Tag Archives: Photography

Road Trip in the Jeep

July 17, 2026 Fred Michmershuizen

I took a week-and-a-half road trip through 11 states, covering about 3,400 miles. The journey included two states I had never visited before — Montana and North Dakota — and gave me the chance to reconnect with friends and cousins along the route. Along the way, I visited two state capitols, two national parks, a national forest, an art museum, a botanical garden, a presidential library, and three of the Great Lakes. One of the special stops was the childhood home of Judy Garland in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

I especially enjoyed the historical markers along the route in Kansas; visiting friends George and Gilbert in Denver, including stops at the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Art Museum; the wondrous landscapes in Wyoming; the breathtaking Montana scenery; going to Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, in Theodore Roosevelt National Park; visiting cousins Lisa and Chris and their three dogs at their home in Mandan, North Dakota, and dinner with them in downtown Bismarck at an Irish pub called Blarney Stone, and a visit with them to the North Dakota state capitol; and driving through Minnesota and Wisconsin, which were beautiful. The grand finale was a drive through western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and visiting Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park. The last day took me through Hiawatha National Forest in the UP and, after crossing the Mackinac Bridge, a stop for lunch in Petoskey, overlooking Little Traverse Bay.

Coney Island

November 15, 2020 Fred Michmershuizen

Coney Island is a neighborhood at the far southern tip of Brooklyn featuring an amusement park, a boardwalk and a beach. It’s where a famous Mermaid Parade takes place every June, where Nathan’s holds a hot dog eating contest each year on the Fourth of July, and where the Polar Bear Club invites civilians to jump in the ocean on New Year’s Day, no matter how cold the weather. During the summer months, there are lifeguards here, and bodybuilders take turns showing off at a pull-up bar on the sand. There are tattoo parlors and stands offering frozen alcoholic beverages, and more than a few unsavory characters. The New York Aquarium is also located here. From Manhattan, it takes an hour and fifteen minutes to get here on the Subway. From where I live now in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood, it is six subway stops away or a 45-minute walk. Since I moved here, all the rides, events and attractions have been closed or canceled because of the pandemic, but it is still an interesting place to walk around.

This fabulous book of historical photographs, a gift from my dear friend Garrett Glaser, is filled with all sorts of fascinating information about the rich and colorful history of this unique spot. There have been a number of different amusement parks located here, including Astroland, Feltmans, Luna Park and Steeplechase Park, sometimes operating adjacent to one another in a spirit of friendly competition. Attractions over the years have included hotels, resorts, water rides, a parachute jump, a Ferris wheel, and even a hotel shaped like a giant elephant! Many of these novelties no longer exist, but the Cyclone, pictured on the book’s cover, is still there. I have ridden the Cyclone a number of times over the years, and in my opinion it is one of our country’s best roller coasters. It’s a wooden ride, very fast and steep, similar to the Blue Streak at Cedar Point, but more compact. Also pictured on the cover is the “Astroland Moon Rocket,” which people could climb around inside, and a “Skyride,” in which passengers floated overhead in spherical capsules.

Here are a few more notes about Coney Island:

When people first started visiting the beach in the 1860s, they were fully clothed, sunbathing was unheard of and almost nobody went in the water!
In the 1870s there was a railroad known as the Culver Line that went to Coney Island, still operating today as part of the F line of the New York City Subway!
In the 1960s Fred Trump bought Steeplechase Park and demolished all the fun stuff with the intention of building apartments on the site.
In the 1890s there was a bike path along Ocean Parkway from Prospect Park to Coney Island. That bike path, described as the oldest bike path in the country, is still there, and I have ridden on it myself many times over the years!

Coney Island has evolved considerably over the past 150-plus years, and this book does a nice job of documenting much of this history. One thing that strikes me is seeing the very large crowds in many of the historical pictures. Thanks for this wonderful book, Garrett!

Pluto

January 25, 2020 Fred Michmershuizen

Check out this official NASA photograph of Pluto. Click to make it bigger:

NYU College of Dentistry

October 17, 2018 Fred Michmershuizen

Here’s a view from 24th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan, looking west. On the right is New York University College of Dentistry. And in the distance, the tall skyscraper is the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower — which was the tallest building in the world when it was erected in 1909!

Click the picture to make it bigger:

Some new plants for the kitchen window

March 29, 2018 Fred Michmershuizen

A few new plants for the kitchen window, along with some others that have been there for many years:

Cacti and succulents do well with the southern exposure.

January 11

January 11, 2018 Fred Michmershuizen

It’s always sad to see the discarded trees piled up on the sidewalks.

This is a common sight every year, as early as the day after Christmas!

New plants for the window

September 22, 2015 Fred Michmershuizen

Manhattanhenge

July 12, 2015 Fred Michmershuizen

Click the pictures to see them bigger

The High Line

April 12, 2015 Fred Michmershuizen

One of my favorite places to walk is along the High Line. It’s an elevated rail platform on the west side of Manhattan that trains ran on was used many decades ago to transport freight. For years it sat empty until, finally, it was turned into a park. Today you can climb stairs or take an elevator to get to it, and you can walk all the way from Gansevoort Street to West 34^th. On a nice day, it’s not to be missed.