Historic Powhatan Resort

The lodging for this years World Series trip (Go Canes!) is the Historic Powhatan Resort in Williamsburg,Virginia.

In the words from their website:
The Historic Powhatan Resort offers guests a little piece of colonial history with the restored Manor House (circa 1735). Nestled among 256 acres of beautiful woodland, this resort is loaded with fun things to see and do, and learn a little bit of American history. 

In my words:
Simply….beautiful.

Manor House of Powhatan Plantation - Williamsburg, VA

Powhatan Resort, Williamsburg, VA
Powhatan Resort, Williamsburg, VA
A little wildlife found at the resort…
And here is the wildlife I brought with me…
Can’t wait to explore more!
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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Backyard Baby

A small tree in my backyard held a little surprise.  A nest with three eggs.  I told myself I’d photograph the progress frequently….then I got distracted (squirrel!).

By the time I took my camera outside, one baby had hatched and grown up!!

Baby Bird - Tressie Davis Photography

Mama bird was NOT very happy that I was looking in her nest…

Bird on Wire - Tressie Davis Photography
Bird on Wire - Tressie Davis Photography

The next time I went to check, mama bird had kicked the baby out of the nest!!!  All that was left was the two eggs that never hatched.

Robin Eggs in Nest - Tressie Davis Photography

The End.

ps – if you have a little time to waste and want to watch something cool, check out this video of a robin hatching from its egg.

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor

What better way to spend time on Memorial Weekend than with fellow photographers at Matthaei Botanical Gardens?  It was beautiful, and what a great place to look for critters and practice “seeing” details.

Our first friendly visits were with geese, frogs, turtles and a muskrat.

Mama Goose and Goslings
Gosling
Frog
Muskrat
Turtle

We were kinda hoping that the mama goose would bite Brian, but we weren’t that lucky.  She just hustled her babies away.

After the critters, we concentrated on color, texture and tiny details.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor
Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

One of my favorites of the day 🙂

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

And my partners in crime, Kiah and Brian.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor

Suggestions for our next outing?  I’m all ears!

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

The Windy City – Chicago Rocks

The view from my hotel room

The last weekend in October, I left my family for a short trip to Chicago.  The “official” purpose of the trip was the Zenfolio Zoom Tour, where I would learn about all kinds of ways to make my website better.  Hopefully in the next few months I will be implementing what I learned.

“Unofficially”, I wanted to take pictures in Chicago and visit with my dear friend Vicki.

I signed up for a workshop with John Batdorff, to walk the streets of Chicago and to see it from the perspective of a resident.  I was not disappointed – no only did John show me lots of cool places to shoot, I learned a lot about shooting subjects that do not have eyes.  This is a struggle for me you know.

With John, I practiced seeing in black and white – spotting patterns within a scene or subject, and thinking about black and white conversions while I shoot.  I am by no means a landscape or architectural photographer, but I love how learning an unfamiliar type of photography can bring so many ideas and inspiration to the type of photography that I DO shoot.  And it was FUN.  Between shooting locations John and I chit chatted about our families, our photography, and very interesting things like the difference between a Booty Call and a Butt Dial.  But that’s a story for a different day.

Don’t forget to look up!!

A bonus Chicago tip from John:  The Ghirardelli store gives out a free chocolate to each person that walks in.  Dessert on John! (don’t worry, I won’t tell everyone you’re a cheap date)

Lunch with Vicki, shopping on the Miracle Mile, and some street performances rounded out the trip.  (Vicki I won’t tell the story about how you mailed post cards to my girls 4 years after they were written…love you xo)

I think I need to do this more often…



Even the pigeons were cold
Yay for beautiful friendships…
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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Flat Stanley Adventures Continue

Remember Flat Stanley?  You can read about his last adventure here, when Alex sent him to Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.  Most recently, our family was requested to host him right here in Chelsea, Michigan, so the Flat Stanley adventures continue!

A big thank you to sweet Dayton for sending Flat Stanley here – we had a great time with him, and hope he enjoyed his visit.

Flat Stanley returned to Dayton with the following letter:

Dear Dayton,
Thank you for sending me to Chelsea, Michigan!!  I arrived on Wednesday, May 1, and it was 84 degrees and sunny.  Surprising, since just a week or so before that it had been snowing.  I sure am glad I had nicer weather for my visit.

I spent my time in Chelsea with the Davis family – Tressie and Rob, and their kids Riley (10), Alex (7) and Robby (5).  Dominic is away at college so I didn’t get to see him (though I had a great visit with him earlier this year when Alex sent me to visit him at Wittenberg University in Ohio).
The Davis family kept me busy.  The first thing we did was choose an outfit for me so I would fit in here in Chelsea.  Do you like my University of Michigan t-shirt?  There are a lot of UofM fans in Chelsea.  There are fans of other Michigan schools too, but… those people don’t really count. (haha)
Chelsea is a really great city, with so much to do.  A vibrant downtown boasts great food, art and entertainment.  This is even more apparent during the warm months when Chelsea hosts Sounds and Sights every Thursday evening – sculpture walks, food, local brew, outdoor movies, and literally music on almost every street corner with diverse line up of musical artists performing at staged areas.  It isn’t quite summer yet though, so spring sports and site seeing is what we did.
On Saturday Riley had a softball tournament that was an hour and a half away (first tournament for a long summer of softball!).  I decided to stay with Alex and Robby and go to their hockey and soccer games since those were in Chelsea. 
The first stop was Robby’s hockey game at the ArcticColiseum.  Brrrr…it’s cold in there!  But it sure was fun watching the super cute mini hockey players. 
After the ice rink we had a little extra time before Alex and Robby’s soccer games, so we stopped at Pierce park, where the Chelsea ROCK is.  The ROCK is a giant boulder that people in Chelsea paint to send messages of all kinds – from congrats, to happy birthday, or other fun things.  The day we visited it matched my shirt – how cool is that?
I have sent you pictures of some of the cool sites in Chelsea.  The clock tower is a favorite of many residents, isn’t it beautiful?  It used to be a water tower for the Glazier Stove Company in the early 1900s. 
Directly across the railroad tracks is the Chelsea Depot – a gorgeous historic train station built in 1880.  Service at the station closed in 1981, but through the efforts of the Chelsea Depot Association, restoration efforts began in 1986.  In 1987 Chelsea Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic places. 
Just to the west of the clock tower is something very yummy.  Did you know that Chelsea is the home of Jiffy Mix?  Their cornbread muffin mix is my favorite.
There are lots of places that I wanted to visit, but didn’t get a chance to on this trip – like the Purple Rose Theater, The Chelsea Teddy Bear Factory and Timber Town.  
 
Maybe next time I visit you can come with me? 
Love,
Flat Stanley
xo
 
ps – want to see a cool video made about Chelsea by Jeff Daniels?  You can check it out HERE

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.