Showing posts with label super moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label super moon. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Escape to the Beech

Our friends purchased a condo in Beech Mountain, North Carolina recently. They invited us up for a visit last weekend. We have stayed in the complex where their unit is located in the past. It has nice views of the mountains and ski lift, and has an indoor pool and tennis/pickleball courts. It is walking distance to a playground, dog park, small grocery store and several restaurants.

We watched as our friend played pickleball in a tournament on Friday at the Beech Mountain Club, which is a really great facility. We have played there before with some other friends who have a membership. The rest of the weekend we hiked, played Mexican Train and just enjoyed the company of a really fun couple. While it did rain a bit, the temperature was nearly 15 degrees cooler than what we left behind, so that was a welcome relief in August for sure. What a great natural area less than 3 hours away from us!

Beech Mountain, NC
The weather has broken a little bit here. Today the high only hit 82 degrees, but what I love most is the fact that it gets into the 60s at night. It's wonderful to sit in the screened porch in the morning and drink my hot tea while catching up on the news. 

Last night was a Super Blue Moon. The moon is called "super" when it is closest to the earth and thus appears larger. Typically a season only has three full moons, but summer 2024 has four of them - thus the "blue moon". Our cloud cover parted in time for me to snap a picture of it. Gorgeous!
Super Blue Moon



Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Full Super Moon Weekend

Last weekend was super busy. Friday night Jim and I grabbed dinner and then headed to the mall to return an item I had purchased online. Not only was the t-shirt a bit snug, you could see right through it. Not quite the look I was going for, trust me. Jim had a $20 off coupon at the same store, so between my return and his coupon he was able to snag a new pair of jeans for around twenty bucks. Nice!

on stage at the Muny
Saturday morning my friend picked me up at 10:00 and we went to the Garage Sale being held at the Muny in Forest Park. Props, sets, clothes, shoes - you name it were for sale. They were cleaning house for only the second time in their 97 year history. The sale was from 9-2, and I heard that people were standing in line at 5:30 a.m. We were not intending to purchase anything, but thought it would be a fun photo op. And it certainly was that and more. While standing on the stage looking out at all the seats, everything seemed a lot smaller than it does when you are sitting in the audience watching a performance. I always wanted to appear onstage at the Muny, and now I have. Cross that off the bucket list - haha. An older man started talking to us about how he had worked at the Muny for 40 years designing sets. Wow! I even ran into Katie's high school journalism teacher, and we had a nice chat. He had so many wonderful things to say about her even after all these years. I wish I had recorded it so that if she is ever feeling down she could listen to it. Proud momma moment, for sure.
Muny garage sale
From there we went to the Art Museum to have lunch at the Panorama Restaurant. Neither of us had eaten there before, and the food was good with an even better view of Forest Park. While the fall colors in the St. Louis area have been pretty lackluster, things were looking pretty in Forest Park that day.

Forest Park
After lunch we went to the Gretchen Brigham Gallery inside Union Ave. Christian Church for the opening reception of our latest Women in Focus photography show. The gallery space is beautiful, and although the reception was not that well attended, it is always fun to get together with these lovely ladies.

Women in Focus Inspiration show opening

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Early Sunday morning I drug Jim out of the house to go to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to take pictures. I was thinking the graves would be decorated with flags, and it wasn't until we got there and saw none that I realized that would be Memorial Day as opposed to Veteran's Day. No matter, it is always a lovely, peaceful place for a drive and the deer are always accommodating. It was touching to see an older man sitting on a low chair next to a gravestone with a woman's name on it, despite the 31 degree weather. Was that his wife buried there? His daughter? We wanted to talk to him, but were hesitant to disturb his solitude.

deer in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
That afternoon I went to the Holiday Walk in Webster Groves with a friend. It was a beautiful day, and lots of people were out. I was able to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts, so that felt pretty good. In the evening Jim and I saw Mothers & Sons in the Studio of the Repertory Theatre. It is a small venue, and the plays down there are always thought provoking. This was no exception. Came home to enjoy a Super Moon finish to a pretty super weekend.

Super Moon