National Zoo

30 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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Photography, Smithsonian National Zoo, washington dc, Zoo

So the Zoo. The Smithsonian National Zoological Park, to be exact.

You know I love big cats, and they have LOTS. And red pandas. And pandas, wolves, foxes, cheetahs, and so many great animals the Norfolk Zoo doesn’t have. The only thing I don’t like is that you have to backtrack so much. And the hills. I hate the hills. If you enter from the road/metro station areas, then it’s downhill as you walk through and uphill on the way back.

But overall, it’s a fun visit!

What’s your favorite part of the National Zoo?
(Mine’s obviously the big cats.) ;-)

St. Luke’s Church

09 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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Historic St. Luke's Church, Photography, smithfield, virginia

This spot is only about 40 minutes or so from my house and I didn’t know it existed until a few years ago. Since then, I’ve brought quite a few friends here to wander and take pictures.

Historic St. Luke’s Church is in Smithfield, Virginia. According to its website, it is “the oldest existing church of English foundation in America and the nation’s only surviving Gothic building.”

It’s pretty, the grounds and surrounding cemetery are pretty. The tour is interesting and the artifacts inside are cool. The church isn’t used for weekly services anymore, but they still do weddings (one of my friends was married here).

The 1630 Chamber Organ – Beautiful!

Definitely worth a visit, if you’re in the area.

What are some cool places near you that you hadn’t ever heard of?

Seeing the Wild Horses

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Crystal in Photography, Travel

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carova beach, corolla, north carolina, wild horses

Over Memorial Day, I took a day trip to Corolla, North Carolina. No destination really in mind, that’s just where I ended up.

I took a Wild Horse Tour through Corolla Outback Adventures, which had just enough seats available. We got in the back of a 4-door truck into a covered area with benches and took off. You drive down the main beach area to Carova Beach, NC, which is all sand.

This was my favorite moment of the tour, and I wish I had been able to get a nice wide shot of this, but I was focused on getting the individual horses…
We were heading back to the main beach area, and this was the conversation I was having with God in my head: “God, can I see another wild horse? I mean, I know I’ve already gotten to see a bunch. And I know I shouldn’t feel stupid for asking you for more, because you delight in bringing us joy and dong nice things, but I feel ridiculous and selfish asking, since I am grateful that we saw so many already…” And so on. Oh, I also wanted to take a pic with my phone for instagram. So that was my inner dialogue as the truck drove along toward the beach.

We came around the corner of a dune to see six horses. And I just started laughing.