When in Pittsburgh last weekend, we visited the Cathedral of Learning. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the 535-foot-tall, 42 story Cathedral is the second-tallest educational building in the world. The Gothic Revival skyscaper was completed in 1926. We were absolutely awestruck by the almost 100 year old building’s gorgeous architecture. To think that student’s get to study in such a gorgeous place!
As I was driving back home to the mountains of Virginia, after visiting the ocean in North Carolina, I passed by this community lake. I’m not even sure where along the drive it was. Those reflections on a bright, beautiful day just caught my eye.
This is truly “mobile” photography as I took the shot with my phone while driving under the tower of this suspension bridge.
The Arthur Ravenel Bridge is a 2.5 mile long cable-stayed suspension bridge with two diamond-shaped towers, each 575 feet high. The bridge, which connects Charleston and Mount Pleasant, is named after Charleston politician Arthur Ravenel who led the campaign for the bridge to be constructed over the Cooper River. Construction took less than four years and the bridge opened to traffic on July 16, 2005, at a cost of $632 million. Almost 80,000 cars travel on the bridge daily. The bridge’s structure is designed to withstand shipping accidents and natural disasters that have plagued Charleston’s history including hurricanes with wind gusts of 300mph and earthquaktes of 7.4 on the Richter scale. To protect the bridge from drifting ships, the towers are flanked by one-acre rock islands. Ships will run aground on the islands before colliding with the towers. To see a bird’s eye view of the bridge, click here.
The signs kept saying to watch out for alligators. Well, I watched and watched, and I saw nary a one (to quote Andy Griffith)
The USS YORKTOWN (CV-10) was the tenth aircraft carrier to serve in the United States Navy. Under construction as BON HOMME RICHARD, this new Essex-class carrier was renamed in honor of YORKTOWN (CV-5) sunk at the epic Battle of Midway (June 1942).
The Yorktown was commissioned on April 15, 1943. Known as World War II’s famous “Fighting Lady”, the Yorktown would participate significantly in the Pacific offensive that began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. The ship received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in World War II. Decommissioned in 1970, the historic ship was towed from Bayonne, NJ to Charleston, SC in 1975 to become the centerpiece of Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
Monochromia 
You must be logged in to post a comment.