Friday Shoot-Out: Water, water everywhere!

It's my first Friday Shoot-Out, kittens! I first found out about this through Reggie Girl. I left her a comment last week, saying that I'd like to participate in this week's version, and she wrote back and said she'd hold me to it! Well, I can't let Reggie down! She's a great girl and has such an awesome blog!

And a few days ago, Reggie's friend Patty, who is co-moderator of the Friday Shoot-Out, E-mailed me a welcome. She's got a cool blog, too, filled with awesome shots of small-town America.

Well, I don't live in small-town America, but rather, mid-sized city America. Our theme this week was water, and my town is full of it!

We start off at Wadsworth Falls, one of the most spectacular waterfalls in our fair state. (Please be aware, kittens, that I wrote that last sentence before I linked to the website for the falls. The link has an identical sentence.)

Here are the falls as you approach the banks of the Coginchaug River:


I love this shot:

There's a little platform at the top of the falls where you can stand and watch them go over the rocks. Here's a view looking straight down. I estimate that it's a 20-foot drop (but I am horrible at estimation):

Before you come to the main falls, there's a very small waterfall that goes underneath short bridge:

I've always loved looking at rushing water in a river:

This afternoon I took a walk in Harbor Park for our next set of shots, and found this neat old water pump:

Here's a shot of the bend in the Connecticut River, which forms the southern border of my town:

If you look very closely, at the top of the hill you'll find one of the main buildings of Connecticut Valley Hospital:

Here's a boat docked next to Harbor Park Restaurant. There's a barge right behind it. Harbor Park's the home of the Head of the Connecticut Regatta, which is held every October:

And here's the Arrigoni Bridge, one of the symbols of our town. It connects Middletown with Portland.

Cross the Arrigoni over to Portland and you'll find the historic Portland Brownstone Quarries.

You know those brownstone houses that you see in New York City? They're made of good ol' Portland brownstone!

The quarries flooded after a flood in 1936 and a hurricane in 1938. There have been many attempts to drain them, all unsuccessful. Recently they were converted into an outdoor recreation area. In this photo, if you look closely, you'll see a zipline. You can zip from one side of the quarry to the other, and if you want to, dive right in!

A smaller version of the brownstone quarries opened about fifteen years ago to supply materials for renovation and small construction projects.

Did I also mention that the quarries are on the list of National Historic Landmarks?

Wow...my town sure has a lot of the wet stuff! I hope I followed all of the Shoot-Out directions all right! If I didn't...well, this was my first time, please forgive me! I still think these were great photos!

I can't wait to see next week's theme!