Photo Hunters: Artificial

UGH! How’d you do with this one this week? Tough one!!! Here’s mine:

Perhaps the first thing that will come to people’s minds (besides artificial sweeteners) are mannequins. And I DO happen to have a photo of some! These are “artificial” people– Iroquois Indians and a Scotsman (many early colonists in Upstate New York were Scot and German). I think these artificial dudes are rather well-done.

Here are more artificial characters– cardboard cutouts of John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans Rogers. We saw these when we visited the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

These are Herkimer Diamonds.

They are artificial diamonds— not real diamonds, but rather quartz– but are still very rare because they have six sides (18 facets) and two terminations, and are found in “vugs” (clusters) only in certain locations in the world. These are called Herkimer Diamonds because there is a large area of them in the town of Herkimer, NY. People come from all over the world to mine this strange quartz. You can read more about these strange and rare “diamonds” in a post I wrote here.

And finally… hmm… two kitties.. which one is artificial?? Hmm.

How did your Photo Hunters go today?

More Photos of Fort Stanwix 2009

We made our annual visit to Fort Stanwix on Independence Day (July 4th). See Part 1 here. We’d been wanting to visit on the holiday for many years– finally we got to! And it was GREAT. There was a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, a stirring speech to patriotism and our true roots, and a few huzzahs for our Constitution and the Continental Congress. Here are more photos of the great time we had.

At the fort, you are free to roam the grounds. There are rooms where you can enter and see exact replicas of colonial life as it was back then. And you can mingle with the soldiers and officers and strike up a chat about the importance of, say, the First Amendment. There were also several marching and musket drills to enjoy watching. Read more

More Fort Stanwix Photos

Yes, more photos of our July 4th trip to Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. This is such a great place. I’ve written several posts about our visits to Fort Stanwix. It is, in my opinion, probably the best New York State park! And it’s part of the National Park Service, too. You can check out more information by going to www.nps.gov to learn more about Fort Stanwix and other national parks. I also want to mention a new and growing site– it is Vacation Rental Deals, which is a branch of VacationRentals.com. It’s a relatively new site, but they have a growing database of information on family vacations and featured deals. They also are on Twitter, and they also have a blog started up, discussing family vacation ideas and information on deals.

Now for the photos! I recommend that you enlarge the first photo for the full effect. The fort is surrounded by a high earthen berm, for added protection against invading enemies. So the view is really great!

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Fort Stanwix Photos

Here are more photos of our terrific visit to Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. You can read Part 1.

There’s a drawbridge at the entrance. The fort was made historically accurate. Big meaty stakes with sharpened points tilt outward. There’s a big dry moat all around the fort. During times of peacefulness, the women and children camped in these big ditches.

Inside the fort is a great big spacious area, with wooden walls leading to rooms. You can wander freely inside the rooms.

There are a variety of rooms– captain’s quarters, soldier’s quarters, missionary’s quarters, the “Suttler’s” room (like a general store), and more. It’s really great to meander throughout the grounds! Read more

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