Halogen vs. LED Fountain Lights

I thought I would take a quick break in discussing various fountains and share a little knowledge I learned while helping my mother build her own fountain a couple years ago! One of the bigger questions we had surrounded lighting and the different bulbs you can choose from. The two most popular are Halogen and LED.

Halogen lights are the traditional lights you see on a lot of older fountains. Halogen lights are nice because of their price point as well as their performance on a dimmer. Outside of those two points halogen lights don’t have many benefits especially when compared to LED lighting.

LED lights may be more expensive than your traditional halogen but the energy savings are about 75% of the halogen bulb. LED lighting saves all the energy because they use much less energy converted to heat like halogen bulbs. LED lights also last way longer than halogen light bulbs!

Sunset Island

I often like to say that fountains are interactive pieces of art, but this fountain is so pretty I had to mention it! It is a mosaic style fountain that is in shape of a big compass. So pretty and well constructed.

This fountain is found in a housing community in Ocean City and is the perfect accent to the beautiful natural water features found around the community. Ocean City is essentially a big island filled with a private community of townhouses and condos, so the nautical themed compass fountain goes perfectly along with the ocean feel.

This fountain is also interactive! Ya’ll know how I feel about that!

Floating Fountains

My last post about the quirky fountains from The Big Giving got me thinking about other strange fountains I have heard about. Behold the Floating Fountains designed by Isamu Noguchi in Osaka Japan.

These fountains tap into the world of science fiction as they rise above the water in a pseudo-lift off supported by jets of water. The illusion is incredible, especially at night. And now onto the pictures!

 

I love the design of these nine floating fountains.

Friendship Fountain, Jacksonville

I just realized that all of my posts are about fountains I have seen while traveling, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to write about a fountain here in Jacksonville, FL. One of my favorite fountains in Jacksonville is called the Friendship Fountain, and it is the perfect fountain to talk about so close to Independence Day!

The Friendship Fountain is located in downtown Jacksonville overlooking the St. Johns River. It is huge circular fountain with multiple smaller jets of water surrounding a huge jet of water in the center. At night the Friendship Fountain lights up blue to match our famous blue bridge, the Main Street Bridge.

The entire week up until the 4th of July will be fireworks and a patriotic light and music show at the Friendship Fountain. There is no better time to visit this great fountain if you are ever in my neck of the woods!

Washington Park, Ohio

I mentioned in my last post that I had visited NYC with my longtime friend, Hannah. It was during this trip that Hannah discovered my love for water fountains and decided she would tell me about some of her favorite fountains.

Hannah is an Ohio native and told me about a wonderful fountain in Cincinnati at Washington Park. Like some of my favorite fountains, the fountain at Washington Park is huge and interactive!

It is state-of-the-art with 7,000 square feet of interactive water jets. The reason Hannah mentioned this particular fountain is because her kids absolutely love playing there in the 130 plus pop up jets that are synchronized to lights and music.

Hannah showed me pictures of the fountain she took on her last trip to Washington Park and it looked like such a fun place to visit!

Bethesda Fountain

After my trip to D.C. a couple weeks ago I decided to make the trip to NYC. I love this city and think about moving here every time I visit. I was with a friend who had only been to the city once for a brief visit so while we were there we saw all of the typical NYC attractions.

We spent way too much money to see the top of the Empire State Building (but it was worth it) and rode a ferry to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were both closed to the public but it was nice to see them from afar.

On the very last leg of our whirlwind NYC adventure we stumbled into Central Park. This park is by far one of my favorite features of New York City. It is such a strange and surreal experience to be in such a quiet and peaceful place surrounded by the noise and traffic of the city.

The deeper you go into the park the easier it is to forget you are in one of the world’s largest cities. One of the best places to see in Central Park is tucked away overlooking the central park pond, the gorgeous Bethesda Fountain.

This fountain is easily one of the biggest fountains in NYC and is absolutely stunning. The statue of the angel in the center of the fountain is the only sculpture that was commissioned as part of the original design of Central Park. This fountain can be seen in the background of many movies, and it is easy to see why.

The Bethesda Fountain is absolutely a must see if you are ever in New York City!

The Yards

I was in Washington D.C. again last week to visit some friends from college and while I was there we went to the Capital Riverfront area to see The Yards Park. This area is a welcome reprieve from the busy traffic and noise of D.C. and has yoga classes every week that we had to check out!

The Yards is thoughtfully laid out with grassy areas and outdoor rooms that are perfect for relaxing and doing yoga. There is also a wonderful canal water feature that runs down the center of the park and meets up with the Acosta River.

The Yards is a perfect mix of activity and serenity and all of the water features and landscaping reflect that. There is a really cool water feature that overlooks the canal and a modern foot bridge that caught my eye. It had a rectangular shaped pool with lines of water that were accented with blue lights. Children were welcome to play in the fountain which I could appreciate because it was hot that day! This fountain was so fun and enjoyable to look at that I had to mention it!

The Rockefeller Fountain – NYC

In my last post I wrote about a fountain that transformed into an ice rink during the winter months and was reminded of the iconic fountain found along side the ice rink at the Rockefeller Center.

I saw this beautiful multitiered, step-design fountain a couple years ago around the Christmas holidays. In my opinion this is one of the best times to see New York. The city is decked out in beautiful lights and the holiday cheer is felt everywhere you go.

The Rockefeller Ice Rink is filled with happy families and couples while the gold statue of the Rockefeller fountain watches over. This noble statue is so iconic that it almost doesn’t seem real. Like a scene out of a movie jets of water rise up to meet the statue to create the illusion that it is floating much like the ice skaters below.

If you are ever in New York City, do yourself a favor and go to the Rockefeller Center so that you can experience this true New York landmark.