We've Been Eclipsed!

Today (in fact just 30 minutes ago as of the writing of this post), the US experienced it’s second total solar eclipse in the last eight years. For the first one back in 2017, I had a front row seat, as it passed directly over Greenville, SC. I even got to experience it with a world famous photographer who I can now call a friend. It was a huge event (see a few photos from that event here at the end). Today was much more low-key…but still great. I got to experience a partial (about 85%) eclipse with my son and his friends. Just paused for a few minutes from work and grabbed my camera to see what I could get.

Photos from the 2017 solar eclipse that passed directly over Greenville, SC

A Grand Bohemian Experiment

Earlier this year, I invested in a tilt lens for my Fuji X-T5. I’ve mentioned before that this Fuji camera was bought more as a “fun” camera to experiment with and take on vacations and just goof around with. So what better way of experimenting with it than adding a unique lens to the setup, one which I’ve never used before.

A tilt lens is made to maintain a very small window of focus, giving what’s in focus somewhat of a miniature feel. And a great thing about this lens - there is no real “right” way to use it. Photography in general is subjective but this takes it to another level. So a few weeks after getting the lens and playing with it at home, I ventured out to downtown Greenville, SC with it. I had a meeting with a friend at the new Grand Bohemian hotel so I used that as an opportunity to bring my Fuji and lens along and see what I could get.

Nothing special but I enjoyed using it and definitely plan to experiment with it more - especially with people.

A Morning in Helen, Georgia

For a few years, it’s been on our (not quite bucket) list to visit Helen, Georgia. And I love Christmas and the town looked even better at Christmas time, so we took a quick little road trip yesterday.

We got there early enough that there were not that many people around. In fact, we kinda wondered why there were so few people. Well within about an hour, all of the peoples arrived.

We didn’t really have any plans. Just wanted to see what it was like and then try the food. Of course we visited some of the shops - not super impressed. It was kind of the mountain version of what one would see at Myrtle Beach.

We had to try some of the food as well. Had an early lunch featuring Vienna coffee and bratwurst. And it was good!

After about three hours, we felt as fulfilled as I think we’d ever be by Helen. Good trip. Probably no need to visit again. We came, we saw, but we didn’t get the t-shirt this time.

Thanksgiving 2023

This year for Thanksgiving, we traveled back to Jackson, TN where my wife and I met and lived for several years. She has extended family in the area and it’s always a great opportunity to visit with them. For a little extra adventure, we started the trip by heading to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky first. Really the ONLY bucket list I have currently is visiting all of the National Parks - but I want to do it while I’m still young enough to enjoy it all. With the park being close by to where we were going in Tennessee, we decided to make a (half) day of it. But first…

I had ever been to Buc-ee’s and we found ourselves coming in contact with TWO (more on the second one later) Buc-ee’s on this trip. For our visit to the first one - which is the largest in the country (Sevierville, Tennessee), we bi-passed the food (except for some candied pecans) but filled up on other loot such as hoodies and beanies and other little trinkets. It was a nice little break in what wound up being a 9 hour day on the road.

We arrived in Kentucky later that night just in time to get a late dinner at Cracker Barrel and a good night’s sleep. At about 9:15am, we arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park.

We perused the gift shop for a bit and spent more money than we should have. After that, we made our way to our tour where we boarded buses and headed to the caves. I was anticipating a large, natural opening to the caves as I’d seen in other photos and videos. The entrance we were brought to was a little…smaller. The boy wasn’t sure about it either.

I’m not gonna lie. Entering that little door and hiking down…and down…and down…and down was a little unnerving for me. My wife was loving it. The boy was anxious about it too so I was trying to hold it together for him. Finally, we got to the deepest spot we would visit - around 250 feet below the surface. It really doesn’t sound that deep but it sure felt it with every step we descended on (and there were a lot). There was a little space with seating we piled into as the tour guide gave us some history.

I had a Fuji XT-5 with me but it did me absolutely no good down here. The iPhone 15 Pro surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) came through for me with a few decent shots that at least help show some of what it was like down there.

Eventually we made it out alive, grabbed a few more pictures and got on the road to Jackson, TN.

We got to Jackson just as the sun went down. We visited for a short bit with my wife’s aunt and uncle (whom we were staying with for Thanksgiving) and then headed to what is the #2 reason for visiting Jackson…

We slept quite well that night.

The next day was THANKSGIVING! This was our fourth year of starting the day off with a 5K Turkey Trot. Terra ran while her uncle and I made it a brisk but enjoyable walk.

We had a great meal together which I neglected to photograph. Before the day was out, we initiated the Christmas season by watching Home Alone.

The next day was spent in super chill mode. We watched movies, walked around, played some soccer and I helped the boy have his first go at shooting some rifles and a 9mm (we’re not necessarily gun people…but when in Tennessee…).

The next day, we packed up all our stuff and hit the road to head back home, but not before making one more stop at Buc-ee’s just outside of Nashville. This time we tried the brisket. Not bad. Not great. Good enough. And that’s it. Great trip.