Saturday, July 18, 2015

JULY 18, 2015

We drove to Brasstown Valley in Young Harris, GA for surprise day-trip for Linda and her sister, Tina.  A 'surprise' day-trip is were we start out and I do not tell Linda where we are going.

We ate lunch at the Brasstown Valley Resort, which I highly recommend.  All had the Salad Bar, which included a great Stuffed Potato Soup and a chef preparing a hot pasta dish as you choose what you want in it.  My sauce had shrimp, chicken, roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, bacon, kalamata olives, pesto, and Alfredo sauce.  There were four pastas from which to choose, but... I opted out of the pasta and ate my sauce creation, which was great!

The first picture is of the view from the veranda, where we sat to eat.






The next picture is the view leaving the resort, as we headed for the next secret destination ...





which was Brasstown Bald

The next three pictures are looking East from Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, which has an elevation 4784 feet.  As one looks our over the mountains, one sees why they are called the Smokies or Blue Ridge Mountain.






TRIVIA FROM THE INTERNET:  What causes the 'blue' in Blue mountains?

“The haze which appears to surround any distant object is due to an optical phenomenon called ‘Rayleigh scattering’. This effect, first investigated theoretically by Lord Rayleigh, causes the rays of light which impinge on small particles to be scattered in various directions… Since the atmosphere is always laden with small dust particles, water droplets and the like and since even the air molecules themselves contributed to some extent to the scattering… if an observer look sat a distant object with the intervening atmosphere illuminated by sunlight, eyes will receive the blue scattered rays of sunlight to reflect the object itself. Therefore any distant object will always appear to display”

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

July 14, 2015

I took the first picture a few years ago of the 'backyard' of the Swan House.  I did not have it readily available when I posted the pictures that were taken on Saturday.

Thi photo is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo, in which at least three photos are put together.  The three photos have different exposures; one under exposed, one with normal exposure, and the last is over-exposed.  The software, Photomatix pro, takes the best parts and produces a combined photo, which then can be manipulated for further effect.


Our rabbit has been around alot and for long lengths of time, as long we stay in the house.  open the door and it is gone.  I have left a carrot now and then and it appears to like it.




July 14, 2015

After we picked up Linda's sister, Tina, at the airport on Saturday, we stopped at the Swan Coach House for lunch, which is off West Paces Road in the Buckhead section of Atlanta.

It is located at/near the Atlanta Historical Center.  The is the Center, the Swan Coach House Restaurant and Gift Shoppe, The Swan House, the Smith-Tully Farm, and a few other entities, such as a Victorian Children's Playhouse.

I did make a comment while we we eating that there were only two men in the 'full' restaurant.  We stood out, but you get points ...


The first two pictures are the interior and exterior of the restaurant.



The next of the the front and rear of the Swan House.