For this week's challenge, I'm looking for some of the lessor known places that produce interesting photo-ops. Please add a description of where your photo-op was taken. This will be my virtual vacation.

This challenge will close on May 31st at 5 PM EDST.

The fine print:
Every week, a new theme is picked and judged by the winner of the previous week.

Rules
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose one of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus an additional day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax/Ricoh (DSLR) camera can be used.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.
9. In case the winner of a challenge is unable to become the judge for the next challenge, they will PM the #2 winner for that person to be the judge

Examples:

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, Dayton, OH


Rock -n- Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH


Lake Michigan, Grand Haven, MI


Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH


Good luck to all.

Tim

[nosliwmit]

A young Burmese man harvesting seaweed on Inle Lake, Myanmar. The paste on his face is thanaka, which is made from ground tree bark. It's allegedly good for the skin and I think is a natural sunscreen:

[SpecialK]

The Rusty Bolt in Seligman, AZ. Only the man in sunglasses and the photographer are real people. Seligman is located on the old historic Route 66 highway which was outdated by the new I-40 freeway. Also to the west along this section of 66 is the Hackberry general store, and Grand Canyon Caverns (not near Grand Canyon) where the road has the only 4-lane section with turnout lanes. A bit to the east is Williams, where you head north to Grand Canyon. Get your kicks...on Route 66.

[gump]

HQ in Mountainair, NM, The Salinas Missions includes three sites each with its own character. My favorite is ABO as it includes the 17th Century church complex but also later ruins speaking to the passing of time.

---

Last edited by gump; 08-01-2020 at 04:01 AM.

[Vaskebjorn]

This one is taken in a nicely tugged away birding spot. Not many people know how to find it and the last year it became even more “distant” because one side to access it was changed to a camping site (who wopefully will not bother going to this spot”. It’s about 1 km from the closest parking to get there. And when you are there and you are lucky you get one of these kingfishers in front of your lens.

[Apet-Sure]

Wow, that's an outstanding kingfisher shot Vaskebjorn!

In 2018 my wife and I took a vacation to visit the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania, certainly a well-known place. We stayed in nearby Chambersburg for cheaper accommodations, and drove into Gettysburg two days in a row. It rained both days, but I still managed to get lots of shots of cannons and monuments with my K10D. This shot represents a place certainly less well-known unless you live in the area. Locals urged us to visit it, and it was on the same road we were driving anyway. It would take too long to explain what this establishment is all about. But I can now proudly(?) say it's one of the places I've been.

[aaacb]

Amsterdam on a foggy winter morning. Hardly a lesser known place, perhaps just a less common view

[Kerrowdown]

"Places You've Been" but hasten to add...definitely not stayed at.

[atupdate]

Great start to my virtual travelogue.

Tim

[ramseybuckeye]

Great topic and examples Tim. I may have posted this photo on PF before, but I just love the place. This is Robinson Falls in Boch Hollow in the Hocking Hills Region of Ohio. This place is a good forty minutes from the more popular and well known areas of Hocking Hills. I had heard about a “Corkscrew” Falls but could not find it on a map, then found that some people were incorrectly calling this corkscrew falls, because the falling water looks like it is twisting. Once I found out the correct name was a Robinson Falls I was able to do a little research. It is located in a state nature area and you have to get a permit to go there. Since I found this out I have been there a couple of times. Both times I arrived before sunrise and spent a couple of hours there. When you get your permit approved, they send you a map and a parking permit. The place is unmarked, the parking is some gravel along the road on the opposite side of the falls. You go across the road, climb over a guardrail, and head into the woods watching for poison ivy. The falls is probably only 75 feet off the road. Both times I have been there I had the place to myself for at least an hour, maybe seen a total of five other people. It’s such a beautiful and serene place. You can really take your time setting up your photos. I have a few other photos of Boch Hollow on Flickr.

[bigoak]

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Very affordable, legendary mineral baths.

[rod_grant]

Goorambat, Victoria.
Silo Art has taken off in small rural town/villages in Australia. I'm not sure where it started but I know of an area on Western Australia, another in the Wimmera district in western Victoria, and a group of five in the Goulburn Valley in northern Victoria. The concrete grain silos are 20+ metres tall and steel ones perhaps 12 or 15 metres tall.
This one is at Goorambat and the painting is from a photo of three related draught horses working at Toowoomba in Queensland; two of the horses were bred and initially worked at Goorambat.

[jacamar]

The market cross at Chichester, UK. When I was growing up this was a major highway along England's south coast and double-decker buses used to negotiate their way around the cross. Then the Chichester Bypass was built and things calmed down a bit. It's a great little town with a medieval street layout and a beautiful Cathedral, Bishop's Palace and gardens.

[ramseybuckeye]

Very good topic, I'm enjoying all of these photos and stories.

[Bruce Clark]

Echuca on the Victorian side of the Murray River is one of my favourite places. Formerly an inland port for the paddle steamer trade, it now largely devoted to the tourist trade. The steamer "Etona" in the foreground once belonged to my Grandfather who used it among others a fishing boat. My Mother was born and spent her early years on the boat. it always give me a buzz to go back and see part of the family history.