Joe Benning Photography

Travel & Photo Blog

  •   Reston, VA

Off to New Jersey for a Wedding

We recently traveled back up to New Jersey to attend the wedding of our nephew Kevin McDonald to Becca Lipke. The wedding had actually been scheduled for 2020, but due to the Covid pandemic, it was postponed for a year. With things finally opening up, the wedding went forward.  The ceremony took place at Hudson […]

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Tallin, Estonia

Tallinn may be the most beautiful city you’ve never heard of. The capital of Estonia, Tallinn is a small city in a small country with a turbulent history, particularly with respect to relations with Russia. On our walking tour of the city our guide noted that for Estonia, “NATO is everything”.  There are about 1.5 […]

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Wasting Away in Margaritaville

Well, here we are in Key West, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, also known as the Conch Republic. It is quite a scene. In some respects, it bears a faint resemblance to Nashville’s honky-tonk scene. There are lots of bars and restaurants with working musicians playing guitars looking for a break. Like Jimmy Buffet. But Key West […]

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Guayaquil, Ecuador

Located on the western bank of the Guayas River, Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city (pop 2.7 million) and its main port. It was founded in 1538 by Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana. The city suffered a series of attacks and looting by French and English pirates over the years. By the 19th century Ecuador won […]

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Iquique, Chile

Iquique, a town of 181,000 people, is located in northern Chile on the Pacific coast. Originally part of Peru, it had a large Chilean population. But as a result of the War of the Pacific (1879—1883) Peru ceded it to Chile where is has remained since.   The town developed rapidly with the discovery of […]

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Nelson, New Zealand

Before turning to the city of Nelson, New Zealand, a piece of news. We published an article in Apogee, an online photo magazine, that recounts some of our Safari in South Africa. The article can be seen at this link:http://www.apogeephoto.com/glamping-photo-safari-africa/ Now–back to Nelson. Nelson, the second-oldest city in New Zealand, is on the eastern shore […]

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Two Days in Lyon, France

We spent a quick—too quick—couple of days in Lyon, France’s second largest city. According to Journal des Arts it is the second city for culture in France, coming in just behind Paris. The capital of the Lyon Metropolitan region, the city is a festival of museums, restaurants, cafes and historic architecture. We stayed in Vieux […]

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Asbury Park Photo Walk

A beautiful summer morning—just right for a photo walk with Michael and Beverly Miller in Asbury Park. We started at Convention Hall early when we had the pale morning light, and wandered around taking photos as the sky brightened and the beach and boardwalk began to fill up.   Here are some photos from the […]

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Summer is Here–at Least in Spirit

Summer has arrived, if not officially, at least in spirit. The brand new Marina Grill opened for business in Belmar—and it was packed. The tent houses in Ocean Grove are being readied for the summer season, and the rides at Jenkinson’s Pavilion on the boardwalk at Point Pleasant are open for business on the weekends. […]

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