Camelot Where You Are, #13

From Virginia Jones we present Quinlan Castle, Birmingham.

Alabama, that is.

Birmingham has its own wiki and of course there's an article about this slightly notorious building, which was built in 1927 and has had its ups and downs preservation-wise.

Virginia has two blogs, both of them daily! Check out Birmingham, Alabama Daily Photo and Paris Through My Lens. Ooh! La! La!

Thank you for your entry, Missy!

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Are you ready? The weekend approaches and it's time to vote. The poll will appear at upper left late tonight or early tomorrow, depending on how late I can stay up. Be sure to vote over the weekend for your favorite of this week's entries. Each weekly winner receives a free copy of Camelot & Vine upon publication in October. Publication day, whatever day it turns out to be, will be the final day for entries.

Then enter the Camelot Where You Are photo contest by sending in a picture of your interpretation of Camelot where you are. It can be anything--a sign, a symbol, a plaything--whatever your imagination sees.

It's easy to enter and anyone can do it. 

Entry details are here. Enter! We're having fun!

Parc San Marino

Virginia Jones has two (count 'em, two) daily photo blogs: Birmingham, Alabama Daily Photo, where she posts explorations of her home town, and Paris Through My Lens, where she posts her photographic visions of Paris, a town she and I have both dreamed of living in.

I think Virginia and I both love our home towns or we wouldn't blog about them every day. But we like to dream about Paris. I've never met anyone who's been there who didn't yearn to go back, even if they've been there many times.

Virginia's been there many more times than I have, and she's taken lots of pictures. Her photo of the gate at Paris' Parc Monceau inspired me to post a picture of this often-overlooked gate at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino. Karin Bugge also posted a photo of this gate in one of my favorite Altadena Hiker posts. All three of us managed to photograph our gates under moody skies. Maybe we're all daydreamers.

My vision of living in Paris involves exploring the ancient streets, gardens and history until I've discovered every inch of the city. This fantasy includes having unlimited funds despite not having a job. I imagine one reason Paris seems so dreamy to those of us who've visited as tourists is precisely because we're on vacation and we're allowing ourselves the leisure to explore.

I'm lucky: blogging about Pasadena gives me not only the opportunity but the motivation to explore Pasadena, and to find hidden treasures like this gate. Next time you're at the Huntington, seek it out.