We wanted to go someplace special and stumbled upon this video and that was all I needed to see.
Hobbit’s Dream is an old farm in Fairfield, Virginia that has partially been converted into the Shire complete with a Hobbit hole expertly crafted into the side of a hill. If you’ve watched the video, then you should know the plants have all filled in and the whole place looks more established now. I was surprised to notice that the interior had been updated to make it even more Hobbity.
Growing up I liked to swim. A lot. I was on three swim teams throughout the year and a lifeguard during the summer. So you can easily imagine that when I found out The International Swimming Hall of Fame is located right here in Florida that I would want to visit. It has taken us several years to make the time for it, but an opportunity arose when we decided to make a trip south to Florida’s three national parks (Dry Tortugas, Everglades, and Biscayne).
On our Thanksgiving trip to Dry Tortugas National Park, we decided to stop in at Everglades National Park and, because it is only 30 minutes east of Everglades NP, we shot over to Biscayne NP too so we could stamp our passports and get a basic firsthand impression of the place.
If you are looking for a detailed review of Everglades National Park, this is the wrong place. I’ve lived in Florida for many years and I’ve seen alligators, marshes, and swamps many times before.
Since it is the 100th anniversary of our national park system I was reminded that you can get a “passport” to the national parks. When you visit a national park, there will be a cancellation station in at least one of the visitor centers where you can stamp your passport with the date of your visit. Cool!
I’m not a big beach person but I recently saw this cool video and knew I needed to do a photo shoot at Big Talbot Island State Park. Some of the resulting images are shown below. The rest can be seen in this article where I took one of my favorite pictures of all time. I’ve been to Little Talbot Island for various events (it’s probably the nicest beach in the Jacksonville area) but never made the extremely short drive north to see Big Talbot Island.
I’m working on short Big Talbot Island travel guide but I thought you’d like to see some of the pictures I took there before that. Please enjoy and check back in a day or two for the aforementioned guide which will have more pictures.
Over Labor Day weekend we decided to shoot over to Live Oak, FL to tour a recently built treehouse for one of those construction shows on a TV channel we don’t get. Calling ahead I found out that we didn’t need reservations for the tour even on a holiday weekend and the price was $8/person for a 15-30 minute tour.
Jason Patz 