The Crooked River Lighthouse in Carrabelle was one of the first destinations on my August 2010 photo road trip with Mom. We walked around the lighthouse and inside the museum but did not ascend the tower. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch at Hog Wild Bar-B-Q and then continued on Highway 98 west toward our next destination: Apalachicola.

North Florida Photo Road Trip with Mom

The Fourth Light | The Beacon of 1831 | The Tower in the Woods
The Distance to Here | The Lights Leading Home

Photographs  Carrabelle | Apalachicola | Cape San Blas
Panama City Beach | St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

On my way out of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, I noticed the lighthouse in my rearview mirror and pulled off to take this picture. Like The Lights Leading Home, this is from my August 2010 photo road trip with Mom.

North Florida Photo Road Trip with Mom

The Fourth Light | The Beacon of 1831 | The Tower in the Woods
The Distance to Here | The Lights Leading Home

Photographs  Carrabelle | Apalachicola | Cape San Blas
Panama City Beach | St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

This palm tree with decorative lights on it lives outside the front door to Boss Oyster Restaurant, 123 Water Street, in Apalachicola. Whenever I am driving through, I like to park and walk along Water Street to shoot the docked boats and numerous old buildings. This photo is from August 2010 when Mom visited and we did a two-day photo road trip.

I am not finished processing the pictures yet but I could not pass up the rare opportunity to post an eighth article in one month—previously done five years two months ago, leading up to my move to Tallahassee.

North Florida Photo Road Trip with Mom

The Fourth Light | The Beacon of 1831 | The Tower in the Woods
The Distance to Here | The Lights Leading Home

Photographs  Carrabelle | Apalachicola | Cape San Blas
Panama City Beach | St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

I made the widescreen edition of this photograph because I thought it would make a nice desktop wallpaper. Download (2560 x 1600)

Unfortunately, there is not much information online regarding Aurora Steel Products Co. of Aurora, Illinois. They operated at the address on the cabinet, 153 Third Street, from 1956 to 1973 if not longer. I was unable to locate corporate filings with the State of Illinois but at some point, the 130-year-old Richards-Wilcox, Inc. purchased ASP and continues to manufacture some Aurora-branded products.

Do you ever have the urge to push a big red button?

The past few days have been quite enjoyable and filled with an interesting array of activities. Erik and Lauren drove down from Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday so he could attend the Southeast Regional Society for Photographic Education conference. Staying with me along with them is Duchamp, possibly the world's most relaxed dog.

I worked on Friday but we met up for lunch at Essence of India. After work, we got together with Erik's brother Thomas and his girlfriend Alice to check out the opening reception for HyperReal world: landscape as commodity at the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts.

The exhibition featured some nice photographs and as an added bonus, we arrived early enough for the wine. It also gave Erik and Lauren a chance to chat with some art school professors they know. Afterward, we went to Wells Brothers Bar and Grill (formerly Monk's) and enjoyed beer and dinner on their back patio.

Saturday morning, we all met up again for breakfast at The Lunchbox (formerly Jenny's Lunchbox) before driving to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL or Mag Lab) for our private tour. I have twice attended and enjoyed the annual open house the Mag Lab holds. However, the popular event draws large crowds and decent photography is near impossible.

Since Thomas works at the Mag Lab, he was able to provide us with a customized walk-through highlighting his own workspaces and some of the laboratory's more interesting equipment. There were no other people at the Shaw Building, our first stop and home to the NHMFL Applied Superconductivity Center (ASC).

The ASC conducts focused research in the areas of bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) high-temperature superconductors, coated conductors, grain boundaries, low temperature superconductivity and the recently discovered magnesium diboride superconductor. It was interesting to see the work Thomas and the ASC are doing, even if much of it is over my head.

We then drove to the main Mag Lab building, a 370,000-square-foot complex housing the 45 Tesla Hybrid, 900 MHz NMR and four other large-scale magnets. Passing through offices and pipe-filled corridors along the way, we encountered a few scientists working on projects as we surveyed the site. It was a lot of fun to be able to shoot the laboratories, equipment, signs and control panels with hardly anyone around.

In the evening, we went downtown to the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science and the opening reception for APPETITE: Expressions of the Politics Encircling Food. There were many more pieces than the MFA show but like it, this exhibition featured some cool work. Although there was no wine, there were 50 pizzas plus salad and vegetable trays on hand for the event.

Before visiting with Claire, Ashleigh, Scott, Amanda and Drew, Lauren, Erik and I took Duchamp to San Luis Mission Park just north of the Mission. I have always enjoyed this place and the wooded trails available right in the middle of the west side. We were surprised to see the extremely low water level of the nearby lake, over which you can walk on a wooden boardwalk. Right now the boardwalk is over dry land, the edge of the water some twenty feet away.

In the end, the past four days can be summarized thusly: great friends, fun activities and perfect weather—what more can you ask for?