The Eagle Train

We drove to Romney, West Virginia, early this morning to ride on a scenic railway through the valley and gorge of the south fork of the Potomac river.

There was a substantial queue when we arrived and the long train quickly filled up.

The vintage carriages were quite comfortable and the seats had backs which could be lifted to slide from front to back of the seat to enable seats to face either way.

At the start of the journey the weather was a little cloudy.

There was quite a difference when the sky cleared..

There are two pairs of Bald Eagles nesting in the canyon and we had occasional glimpses from a distance.  Then we were lucky enough to see one 'fishing' in the shallow river.  David captured some photos..

I particularly like this one where the Eagle appears to be looking at his reflection in the water..

After an hour and a half we reached the end of the canyon at Sycamore Bridge..

The views on each side of the bridge were impressive.

Then the train was on its way back.  At the very end was an observation car and a fully open truck with a bench seat down the middle. At each end of the canyon the train stopped to allow 80 passengers to move off the train into the open wagon.  We passed on that one but enjoyed the wide open windows on the train.

James Madison's Montpelier

Montpelier, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains was the family home of President James Madison 'Father of the American Constitution' and fourth president of the USA (1809-17) and his wife Dolly.

We enjoyed a tour of the house with many details about their life and politics, but no photos were allowed inside.

It was a rather cloudy and drizzly day but we went for a walk through the formal walled garden..

There are very few flowers in bloom now - some verbena, above and Japanese anemone..

The cosmos looked as if they had been beautiful..

Outside the gates of the garden, an Osage Orange tree with its strange green fruits..

South Carolina Aquarium

A Bald Eagle is not necessarily what we expected to see when we visited the South Carolina Aquarium last weekend, but as well as many fish and sea creatures from the local coastline, there were also birds, mammals and reptiles from the State.

Each of these creatures had a reason for being there in the relevant habitat section - mountain, swamp, river or sea.  They were animals who through accident or damage could not live in the wild.  

The Bald Eagle, for example, had been hit by a car and was unable to fly due to a badly damaged wing.

This alligator was albino and hence had a dark tank and conditions to meet his needs.

We met this Leatherback Turtle on a behind the scenes tour - one of the hundreds of creatures living in the 42 foot 'Deep Water Tank'.  

We had the opportunity to feed Stingrays in a shallow tank. A strange experience involving holding a small fish between your fingers and putting a flat hand wrist deep in the water in order for the fish to reach the mouth of the Stingray..

Fortunately they have soft mouths and teeth and we just got rather wet with the enthusiastic splashing and competition for the food.

Some of the other fish and sea creatures that we saw..

This Moray Eel was not my favourite.  He really was this green too!