Canaveral National Seashore

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A slideshow with a few photos from Florida's Canaveral National Seashore, immediately north of Kennedy Space Center. It's a fairly untouched bit of barrier island beach, at least compared to most of coastal Florida, but in the distance you can see the Vehicle Assembly Building and both of the Launch Complex 39 launch pads (used for the Space Shuttle, and Saturn V rockets before that).

If the original plans for the launch complex had come to fruition, there would have been between one and three additional Saturn V launch pads in the area, and pad E would have been right about at the point where I took these photos, if I'm reading the old maps correctly. Longer-term, less definite plans envisioned additional launch pads further north for the Nova rocket, a cancelled, even larger successor to the Saturn V. So this area would likely be very different if we'd ended up sending people to Mars back in the 70s or 80s. It wouldn't necessarily be less natural; much of today's Kennedy Space Center, other than the actual launch pads and support buildings, is still in more or less a wild state. But you certainly wouldn't be able to drive in and wander around on the beach.

march magnolia

april rosemary

april tulip tree

april cherry blossoms (ii)

april tulips

april cherry blossoms (i)

april rhododendron

spring berries

West Side Market

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More tourist photos from Cleveland, this time from the historic West Side Market, a bustling public market that dates back to 1840 (and to 1912 in the current building). I regret taking only still photos and no video; you don't get the full effect without seeing the place bustling. And even then you wouldn't get the full experience without being able to smell it. It smells of sausages and paprika and garlic the way Seattle's Pike Place Market smells of salmon and oysters and roasting coffee, if that gives you some idea.





On the sage advice of @dlayphoto, I picked up some beef jerky and smokies at the Czuchraj Meats counter. You're probably thinking, "Beef jerky? Seriously?" at this point; as there's also no way to send flavors or textures over the net, you're just going to have to trust me on this. It's nothing like the stuff you're familiar with. My assumption is there's a Slavic term for exactly what this is, and "beef jerky" is just the rough translation. But whatever it is, it's delicious.



Not pictured here are the market's produce stands, which are in a separate building built in an L shape around the main building; nor do you see either of the brewpubs within brief walking distance. The well-known Great Lakes Brewing pub is basically across the street, while the smaller Market Garden Brewery is located right next to the market itself. I'd originally planned to visit the Great Lakes pub, but there was a 45 minute wait so I went to Market Garden instead & had several tasty beers and a delicious plate of pierogies. And it turns out that Great Lakes has a location at the Cleveland Airport, so the net day I was able to try a few of their beers for lunch, and have another plate of delicious pierogies. Mmmm, beer... Mmm... pierogies....

Cleveland Arcade

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Some photos of the historic Cleveland Arcade, an 1890 shopping mall said to be modeled on Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Before my whirlwind trip to Cleveland a couple of weeks ago I had no idea this existed. So naturally I had to stop and take a bunch of photos and generally wander around dazzled for a bit.

I should point out that it's a working shopping center and not just an architectural marvel, although it's not that big by modern mall standards, and the upper floors are now a Hyatt Regency hotel. Plus it seems to be set up to cater to downtown office workers, and not a lot was open on the weekend when I dropped by.

If the Arcade existed in a trendier, more tourist-oriented city it would be full of people 24/7, all gawking at the architecture and buying Cleveland Arcade t-shirts and snowglobes and knicknacks and so forth. If this existed in a very trendy city, the Vegas casino based on that city would include a carbon-copy Arcade, but full of slot machines and frozen daiquiri stands. But it's in Cleveland, a city in the un-trendy upper Midwest that's gotten a bad rap in recent decades for reasons I'll never understand. "How did I not know this existed?" was the reaction I kept having while wandering around town. So I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Cleveland will be fashionable someday. I won't go so far as to predict exactly when, but sooner or later the mainstream (i.e bicoastal) media will catch on and freak out like they've just discovered Atlantis or something. By which I mean they'll do the same exact thing they've been doing about Portland in recent years. Mark my words, it's just a matter of time.