New York City - Trinity Church

Lower Manhattan has so much history, dating back to the 1600s when the Dutch established a fort in what is now Battery Park. It is a fascinating area to walk around, with old historic buildings sitting right next to imposing modern glass skyscrapers.



After we got off the ferry from Ellis Island, we walked over to Fraunces Tavern for lunch and some drinks.



The tavern is in a building that was constructed as a house in 1719. The house would later be turned into a tavern in 1762, and it would become an important landmark during the Revolutionary years. George Washington used it as his headquarters. British officers were overheard toasting to Benedict Arnold here, which lead to the discovery that he was a traitor. And then after the war, when New York served as the US capitol, the tavern housed the offices of finance, war and foreign affairs. The building was almost torn down in 1900 and replaced with a parking lot, but luckily it was preserved and is still open for food and drinks. 



From there we walked down Wall Street, with its mix of tourists and fancy business people.



And then we walked over to Trinity Church. The first Trinity Church was built here in 1698, but it was destroyed during a massive fire that swept through the city in 1776. The church was rebuilt in 1790, but it was damaged during storms in 1838. Construction on the current Trinity Church was completed in 1846, and it held the title of being the country's tallest building until 1869.



The church is surrounded by a small cemetery, which has the graves of many prominent early New Yorkers. The cemetery has probably also gotten a lot of visitors in the last ten years because it's also the final resting place of many of the people featured in the play Hamilton, including Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton, Phillip Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler Church, and Hercules Mulligan.



Next to Eliza Hamilton's grave was a handwritten letter from a bunch of school kids. They left several remarks for Eliza, including ones that said: "May you always be satisfied." And there was also "Dear Eliza, contradulations on opening the first private children's orphanage in New York City! you're awesome !! :)" Then there was "Dear Eliza, He didn't deserve you, diva :)" But there was one that read: "Dearest Eliza, Sucks you died. Quite the bummer." Which does seem like an odd thing to leave at someone's grave, but then again you have no control of who lives, who dies, and who tells your story.



The cemetery ground were a peaceful place to explore, a quiet refuge within the busy city that surrounds it.









And then a quick view of the interior, which is absolutely beautiful:



And finally, for a fun little comparison, we walked by Trinity in 2006 when we visited during a massive blizzard. Here's the view of it way back then:

Right Before The Storm

After leaving the Harper-Alexander House, I drove deeper into the Delta. Almost all of the farms and fields had already been harvested and cleared, with an occasional tractor or combine still out working and kicking up clouds of dust. It would storm later that day, and the clouds were heavy and leaden with the promise of rain.

The next stop was an old barn located just outside of Lonoke. It doesn't look like its used much anymore, considering the missing pieces of walls and roof.





And down the road was another old barn, sitting in some tall grasses that had turned brown over the dry summer. The front was covered with some vines, which grew like snakes slithering across the weathered wood.





And further down the road was this abandoned church. It looks like it's not been in use for awhile, considering the congregation of mud dauber nests that surrounds the front door of the church.





And then heading down the road again, I made another stop at this large farm building. It was surrounded by a small flock of some sort of ducks/poultry (not sure what exactly?).



And then turning to the east, I headed past more farms and fields that had just been harvested for the end of the season. I had to stop the car and turn around after passing by this small complex of farm buildings, which included some grain silos and an old cotton gin.



Protected under the rusted metal of the building was an old Buick, which was covered with a thick blanket of dust.



If you look closely, you can see the dust had been slightly disturbed by a few paw prints from a cat.



This old tractor was parked by the old cotton gin.



And I took a quick peek through the broken window on the door, which showed a bunch of rusty machinery inside.



And from there I headed further east, eventually going through the small community of Hamilton. I was here a few years ago, but the old buildings here seemed to sing out and say "You'll Be Back."



I'm not entirely sure what this old building was used for. Presumably back in the olden days, you could say that this was the room where it (farm stuff?) happened.



While I was in Hamilton, I was sure to get the camera out and make sure that I got My Shot.



And also in Hamilton was this old building, and I know I wouldn't have been satisfied if I didn't stop for another picture.



And then I made one last stop at this old building, as the storm clouds sat heavy on the horizon.



And then it was time to head home. Which was good timing since it started to pour rain. At one point it was raining so hard that the poor windshield wipers couldn't keep up and I had to pull over (it didn't help that the other drivers on the road were deciding to randomly slam on their brakes, for fun I guess).

Back To The Delta

I was able to make another little trip out to the Delta, in what turned out to be great conditions. It was rainy and cool outside, a rare treat in the summer in Arkansas. It is always nice to be able to take pictures and not end up sweating, or having the camera lens fog up every time you get out of the car because of the humidity.

The first stop was Scott, which has a plethora of old buildings that are just waiting to be photographed. This is the old train station, which was moved and is now part of a museum (the Scott Plantation Settlement).





Further down the road is Keo. The population of Keo is only 230 people, but it also has a great selection of neat old buildings.





Driving south from Keo there are these silos, surrounded by soybean fields.



And this old abandoned church, where most of the back roof has unfortunately collapsed.  





And then I headed down this little road, which dissected an oxbow lake that was filled with tupelo and cypress trees.







The waters of the lake were covered with a layer of green stuff, which is not algae but a small aquatic plant called duckweed.



From there I headed east once more, driving through the tiny community of Coy (population 96). There were a few neat old buildings here as well, including this old cotton gin. It looks like it's still being used for storage, despite it looking like it isn't in the best condition.



And just across the street (or dirt road, the be more accurate) was this view looking towards another old building. It was surrounded by a field of cotton. It's actually a little rare to see cotton growing around here now, since most of the fields have been turned over to soybeans and rice.





The main purpose of this drive out to the Delta was to try to find an old cotton gin in the small community of Hamilton. A few weeks ago, I drove out here to try to find it but had no luck - I didn't remember the exact location and drove around for a bit but never saw it. Turns out that I was just a mile or two short of where I needed to be. So although I had to wait for it, I made another trip to Hamilton. I finally got there, and got a few pictures. I'm happy to post them now, so I'm not throwing away my shot.





And just down the road I saw this, which I hoped might answer the age old question. But apparently the chicken crossed the road to get away from the weird photographer trying to take a picture.... 

There was a whole flock of chickens, and they seemed to be living inside this old building.



I hurried to get home after this, but made one last stop to get a shot of this road running through more flat fields in the Delta...