Pennsylvania State Library - Yes I Visited One of Those!

The history dates back to this cusine in Philadelphia. Just a friendly reminder, the BIRDS won the Super Bowl.

But this post isn’t about how amazing the Philadelphia Eagles are, it’s about history, education and an amazing library planted square in the middle of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania which just happens to be the capitol of PA.

Nestled between some inconvenient parking garages that discriminate against trucks and annoying street parking is the Pennsylvania State Library. There is WAY too much information to provide for the deep, structured and chalk full beautiful history of this facility so I’ll go ahead and post it here (from their very site). It is well worth the read and the librarians and staff did a fantastic job giving us an overview.

After our orientation, we got to explore all floors and even the basement which houses the archives. Downstairs on the, “G LEVEL” are some really cool artifacts, historical books, (Rick from Pawn Stars would drool over these for his shop), statues, paintings and cool sculptures. We happened to run into an employee who showed us the attached auditorium to the library which was not originally part of our photography club’s tour. Right place right time for sure! This dude made my day!

What a blast today was exploring such an amazing historical building housing so many things I would never touch…books. But those are cool, I guess!

- Mike

Antique Cars; No Coffee with the Cars

It really doesn’t make a difference if there was coffee and cars combined today. I don’t take part in those, “gatherings.” I’m jamming out to some Thursday and Witness Marker enjoying the editing process and my afternoon / evening.

However, I had my dose of caffeine this morning alongside some leftover shrimp and a bottle of my Gingerbread Oats Overnight. Full disclosure- I rag on Sheetz (SUCKS) all the time for their watered down nonsense they call coffee. They’ve been watering it down for 12-14 years now and it’s obnoxious. But as I was browsing for some tater chips of my one persuasion one fine evening, I found this winter blend (now unavailable from SHEETZ shucks who cares) and pulled the ol’ trigger. It’s actually really good, believe it or not. Even though it is finely ground it has worked well with my French press. Very flavorful and I generally am not a “flavor” coffee fan. Try it. Or not. Your choice. Actually, I’d rather read books than drink this stuff again. But that’s just me.

Man, what a start to this post. What I really meant to say is that I visited Hershey Pennsylvania’s finetastic, yes, FINETASTIC, Antique Auto Museum. Or as they call it, WORLD CLASS. It really is, though. It is well sponsored and funded and at only $16.00 to visit (if you’re under 61 years of age - Fourteen and just two quarters if you’re a geezer) it is full of automotive history from motorcycles, to police cars, to muscle cars to even busses that were used in the film, “Forrest Gump.” There are nostalgic cars for just about every age group going back to the early 1900’s to Tucker’s from the late 40s to again muscle cars and all of that good stuff!

This was my second visit to the museum and it was not as great as the first. I felt like the first visit had more busses and better displays downstairs. However, the vintage Shelby Mustangs (one of my favorite cars) were well lit and on display and I have to say, that made my day! The model train set was also still on display with buttons you can press to make it make sounds and light up.

I brought my Fujifilm GFX 50S II along with me today equipped with a 32-64mm and 100-200mm lens. Below are the images I captured. I went for close ups today as it’s a museum and featuring the whole car is not always possible. The place truly presents awesome opportunities, though! Whether a photographer or just a car enthusiast I highly recommend visiting this spot if you are local or in town. It will not disappoint! I promise!

P.S. Added a couple of these images to my “Transportation” section. Check out the portfolio!

- Mike

Longwood Gardens - Kennett Square, PA

Happy New Years! First post in the good ol’ 2025!

For the second time in a row, I got my mother and myself tickets to Longwood Gardens Christmas lights display. Per usual it was amazing! Not a square inch left untouched by the Christmas Spirit. This place is purely a playground for myself and my photography. So it’s a great mix of spending time with my mother and enjoying each other’s company as well as machine gunning my memory cards.

I came home with just north of 500 images to sift through. Below are the ones I chose to edit and display for all to see. Please enjoy!

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and want to check this amazing place out please see this link for directions and information. Their “events” page can be found here. During the prime season (Nov-Jan) I would highly recommend parking in the South Lot (Google Maps can find this) so you can take busses to the entrance. It saves a TON of walking and the bus trips are free.

- Mike

Ashcombe Farms and Friendly Felines

As the years pass by, my Photography Club loves to revisit places. Today was one of our annual visits. The visit: Ashcombe Farms.

Ashcombe’s has been a hot spot for myself and my family since I was just a wee lad growing up in the suburbs of the rough and tough Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. Their soups, jams, jelly, chicken pot pies, cakes, assorted clothing and seasonal decorations have always been popular in my household.

Today we were allowed access inside their stores and operations one hour prior to them opening. Pepper, the cat (he’s a chubby lil fella that loves himself some treats), greeted us and had his own agenda. He was a slick joker and only had one thing on his mind- opening and closing the automatic doors. This was quickly shut down by his owner and after his shenanigans he was told to take a nap and he absolutely did so and posed for several photographers. What a fantastic feline this fella was. A true trickster and an even better napper. Good on this dude.

Anyway, I’m glad I left my wallet in my truck. Not the safest move, but I’m glad I did. Otherwise I would have spent a ton, as I usually do when I go to this store.

- Mike

Jamestown, Williamsburg & Yorktown, Virginia

Last weekend was spent about two and a half hours south of Washington, DC in the historical town of Williamsburg, VA. After stuffing my face at Captain George’s Seafood Buffet, I decided it was time for some photography. My plans of doing a blue hour/night shoot at Williamsburg didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted it to (really should have brought my tripod along), but I was able to capture some fun stuff at Jamestown and Yorktown. Of course, I naturally went nuts with the geometrical and abstract stuff, but also had fun capturing the historical things as well.

Overall, this was a great escape from the hustle and bustle of work and a very relaxing and educational long weekend. It was great to revisit after several years. Keep checking back as I was having some computer/internet issues and may have more images to share in the future.

- Mike

Martin Guitar Factory: Nazareth, Pennsylvania

Today’s adventure brought me to 510 Sycamore St, Nazareth, PA 18064. After parking and meeting some friends, we began our tour of the Martin Guitar factory.

For $5.00 who would know you would get such an in-depth tour. We explored MOST of the factory, got to play some expensive guitars in the “picking room” and get financially irresponsible in the gift shop.

Prior to our guided tour, we visited the museum which had a lot of instruments played by current and former artists. They even had their 2,500,000th guitar ever made in the Nazareth factory. It was blinged out, as the kids say, with over 400 diamonds (below).

ARTISTS/BANDS: Click [ here ]
TOUR INFO HERE Click [ here ] to purchase in advance (req’d)

Martin’s 2,500,000th production guitar ever made. It’s lined with around 436 diamonds

After wandering around the museum and seeing some guitars played by likes of The Beatles, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash and a massively diverse group of musicians scattered across the spectrum of oldies to new and playing a few showcase guitars, we engaged in our audio tour.

Our tour lasted roughly one hour and hit on virtually every check point Martin guitars go through their 2-3 month journey from concept to completion to dealer to the consumers hands.

Below are some images I took with my Fuji 50S Mark II during the tour and around the facilities. The Mexican facility for the lower-end Martins (if that even is a thing) looks just as involved as the Pennsylvanian factory.

- Mike

Lititz, Pennsylvania - Way Better than Hershey

This morning I found myself, along with the best mothers in the world, my mom and my next door neighbor’s mom that I grew up with, here in beautiful Lititz, Pennsylvania.

It was a gorgeous sunny day around 10am when we met. The temperature was an modest 55-57 degrees and I was looked at like I had two heads wearing a golf shirt and swimming trunks. But let’s be honest- it will get warmer and it did!

My Photography club met here this morning to do yet another photowalk of this beautiful town we’re so blessed to have that exists about one-hour away from the Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill/Harrisburg area.

Lititz, PA is known for being a beautiful quaint little town nestled between the hustle and bustle of PA with some Amish influence. They are known primarily for three things: Wilbur Chocolate which is WAY better than Hershey, Sturgis Pretzels and the fact they do NOT allow any Subways, Burger Kings, McDonald’s or any other nonsense disgusting fast food or corporate owned entities encroach in their town. Out of all of the amazing choices, I ate at the Tomato Pie Cafe. I ordered two slices of their signature tomato pie that came with a side of fresh greens and fresh dressing and a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. The meal also came with a scone that was out of this world.

I’m not a historian but I do love history and if you are on my page I want YOU to love history too, so please click here to learn more about Lititz, PA! Please see the images below from my work during my photowalk! And thank you for visiting.

-Mike

Lebowski's Reunion Show! Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, Harrisburg, PA

Saturday, May 4. First time in a couple years I haven’t heard that absolutely trendy, stupid, lame…nah we’re not going there I’m a grown adult and don’t need to enable the nonsense.

What isn’t nonsense is my buddy Craig (my dude I have Phillies season tickets with!) had a reunion with his band. After eight, yeah EIGHT years, The Lebowskis decided to grace Harrisburg, PA with their presence again! They played their album, Tuesday Nights, in its entirety ending with an amazing song about chicken relating to all of our favorite hockey team.

Now we rely on the opposing NBA team to miss two free throws so we can maybe get a Red Bull or 5-piece if we’re lucky and eligible! Yes, I got screwed out of a Red Bull at a Sixers game because my ticket said I didn’t live in a certain county. What a ripoff!

Anyway, the show took place at HMAC, a really sick venue located here in Central, Pennsylvania. That stands for Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center. And it’s located near one of the best markets in the South Central, PA area: Broad Street. Easily one of my favorite farmer’s markets aside from similar offerings from West Shore. If you’re local, go there. By, “go there,” I mean check ‘em both out! You won’t be disappointed.

BUT to stay on topic- I’m fairly bummed, however, because after calibrating my camera to the proper settings, formatting my cards and bringing extra cards, batteries and a nice bag because it was pouring the rain down outside the venue I forgot one critical thing- shutter speed! So I shot aperture priority all night as opposed to full manual. Oooooffff, Michael… you know better! However, I was there to enjoy myself and watch one of my favorite bands. It was a positive experience and I saw folks I hadn’t seen for years and met new friends. I even befriended some Canadians who hated every band I liked from Canada. At least my country can’t claim Nickelback. Just sayin’.

Here’s some images of the show! What a blast! Check the guys out on Facebook here as well as Spotify.

-Mike

Burritt on the Mountain - HSV, AL

Burritt on the Mountain is one of the first places I visited when I started visiting Alabama.


In 1869, William Burritt was born. He, just as his father was, became a physician. In 1900 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri with his second wife. In addition to being a physician, he became an entrepreneur and investor in industries such as mining, farming and other industrial production.

After his wife passed away, he moved back to Huntsville, Alabama in 1934 where he built a mansion on the property of this mountain. Having lots of money, he was able to go beyond standard building procedures and prepped his house with electrical wiring, even though electricity was not yet available in the area.

Luckily for Mr. Burritt, electricity soon became available in his area of Huntsville. However, one major oversight, lead to the mansion burning down. That oversight- hay insulation. And electrical fire was rapidly spread throughout the mansion burning it to the ground before any help could arrive.

He rebuilt the mansion and lived in it until 1955.

His end goal was to create the first museum in the Huntsville area. So after his death, his property and mansion were willed to the city. The city started moving in and relocating historic log homes, a church and schoolhouse and spread them around the property. These structures have been completely restored and conserved for the public to tour. There are a total of twelve buildings to visit.

Burritt on the Mountain also plays host to school trips, guided tours, weddings and more.

-Mike

Huntsville Botanical Garden - HSV, AL

After two or three prior visits, this place does not get old. Spanning 118 acres off Bob Wallace Avenue, these gardens have a variety of indigenous and foreign plants, trees, annuals, perennials as well as a gorgeous butterfly sanctuary. Unfortunately, the butterfly rooms were closed due to re-population and renovations. I always have Hershey Gardens locally for my macro photography fix. All of the photos below were shot with my medium format Fuji GFX rig, where as I need my Nikon (preferably my Nikon D7200 crop) with my 105mm macro Nikkor lens for butterflies. So this will work out great when I venture to Chocolate Town whenever I please.

Just five minutes off the highway near the US Space and Rocket Center (also an amazing place to check out if you’re in town), these botanical gardens give guests a variety of plant-life, art and hiking trails sure to please everyone. The gardens were founded in 1979. At the beginning of 1980, Huntsville-Madison County Botanical Garden Society gathered amongst their peers and had meetings consistently asking for funding from the city and eventually raised $200,000 with the city matching this to start the acreage on the gardens. Six months later and 35 acres later Huntsville Botanical Gardens were started. Full history here.

As one of Alabama’s most coveted tourist attractions, they do charge admission and offer an awesome gift shop, super clean restrooms and a cafe for refreshments and snacks.

-Mike