Opened in 1929, the Grove Arcade was a dream of Dr. Edwin Riley Grove, the owner of the  Battery Park hotel which can bee seen in the photo below just behind the Arcade. Grove wanted to bring a shopping market to downtown Asheville, believing the a city needed a vibrant downtown area.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Arcade now has shops on the first floor, business offices on the second. The floors above the second are locked out, unless you have a key card.

North Entrance, Battery Park Hotel in the background

Looks like these were phone booths, now hold a display on the history of the Grove Arcade

I’m going to try something different, for me anyway. Photographers have been giving away desktop wallpaper images for a while now, it’s my turn. I created a wallpaper for November, with a month calendar. I have also included wallpaper sized for iPads and iPhone and android mobile phones.

Desktop Wallpaper (1920 x 1200) 

iPhone Wallpaper (960 x 640)

iPad Wallpaper (1024 x 1024)

]]> http://joelneild.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/november-wallpaper/feed/ 0 rescuemonkey November Desktop Wallpaper http://joelneild.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/biltmore/ http://joelneild.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/biltmore/#comments Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:31:29 +0000 Joel http://joelneild.wordpress.com/?p=886 ]]>

The Biltmore Estate, Located in Asheville, NC was the home of the Vanderbilt family from 1895-1930. The family opened the estate to the public in 1930 and has remained on the top places to visit since. No photography is allowed in the house, but more than 8,000 acres are open to explore on the grounds.

The house sits on a hill and it is hard to find any signs of the outside world as far as you can see. This image is looking off to the Southwest.

This path, leads to the garden areas, which will be featured in a separate blog post.

We took the road less traveled on the way to Asheville. I have heard about the Cumberland Gap since fifth grade history, now as a resident of Kentucky this historic site really puts the westward movement in to perspective. I cannot imagine having to travel on foot over these mountains, carrying your possessions.

The town of Cumberland Gap, TN is a small town. The buildings are mostly brick and on the register of historic places. The holler that this town occupies reminds me of a frontier town, one that’s grown up slightly. The bridge shown above is for the bike/walking path that follows the stream.

A popular site along one of the hiking trails, is the Iron Furnace. All that remains of the iron smelting operation is the stone lined furnace.

Asheville at night.

I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the Asheville area with my wife this week. She was kind enough to put up with my photography addiction. You will be the benefactors.

The legendary Steamer Belle of Louisville is owned by the city of Louisville. We always enjoy taking a cruise and this night was perfect.

The wife and I went on a little journey to the Abbey of Gethsemani.  The well known author Thomas Merton spend 24 years as a monk at this abbey. The land is located in Trappist, KY just outside of New Haven, KY. We wanted to have a few days of fun, this was day number one. I thought it would be fun to carry only my Mamiya 645 camera with one lens the entire weekend. I shot with the standard 80mm lens and Fuji NPC 160 film. The image above is the chapel in the Abbey.

A stone cross on the Statues trail near the Abbey of Gethsemani

This field is found on the Statues Trail on land owned by the Abbey.

While walking along the Statues trail near the Abbey of Gethsemani, there is this tiny little shack with rosary beads and implements of prayer.