI" but not just Good Chianti. Must be popular though, there was only 1 bottle on the shelf...where I left it. I bought a bottle of Rocca delle Macie instead.

Good Chianti..as opposed to GREAT Chianti?

The weekend was spent in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario enjoying the Niagara Wine Festival. Visited wineries, tasted many great wines, some good wines, some ok wines..none were terrible. The pairing of food and wine was particularly enjoyable. Took a few photos along the way, just to test out the new camera.


wine glasses at Chateau des Charmes

Grapes heading for a bottle of Reisling

Future bottle of wine

Grapevines as far as the eye could see.

First it is a bud

Then it becomes a flower

Liked the play of colours

Vancouver

So off I went to Vancouver. My second visit. City is amazing, views are awesome. To bad I had to work.

View from the revolving restaurant

This is my favorite doorway. Building used to be a post office.

The sails at Canada Place

Lion's Gate Bridge!

My vancouver roommate

Here's a buddy who came by every night to hang out on the balcony!

Canada Day in Ottawa

The Rideau Canal

Architectural Symmetry

Saw this on my way to work this morning. I love the shapes, the combination of lines and curves and the symmetry.

Beauty in simplicity

Ottawa is celebrating the Tulip Festival these days and everyone is admiring those tulips, but I took a shot of a dandelion, because its beauty is under-estimated. I always feel bad for this flower, considered a weed by most!

Lacking inspiration

It's been a slow month, spring is here, but you wouldn't know it by mother nature's behaviour. Grey skies, cool temperatures, snow and rain. The Easter bunny did bring some sunshine, but the warm temperature remained elusive. Inspiration for photography has been hard to come by, but I did manage to take a few shots at the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park in Ottawa.

Brought to you by the letter L and U and # 20

The sesame street gang in happier times
Photo: Henson Productions

Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter L for layoffs and U for unemployment and 20 for 20%? Say it isn't so. It seems that even Sesame Street isn't immune to the Economic downturn. It's a sad day when Ernie, Bert and Big Bird must worry about their future. I wonder if they're eligible for Unemployment benefits? Elmo is only 4 so he'll probably bounce back with some retraining, but what about Ernie and Bert? They're no spring chickens..will they still be able to retire in comfort? Can Oscar find another career?

Yes I did actually leave the bar..

For those who asked, yes I did do more than just sit on a lounge chair while I was in Puerto Plata...here is the proof.

The enchanted path

This was one of the path's leading to the Playa Dorado in Puerto Plata..I found it enchanting.

A budding artist

He was so cute happily making a sand sculture on the Playa Dorado in Puerto Plata. (daddy who was out of camera range no doubt helped!)

Local critters

Saw this little guy running around near the pool at the hotel in Puerto Plata...This is as close as I plan on ever getting to one..whatever it is. I kept the patio door closed cause I didn't want one to come by and visit.

Green and Yellow

Nothing significant about this leaf/branch except that I liked the contrast of colours.

False Advertising

This sign was located between the hotel and the beach.

Now to me this would indicate a grove of men..but I looked and I looked and I looked and nowhere could I find men growing on trees...bitter disappointment.

The summary of a Week

Day 1


Day 2


Day 3



Day 4


Day 5


...yes there was a theme...