Traveling

In Which I Find My Throne

Kristian Beverly2 Comments

A week after Breyerfest, I boarded the train in Harrisburg to NYC. I love flying, but traveling by train has become a very close second in terms of my favorite modes of travel. When book events are out of driving range, a train is the ideal replacement. You can check a bunch of luggage and have numerous carry ons for free. I’d love to travel to a model horse show by train one day. Anyyyywayssss.

This was my second trip to NYC for the summer. The first trip was book related and this final trip was too.

This was for the RWA conference, or Romance Writers of America conference. Instead of BookExpo, where I went solely as an industry person, I went to this event as a hybrid–industry person and writer. Every other year RWA conference is located on the East Coast and I didn’t want to miss it since it was 3 1/2 hours away. Plus it’s my second year of membership and figured this was the perfect way to be more involved.

I stayed at the Marquitt on Time Square. It was amazing.

Before the start of the conference, I wandered around Times Square.

As we signed in I noticed this. Michelle was Bookseller of the Year so I made her take picture with her face.

And then it began.

RWA is about craft, industry people, and books.
There were many many book signings. In these book signings you didn’t need to bring a single book with you. The authors had a set amount of books to be given away by their publishers or themselves, if the author was indie.

I went to many signings. Imagine the NPOD, but with books in a smaller space.

I met awesome authors, and told people to come to Pennsylvania to do signings.

I belong to the local chapter of RWA, and many chapter members also attended RWA. When we could we ate dinner together. We ate a lot at this restaurant.

 It was wonderful and the cheesecake was to die for.

Michelle’s friend gave us tickets to see Frankie and Johnny. I had no idea about what it was about going in. It wasn’t bad, but I feel as if I wasn’t the target age.

Then we had a chance to see Wicked.  I read the novel years ago and had been told for forever that the play was amazing. 


Before getting seats, we found police horses.

I found my throne.

Wicked was spectacular. It was visually stunning, the singing was beautiful, and just everything. I loved it more than the book by far. Not that there was anything wrong with the book, but it just worked so well as a play.

When the conference was over, I took a loot photo.

And then it was time to lug everything home. I enjoyed the conference, and hopefully I can make it when it’s on the east coast again!

Pittsburgh Zoo

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The conference didn’t begin until the evening, which meant we had most of the day to ourselves. So to the zoo we went!

Leopard. 
I loved watching the Elephants. 
So much.
Next were the Masai Giraffes and Grant’s Zebras. 
The Visayan Warty Pig. 
Next were the Clouded Leopard kittens. They were so cute. 

Giraffes are the most ridiculous creatures ever, I love them. 
The Pittsburgh Zoo has a Giraffe Meet and greet so we had to do it. 
He sniffed Michelle’s hair. 
He stood next to me. 
Maybe it’s just me, but because they’re so tall I never really conceptualized just how large their heads are. 
Polar Bears are large.
He swam up to the wall, and you could compare his size to the children from the summer camp. 
Kangaroo. 
Snake. 
The cutest Meerkat. 
After the zoo, we went to the Church Brew Works. It’s a church that was converted into a brewery. 
It had beautiful stained glass. 
After lunch, we found a bookstore.
And it was time for the conference to begin!

The Frick Museum

Kristian Beverly2 Comments

In June, I went to The Frick in Pittsburgh, PA. I was in Pittsburgh for a conference with my boss, but coming early meant being able to explore!

The Frick Museum opened to the public in 1990, and was formed around the Frick family’s home. Henry Clay Frick amassed a considerable amount of artwork through his life (and after becoming wealthy) and collected a varied style of prominent artists. The museum also hosts visiting exhibits.
This painting is called Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog by Philip Reinagle. Information about the piece said Reinagle “seemingly appropriated a pose from a portrait of Mozart to depict a spaniel playing a Broadwood square piano.” It was an adorable painting!

 We wandered the grounds and found a soundly sleeping museum cat.

We entered the gift shop which housed some pieces of tack. This is a 20th century bridle. There was a sidesaddle, but the picture didn’t come out great. 
The Car and Carriage Museum ended up being our last stop.
The room was full of interesting carriages 

 and cars.

The carriages were beautiful. 
There were also different riding outfits. This is a circa 1895 Women’s Two-piece Day Suit. Look at the sleeves! The information sheet said:

Dress embellishment in the 1890s decreased as upper-class women chose to use expensive and tragic fabrics to differentiate themselves from the working classes. Women’s clothing moved away from the garish shades of the previous decades towards hues that were soft and subtle, with a preference for pale shades such as grey and mauve……Sleeves moved away from a tighter fit and puffed up to enormous proportions. 

This is an Outing Wagon from circa 1906. It was created for and by wealthy people. Only one horse drove it. The carriage showed less dust and wear from traveling so unrefined wood and tan upholstery was used. 
I loved the reasoning behind this one! This is a Chubb Phaeton, circa 1908. This was often used as a grandstand at polo matches. The carriage would be pulled up to the field and guests have great seats to view the field. There was a hinged dear that would be used as a table. Tail-gaiting before it was a common weekend thing!
This is a Four-Spring Basket Phaeton, circa 1903. This was referred to as a Ladies Wicker and was popular on resorts because of their design. Because of the fringe and light colored upholstery, this was driven primarily by women. 
I loved this circa 1900 Bobsled. Bells adorned the horses’ harness because of sleighs being difficult to stop. It alerted pedestrians of the carriage’s approach.
This carriage was known to be pulled by Morgans. It’s a Brougham from 1895. 
After viewing the rest of the carriages, it was time to look at the cars. Cars aren’t my thing, but the evolution of going from carriage shape to car shaped was interesting. 
This Model A Runabout, circa 1900, looked more carriage than car. Its original cost was $750. The driver driver steered it using a tiller. In the 1900s, few American automobiles had steering wheels. 
Electric vehicles aren’t new. This is a 1903 Electric Stanhope. Some cities had. charging stations installed in business areas so drivers could shop while waiting for their cars to recharge.  The original price was $1600 and it had a top speed of 14 mph and a range of 20-22 miles. 
Here’s a vehicle that resembles our cars today. It’s a Rolls Royce.
This is a Model R Roadster, 1909. It was originally sold for $1350.
All the pieces to make it gooo!
After leaving the museum, we took the Monongahela Inclined Plane. 
We overlooked the city once we stepped off. 
The city on our way down.

 It’d been a nice first day in Pittsburgh!

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

Kristian Beverly6 Comments

About a year ago, my mom, her friend, and I went to a local wildlife rescue called T & D‘s Cats of the World. We heard about it with enough time to go to the final weekend it was open. It’s a hidden gem in central Pennsylania. While the name mentions only the big cats, the whole place was packed with many types of exotic creatures. We opted to do the guided tour so we could hear the stories about all of the different animals.

All of the animals are rescues. About 300 call T & D their home and have since its establishment in 1990.
Some animals were housepets until being a pet was no longer an option.

Others came from zoos or governmental facilities.

No matter the background, each animal found its way to the rescue.

There were Tigers.

Look at that face and those stripes!

I really loved the Tigers.

Lion.

Bear.

Patagonian cavy.

Prairie Dog!

Lemur.

Some of the wolf/wolf hybrids played with their toys when we got to their enclosure.

This Coyote was over ten years old. He had the sweetest face.

There were different types of deer.

I never realized that Emus made a vibrating drum sound.

The animals will live out the rest of their lives there. While it was sad to hear about the different circumstances that landed the them at T & D, it was nice to see them in their final home.

If you’re in central PA or plan to visit, I highly recommend going to the rescue!