Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Summer at the Beach

From our collection ...

Otis Hotel on the Ocean
Miami Beach, Florida
ca 1940
Does this card bring back any memories for you?  Ha ha. Some 75+ years ago the Otis Hotel would have welcomed you to Miami Beach. No, we did not stay there ... we are not THAT old. :-) It does look like a nice place though, doesn't it? This card was published back when a one cent stamp would get it delivered. Are you curious ... what does it look like today ...


Thanks to Google Street view ... 93rd and Collins is now the home of Surfside Community Center.

Back of the unused card.

Info on the Otis Hotel

From the Journal ...

Sightings from the previous few days ...

MS Regatta
Oceania Cruise Line
Capacity 824 Passengers
7 and 10 day trips to Alaska roundtrip from Seattle this summer.

Holland America Amsterdam

Three in a Row
Top ... Amsterdam
Middle ... Bulk Carrier Cerafina
Bottom ... Ruby Princess (still in the shade)

Closer look at the Amesterdam
Appx capacity 1250 Passengers
7 day roundtrip cruises to Alaska from Seattle this summer.

Really Red Hull on this Bulk Carrier
July 24th

Twinkle Island
July 26th 8:05 PM
Yes, it REALLY IS the Twinkle Island
Gets our award for "Well Named Ship"
July 27th  9:00 AM

VesselFinder.com showing Twinkle Island anchored
and Alpha Happiness at the Grain Terminal
(We mentioned Alpha Happiness in our previous post)

Overview beyond the Marina
July 21st 6:44 AM
 Other recent snaps ...

Urban Lily from a walk last Saturday.
Just a volunteer in an area mostly full of "weeds".

Our favorite flag in the neighborhood.
July 17th
Hope your summer is going well. Hard for us to believe August will be here next week!


Saturday, July 23, 2016

Summer Camp - 1927

From John's Collection ...

A letter, written about 1927, to promote a girls summer camp, Twanekotah, in Lake Chautauqua, New York. The aging effect has taken a toll on the paper, but the content seems timeless.




The letter is in our collection because it is a part of a publication entitled "Achievement in Photo-Engraving and Letter-Press Printing, 1927", by the American Photo-Engravers Association, Chicago, Illinois. We have a lot more to share from this publication in future posts. Of course, this was way before word processing. This sample was intended to show how a letter could be printed and then customized by adding an address before mailing, thus the large space at the top below the camp logo.

Something like this letter usually creates questions for us ... in this case, what happened to the camp? A Google search usually provides an answer. The Jamestown, New York, Post-Journal, published an article on August 1, 2014, about the camp, which included the following: "The camp was located on 50 acres on the west side of Chautauqua Lake. Before the girls camp occupied the land it had been Sylvan Park. Sylvan Park had served as a picnic grove stop on the trolley line on the west side of the lake. It did not develop into the amusement park that Celoron and Midway did. Sylvan Park provided a bathing beach, baseball diamond, woods and open areas with dining pavilions and other small structures within the area. Many company, church and other organizations' picnics used this site the first couple of decades of the 1900s. Today many campers continue to enjoy this site as Camp Chautauqua which provides campsites for RVs and other campers." A lady named Karen Livsey, Archivist for the Post-Journal, wrote the article.

Looking back on our own experience, we enjoyed summer camp at a place in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Believe it or not, Blue Mountain Ranch is still in operation! In a future post we will share our experience and an old brochure from over 50 years ago. :-) Here is the cover ...


How about yourself? Have you ever been to "Summer Camp"? Was it fun? Did you enjoy it or hate it? :-)

From John's Journal ...

We're updating John's Island's format starting with this post. Now that we are in our sixth year of publishing this blog we realize its value as a journal. It's so easy to look back to the past and see what was going on and view a selection of photos. It's actually much easier that just looking through the photo archives where everything is organized simply by date. Going forward, we're going to try two sections of most posts: From the Collection and From the Journal. The journal will include pictures taken on walks, ships spotted, sky photos, flowers and other plants, etc.


Holland America Westerdam
arriving July 23rd 5:12 AM
We like the reflection.

July 21st 8:12 PM
Sun is behind the Olympic Mountains.


A Washington State Ferry heading to Seattle
Note the lighthouse at Alki Point behind.
Vashon Island in the far distance.

July 20th 6:21 AM
Early sunshine on a Bulk Carrier at anchor
beyond the Marina

July 20th 6:22 AM
Patchy clouds in the morning sky.

July 21st  7:02 AM
Two tugs cozy up to the Alpha Happiness
with Hapag Lloyd Container Ship behind.
The tugs will move Alpha to the Grain Terminal.

Closer look at the tugs and Alpha Happiness
Don't you love the name of this Bulk Carrier?

Tugs move Alpha Happiness to Grain Loading Terminal

July 21 8:17 PM
Evening sky.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Yellowstone Airport Dedication Cover - 1935

From our collection ...


The airport in West Yellowstone, Montana, was officially dedicated on June 22, 1935 ... just a few weeks over 81 years ago. On that day, stamp collectors liked to mail out an envelope, usually addressed to themselves, in order to get the postmark commemorating the event. The postmark here includes interesting dates around a circle, "Official Yellowstone National Park Airport."


We had to smile because the sender used an "Air Mail" envelope for local delivery. We're pretty sure that was just to get the neat effect of the design around the edge of the envelope. We also like the classic luggage stamps that were used on the back.


There is one of these for sale on eBay right now at a rather ridiculous price. We are happy to have this one in the collection and actually like it better.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Dahlia Garden 2016 - First Look and MORE

This is our 4th year to report on the Dahlias of the Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden. Another season, another opportunity to photograph some beautiful dahlias. Blooms in the garden begin around the first of July. Our first visit to the garden took place this week on July 12th, and we were happy to find several fresh blooms to share with you.

Overview of one portion of the garden.
Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden
Managed by Puget Sound Dahlia Association
www.pugetsounddahlias.org
First bloom photo, 2016.




One of our favorites.



All of our photos in this post are processed only
to resize. We did not do any crops on these pics.


Although the sky was partly cloudy, you can see some
pretty sharp shadows on this one.


Overview of the garden looking from the north side.

Another portion of the garden, planted later, will
return some rewards in August or September.

New sign on the newer part of the garden.

One last overview.
The picnic table will be perfect when
most of the dahlias are in bloom.
Here are a few of our earlier posts on the Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden:

October 2, 2015
August 18, 2015
July 4, 2015
November 3, 2014
September 3, 2014
August 21, 2014
May 22, 2014
October 6, 2013

Wondering ... What is your favorite kind of flower? Could it be the dahlia?

Marine Sightings ...

Bulk carriers are not the most beautiful ships, but they get the job done.
This is the Crimson Monarch.
Portion of Elliott Bay Marina below.
July 6th, 5:54 AM

RBD Capri
At anchor beyond the Marina

Barge that caught our attention with tug connected.
We are not sure, but think it is some how related to
marine cable construction.

We like the barge with tall crane and flag flying.
A Washington State Ferry in the foreground.
Alki Point (West Seattle) in the distance.
July 6th, 9:09 AM

COSCO Oceania
July 12th, 12:25 PM

Four in a row.
At bottom: Legend Cruise ship.
Next above: Bulk Carrier at anchor.
Next above: COSCO Oceania arriving in Port.
In the distance: a Washington State Ferry
July 12th, 12:28 PM

A closer look at the COSCO Oceania
Container Vessel
July 12th, 12:33 PM
Defender Trawler Vessel
We like the exterior design.
July 13th, 4:14 PM

Dragon Bulk Carrier Vessel, at anchor,
in the wee dark hours of the morning.
July 14th, 1:43 AM

NYK Line heading northbound out of Puget Sound
with Dragon Bulk Carrier at anchor in the right
foreground.
July 14th, 7:21 AM

Recent Sky Pics ...

July 10th, 11:34 PM
Just a little more than half moon.

July 10th, 7:34 PM

July 9th, 5:46 AM

July 14th, 1:42 AM
We just happened to glance out and see the big
orange moon setting. Focus is not perfect but you get the idea.
We rushed to get the camera on the tripod. :-)

Not much (if any) sky in this one, but we like the effect the sunlight
has on the flag at the point above the Marina.
July 12th, 5:48 PM

For Critter Friends

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