For #marketfriday today (thank you @dswigle!) I was able to get down to the Wilmington, DE riverfront. It helped that I was meeting my Director for lunch, so I had an excuse to be Oot and Aboot.
I brought with me my SQ908 Mega-Cam crappy camera, with it's massive 2 mega-pixel of photographic goodness, easily 2.5 times the number of pixels in my favourite crappy camera, the Sony MVC-FD75, with it's .6 mega-pixels.
Wilmington used to be a heavily industrialised city, with ports, ship building, and train building. The port is still there, but the ship and train manufacturing is gone. Left in it's place are these massive river-side cranes, left as a monument to what once was.
The history and the historical blue-collar attitude the city owned, coupled with the particular camera I had in hand, lent me to believe that processing these photos into a vintage flavour was the right thing to do. Browsing through them feels like going through your parents old collection of snap shots that happened to have been recently re-found in the attic.
The riverfront is going through something of a renaissance the last few years. What was once urban decay is now a semi-thriving community of upscale apartments, hotels and, of course, restaurants.
I like Iron Hill Brewery. They always have a nice collection of beer, which they brew right onsite.
I have yet to go into Big Fish Grill. I'm honestly that much of a seafood fan so, when given the choice, I'll go next door to the brewery and get a burger and beer.
Unfortunately, Joe's Crab Shack is a vicim of Covid. I was unable to get crabs today. We ended up finding a Mexican place, and I got an enchilada. Mmm.
One of the main attractions of the riverfront is the Delaware Children's Museum. My own children used to love this place in their younger days, and I have some fantastic photo memories inside it. Out back is a mini-golf course, which I have yet to do. Also in the front is this great old red caboose.
Hotels are a big thing in Wilmington these days. Although manufacturing has all but disappeared, Wilmington has since become home to many banks and financial institutions due to Delaware's very corporate friendly laws.
After lunch I took a short stroll along the riverfront itself. At one point in time a number of years back I would not have felt safe doing this, but it really has become a nice place.
One of the green sitting areas has this really neat sculpture in the middle. I'm really, truly impressed by this, and want to go back with my dSLR to get some better photos of it.
Is it thin?
Or is it wide?
I would like to meet the artist who put this together.
I also found a Republican.
And this really, truly awesome smokestack continues to stand as a testament to what Wilmington once was.
Happy Market Friday!