Earlier this month, my girlfriend and I set out for yet another visit to a North Carolina state park. This time, we checked out Stone Mountain state park, near the town of Traphill. Stone Mountain is easily one of North Carolina’s most scenic parks, and offers fantastic hiking trails. Several waterfalls can also be enjoyed in the park, along with the site of an historic homestead from the mid-19th century. I’ve posted some photos from our trip, showcasing some of the sights from the park.

I have just posted an album showcasing some of the sites of Jones Lake State Park. Like Singletary Lake state park, Jones Lake is located near Elizabethtown, NC. The park offers some nice hiking opportunities, and is quite scenic.

I’ve just posted some photos from Singletary Lake State Park, located near Elizabethtown, NC. This was a great park, but it’s typically only open to groups for camping trips. The ranger there was kind enough to let us hike the nature trail, so I was able to get a view of yet another of our state’s wonderful parks!

Back in October, my girlfriend and I visited Morrow Mountain state park, located near Albemarle, NC. I just finished posting a small photo album of our visit. As usual, I recommend the park if you’ve never been; it offers some great scenic, hiking, and boating opportunities.

Last month, I visited the North Carolina zoo. I took along a new 50mm prime lens with me, and took a few photos. This small photo series is the result. I still have a great deal to learn about using the 50mm lens, so bear with me as I learn.

At the end of last month, my girlfriend and I traveled to Fort Macon state park, one of the oldest parks in the state. Located on the Atlantic coast, it’s also one of the most visited parks in North Carolina. As usual, I took my camera along on the visit. If you’re in the Beaufort or Morehead City areas, I highly recommend visiting this historic site. Also, make sure to take a guided tour; you will learn a lot about life at this fort during the Civil War.

Back in May, my family and I visited a few gardens in the Greensboro, North Carolina area. Specifically, we visited the Greensboro Arboretum and the Bog Garden at Benjamin Park, both of which were enjoyable. A small photo album has just been posted from this trip.

I have just posted new photos from Dismal Swamp State Park. This album also introduces my new photos-only sub-domain: photos.borngeek.com. The site utilizes a brand new design, larger album previews, and, beginning with this photo album, larger photos. There are a still a few items I have not yet implemented:

1. I want a better way to browse through favorite images Fixed!
2. Images should ideally not wrap off of the page (i.e. they should fit the viewport)
3. There should be some sort of “About” page since the site now stands alone

None of these features seemed important enough to hold back opening it up to visitors, so that’s why I’m unveiling it today. I will be going back through my posts here and updating all the various links to point to the new URL (old URLs should hopefully redirect correctly). If you spot any bugs with the new site, please let me know. I tested with the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome, as well as Internet Explorer 8. I’d also love to hear your comments on the new site.

Way back in August of last year, my family and I visited Chinqua Penn plantation, located in Rockingham county, North Carolina. I forgot to post the pictures from that trip, but I’ve finally gotten around to it. This location was an incredible place to visit. Sadly, the house and grounds are now closed to visitors. This past week, the entire contents of the house and grounds were auctioned due to bankruptcy (netting over $3.4 million). It seems that the owner misappropriated money from the companies he owns, and faces several criminal charges, including unlawful cigarette trafficking charges in Mississippi. He will likely face time in prison, and is expected to plead guilty in May. You can learn more on the background of this unfolding story at the Greensboro News and Record.

I’ve finally gotten around to posting another photo set, this time from a visit to Falls Lake State Recreation Area. There are a number of other sets in the queue that I’ll be getting to in the next few weeks (I hope).