Not knowing exactly where and what to expect I headed to the mountains for the night with some friends this past weekend. It was quite the experience I must say. No heat or electricity altogehter, plus no running water or cell phone service. I was out of my element. It was a blast though! I got my camera out for a little bit on Saturday morning and here are the photos:
If you’ve kept up with me on Twitter you know that I recently went to Kiawah Island which is a barrier island located 19 miles away from Charleston, South Carolina. The island is home to 10 miles of unspoiled beach, five award-winning championship golf courses, endless biking paths and wildlife galore. I grew up going to Kiawah and the island has become a home away from home for me, making it the best place to go when I need a break from everyday life.
I wasn’t able to get my camera out as much as I would have liked to but I did get it out a little. Below are some of the shots that were taken that week.
I normally focus more on landscapes but I only had a telephoto lens with me which turned out to be quite the feat when going to places such as the Angel Oak. Thankfully I had my trusty iPhone with the Pano app.
The Angel Oak, above, has shaded John’s Island, South Carolina for over 1,500 years. It stands tall at an incredible 65 feet and covers 160 feet of land. It’s a must see for tourists visiting this part of South Carolina.
There are three towers on Kiawah which overlook the marshy areas of the island. The photo above was taken from one of the towers on the Vanderhorst Plantation.
During the week we spent time going to the beach, adventuring around the island, riding bikes, and we headed into Charleston one night. Riding bikes at Kiawah is the best way to get around the island and comes in handy when you need some exercise, so I rented bikes for us to ride. We had a day filled of riding from one end of the island to the other. Once we were finished riding them for the day, we locked them up and then went to grab some dinner. When we got back the bikes weren’t there, so I thought ‘okay the rental company must have made a mistake and picked them up while we were gone’. Not known to my knowledge the bikes had actually been stolen. That caused quite the stir for the following days.
On Tuesday night, the boys and I headed into Charleston not having a clue where to go or what we wanted to do. We ended up taking the long way to get into Charleston and went over the Ravenel Bridge which was gorgeous! By the time we reached Charleston all of us were hungry and decided to give the iPhone a chance. We picked Hyman’s Seafood, which turned out to be an amazing place with awesome food. It was a family type restaurant that just so happened to have a list of celebrity appearances they’ve had come in.
At night on the last couple of days we were greeted by a raccoon on our back porch. I was actually sitting on the porch on my computer when Alex knocked on the window to let me know that there was a raccoon right next to me, which completely startled me when I heard the raccoon move first. He ended up wanting a little taste of one of my Redbulls that was on the outside table and kept coming back to see if there was more. We named him Ritzy for his other love, Ritz crackers.
Trips to Kiawah always leave me wanting more of the gorgeous place. Hopefully, it won’t be another two years before I’m able to take another trip “home. You can find more pictures from the trip in my “Kiawah Island, SC” set on Flickr and you can learn more about the island by going to KiawahResort.com.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! I’ve been running around like a mad person searching for presents since I waited until the last minute to get them. Being busy doing things I haven’t had the time to update the blog, but here I am now! Some of you know that Santa visited my house early this year with a Nikon D90 just for me (if you didn’t know, I guess now you do). I’m assuming he read my “10 Item Geeky Christmas List” cause he sure read my mind. I do have video footage of the opening of the camera, but I realized once I uploaded it that iMovie doesn’t have the editing capabilities that I needed. Poo! I’ve been debating on booting up the monstrous Gateway and using Windows Movie Maker. Hmmm.
I’ve been fiddling around with the Nikon D90 since I’ve gotten it but haven’t had the best test subjects. I headed towards downtown Winston Salem two days ago during “magic hour” hoping to find what I was looking for. I got some pretty neat shots and I picked out my 3 favorites.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!!!
On Sunday my friend and I decided to go to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC. The website said they closed one hour before sunset and we figured that if we got there at 3:30 that we would have enough time. We made perfect time, pulled up to the grounds and drove up to the entrance kiosk where they told us that they stop admitting people into the ranch at 3:00. Shouldn’t they either A) have that on the website or B) let us fellow people who arrive 30 minutes late in. Apparently not. Despite that whole shabazz I was still able to capture a few shots of the animals that we were greeted by at the entrance and am planning on going the weekend of the 19th. So look for more storytime, pictures and hopefully some HD video. =]
The entrance, which basically says enter at your own risk. (They’re not reliable for anything that happens to you or your vehicle.)
Oh, and no alcohol allow on the premises since it doesn’t mix with the animals. ;]
Mr. Llama was thinking that those people might just have some food. Probably not since they were also 30 minutes late arriving.
To view more pictures from the short time at the Lazy 5 Ranch, view my set on Flickr.
This past weekend, after hunting online for light displays around North Carolina, I headed to McAdenville, North Carolina, also known as Christmas Town USA. It’s a small town just west of Charlotte, near Gastonia, where residents decorate for the holidays. This year the lights are on display from December 1st to the 26th.
If you are following me on Twitter you will know that I was looking for a Flip MinoHD for the trip but could not find one anywhere in Charlotte. I’ve ordered one from the Flip website and hope to have it between the 16-19! I did manage to take one video of my favorite part, which was the pond surrounded by huge lit pine trees and a blinking Santa and snowflakes up on a billboard frame.
My friend and I parked there and walked to see the bridge that they have cut off from traffic during the hours of operation. I recommend seeing McAdenville on foot rather than just driving through cause there are so many small things that you wouldn’t notice. I have to admit it was freezing and we got lost on the way up there so we had to rush a little bit and didn’t stay out in the cold for long.
You can find more pictures from the trip here.
From November 15, 2008 through January 1, 2009 Tanglewood Park of Clemmons, North Carolina becomes a spectacular winter light show that is open to the public. Visitors can drive their own vehicles through the course or for a fee take a hay ride or carriage ride. There are over one hundred displays and over a million lights filling up the park. View a map of the light displays here.
On November 20th I visited the park for this first time this year and was amazed that no cars were in front of our car or behind. It’s normally slam packed, it was actually quite nice. I was determined to get a video going through the park, but I ran out of memory. I did get some pictures of some of the displays and will hopefully have a video up soon. =)
For more information including times and rates visit www.forsyth.cc/tanglewood/fol_info.aspx.
On our second day trip down to Myrtle Beach we visited the Hard Rock Park. I’m reluctant to say that I do not have and pictures from the park because I was afraid that I would lose my camera on the rides. The truth of the matter I would have been able to have my camera, my cell phone and maybe even a medium sized balloon dog with me on the rides and not have lost any of it. I was a little disappointed, I was expecting bigger rollercoasters and more rides in general. The list of what I did and what I thought:
When you enter the hanger to get on the ride you first stand in line and watch a presentation about safety and other tidbits about the ride. Then you are ushered into a small enclosure which plays an interesting informational video about Led Zeppelin. The actual ride sends you through 6 loops as you listen to Led Zeppelin through the whole process. I would recommend the ride for fans and others, though the ride was a little too short for my completely satisfaction.
Nights In White Satin – The Trip
At first you walk around and see different intriguing imagery, then pick up a pair of 3D glasses and head for the ride. It’s a world of 3D heaven. After the ride ends you walk through more hallways filled with crazy images. One of my favorites!
Eagles – Life In The Fast Lane
This is the longest ride in the park and is Eagles themed. I thought it was fun, but it still wasn’t packing the punch I was looking for.
The ride gives you a chance to get off your feet and take a breather while looking around at the park.
So overall, I was disappointed but still had a blast. It’s definitely family oriented with a Hard Rock feel. The one thing that discouraged me the most was that after every ride you exited into a gift shop, very annoying. If you’re looking for a wonderful amusement park without exceptional rides then this would be a good place to visit if you’re ever near Myrtle, but if you’re looking for rides I would recommend finding another park.
After the first beach trip I had the chance to be able to go back down with the same two friends for a little more than a week. Let me tell you, it was quite the experience. We went drove down to Myrtle twice and had a blast. I’ll first say that keep in mind I’ve only been to Myrtle Beach once before and that was when I was little so I was relying on the boys to let me know where to go. They had made it seem like they knew so I wasn’t worried about making sure I had directions and all that mess. Though it turned out to not be so good because they ended up not having a clue! Thank goodness for my iPhone. =]
The first trip there was comprised of getting out of the Sunset Beach area and grabbing some food. After driving and driving and looking for places we finally ended up at the Nascar Speed Grille.
There were tons of video games, Nascar cars, and of course a gift shop. The food even had Nascar seeping from it with names like “Talladega Cheesy Burger” and “Pit Crew Pulled Pork Sandwich”. My stomach wasn’t feeling well so I just went with the chicken tenders and honey mustard, which was wonderful. It’s not hard to mess up chicken tenders though. Once dinner had ended we headed over to the Nascar Speedpark to possibly race a little. (Note: I’m a racing enthusiast.) I was disappointed to get into the park and find out that my short self couldn’t ride the main attraction, Thunder Road. We decided because of that and since it was late (it was a bit pricey) that we wouldn’t do any of the typical “Speedpark” activities. Then the Skyflyer thrill ride stood out! It takes you up 100 feet, one of the riders pulls the release, and you drop. From the sidelines my other friend took some videos, with a shaky hand.
After the first time we decided after we had gotten up from the platform that we wanted to go again. =]
So once we got off the girl who helped run the ride told us about the Slingshot Ride down on the strip which was about a 10 minute drive from where we were. The exact address is 1201 N. Ocean Blvd in Myrtle Beach. The attraction is supposed to be like a reverse bungee jump, instead of falling you are propelled 210 feet straight into the air just like you are in a giant slingshot. The views at night were amazing, and you overlook the beach on the ride. Here’s a picture of it during the day:
Note: Smaller people get tossed around a little bit, if you didn’t notice from the video. Also, the video was supposed to have audio, but the people at the ride forgot to turn it on.
Cathryn Gray is a new media chic with many passions and interests, including photography, modeling, blogging, social media, design, gadgets
(especially those Apple ones), traveling and more.
