#TravelTuesday Key West

In the chilling season of Winter I highly recommend a quick trip to someplace warm. Somewhere magically relaxing and peaceful. Somewhere that the day’s objective is to find the perfect Key Lime Martini. Somewhere whose natives are so laid back, fine dining could be had with no shirt and no shoes. If you’ve never been to Key West you’re missing out on one of God’s greatest gifts. The island is bewitching in its beauty, but its charm is in its attitude.

I can try to explain a lazy afternoon spent on the beach, with cool breezes of seventy two degrees drifting across the freshly refilled margarita glass dug in the sand beneath the hammock on which you recline. The noise from the gentle surf calms your nerves and beckons you to release those lingering thoughts. Steel drums play in the distance, and the lime rind you have been fondling in your left hand falls gently to the ground, as the sun falls beneath the horizon.

But I can’t explain it. I can’t give you the experience. Make the time. Go there for yourself, and never want to leave.

Key West

In the Bleak Midwinter

I remember singing this carol in church many years ago. I thought about the word bleak. How aptly that can describe the middle of Winter. The holidays are behind us and Spring seems forever away. The long nights and frigid temperatures of January make enjoying an afternoon in the sunlight rare and not always inviting. Cold and frost infuse the world, icing the air and make that first deep breath outside every morning a bone chilling experience. Beauty still lives, maybe dormant or sleeping, but if you search, she is present.

In the Bleak Midwinter

NIkon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm f/16 ISO 100 1/6 sec

Wintertime at Valley Forge National Historic Park

I pass through Valley Forge a few times a week. This year I have been particularly keen to notice photographic opportunities in the park. Last Sunday, driving along the inner defensive line, I was taking in the fresh snow coating the landscape when I spotted the cannon in the picture. From my vantage point it was about a ten minute walk (in a sub-freezing wind chill, uphill) but I thought it would be worth it. The canon sat atop a small rise on the hillside overlooking a large open part of the park. I had never even noticed it before, but the blue really stood out in the snow. Valley Forge is a spectacular place to visit any time of year and I will be doing a week's worth of blog posts about it soon.

Valley Forge National Historic Park in Wintertime

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm f/20 ISO 100 5 image HDR