Denali State Park

This summer was extremely busy. We moved my sister and her husband into their new home, moved my niece home from Tallahassee, went on vacation, helped with a wedding, and remodeled the pool area. I should say my son redid the pool area. Anyhoo I thought I would share a bit more of  the Alaska trip.  From Seattle, we flew into Anchorage and took the train to Denali State Park to stay in the McKinley Lodge. It was awesome. Here are some pics from the train.

We did all this in one day.....WOW....I think I took approx. 350 pictures that day. Of course I wouldn't bore you with all of them. After we arrived, we took an excursion to the home of Jeff King. I'll post about the huskies later.
     Alaska is beautiful. Cooler weather and open spaces. I know it's summer but I wore a sweater or jacket every day. We did not break a sweat. I am thinking it would be nice to have a summer home here, but the food is way too expensive. Most folks here work all summer and put up food for the winter. We stayed at the lodge 2 nights.  We also took a tour of Denali State Park....instead of a bus ride to mile marker 17, we upgraded to mile marker 67. I'll take you on the bus ride later.
     Thanks for visiting. I would love to hear what your thinking. Please feel free to leave a comment! You can also email me at Lyndalhcropshop@gmail.com.

Lynda

Vera Drive

This summer my son moved his family from Tennessee to Mississippi. In the process of packing the garage Grant discovered a pair of green shutters original to his home. We hauled them home and they sat in the carport until I came up with an idea. The first idea for shutter #1 came from Pinterest. I will do a post on Tour Eiffel later. The minute I completed my Annie Sloan Paint class at Robyn Story Design in Tampa I knew what I wanted to do.

GREEN SHUTTERS

I'll blog about the Paris shutter when I complete it! It is still a work in progress.....

This is Vera Drive......a horizontal shutter turned hang up for Vera bags.

Grant's lovely wife Mandi loves Vera Bradley bags. We had taken Mandi to her hair appt. in Knoxville. While waiting....my daughter and I decided to go "junking". We found a couple of second hand stores in the area. If we had taken a trailer to TN.....we would have hauled home a great deal more treasures. Since I was limited the Vera Dr. sign, clock and old telephone made it home to FL..The sign was perfect for Mandi. Her Vera collection numbers are 100+.

My sweet husband hung this on the fence by the pool so I could take pictures of it outside.....

Vera's look great poolside.....but we will deliver to Miss. when Grant and Mandi find a home.

I just hope they have a wall large enough.

The bird hangers and crystal knobs came from Hob Lob.

Annie Sloan paint color is French Linen with clear wax. 

Anyone have any old shutters hanging around they don't want?

I watch for curbside treasures, don't you?

Lynda

Linking to Parties Below:

Public Market of Seattle

The public market in Seattle sold many things other than seafood. We enjoyed the chocolate cherries, fresh flowers and I purchased some kitchen dish towels with red lobsters/crabs I could not resist.

It was 2:43.....lots of seafood ahead....

oh my...above....a barracuda 

extra large crabs and claws...

reminds me of umbrellas at the beach....

We ate at Lowell's and had some great clam chowder, fish sandwiches....

The flowers were gorgeous....and so inexpensive.....

Then we went on an Argosy Cruise in the harbor for approx. 1 hr....

We enjoyed the tour....it was a bit cool outside....

This picture above shows how far away the larger skyscrapers are from the space needle....so the view of the space needle is still so magnificent.

Below are shots of the shipping industry.....lots of containers are pulled by tug boats....all the way to parts of Alaska...

Containers marked " China" seem to out number everything else....

We enjoyed the tour of the harbor that was included in the City Pass Booklet....

Olivia and Michelle enjoyed the trip as well. During the Ferris Wheel ride

seen here in the background.....I decided to tour the local antique shop.....a real delight!

Next stop: Flying Seattle to Anchorage....where the real journey begins.....

Stay tuned......Lynda

Seattle

We were blessed to travel to Alaska this summer. Our first stop was Seattle, Washington. We toured, with the help of Cousin Holly, the Space Needle, Aquarium, Pacific Science Enter, EMP Museum and the Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour. The City Pass was a huge savings...check out citypass.com for savings in the city near you.

The amazing space needle. The city has not let the view be obstructed by tall buildings. You will see how the city was developed on the other side when I take you on the boat tour....another day.

Much like the Tour Eiffel, multiple views are needed to grasp the area and parks that surround this beautiful icon from the 1960's.

We did not visit the glass museum next door,but peaked through the fence line at the sculptures of glass. They lit up the sky at night.

From the top the views are spectacular.

Low flying clouds in this one reveals the mountain range in the background.

The skyline on the other side....

Now tell me....did you see Elvis's movie "It Happened At The World's Fair"?

Have you ever seen the Space Needle?

Our dad brought us to see it in 1963...I was 10 that year and remember it well....

Seems like we had a plate souvenir much like this one.

Now fast forward to the aquarium....we learned a few things here also....

Everything felt like slime....

Star fish can be orange...

The employee standing near this star fish said" Take a picture of this....this is very rare to see....the starfish's stomach comes out to suck the contents of the mussel .... so I did....yuck...

I don't remember what kind of starfish this is...I wrote in down in my book....now if I can just get my hands on the book....where did I put that thing....

Thanks so much cousin Holly! We so enjoyed our tour and short time with you! Blessings to your family for doing without you the entire day! Now leave me a comment so I know you at least want to see the rest of the pictures.....more Seattle and Alaska to come! 

Lynda

Annie Sloan Paint Adirondack Chairs

The last of the summer projects finally completed, perhaps I can start sharing a few projects. We have 1 week left before school begins for the teachers in Polk County and summer time vaca will be officially over.....no tears please....we have Labor Day Weekend soon.

These chairs were purchased from Lowes and have been on the back deck for a year. Looking very sad I decided to try Annie Sloan face lift and use them in a nautical-themed shower. I will say this was a challenge because of the slats.....it took a small brush to complete the edges....

;BEFORE

Two coats of Annie Sloan Paint later.....they look awesome. I did use the Annie Sloan Lacquer for the finish.....

The pillows came from The Barn and Stable Antiques Store in Lake Alfred....

Would you agree????  An Ocean Breeze Puts The Mind At Ease???

They were used at my niece, Olivia Johnson, and her fiancee, Travis Harrell's shower at our church last Saturday.....but her Lily Pulitzer dress was the charm in this nautical theme....Congrats to the bride and groom!