View from Wildcat Ledge

Warren County, Virginia 

By the time I got back to camp, the rain was picking up and I decided to stay another day instead of packing up in the rain. I dried off, fixed lunch, made a cup of hot tea and watched the rain come down with the sound of the Shenandoah River in the background.

Next week we will be taking a step back in time to a small town nestled against the western slopes of the Blue Ridge. Come along with us.

Hope you enjoy a rain-free weekend and, as always, thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Rain and the river

Warren County, Virginia 

Week before last, I spent a couple of days camped in the travel trailer at Shenandoah River State Park. The first day was devoted to a hike in the nearby Shenandoah National Park. There was still some snow in the mountains making walking difficult in places, and it was colder than we anticipated, but what does one expect in February.  Another thing about hiking in the mountains: how is it that we walked a five mile loop trail, ended up where we started, and it was ALL uphill. It defies the laws of physics (pass the ibuprofen).

The next morning it was raining. This week, a walk in the rain along the Shenandoah River.

Early morning - Shenandoah River

Warren County, Virginia 

Morning on the Shenandoah River

Shenandoah River State Park - Bentonville, Virginia 

Treeline at sunset - Mattawoman Creek

Charles County, Maryland 

If you are tired of the foggy pictures that ran all last week here on Photography In Place, take heart. No more fog for a while.

This shot was taken in early October on what was to be my last Potomac River trip of the year. Mattawoman Creek empties into the Potomac near Indian Head, Maryland. The Algonquin word "mattawoman" means "where one goes pleasantly."

Potomac River Autumn

Brunswick, Maryland

Potomac River Autumn

Brunswick, Maryland 

Evening clouds

Lancaster County, Virginia 

Belle Isle State Park just after sunset on the Rappahannock River.

Mississippi Riverboat

Vicksburg, Mississippi  (Photo by Allan Leese)

Our correspondent in Mississippi sent along this photo of the new American Cruise Lines stern-wheeler American Eagle docked at Vicksburg. The 305 foot riverboat was built at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Maryland and was delivered to New Orleans earlier this year. The American Eagle will be offering cruises on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Memphis.

On a warm summer evening, the sight and sound of a riverboat on the Mississippi evokes a bit of the Old South, but wherever you are, enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

White barn

Greene County, Virginia 

As I drove around the county last week, I was struck by the fact that in spite of all the rapid and sometimes overwhelming changes that go on in our world, there are still places that change has mostly by-passed, leaving behind July-green trees, the solid blue mountains and an old white barn.

Evening reflections

Lancaster County, Virginia

Mulberry Creek

Lancaster County, Virginia 

This picture was taken in Belle Isle State Park, where I stayed in my travel trailer last week during my visit to the Northern Neck. In the distance is the Rappahannock River.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Tim's II

Fairview Beach, Virginia 

Fairview Beach is a small town on the Potomac River in King George County, Virginia. Tim's II is a restaurant/bar that is right on the river and caters to boaters. By the way, the large building in the background is not Tim's II—the restaurant is located on a pier that extends out into the Potomac River.

Driftwood campfire

Potomac River

Get away from it all this weekend. Thanks for reading Photography In Place.

End of the day

Potomac River

The river was calm when we stopped for the night on a recent trip down the Potomac River. We anchored in a shallow bay along the Maryland shore and watched the sun set on Virginia across the river.

Natural Chimney Park

North River - Augusta County, Virginia 

The North River, with headwaters on Shenandoah Mountain near the Virginia/West Virginia border, forms the western boundary of Natural Chimneys Park. The river continues southeast until it empties into the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at Port Republic, Virginia.

The sun was going down as I took these pictures just a couple of hundred feet from the Natural Chimneys.

Looking upstream. The North River flows through the George Washington National Forest before it reaches Natural Chimneys.

Reflections

Cobb Island, Maryland 

Last week a 75 mile river trip brought us to the mouth of the Potomac where we visited Point Lookout State Park. The lighthouse on Point Lookout was built in 1830. During the Civil War the land around the lighthouse held a Union Army hospital, Fort Lincoln, and a Confederate prisoner of war camp. More about all that next week.

Pictured above is the bow of the Chesapeake Bay skipjack Caleb W. Jones, one of the last survivors of the bay's sailing oyster fleet.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Gulls

Potomac River

There are few photographic clichés as timeworn as a gull sitting on a piling, but there is something irresistible about it just the same. When I woke up I saw these gulls enjoying the early morning calm before beginning their raucous day. It's not my fault they were sitting on a piling.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.



 

Persephone

Potomac River - August 25, 2013

The sailboat Persephone makes her way up the Potomac River last Sunday evening. Sailboats this size are not a common sight on the Potomac, and boats with a junk rig (also known as Chinese lugsail) are even more unusual.

Potomac River #3 - Along a rocky shoreline

Charles County, Maryland 

Hope you have a great weekend. Stop by on Sunday for our July Third Sunday photographs of the 1868 Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church which was restored and moved to Grand Gulf, Mississippi from its original home in Rodney, Mississippi.

Thanks for reading Photography In Place.