MSA The Gate to the Beach

The Gate to the Beach is located in Plymouth, MA. The iron work is everywhere here and I LOVE it!


I can't help but wonder what the pilgrims would have thought if they had seen "The Gate to the Beach", or the sign to clean up after our dogs, or not swim at night....


Or the parking lot and parking meters....

Things change, places change, people change, pictures don't change
Get out there and capture a moment today. It may not be the same tomorrow.

Jeanne
~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com

MSA Mineola, Texas

My Metal Street Art entry today comes from downtown Mineola, TX. LOVE this water meter cover. In Mineola you take a pretty good step up from the roadway to the sidewalk. This cover is in the sidewalk and looks like it has been extended to meet the sidewalk level and then "patched" into the concrete OR maybe the road was lowered and new sidewalk poured around the meter cover and bricks that surrounded it. Either way...very cool... Mineola has great history


By MSA standards it's a good one! Great character

Look up, look down, look all around, treasures live on the ground

Keep snappin'
Jeanne
~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com

By The Sea B and B

While we were in Plymouth, MA we stayed in the cutest B and B. The attention to detail and charm were truly over the top. I felt as if I was staying at Grandmas house. SO very quaint and comfortable.


We had the Governor Bradford Suite. A bedroom, our own little kitchen, living area and bath complete with claw foot tub. This is the entry to our home away from home and private deck that looks out to the Mayflower and beautiful ocean.


SO very welcoming


A beautiful hand quilted quilt on the bed to make us feel at home.


How sweet is this little pantry, the collection of china and hand crocheted pot holders?


Or this cute little kitchen, complete with Kincaid painting and collection of depression glass in the cabinet?


The enclosed porch and meeting place for morning coffee and cake.


The Mayflower Suite. Look at that 180 degree view of the ocean! And YES you CAN see The Mayflower from this room!





The owner is a tole painter. She has left sweet little touch's everywhere


I am so thrilled that Colleen found this B and B at the last minute for us. We were very lucky they had a cancelation the day before. What a wonderful experience.


Colleen relaxing in the front garden of By The Sea B and B. She deserves it! She works so hard to make special times like this happen. Thank you so much for all you do Colleen! Love you more than you know

Jeanne
~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com

The Pilgrim Memorial

The Pilgrims Memorial building, in Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA
Its purpose is to commemorate the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in Provincetown, in November 1620. Here the Pilgrims spent 5 weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod, before they sailed on to Plymouth. They also drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact. VERY COOL to know that one of Shaun's direct ancestors was one of the thirteen who signed the compact. More to come about that soon.


President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1907. In 1910, President William Howard Taft dedicated the finished 252-foot tower. It is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States and is 350 feet above sea level.


Never look down...... Our view from part way up, looking down


It's a long way to the top! I held my camera out into the center and snapped. Terrible picture, but gives you an idea how far we had left to go to get to the top. 116 steps and 60 ramps are all it takes to get there. Can you say burning thighs?
Great piece of history
Jeanne

Location:Provincetown, MA

Cape Cod Light

Truro, MA is the site of the Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse (also known as the Cape Cod Light), the first lighthouse on Cape Cod.


The Cape Cod light was moved inland. Quite an undertaking! The coast was eroding and there was a fear of losing the lighthouse into the ocean. The Preservation Society, Coast Gaurd and National Park Service worked together to save this beauty. I am so glad they did.


Going up anyone?
More of our Boston trip to follow
Jeanne

~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com
- Posted by Jeanne from my iPad

Boston, Still Day 2

I am still on day 2 of Boston.  Sorry it is taking me so long to get through a travel day.  I would tell you I will be faster in the future, but there is no reason to start anything, even a blog post, with a lie *wink*
SO, Day 2 (part 2) starts off with us getting off of The Bean Town Trolley (such a cute name) in Copley Square.  Copley Square is surrounded by a remarkable number of important Boston educational and cultural institutions.  Beautiful! Here are a few of the things you can see while standing in the center of Copley Square.
The Trinity Church is Stunning! It is the only church in the United States and the only building in Boston that has been honored as one of the "Ten Most Significant Buildings in the United States" by the American Institute of Architects   It was built from 1872-1877  This is a picture of the street facing (back) side of it.

The stained glass in the church is beyond description. I will save that for a blog post in itself. 
Okay... Okay just a little sneak peak    Amazing!

 I love that the church reflection was so clean and clear in the new glass high rise building across the street!   

 The Boston Public Library. The inscription on the building says "The Library of the City of Boston Built by the People and Dedicated to the Advancement of Learning" It is one of the few remaining large free libraries.

Copley square is also where the Boston Marathon ends. These statues were erected in honor of the participants of the oldest American Foot Race, The Boston Marathon. Very Cool.  It is called "The Hare and The Tortoise"

What a beautiful place! So many historical buildings all perfectly kept and preserved.
Of course on our sightseeing tour we also saw "the Green Monster" aka Fenway Parks green wall, The Massachusetts State House, MIT, Paul Revere Park and SO much more.





While there, I developed an obsession with all of the metal utility covers in the streets.  Seriously I have never seen so many different types of manhole and utility covers. Many of them are laid into BRICK ROADS....be still my heart....TWO of my favorite things, bricks AND cool rusting metal things.     If you would like to see all of them  (I promise it's not as crazy as it sounds) you can see them on my blog posts on http://brickroadphoto.blogspot.com/2012/09/bricks-in-boston.html
I will NEVER forget where I took this one.  LOVE it!

Didn't I warn you that I don't take traditional vacation/tourist pictures? Ha! 
Our next stop will be Salem.  Hold onto your hats....just kidding that was a really poor witch joke.
Thanks for looking
Love and miss y'all
Jeanne
~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property
of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without
permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com

Good morning Boston, Day 2

Day two in Boston,
This is the Custom House Tower in McKinley square. The building was completed in 1849 and the tower was added in 1910. Cost to build then $1,076,000 It was built near the docks to collect maritime duties in the days of The Boston Clipperships. In other words today's "customs"




It is shown next to Faneuil Hall (the gold dome) and the marketplace Center. Great history, beautiful architecture.
Next we took The Bean Town Trolley (what else would it be called) on a city tour. We drove past several beautiful church's and very old graveyards. This monument caught my attention. Not so much the monument but the people. I suppose I should have pre-warned you, my vacay pictures aren't always typical tourist pictures. In all of my photography I believe in capturing what is real, happening in that moment, not just the pretty pictures, the real pictures. That being said.




This touched my heart. There is an inscription on the stone above her that says "He preached with spiritual power and led a great advance towards the Christian ideals" It is on the William Ellery Channing Historic Landmark at the Federal Street Church in Boston. Christian ideals? What do you suppose he would think of this scene?




Next up Copley square, The Trinity Church, Boston library and a noteworthy rabbit and turtle. Until then.... Remember all it takes is a smile to make someone's day, to let them know someone cares in what can be an uncaring world at times.
More to follow
Jeanne

~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com
Posted by Jeanne from my iPad

Cow Paths and Cameras in Boston Day1

Our trip to Boston was fabulous! Here is a recap of Day 1.
After surviving security (see blogpost Surviving Security) at DFW I arrived in Boston late afternoon. I picked up my rental car and headed into the city. At this point I was feeling pretty smart. The night before, I had downloaded a Map Quest app for my iPad and preprogrammed in the hotel address. All that was left was to turn it on and listen my way to the hotel. Long story short.... my 15 minute trip to the hotel took 45 minutes. The directionally challenged MQ voice just could not comprehend Boston's street system. Boston streets are not laid out in "grids". They seem to just meander and change names and directions at will. ~~Side note....While I was finding my way around I was amazed at how friendly the Boston drivers were, they frequently honked and waved at me, as if to welcome me to Boston, how nice. *wink*~~
I would find out later that the street system in Boston was created by using the old cow paths, they just paved them, aaahhhh it all makes sense now. Technology has met it's match! The MQ app has been deleted.

This is one of the first things you see when you come out of the tunnel from the airport. I took this with my cell out the car window while sitting in traffic...sorry


It is the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, and is one of the widest cable-stayed bridges in the world. The Bridge serves as the northern entrance to and exit from Boston. The Bridge is named after civil rights activist Lenny Zakim and the American colonists who fought the British in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Very cool!
Here is a better picture


It was taken by Andy Ryan Photography of Boston
Stunning!
Colleen was still in business meetings when I got to the hotel so I decided to take a walk in Boston's beautiful Beacon Hill area.
I anxiously unpacked my camera. That's when I discovered my lens had been crunched in transit (panic) my camera didn't work with it on (PANIC)!!! Tomorrow we would be touring Boston and doing it with no camera made me....well....panic. I immediately started searching online for camera shops in Boston. Did I mention panic??
( I am very happy to say we found a great camera store the next day, bought a new lens and to my relief the camera wasn't damaged, hallelujah!)

Colleen soon arrived at the hotel and we went back to the airport to pick up Pat. With Colleen as the navigator and the help of "Babbs" the voice on her phones VZNavigator we made it back to the hotel in record time! Thank you Babbs! BOO MQ!


Beautiful Beacon Hill


I can't wait to share the rest of our trip. I have decided to break it up in days and locations or it would be a HUGE boring blog post.

Day 2 we will tour Boston and Salem. Then we head down to Plymouth to our beautiful Bed and Breakfast for the remainder of our stay.
Can't wait to share
Jeanne
Posted by Jeanne from my iPad

Surviving security

The adventure to Boston has begun. I don't fly very much, in fact hardly at all. It's not that I don't like to fly......I hate to fly. I like the concept....getting somewhere fast, saving time yada yada. It's the hangover I get from the intravenous Dramamine that gets me. Ok so maybe intravenous is an exaggeration, but I am sure I exceed the "daily recommended dosage".

I don't even mind the security checks. Actually if I had my way everyone would fly naked with no carry ons. Ok maybe not totally naked but you get the point. A bomb in your underwear hmmmm really? That is not suicide, that is just iiicky. Of course one of the answers to post 9/11 security concerns was to put all liquids in a ziplock bag. Now I know that I am kind of scattered sometimes but I just don't get it. How does a ziplock bag make things safer? Don't get me wrong I love and use a lot of ziplock bags, but I have never felt like they were strong enough to protect me from a terrorist threat or a bomb. Please feel free to enlighten me. Wow I got way off track there.... One word...Dramamine


Today shaun dropped me at the airport, I made my way to security. I put the purse, the phone, the ipad, the sweater, the watch and the bracelet as well as my shoes in the little gray (germy) basket and proceeded in line to the new and improved metal detector. I haven't flown in a while so was quiet impressed that this was a full body scanner. You stood on two yellow feet prints, obviously made for someone with longer legs than mine, held your arms above your head and viola it scanned you. WELL I made the mistake of wearing a blouse that has a large silver decorative ring sewn INTO the front of it. Hello?? What was I thinking? Carl the security guy, (yes we are on a first name basis now) took one look and said "well let's try it". I stepped in and the bells went off. After stepping to the side to be "wanded" it was in fact determined that yes they thought it was my shirt. At that very moment I had this overwhelming fear of being escorted into "the back" and strip searched by the very big very mean looking woman in the uniform next to me, we will call her Helga. I took one look at Carl and said "I will just take it off". His response "excuse me?". I explained to him I had a camisole underneath. Now before you panic, my shirt was cut a little low so I decided to wear something underneath, it is really more like a t-shirt with straps. SO Carl said he thought that was ok as long as I was ok with it and it didn't really matter because by then I about had it pulled over my head.

At that point, I held my chin up, straddled the two little yellow feet prints, sucked in the fat rolls, put my arms above my head and Carl pressed the scan button. BRAVO! I passed, redressed and moved on. (I swear I could hear proper women everywhere gasping) Boston here I come, are you sure you are ready?

I'm sure you have noticed that I have not included a picture in this blog post ....you are welcome! Ha!
I am writing this on the plane under the influence of Dramamine, sorry mom. I am especially thankful that I could give everyone in the security area a story to tell about their trip.
I am looking forward to getting Carl's Christmas card.

Love and miss all of you
More Boston memories to come
Jeanne


Posted by Brick Road Photo, Jeanne May