With the cold and snow we have experienced on the east coast this winter, I thought it would be pleasant to take a late summer virtual visit to the Catskills. I photographed this tour in September of 2024. Spring will be with us soon since players report this week to many major league spring training camps. I can't wait for baseball to start again!   The Foxfire Mountain House https://www.foxfiremountainhouse.com/ in Mount Tremper, NY is a restored inn on ten private acres in the Catskills. The inn offers guestrooms, cottages and a cabin with a pond on their grounds. The inn hosts weddings as well as offering fine dinning and a bar. 

Enjoy a relaxing Google virtual tour through the inn and around the grounds and the lily pod here:

 

I always enjoy photographing unusual businesses. That was the case when I was assigned to produce a Google virtual tour and still photos for American Flat Bread in Sommerville, Massachusetts https://americanflatbread.com/locations/somerville-ma/ . The pizza there is handmade and baked in a stone fireplace with glowing embers.

What makes the location unique is the pizza restaurant also has lanes for candlestick bowling.

You will find candlestick bowling only in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and the Maritime Providences of Canada.  The ball used in candlestick bowling is only 4.5 inches in diameter and weighs two pounds seven ounces. Unlike ten pin bowling, no one has ever scored a perfect game of 300. The highest score recorded was 245 in 2014.

The bowling costs $39 / hour per lane and shoe rental is $4.

You can take the Google tour here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/a9wh5JezQwZtwm3p9

According to the manager Melissa Merrill, the bowling alley is the last of 19 originally opened in 1939 by the famous Sacco’s Bowling family who allowed American Flatbread to take over the building and the bowling. “So now it’s not condos, it’s candlepins. It’s not a parking lot, it’s pepperoni.”

This was one of many unique businesses that I had the privledge to photograph this year, So far, 2025 has been an amazing year for me!

Timothy Becker

Creative Images Photography

901 Main St.

Manchester, CY 06040

tim@2cimages.com

 

Victoria Gardens

 

From time to time, I have a photo assignment that is so colorful; there are beautiful photos to be taken everywhere I point my camera. Last year I produced a Google virtual tour and still photos for Victoria Gardens in Rosendale New York https://www.victoriagardens.biz/  Victoria Gardens has a nursery, garden center, and gift shop. According to their website Victoria Gardens has a landscaping division that “has been designing, installing, and maintaining gardens in Ulster county for over 30 years." This was another fun photo assignment.

The gift shop offers house plants, jewelry, garden ornaments, wind chimes, pottery, and cards.

The garden center has a wide variety of plants, soils, seeds, arbors, trellises, outdoor rugs and garden tools.

Seeing these flowers, I am so glad that Spring has arrived. You can take the Google tour here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EAWaQRDzweTXCvYB9

Timothy Becker

Creative Images Photography

901 Main St.

Manchester, CT 06040

tim@2cimages.com

Last December I was assigned to photograph three adjacent businesses owned by the same owner, Alan Brinto, in Westerly, Rhode Island: Grey Sail Brewery/ https://greysailbrewing.com/ , South Country Distillers https: //southcountydistillers.com/, and Grey Sail Taproom. https://greysailbrewing.com/  

The Christmas decorations were up to celebrate the season.

Spirits, Cold beer, and  Grey Sail swag is available for purchase in the showroom.

I visited on a Monday when all three businesses were closed. I made still images and produced a Google virtual tour for each one. According to their website the brewery building built in 1920 was once a macaroni factory, a US Post Office, and an auto parts store, before being renovated in 2011 into a brewery.

South Country Distillers started in 2018 offers a variety of spirits: A 80 proof Agave, 80 proof Rums, 60 proof Limoncello, 80 proof Vodka, 86 proof gin, and 40 proof Expresso Martini.

    According to their website a 300 gallon hybrid copper still allows the distillery "to create any spirit we can dream up".

Food is available at the Taproom with indoor and outdoor seating Memorial Day through Columbus Day and indoor seating with events and occasional live music throughout the rest of the year..

The Brewery tour is here: Grey Sail Brewing

The Distillery tour is here:: South County Virtual Tour

The Tap Room tour ids here: Grey Sail Tap Room

There is also an on-line store for beer, spirits, apparel, and Grey Sail swag: https://grey-sail-brewing-company-llc.square.site/

Grey Sail Tap Room is ta great place to relax all year long, The summer months must be amazingly busy. Westerly, Rhode Island is minutes away from the beautiful Rhode Island beaches.

 

Tim Becker

Creative Images Photography

901 Main St.

Manchester, CT 06040

860-528-7818

tim@2cimages.com

2024 was a busy year for me with many interesting photo assignments of inns, taverns and breweries in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York State. I will be sharing the photos from my travels in the next few posts. I gave up my map books many years ago and have relied on Google Maps to navigate to my destinations. This has worked great until I encountered an area in Massachusetts that has no internet service available. It is very scary being many miles from home on a lonely backroad, without GPS. I am aware that the sun is always on the South side of the horizon, and I was able to head in the right direction when I lost my navigation signal. About twenty minutes later my GPS was working again. Most of the businesses I photograph are privately owned and the owners have interesting stories to tell. I am sure that it takes me longer that other photographers because I like to ask questions about how each business operates, what time of year is busy, and how the business was started. Hearing the story behind each business is as much fun as taking the photos. Barrington Brewery and Restaurant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts has an interesting story as one of the first brewpubs in Massachusetts, with an unusual feature..

 

Barrington Brewery and Restaurant in Great Barrington, MA  https://www.barringtonbrewery.net/  was started by college friends who saw an opportunity in an abandoned building. They had little money and a big dream. Through hard work the building was transformed into a beautiful brewery. The really interesting feature of this brewery is that they own a field of solar panels that produces 50% of the energy for the hot water for brewing and 85% of the electricity they use in the restaurant.  All spent grain from the brewery is used to feed cows at a local beef farm. They must be happy cows!

All the food at Barrington Brewery and Restaurant is made from scratch including comfort foods like mac & cheese, "Mom's meatloaf" and chicken pot pie as well as BBQ ribs, fish & chips and smoked salmon salad. Their famous dessert is their three layer chocolate stout cake with chocolate ganache frosting. 

You can take the virtual tour here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/AmuQJ66P2mTcRHng8  

Tim Becker

Creative Images Photography

901 Main St.

Manchester, CT 06040