Everyone knows I like a good zoo. Animals are just fun to photograph. I’d never been to the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Delaware even though it’s only a few minutes from home, so in July 2018 we decided to finally check it out. It’s a very small zoo, but it’s a lot of fun. You can get up close with the animals and it it’s easy to see all of it in a few hours. Of course, we chose the hottest day ever to visit, but we survived even if a few of the animals looked very tired due to the oppressive heat too.
16
Nov
2020
The new observation deck at One Liberty Place has been open for a while now, but too often, you don’t think of going to tourist attractions near home. I finally spent a day heading to the top of the formerly tallest building in Philadelphia to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised. After lunch a little Belgian place in Center City, we went up once during the day and once after dark. The views were impressive and they do a nice job of interpreting all that you can see from the 57th floor. I even learned a few new facts despite living here all my life. We also checked out the ice rink at City Hall’s Dilworth Park which was a nice way to get into the holiday spirit.
We’re always looking for things to do in the Fall since it’s one of the best times of the year to be outside. This year we took a Fall foliage ride through the Red Clay Valley on the Wilmington and Western Railroad. Thanks to the terribly warm weather we’ve been having, there wasn’t too much color but it was a fun trip nonetheless. We upgraded to the open air car which gave me a better opportunity to test out my brand new camera, a Nikon D5700. Yes, I finally replaced my trusty D90. I’m very happy with the new camera and there will be MANY more photos to come!
While looking for someplace to go for a day trip, we stumbled upon a balloon festival in North Jersey. Since hot air balloons always make for great photos, I couldn’t pass it up. We bought tickets and headed to Readington Airport. Unfortunately, the day was pretty overcast and there were scattered showers throughout the day. Some of the traditional balloons were able to launch but all of the larger shaped balloons either inflated and stayed tethered or just didn’t inflate at all. As it turned out, the unexpected part that made the price of admission worth it was all of the companies that were there handing out samples of their products. It was a bizarrely eclectic mix of stuff. From Advil to Minute Rice to flavored milk and on and on, we had to make the long muddy walk to the car twice just to offload all of the stuff we’d been given! It was a fun day and we managed to stay mostly dry while watching the balloons that were brave enough to take off despite the questionable weather.