Sunday Funday: Summer Vacation, Book Haul, and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Happy Sunday everyone!  This weekend I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos that I took while on vacation during the first week of July (that's why I was a bit absent - I sure am glad I can schedule posts ahead!), books I picked up on my travels, and my thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)!  During my vacation I traveled from my home state of Ohio through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.  Before this year, I had never been to Vermont and aside from fascinating sights and breathtaking scenery I was really interested in solving some mysteries involving family history in the state - I may do a post about this in the topic in the future because I've found out some some really cool things about one of my ancestors!  Anyway, I took a ton of pictures during that week, but the eight photos below are from my favorite places  that I had the opportunity to visit.

Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont - This monument commemorates the Revolutionary Battle of Bennington (August 16, 1777) which is considered to be a major turning point in the war.  Construction on the monument was completed in 1891 and it stands 306 feet and 4.5 inches - that would have been something to see back then!

View into Bennington from the Monument - From the monument you can even see Massachusetts and New York!  The white steeple of the church that you can see belongs to the Old First Church of Bennington.  

Robert Frost's Grave - The four time Pulitzer winner is buried in the Old Bennington Cemetery which is adjacent to the Old First Church of Bennington.  The librarian in me couldn't miss this!  Also check out that epigraph - "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

Quechee Gorge, Quechee State Park in Quechee, Vermont - The Quechee Gorge (pronounced: Kwee-chee) is the deepest gorge in Vermont at 165 feet.  Some of the best views of the gorge can be be seen from the Rt. 4 bridge where it goes over the Ottauquechee River which is where my photo was taken.

Quechee Gorge, At River Level - At the state park there's a walking path to go down to the riverside and see the gorge close up.  One of the other visitors, a regular, said that the water level was actually quite a bit higher than usual due to all of the rainfall they've had lately.  See that stacked up pile of stones in the top left of my photo - yeah, with all the water rushing by like that now you wouldn't be able to stack them up without having your feet taken out from under you.

Portland Head Light in Portland, Maine- I've actually been hear before, but as I was going to be in that area on my route home I knew I needed to stop and take in the sights again!  Beautiful!

Kinzua Bridge Sky Walk, Kinzua Bridge State Park in Mt. Jewett. Pennsylvania - I have to admit that I just randomly stumbled upon this one on my way home through Pennsylvania - and it was one of the coolest things I had the opportunity to see this week.  This bridge was originally the longest and highest train viaduct in the world when it was built in 1882 (it was later rebuilt in 1900 with stronger materials) at 301 feet high and 2,053 feet long.  For perspective, the Statue of Liberty stands at 305 feet tall.  Anyway, back in 2003 a tornado tore down a portion of the bridge, and remaining section was redesigned and fortified as a pedestrian walkway and viewing platform.  Spectacular views all around!

Kinzua Bridge Sky Walk, The View from the End of the Viewing Platform - You know that tornado I mentioned?  Well the wreckage and ruins of the other end of the bridge were never removed - and it looks just plain awesome that way!  See those two rows of concrete pillars going all the way to the other end of the photo - those are the concrete footers for the viaduct and they'd actually be over your head in height if you were standing down there beside one of them!

 

While I'm on vacation, I've always enjoyed going into local shops of all types and antique shops to see what I can scrounge up.  Of course, I always have my eyes out for books and I think I found some real winners this year:

Dragonwyck by Anya Seton - Ever see the 1946 movie of the same title starring Gene Tierney and Vincent Price?  Well this 1944 novel is the story that inspired the film.

The Big Eye by Max Ehrlich - This 1949 sci-fi novel is set in 1960 and while everyone's worried about atomic war, they realize they have bigger problems - another planet is on collision course with Earth which will bring doom in two years time.  I watch a lot of classic sci-fi movies and this seems quite promising.

Bootleggers, Lobstermen, and Lumberjacks: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments of the History of Hardscrabble New England by Matthew P. Mayo - This sounds like it's going to be a good collection of stories, plus I have to admit I have a hard time resisting a good list.

The Scalpel of Scotland yard: The Life of Sir Bernard Spilsbury by Douglas G. Browne and E.V. Tullett - Of all of these, I expect this is biography is going to easily be the most fascinating - as one of the best forensic pathologists in newly emerging field.

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Last Sunday, the last day vacation, I was able to see Spider-Man: Homecoming - I have to admit, I was really hyped up for it going in, especially after Tom Holland's turn in Captain America: Winter Soldier!  While this movie wasn't my favorite MCU film, it's still a lot of fun and it's quite funny to boot.  I loved the first two Tobey Maguire movies, and while Spider-Man 2 is still my favorite, I think Spider-Man: Homecoming is truly a breath of fresh air.  Aside from the awesome action scenes, stunts, and CGI, a lot of this comes down to Tom Holland's performance as Peter Parker and his alter ego - he's got the act down.  Plus, it's nice to see that the actor portraying the character is so much closer in age to a real high school student!  The real scene stealer of the movie though is Ned, Peter's school friend, played by Jacob Batalon - I'm really looking forward to seeing more from him in the future.  By the way, did you notice that Flash is played by Tony Revolori, aka Zero from The Grand Budapest Hotel?  Overall, if you're a fan of Spider-Man, you need to see Marvel's newest outing!

Next up: Dunkirk & Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets


As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!  Happy Sunday!