Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start

Two weeks ago early on a Sunday morning, I hopped in my car and headed down I-95 South to St. Augustine, Florida! What made the trip extra fun and doable, was that my Aunt J who I was headed to visit had been up in Va to visit her daughter (my cousin) so we met up south of Richmond and road tripped it caravan style! 

After a 9 hour drive and an relaxing evening unwinding at her and my uncles very peaceful and comfortable home with some Dark & Stormies and good conversation out on their lanai, I spent my 1st full day in town exploring the touristy side of St. Augustine. 

Aunt J took me to St. George street and we wandered around in and out of over priced tourist trap shops while I happily snapped pictures of the beautiful Spanish influenced architecture and lush tropical greenery. It was also nice to just wander and get to reacquaint ourselves with one another since really the last time I'd gotten to just spend time with my Aunt was when I was still a kid!

I know I already posted a mini post about this day but thought I'd share a few more photos! The weather was gorgeous! Cool enough to feel comfortable in the sun and the slight humidity but with a taste of salty ocean mixed in.

 There were several time period pubs and taverns you could go to where you'd be served by waiters in colonial garb. Had I been 12 years old I'd have been all about stopping there for lunch! Haha.

 Instead we went to the Columbiana for lunch- this is their outdoor courtyard above. And had delicious melt in your mouth cuban bread (yes, i cheated and had a bit cuz it was so yummy) as well as a delicious salad that the are famous for called the 1905! 

Afterwards we strolled around for a bit longer. 

 There is so much beautiful wrought iron in St. Augustine. 

And then my Aunt and I split a small gelato since neither of us felt we could eat a whole one. We had limoncello sorbet and coconut milk gelato. It was delicious! And dairy free which for me is always a plus!

And a great way to start out my vacation!

Lynchburg Part 1: Country Roads

One of my best friends lives up near Lynchburg. We try to take turns visiting one another with most visits including a lot of similar things regardless of whose home turf we're on... those would include thrifting, antiquing, movie watching and eating. While visits at my place also include visits to the VMFA for our mutual love of art... we did after all meet and become friends in Painting 1 & Photo 1 my fall semester Senior year... her Junior year while both majoring in Studio Art, along with eating out a few times at one of the many great eateries RVA offers. 

Visits to Lauren's include lots of driving... its kind of required to get anywhere when you live in the country (but I love it!) as well as exploring abandoned houses and taking photographs in open fields, of old farm houses and visits to Lynchburg and Appomattox.

So when I went to Lynchburg two weeks ago to visit Lauren during her school's spring break (She's an elementary school art teacher.) you can only imagine my deep frustration when I realized my camera bag which I had packed the night before was missing my camera. I had taken it out to download some photo's after packing and forgotten to put it back in my bag. Fortunately Lauren had a 35mm film camera I was able to borrow which was great because I love shooting on film. And then I forgot the roll of film when I left 3 days later... womp womp womp. So I don't have any amazing black and white photos to share from my most recent trip.. not yet anyway. Not til I see Lauren again and can get the film to develop. Instead all I have are the photos I shot with my phone, thank goodness for modern technology and my iPhone!

The 1st day I was there we went driving around where Lauren lives and came upon a very pretty old house with some outlying barns that was right by the road. 

 So we pulled over and got out to take some photographs after knocking on the door to see if anyone answered... no one lived there. 

 A few minutes later an older gentleman came driving up in his tractor and pulled over when he got to us. Turns out it was his house and he lived in the smaller more recently built home just next door. We explained that we just wanted to take some photographs and asked if that would be ok which fortunately he didn't mind. "So you like taken pictures of old stuff, huh? Well just be careful, some of the structures aren't so sturdy anymore." Awesome! 

 He told us about how he'd grown up in this house and that eventually they'd had to move out because the well (which is under or near on the left front side of the house) had started to fall in and part of the foundation was affected and even after filling in the well with stones it wasn't structurally sound. It was too much to fix up the place so now its just locked up and aging into a slow decay.. which I love for photographing sake but which made Lauren and I sad in talking about it later on our drive that such a pretty old place is just sitting there falling apart. 

If only we could have explored inside.. I'm sure she held lots of treasures and beautiful photo ops. Maybe next time.