PBW: Stately Manners

For this week's Photo Blog Wednesday, I set out in search of two cinematic landmarks. If B13 could shoot the Amityville Horror, then I would find Stately Wayne Manor, fictional home of millionaire Bruce Wayne.

I vividly remember driving past the original exterior used in the 1960s Batman series when I was younger, but though I searched in the area I thought it was located, I couldn't remember where it was. The elusive locale may have been in a wealthy private community, and since I've lost touch with friends in that area, it's the one place I didn't venture into it.

However, the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture proved easier to find. Careful viewers might recognize the gate and grounds from scenes in Batman Forever:







And, since the institute borders a nature preserve I'd been to before, I took a few more shots while I was there:





It must be nice to live in a mansion. There are cousins in my family who have done well for themselves. Growing up, I lived in a diverse area and went to school with a diverse group of friends. Some lived in apartments, some lived in modest homes like the one I grew up in, and still others lived in citadels. Earlier on Sunday, I tried to help my parents organize the basement after my mom reassembled a few of the tables she'd taken from my uncle's house, such as their old dining room table. It's taking a lot of space in my old art studio, and though I haven't really used it in years, I didn't want it blocked off, especially since I still have a lot of projects and portfolio pieces down there. We organized one section, but the basement as a whole is a nightmare.

My mom is sorting things out little by little. A lot of things she brings to the church thrift shop each week. I asked her why she took stuff she wasn't going to keep in the first place instead of leaving it for my uncle's to dispose of, but she said “it's a sin to throw things away”. In the Spring, we'll probably have a big yard sale. In the meantime, after driving through the wealthier parts of town, I came home and shot a little motivational video. It's embarrassing, and not unlike horror movie footage, but maybe in a few months I'll be able to show an after video. My fingers are crossed...