3D Card

My first! And of New York, no less. Great card sent by marc, from the Netherlands.

Chicago Harbor lighthouse

I love this card. The classic beauty of the lighthouse, set against the city’s skyline makes a wonderful picture.

It shows the Chicago Harbor lighthouse, located in Michigan Lake, USA. It was sent by truptipostcards.

The lighthouse is fully automated and it was built in 1893 and moved to its present location in 1919. It was designated a Chicago landmark in 2003.
It has an unusual design for a lighthouse, looking almost like a house in the middle of the lake.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), because it’s still fully operational, it is no allowed for tourists to visit.

Source: wikipedia and google.

North Carolina and an explanation

I've been away for quite a while, haven't I? Well, it wasn't by choice, trust me. I've been away from Postcrossing, and cards in general, due to health issues. You see, I've developed a tendinitis on my right wrist. It's a nasty thing: it hurts a lot and it makes it hard to do... well... anything. And forget about writing. It hurts like someone has set my hand on fire. Quite horrible. But I am feeling a little better, at least enough to go back to blogging about postcards. Slowly, mind you, but still going.

So, this wonderful card was sent by Monica and it shows several landmark of North Carolina, one of the southern american states. It was one of the original 13 states to form the United States of America. The card shows the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Piedmont plateau, the Outer Banks and its state bird, the cardinal.

When this card reached my hands, it made me smile. I loved the colours and the pictures, it seemed like a place where I could relax and enjoy myself. I specially loved the autumn colours in the trees. So beautiful! Maybe one day, who knows...

Memphis and a steamboat adventure

I must say it has been an adventure to find any information about the steamboat pictured in this beaufiful card. I could make out the name on the picture - "Island Queen" - but the information found in the Internet was quite confusing. It seems there was an "Island Queen" operating from 1905 to 1922 in round trips between Cincinatti and Coney Island. She was consummed by fire in 1922. In 1925, a second "Island Queen" was built and resumed the previous trips. In 1947, her fuel tanks exploded, killing 19 persons. And after it, there was no obvious record of another steamboat named "Island Queen", although the picture seemed quite modern. After a bit of research, I concluded that the steamboat in the picture is an excursion steamer, a part of the Memphis Queen Line fleet, operating nowadays.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to sail on such an amazing steamboat? It must be an amazing experience. I would love to visit Memphis and the Mississipi river one day...

The card was sent to me by leni.

Source: wikipedia, http://www.ragtime.nu/islqueen.htm, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycampbe/memoriesislandqueen.htm,

http://www.steamboats.org/traveller/lower-mississippi-river/memphis.html

Dallas

This beautiful card arrived a while back from veeder, in the USA. It shows Dallas’ skyline at dusk and the architectural details in the left building are incredible.

Dallas is the 3rd largest city in the State of Texas and is the largest inland metropolitan are in the country without a navigable link to the sea. Its importance derivates from its historical importance in the oil and cotton industries.

It’s a city I would love to visit!

Source: Wikipedia.

Mistery Bridge

This beautiful bridge card, sent from Japan by lovelypostcard24, shows an incredible bridge spanning the Mississippi river, the second largest river in USA. Now, the question is which bridge?

The card doesn’t have much information and calls it the Mississippi River Bridge. A little online investigation revealed that there at least 21 bridges over the Mississippi River and none are called that. After seeing many, many photos, I narrowed it down to three possibilities: the Black Hawk Bridge, the Savannah-Sabula Bridge and the Crescent City Connection. But I am still unsure of which one it actually is! Can anyone help me? :)

Yosemite National Park

These two beautiful cards were sent by acossa, from the USA. They show the Yosemite National Park, located in east central California. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984 and it is visited by over 3.5 million people every year.

These cards are amazing. It must be an incredible place to visit.

Source: Wikipedia.

Saint Louis

This amazing card was sent a while back by juliee, from USA. The colours are incredible: all those shades of purple on the sky and the lightning... just fantastic.

Saint Louis, or the Gateway city, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after King Louis IX of France and its most recognizable symbol is the Gateway Arch, which can be seen in the postcard’s picture. The Arch is made of stainless steel and stands 192m tall, being the tallest monument in the country. It is a part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which was established to commemorate three historical moments: the Louisiana Purchase; the first civil government west of the Mississippi River and the debate over slavery began by the Dred Scott Case.

It’s a quite stunning card.

Source: Wikipedia.

Brooklyn Bridge

Well, yes, I have a thing for bridges. A very big thing. And this card, sent by linda718, from USA, is just beautiful. It shows the New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge, built between 1870 and 1883. It was the first land connection to Manhattan and was designed by John Augustus Roebling in Gothic architectural style. It has six driving lanes and an elevated walkway for pedestrians.

As a symbol of New York City, it has featured in films, TV series and books, having it’s own part in American Culture.

Source: Wikipedia.

Boston Light

Lighthouse cards are another of my passions and this one is particularly nice. This beautiful card of the Boston Harbour Lighthouse was sent to me by skipe, from the USA. He volunteers here as a guide for the National Park Service.

This lighthouse is the second oldest working lighthouse in the USA, being built in 1716 and rebuilt in 1783. In 1719 this light developed the World’s first fog warning signal when a cannon was fired at regular intervals during heavy fog. During the American Independency War, the lighthouse was a witness to several attacks from both the British and the American.

It eventually became automated in 1998, but is still staffed by personnel of the Coast Guard.
It is possible to visit the island and lighthouse with guided tours.

Source: Wikipedia.

Golden Gate Bridge

I collect bridge cards and this is one of my favourites. As an interest note: it was photographed in the USA, printed in Korea and sent by rsaloranta from Finland! That’s what I call globalization!

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge built between 1933 and 1937 over the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean. It is an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and it was designed by a group of architects and engineers lead by Joseph Strauss (overall design) and Irving Morrow (bridge towers and Art Deco elements).

Sadly, it’s one of the most popular sites to commit suicide in the world and there are suicide hotline telephones all over the bridge.

Source: Wikipedia