John Wilson
Peter and I drove from Stratford upon Avon down to High Wycombe today for another of his interviews with football clubs (Wycombe Wanderers). John had a free day so he rode along with us and helped a ton with directions. The weather has cleared out and the rest of the week looks to be lovely. / I took this shot at the far end of the car park at the Oxford Services on the M40, which is a regular stop anytime we head in this direction. It reminds me of a shot I took of John on the Isle of Sheppey some 20 years ago. We’ve both aged since then, although to look at us you would hardly notice.
Hanley Road, Columbia County, NY
I couldn’t count the number of times that I have been on Interstate 90 in New York State. About 2 years ago, I started noticing this view from the Westbound lane just before the turnoff to Albany. There was something about the look of this rural road that always made me happy. About a year ago I knew that I wanted to photograph it, but stopping on the highway seemed a bit foolhardy. On Tuesday I was at the museum shooting suitcases and realized that I would have time to take a side trip on the way home. I have a New York State Atlas & Gazeteer in my car so I pulled it out an figured out where I could access this road. I am quite directionally challenged, but after some trial and error, I found the spot. The above view is taken from the bottom of Hanley Road where it forms a T with State Route 32. From where I took this picture it is Columbia County, but up the hill it becomes Rensselaer County. Coming from Albany, I went to the town of Nassau on Route 20, turned south on 203 and then left onto Hanley. It is really beautiful on the top part of the road; lovely farms with sizable ponds.
This view is looking West on SR 32. The semi is on the eastbound section of the 90. As I was heading home, I drove through the small town of Chatham and was happy to see a church that I had photographed for Craig Williams years ago.
Chick’s in West Haven, CT
After I left Yale yesterday I went to Chick’s in West Haven to eat some clams. Peter and I have been making a bit of a study of fried clams in the Northeast, and he had encouraged me to check it out. (See previous post) I had originally hoped to go to Stowe’s, which is just down the road, but they are closed on Mondays. Chick’s is big, and was quite empty at about 4.00 pm, which made me a bit nervous. But the clams were very good.
They didn’t have that real ocean taste like ones from the North Shore of Massachusetts, as I assume they came from somewhere in the Sound, but the breading was very light and they were quite hot. It was nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the late afternoon light.
Cows
I left the house early this morning to drive up to Maine to visit my brother for a few days. The morning light was lovely and when I saw these cows, I pulled over to take a few shots.
Pizza Hunt
On my way to Albany yesterday to do more work on the suitcases, I drove past this abandoned Pizza Hut on Route 9 in Hadley. I have always wanted to photograph it in the fog, and the conditions were just right. This building is odd to begin with, and the fact that it sits empty in the middle of an otherwise highly developed area makes it even stranger. I think it has been empty for at least 5 years. When Peter was a little boy, we once went there for one of those kids birthday parties, and even then it was a bit other-worldly. I wonder if this was the bog standard corporate design for smaller New England Pizza Huts. As Peter was learning to talk, he would often add consonants to words where they didn’t belong; hence this building was, and still is the Pizza Hunt.
Milkweed?
When I was a kid, we called this milkweed. When I googled it, this is what I found. I have always liked it, and I remember taking the pods apart and blowing the white bits into the wind. / Cris skyped from Gaza this morning. She and Kate had absolutely no trouble getting through the border crossing, got settled into their hotel, then went to the university for a few hours of work.
Erie Canal Lock 8
I was photographing some of the damage to Lock 8 on the Erie Canal on Wednesday. It is pretty impressive, and I hope to get back soon to do some of the other locks. They are magnificent structures.
The river is still very muddy from the flooding and the clean-up will take some time.
Woodman’s / Farnham’s
Peter goes back to Union soon, and today was a good day to drive out to Essex for some clams. We had visited Farnham’s in June and wanted to try Woodman’s. We left Pelham late morning and arrived in Essex just before 2.00. Woodman’s is the larger operation of the two and claim to be the originator of the fried clam. We ordered a large and waited about 5 minutes.
We went out back to the picnic tables and enjoyed the view and the clams. It soon became clear to us that we couldn’t just operate on memory to compare the two spots, so we hopped in the car and drove down the road to Farnhams. Ordered a small box there and sat at the outside tables.
Both places are a must visit for anyone who heads up that way, but for us the Farnham’s experience was better in all ways.
Concrete flowers
I love plants that seem to grow out of concrete. As usual, I have no idea what these flowers are but help in identifying them is welcome.
Essex Salt Marsh
Peter and I both had doctors appointments in the Boston area today, so we decided to head up along the North Shore for some clams. We have been to the Clam Box in Ipswich and wanted to try something new. Dr. O suggested Essex and we checked out Farnham’s first and decided to give them a go. This is the view from the picnic tables just off the parking lot. Very cool and windy today; lovely light and the clams were perfect. So far, our favorite location.
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