Magnificent White Sands National Park in central New Mexico preserves the largest gypsum dune field of its kind in the world. This dune field in the heart of the Tularosa Basin covers 145,762 acres and includes 4.5 billion tons of gypsum sand. This gypsum was left in the area after the Permean Sea retreated several million years ago, and water and wind shape the dunes we find there today. The dunes are ever changing, though, so you will never see the same landscapes on any two visits to the park.
People have been coming through the area for at least 11,000 years and we believe that a group we call the Jornada Mogollon were the first to farm the area (see my photos of their nearby petroglyph site here). Groups of Apache made their way into the area in the 1600s and European-Americans arrived in the 1800s. White Sands National Monument was created by Herbert Hoover in 1933 and it was made a National Park in 2019.
I arrived for my visit to the park just after dawn. The mountains to the east block the sunrise, but the skies were blue and full of amazing white clouds. I headed straight out to the heart of the dunes and hiked the wonderful 5 mile Alkali Flats Trail. The sun reflected brightly off the white sand making photography difficult, but I was grateful that there was no wind. In the late afternoon I set out to capture some of the beautiful plant life in the park, mainly different kinds of yucca, which contrast nicely with the white sand. I stayed to watch the sunset and found real peace and solitude out in the middle of the park. It was a wonderful day in White Sands National Park. You can find some of these photos for sale in my store , but please contact me if the one you want isn’t there and I’ll be happy to add it. I hope you enjoy these photos from my time in White Sands National Park.
Thief River Falls gets its name from the falls at the confluence of the Red Lake River and the Thief River (which traces its name back to a conflict between the Ojibwe and Dakota people). These falls made navigation by boat impossible beyond this point, so a town was born here in 1887. Thief River Falls was originally a lumber town and then shifted to wheat farming, but it really took off when the Great Northern and Soo Line railroads came to town in the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries respectively. The rivers and railroads still power the local economy today and Thief River Falls is also the home of an Arctic Cat Snowmobiles plant. Thief River Falls has a population of around 8,600 people today and it really put on a show for me during my visit. The temperature hovered around 70 degrees under sunny skies and the sunset was absolutely spectacular. I hope you enjoy these photos from my visit to beautiful Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
Rhinelander is a charming little town in Oneida County in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Located near the convergence of the Wisconsin and Pelican Rivers, Rhinelander got its start as a lumbering town and was first called Pelican Rapids. They changed their name to Rhinelander after Frederic Rhinelander, who was president of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad at the time, in an effort to bring the railroad to their town.
In 1893 a local man named Eugene Shepard came to town with stories of a savage beast he caught which he called a “hodag”. A couple of years later, he told people he had caught another hodag, but this time it was alive. He brought his catch to the county fair where he charged people for a peak at the beast. When news of the hodag reached the Smithsonian Institution, they were determined to send a team to document the find. It was then that Shepard admitted it was all a hoax. Despite this admission, Rhinelander took the hodag and ran with it. Today you can find hodag statues at the Chamber of Commerce, the courthouse, the library and many other locations. You can drink Hodag Blood Ale at the brewery and cheer on the Rhinelander Hodags at their high school sporting events. It is definitely the town’s mascot.
I had a wonderful visit to Rhinelander. I loved the beautiful downtown area, the county courthouse and especially the photogenic feed store in town which was especially magical the evening I took these photos. I hope you enjoy these photos from my visit to Rhinelander, Home of the Hodags.
In its early days, Algoma was called Wolf River and attracted a diverse community of European settlers to the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1859, the name was changed to Ahnapee and in 1892 the Ahnapee and Western Railway came through and connected this lakefront town to the inland world. In 1897, they changed their name to Algoma and by then the town had grown to become home to one of the largest commercial fishing fleets on Lake Michigan. Today, Algoma has about 3,000 residents and fishing is still a major industry, although sportfishing has replaced commercial fishing. I had a wonderful visit to Algoma and was impressed by the beautiful Victorian architecture of some of the buildings downtown. and by the wonderful beach and lighthouse It was the historic advertising murals and stunning hand-painted signs that really blew me away though. That is until the sun went down and a beautiful dusk settled over this quaint little town painting it dozens of different colors. It takes a lot of effort to make a town look this cute, and Algoma has obviously chosen people with a true sense of the aesthetic who paid really good attention to detail. On your next visit to Door County, be sure you swing through Algoma, you may find yourself sticking around for a while. I hope you enjoy these photos of adorable Algoma, Wisconsin.
Central Mississippi geographic names pay tribute to our two most famous foreign-born Revolutionary War heroes. Lafayette County, which has Oxford as its county seat, is named for the French Marquis de Lafayette, and the county seat of Attala County is the tiny town of Kosciusko, named in honor of the Polish-born Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Koscuszko grew up attending military schools in Europe, and in 1776, at the age of 30, happened to be in Paris and heard about the American War for Independence. Making his way across the ocean, he volunteered in George Washington’s Army and would rise to the rank of Brigadier General. There are many lasting tributes to Kosciuszko around the country and the world including a garden at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and National Memorial in Philadelphia, an island in Alaska and a wonderful statue in Lafayette Park in my hometown of Washington D.C.
The Mississippi city which now bears his name was once a simple campsite along the Natchez Trace Trail known as Red Bud Springs. At some point, a tavern and blacksmith shop were built to provide for travelers making their way up the Trace. Over time this settlement grew, and would eventually be chosen as the county seat of the new Attala County.
Kosciusko is a friendly and welcoming town which centers around a stunning town square. It gets its nickname, The Beehive of the Hills because it is the industrial and retail trade center of the region (there are beehive sculptures around the square which I mistook as pineapples when I arrived). Kosciusko is probably best known as the hometown of Oprah Winfrey, but bluesman Charlie Musselwhite also hails from the town. As did James Meredith, the first African-American student to attend Ole Miss. I loved my visit to this beautiful little community where I stopped off for the night as travelers have for centuries. It was really quiet when I visited, despite it being Saturday evening, and I almost felt like I had the square to myself. The twilight was perfect for taking these photos, and the sky was a wonderful blue when I went back in the morning. I hope you enjoy these pictures of beautiful downtown Kosciusko, Mississippi - The Beehive of the Hills..
Columbus charmed me from the minute I arrived. It is a lovely, small city of about 25,000 located in eastern Mississippi on the Tombigbee River. Columbus, called The Friendly City, is the county seat of Lowndes County, and boasts one of the most beautiful county courthouses in the state. It forms one point of the “Golden Triangle” with nearby Starkville and West Point. Founded in 1819, Columbus has some wonderful historic homes, churches and businesses, and won the Great American Main Street Award in 2010. The town briefly served as the Mississippi State Capitol in 1863 when Union forces occupied Jackson. Nearby Columbus Air Force Base is the main driver of the city’s economy, but Columbus is also home to the Mississippi University for Women (called “The W” locally). Playwright Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, and his birthplace now serves as both a hometown tribute to Williams, and the town’s Welcome Center. Catfish Alley, the city’s old African-American Business District was once a thriving community in which some of Mississippi’s great blues musicians played. Bukka White even wrote a song about the area in 1969 called Columbus Mississippi Blues.. Friendship Cemetery is one of several places in the country which claims the origin of our Memorial Day and has some beautiful and moving monuments and memorials.
Today, you’ll find a quiet and friendly city with some wonderful restaurants, beautiful antebellum homes and a classically Southern, Mississippian and American downtown. Highlights for me were definitely the Stephen D. Lee Home, the Tennessee Williams Birthplace, the cemetery, a stand-alone barber’s pole and just wandering the historic district and seeing the beautiful homes to be found there. I found Columbus to be welcoming and beautiful and really enjoyed my visit. My camera was also very busy during my stay, and I hope you enjoy these photos from my time in The Friendly City of the Black Prairies.
During my month in Hawaii I visited Oahu twice, but only for a total of four days. I enjoyed a lot of the historic buildings in Honolulu, especially Iolani Palace. Pearl Harbor was fascinating and heartbreaking, the North Shore was full of amazing scenery and cool places to stop and poke around, and Waikiki had a beautiful beach and some wonderful recreational opportunities and nightlife. It was always hectic when I was there as I was running around trying to get trips started and dealing with taxis and rental cars, but when I finally had a little bit of time and space to breath, I really enjoyed my brief visit to Oahu. Although I didn’t have time to take a lot of photos there, I quite like some that I did take. I hope you do too.
I got to visit Maui twice during my month in Hawaii, and what a beautiful island it is. It seems like each time you turn the corner the view is somehow more stunning than the last. The beaches are beautiful and inviting, the locals are friendly and quick to offer advice, and the landscape is amazingly diverse for such a tiny island. This post will start with the amazing journey down the Road to Hana, one of America’s greatest road trips. Although short in miles, it’s long on beautiful views and sites to see. Then I’ll take you to the summit of Haleakala in the National Park of the same name, to gaze out over this amazing volcano, high above the clouds. Finally, we’ll go on a sunset stroll around the beautiful town of Lahaina, where whalers, missionaries and Hawaiian royalty once mingled. Even though these photos only scratch the surface of what Maui has to offer, I’m sure you’ll understand what all the fuss is about.
I had no expectations when I pulled into downtown Monroe, Louisiana last week. I had really never heard anything about it, good or bad. It was the biggest town in northeast Louisiana, but that was about the extent of my knowledge as I headed into town. Sometimes it is great when you go into a place blind, because you can see it completely unhindered by preconceived notions of what it should look like. I was impressed the moment I hit downtown by the beautiful classically industrial architecture and the lovely riverfront park and bridge. It helped that it was a gorgeous evening, but my camera and I were kept busy for hours as I wandered the streets, with amazing shots around every corner. I really had a great time taking these photos, even though it was really quiet as I wandered the streets. At one point, I was taking a photo on a street corner and a police car was stopped at the light. The officer rolled down his window and said something along the lines of “just taking photos of beautiful downtown Monroe?”. I replied “yes, I am” to which he just laughed and laughed. The light turned green, and I could still hear him laughing as he drove off into the evening. I wish I had called after him and given him my card so he could see these photos. Maybe it takes an outsider to see the real beauty in a place, and maybe that’s what makes me the right person to shoot these kinds of photos. I know he found it hilarious, but I loved my short stay in Monroe. It is truly a diamond in the rough of northeastern Louisiana.
Ah, the Florida Keys. The closest you can get to a Caribbean vacation without having to fly. This wonderful chain of islands stretches from just south of Miami all the way to the Dry Tortugas, although the road will only take you from Key Largo to Key West. This hundred mile stretch is full of fun activities like wreck diving and dolphin encounters, and has some great state parks and beaches along the way. The vibe is definitely more “island time” than the rest of the country, and you are sure to have a good time when you visit. Wherever you are in the Keys, you’re never far from a good bar. Whether you stop in for a pint after a full day of diving, or hang out all day sipping margaritas with your feet in the sand, you are sure to find a great place to while away your time in the islands. This is in no way an all-inclusive list, and it’s not meant to be. These are just some of my favorites as you make your way south through the Keys. You should definitely not try and hit all of these in one day, and I always recommend using a designated driver. Also remember there’s only one road, so you could hit a few on the way down and a few on the way back up.
Phil Foster Park under the Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach is one of the coolest places I’ve visited on this entire journey. Situated on a small island literally under the bridge in the middle of the intercoastal waterway, this park is surrounded by warm, calm, turquoise water perfect for swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. Considered by some to be one of the top shore dives in the world, I had to go see for myself. Geared up with equipment rented from nearby Force-E Dive Center, I walked off the beach and descended into the blue. It really was a spectacular dive site full of big and little creatures alike. Plenty of fish were around, as were crabs, shrimp, lobsters, starfish and even one small nurse shark. I found two elusive scorpion fish - see if you can spot them in the two photos below the starfish in this post (and remember you can always click my photos to see a bigger view). You can only dive this site one hour before and one hour after high tide, so you do have to time it properly, but Force-E is there to help with tide charts and sound advice. After my spectacular 100 minute dive (it’s only about 20 feet deep), I had just as much fun above water as below. The park has a nice little beach to relax on, a good sized picnic area, bathrooms and showers, a fishing pier and great views from every angle. It was a perfect place to hang out and relax and watch the sun set behind West Palm Beach. If you ever find yourself in central east Florida, stop by Phil Foster Park for a dive, a snorkel, a swim or just a picnic and some great rays. You may end up there way longer than you planned to be. I hope you enjoy these photos from my time under the Blue Heron Bridge in Phil Foster Park.
Tybee Island is a cute little beach community just 18 miles from Savannah. It is the easternmost point of Georgia and has wonderful a wonderful beach, a nice fishing pier and a cute downtown area. The highlight for me though, as I’m sure you will guess, is the Tybee Island Light Station. A lighthouse was first built on the site in 1736, and the bottom half of the current structure dates from 1773. The top half was replaced in 1867. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia.
