Outer Banks Lighthouses

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Bodie Island Lighthouse

These are a couple of photos of the lighthouses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There is the Ocracoke Lighthouse, too, but I didn’t get a good shot of it.

Myrtle Beach Iceless Ice Skating

Myrtle Beach Ice Skating

We tried out the skating rink at the Market Common in Myrtle Beach. This rink uses artificial ice, which is a little different from the traditional ice skating experience yet still a lot of fun. You don’t need to worry about being cold, but getting a good slide requires some speed, which increases my chances of falling exponentially so I stuck with the skating round-and-round bit. It’s not nearly as frictionless as regular ice, but you can skate on it and probably do spins and other tricks if you build up enough speed. The coating on the ice is non-toxic. According to one of the kids, it tastes a little funky, but it isn’t slimy or otherwise unpleasant on skin or clothes if you fall. This rink is in operation through January 3rd, with proceeds going to the Red Cross, so if you’re looking for something fun to do, give it a try. The cost depends on whether or not you’ve been shopping. You get free admission if you spend $50 or more at one of the Market Common shops. Otherwise admission is $7, which includes skates and is good for skating all day.

Russian Beaded Necklace Tutorial

You know what they say about all-work-and-no-play, right? I used a little free time to put up a tutorial for this beaded neckace pattern. Back in the days when I made jewelry for cash, this was one of the most best-sellers. Now you can make it yourself.

Wordless Wednesday – South Carolina Sandscape

Hilton Head Island

Ares I-X Launch Photos

I was fortunate enough to get to watch the Ares I-X launch from the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), which stands 525 feet in the air. Even if the launch had been delayed again (which it wasn’t, thankfully), it would have been well worth the trip just to see Kennedy Space Center from that vantage point. The launch itself was spectacular… about as loud as a shuttle launch and powerful enough to shake the VAB. The data from that test flight will be of use to all future spacecraft launches, not just those related to Ares/Orion/Constellation, so I was very happy to see it go so well.

Ares I-X – Live Photo of Ares I-X from the NASA Press Room

I just got to the Press Site at Kennedy Space Center, so I don’t have my cameras unpacked, but I got a pretty picture for you of the Ares I-X rocket on the launchpad. This was taken from my cell phone in air-conditioned comfort off one of the televisions in the press room. See the countdown clock? Pretty exciting! I’ll be explaining how to make your own solid fuel rocket over on About.com’s Chemistry site later, so get ready to play rocket scientist.

Wordless Wednesday – Indigo Creek

Welcome to South Carolina in October! This is Indigo Creek behind my house this morning. Beautiful rainy day.

Gratuitous Cat Picture

I haven’t posted any pictures of Cricket since the day I got him, so here’s one for you. He’s soft and fluffy and insane, which is a pretty good combination for cat (less-good for my laptop and curtains).

Driving in Manhattan

I just got back from a trip to New York, which is where I work. This is sort of funny, since I have written for About.com since 2001, but it was the first time I’ve actually been to the city since starting with them. About.com is a New York Times Company, so I’ve included a pretty picture out one of the windows of the New York Times Building.

I drove up from Myrtle Beach, which took around 12 hours. It was a beautiful drive, but I was a little concerned about driving in Manhattan. I had always heard driving in New York was a nightmare. I expected to get cut off, honked at, hit, lost… you name it. I was also leery of leaving my car with the valet at the hotel. If you live in the Myrtle Beach area, it’s likely you’ve encountered me on Highway 17 or at the beach at the south end of Pawleys Island. I drive my car a lot and I’m a teensy bit protective of it (parked waaay out from other cars and don’t even let family members borrow it).

If you drive in Myrtle Beach, you know it can be an adventure. There are a lot of confused tourists and intoxicated drivers to contend with, plus traffic can be heavy. Manhattan had a lot of pedestrians, but they actually moved out of the way of the car (totally novel experience there). The cab drivers were extremely considerate. No one honked at me or flipped me the bird. The police officers kept traffic moving. It was actually really nice and the valet took great care of my car. Except that tolls and parking cost a mint, it’s a great place to drive. So… if you’ve considered driving in New York, but the hype had scared you off, don’t be afraid. It’s really not that bad.