Friday, February 28, 2014

5 Random Friday Finds

We were in Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan last week visiting our daughter at college. Here are five random finds from the weekend.

Find No. 1


We have a favorite indie bookstore in Marquette called Snowbound Books. It is in an old house. It is such a delight to explore all the shelves full of books. Many great staff recommendations as well.

Find No. 2


Here are the books I found while at Snowbound that had to come home with me. We have seen the movie Monuments Men so now I would like to read the book.

Find No. 3


I am attracted to old, boarded up buildings like a bear is attracted to honey. This is a former Catholic Orphanage built in 1915. I have a few more pictures of this place to share in a post on our trip sometime this weekend. The snow and -6 wind chill prevented me from taking as many shots as I would have liked.

Find No. 4


The pigeons found the perfect place to roost in the one window that wasn't boarded up from the outside.

Find No. 5


The Eben Ice Caves were even more spectacular than last year, maybe all the arctic air that Marquette has experienced this winter is the reason.

Joining Nancy for Random 5 Friday
Joining Kim for Friday Finds

55 comments:

Claire said...

I miss bookshops... *sigh* There are no indie ones left in our whole area - the curse of Amazon!
I want to see Monuments Men - got an amazing cast! And yes, there's something about derelict buildings...
Great Random 5 and have a happy Friday :)

Anne Payne said...

Great shots! My husband and I love to go exploring. Finding old buildings, barns etc is always a treat. Have a great weekend!

Lynn said...

oh golly that ice is amazing as are all of those books with English titles :-), Susan Conley's stuck out Paris was the Place... the C Convent photos are stunning, everything has its beauty.

Mascha said...

What a lovely bookshop! There I could fritter away any hours..
And great shots oft the interesting building - I am to "attracted to old, boarded up buildings like a bear is attracted to honey..."
Have a nice weekend

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i found a vulture doing what those pigeons were doing in our area. i guess they too recycle old homes. too funny. ( :

Snap said...

looks like a fun visit with your daughter. i love indie bookshops. this one looks wonderful and you found some treasures -- good for you. great shots of the abandoned orphanage. the image of the ice caves --- wowow! Happy Friday - stay warm.

Anonymous said...

Love the birds that are just hanging out on the window!

Jill of All Trades said...

Fabulous finds!!! I love, love, LOVE bookstores. Our last (in Tulsa) privately owned bookstore, Steve's Sundries, closed at the end of 2013. It had been in business for over 50 years. So sad.

Veronica Roth said...

Holy smokes that's some ice! Beautiful though. Love the old boarded up building. It's such a keeper. Do you ever think about what it would be like to buy it and renovate it and turn it into something fantastic? I do that all the time; especially when old churches come up for sale. I'd love to live in an old church. Indie bookshops are sure an endangered species, aren't they? We have one close by and I try to support it when I can, but it just doesn't make financial sense for me. :( Hope you have a lovely weekend and hope your weather warms up.

Nancy said...

Gorgeous shots Sarah -- love that old building and the pigeons. The ice caves are amazing.

Anonymous said...

I love books! Good old fashioned bookstores are getting hard to find. I must google your books.. :) Beautiful stone arches on the Catholic brick building. Looking forward to more pictures. I think that ice is headed our way! I am following you on Feedly!

Ahayes1225 said...

The ice is so beautiful but looks cold. I also like the pigeons. Have a great weekend!

Suburban Girl said...

I love these finds. And the pigeons, oh the pigeons, I can believe I am liking pigeons. What a beautiful old building - it calls for a revisit in warmer temps! I'll have to check out The Monuments Men, sounds interesting.

Stephanie said...

Love the bookstore shot. Our last indie bookstore is closing this month.

Unknown said...

Sarah,
Books are fun and going through a bookstore adds to the adventure. Looks like the ice caves were another neat adventure.

Have a good weekend.

Karen Lakis said...

Oh - Indie bookshops - be still my heart! I love Richard Russo, too - I need to look that one up. The pigeons look like they found a nice warm spot - and wow! those ice caves! I'm looking forward to seeing more of the orphanage, it looks like an interesting place.

Lynne said...

Wonderful photos Sarah!

Great book shop to browse about . . .
Don't you love the architecture of yesterday. Such interesting design, curves, arches and more.
Loved the ice sculpture . . . chilling!

Michelle B said...

Those ice caves look amazing! The book store looks like a great place to loose track of time. The pigeons do look happy there. Have a good weekend.

Jeanne said...

Those ice caves must be amazing! and would love to visit that book store that you found. What fun that would be, and the books you found look great. I always love a good book and will lcheck these out

Nicki said...

Love college town book stores - they have an atmosphere you can not replicate in a chain store. Love,love, love the pigeon window - perfect.

Jill said...

Oh gosh, I love all of your finds. The old orphanage tugs on your heart doesn't it? For many reasons. The book store is intriguing and I've not heard of an ice cave. That movie will actually be in our small town this weekend. I'm not sure I'm going but it did look like it could be good.

Karen said...

We don't have any small bookshops around here anymore. Great shots, the ice cave is excellent!

Gattina said...

Very nice findings ! the catholic Orphanage was certainly not a cozy place for the children, although the building looks still quite nice from outside

Rose said...

Oh, my, Snowbound Books--what a great name for a book shop. The one Elsewhere looks so appealing. Wish it came in Kindle. And maybe it does and I didn't look far enough. I love old buildings, too!

Rose said...

I am back...the kindle link was the first one and I just missed it...DUH. I definitely added it to my wishlist! It is just the type of book that appeals to me.

Dotti said...

Loving your finds this week! I have Monuments Men on my reading list, too, in fact it's loaded on my Kindle, just haven't gotten to it yet. But yes, the movie sparked my interest. Glad you got to visit your daughter!

Anonymous said...

Great collection of photos... love the diversity and I would sure love to browse that bookshop!

Marianna said...

Beautiful photos, especially the ice caves!

I love indie bookstores. Sadly there are too few of them left.

cheryl Crotty said...

Love bookstores especially these kind of bookstores...Ah Richard Russo...such a great writer and he's from my area...I have that book, I should read it...
Good for the pigeons...everything should have a safe place to land...
Your post are always interesting...I'm not sure if I'll get to post this week...we head home tomorrow..depends on how long it takes me to pack and hubby will want to go to dinner...LOL

Unknown said...

That book store...swoon. I have to go so far to get to a Barnes and Nobles...I might just have to go now anyhow. I can't wait to see the pics of that orphanage. Did you like the movie Monuments Men? I really want to see it but hubby says it's not getting good reviews. I'll wait to watch it anyhow on DVD....or Neflix

jp@A Green Ridge said...

The ice caves are great!!! ...:)JP

thewovenspoke said...

Ahhh....bookstores a rare thing these days. I want to go find one soon I could spend hours there. I love the photo with the pigeons, just great.

Margie said...

Love the pigeons in the window. Fantastic randoms.

Barb said...

Great photo shoot of the old orphanage - looks like the pigeons have found a home. Old bookstores are so welcoming!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I love your photography! The ice caves are amazing and I love shot of the orphanage. I'm your newest follower.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

beautiful, beautiful photos of the building and the pigeons...beautiful light!

peppylady (Dora) said...

End of each month I like to adventure out and visit some different and new blogs...Love finds and great treasure. I see your quite filmier with snow. My dad came from the southwest corner of Michigan. But here in Idaho I'm use to the cold and the wind is blowing out of the north.

If you fine the time stop in for a nice hot cup of coffee.

Anonymous said...

You'll have to let us know how the Richard Russo book is. I loved Empire Falls by him - I also enjoyed the movie which starred Seymour Hoffman. Great pictures of the orphanage. I find old boarded up places fascinating, too.

abrianna said...

The Yoop! I have a friend from that area. Really like the ice caves shot-so thick.

Rob said...

love all your fabulous finds…thanks for sharing.

Tanya Breese said...

oh my gosh, i think we are twins! i love old boarded up buildings and book stores like that too! wonderful!!

Roxi H said...

oh! those pigeons! lol love the book photos too. I can almost smell paper.

aspiritofsimplicity said...

if you are ever in Salem, MA there is an old bookstore extraordinaire there. I love that old building. So much character. I

Diana said...

love the book picture and the building

rayfamily said...

I love old buildings, such histories and stories to tell! I would love to see the ice caves, they look phenomenal!

Unknown said...

Love the pigeons in the window. I'm with you, I'm intrigued with old buildings & would love to explore one at some time. Those ice caves are amazing!

Cathy H. said...

Great finds! There's a bookstore near my sisters that is in an old house and I just love to go there. It's so warm and cozy and the owner is a wonderful lady. You sure don't get that at the big bookstores! I love the old building. The shadows of the arches in the first one are fantastic and I love those pigeons roosting. They almost look like ornaments on the iron bars. Have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

Would love to hang out at that bookshop! Favorite photo is of the ice cave, know it was even more spectacular in person!

EG CameraGirl said...

An old house converted into a bookstore sounds great. So many bookstores now are chain stores, which lack the charm of ones like Snowbound Books.

Jill Foley said...

You had me at Marquette....we lived there for a bit. My husband was a prof at NMU and I even did a little teaching at the university for a while. I don't think I knew of that bookstore, though...it's a pity seeing how much I love books.

Marquette is such an interesting town and the snow....let's just say I feel like I've seen enough of it to last me a lifetime after living there. I'm still not over all the shoveling. But I do miss being able to cross country ski or snow shoe right out my back door.

Ida said...

What an interesting old building. Loved the Pigeon shot and wow those Ice Caves...that sounds amazing but oh so cold.

Carletta said...

I've loved books all my life. We do not have one bookstore in our community. Borders closed a couple of years ago.
My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas but it isn't the same as the fresh smell or texture of the pages of a new book. :)
Great old architecture. Maybe you can go back in warmer weather.
The ice caves look fantastic. I saw the ice caves on TV of Lake Superior. Eben looks just as wonderful.
Nice post!

Cranberry Morning said...

Love the photos! Didn't know the movie was made from a book. Although I've not yet seen the movie, I'm going to track down the book. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Snowbound Books is a wonderful name for a bookstore! Great collection of random pics - it's hard to choose but my favorite is the pigeons soaking up the sunlight in that window.

Anonymous said...

These are great finds!