I'm sure you'll agree that we’re blessed to live in America, this vast, beautiful country with great men and women who forged Democracy, created inventions that improved our lives, established churches, schools and hospitals and fought to keep us free. Our sense of patriotism may be overshadowed with events in the news, strife in the country, violence on our streets. This isn't Utopia. Never has been. But to me there’s still no better place on earth to live. Together we make a difference through prayers for our leaders and fellow citizens, with our generosity and love for and service to others, not just here in America, but all over the world. So in this month of Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for America.
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| Erica Vetch, Myra, Debby, Mary, Julie and me at Conner's Prairie |
As a writer of Americana, I'm sure it's not surprising that I find the history of our country fascinating. I'm a Midwesterner, a Hoosier, part of the heartland of the country. Indiana is celebrating its bicentennial this year. I have enjoyed every article in
our newspaper pertaining to Indiana’s statehood when the southern part of the Indiana territory was brought into the United States of
America on December 11, 1816. In 1825 the capital was moved from Corydon to the
more centrally located Indianapolis.
Near Indianapolis is the fascinating living history
museum Conner’s Prairie that reenacts Indiana’s early
history in the 1836 Prairie Town, 1859 Balloon Voyage, 1863 Civil War Journey and the Lenape Indian camp. If you’re in the area, go. You'll be glad you did .
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| Conner's Prairie craftsman |
Recently my DH and I walked along a towpath in Independence State Park near Defiance, Ohio, with the Maumee River on one side and the Maumee section of the Miami, Wabash and Erie Canal on the other. Canals connecting the Ohio River and Lake Erie moved goods and people, with the help of mules, for about thirty years before the railroad made the canal system obsolete. Along the towpath is a monument to Kentucky and Ohio soldiers who died in the War of 1812. The soldiers’ bones were excavated when the canal was built.
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| The Maumee River on a beautifully tranquil fall day |
A
few days later I visited a restored 1902 railroad depot in Decatur, IN, with two bathrooms, two
waiting rooms, one for women and children and one for the men, that were connected by a hallway with transoms over the doors and bead
board walls painted the original green. Our tour guide showed us photos taken before the
restoration. I was impressed by all the hard work and attention to detail that went into restoring the building, its wall safe, ticket
window and bricked storage area where horse-drawn Wells Fargo
wagon drivers picked up and delivered freight to town businesses. If you want to know more, check it out here.
In October my husband and I attended the musical Hamilton in Chicago based on Ron Chernow's novel. I was surprised about the uncertainty of our Founding Fathers about how to create the
government and the conflicts between them. I knew little about Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s right-hand man and Secretary
of the Treasury, but his financial system lives on today. Hamilton’s personal life was fascinating as he overcame
his orphaned beginnings to become a statesman, a brilliant and yes, flawed man.
Following his death, his widow Eliza lived another fifty years and founded the first
orphanage in NYC, fought slavery and raised funds for the Washington Memorial in honor of her husband's memory. The history was presented in a rhyming, hip-hop, fast-paced musical that we loved.
We’ve
soaked up our national history at Jamestown, VA, Williamsburg, VA, Philadelphia,
PA and Washington D.C..
Williamsburg is a favorite of ours. Some buildings
are restored, some rebuilt on the original foundations, but all put me back in Colonial times. I’m awed to think that I'm walking on ground where some of our Founding Fathers walked.
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| White picket fences and lovely gardens are frequent sights in Williamsburg. |
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| These ladies are dressed according to their station in life. |
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| I couldn't resist sitting on the "throne" in the town jail. |
God bless you and God bless America.
What historical sites have you visited either in your state or nationwide that you love and would recommend?
If you like to get out into nature, where do you head?
Leave a comment for a chance to win Janet's Christmas novella, "A Daddy for Christmas."
If the winner has already read "A Daddy for Christmas" that was part of Home for Christmas Seeker novella collection, s/he may choose one of the historical eBooks Pam, Audra, Julie, Mary, Cara or Ruthy have written.
When Rafe
Rafferty discovers he’s a father, he returns to Bountiful, Indiana, to marry
the mother, only to learn she died after childbirth and her sister Tess is
raising his child. Rafe falls head over heels for his daughter and for Tess
Russo, a woman who doesn’t trust easily. Especially the man she thinks
abandoned her sister. Can Rafe prove he’s worthy and conquer the protective
walls she’s built around her heart?
If the winner has already read "A Daddy for Christmas" that was part of Home for Christmas Seeker novella collection, s/he may choose one of the historical eBooks Pam, Audra, Julie, Mary, Cara or Ruthy have written.
I brought a hearty breakfast buffet with biscuits and gravy, grits, bacon, scrambled eggs and pancakes, along with coffee and hot tea. Sit a spell and let's talk.
Janet Dean grew up in a family who cherished the past and had a strong creative streak. Her father recounted fascinating stories, like his father before him. The tales they told instilled in Janet a love of history and the desire to write. Today Janet spins stories for Love Inspired Historical. She is a two-time Golden Heart finalist, a Genesis and a Carol finalist and a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. Her novels are also Golden Quill, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Booksellers Best, Inspirational Readers Choice Award finalists.
Near where I grew up is a battlefield known as Alamance Battleground. When I was a kid, we were taught that here was where the real first shots were fired in the Revolutionary War and that Boston just had better PR due to it much larger size as a city.
ReplyDeleteAlamance Battleground has since ceded to Boston its claim, as Redcoats weren't involved, just Royal Militia under then Governor Tryon. Still, I had a lot of fun taking my older son there last summer as a morning activity with his grandmother. (It had to be early morning as the midday temps were around 100 degrees.)
I also remember studying the battle for the first time as a student of history as opposed to a student. I looked at the guide and said, "The locals didn't know wht they were doing, did they."
The guy smiled and acknowledged that they didn't, making it a rather easy win for the Royal Militia troops.
When we traveled cross country to move from Illinois to Oregon, we stopped in South Dakota and saw the Corn Palace and Wall Drug.
ReplyDeleteThe Corn Palace: " The Palace is redecorated each year with naturally colored corn and other grains and native grasses to make it “the agricultural show-place of the world”. We currently use 13 different colors or shades of corn to decorate the Corn Palace: red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow and now we have green corn! A different theme is chosen each year, and murals are designed to reflect that theme. Ear by ear the corn is nailed to the Corn Palace to create a scene. The decorating process usually starts in late May with the removal of the rye and dock. The corn murals are stripped at the end of August and the new ones are completed by the first of October."
It's truly a site to see!!
And Wall Drug: Well think of an outdoor mall (kind of a western theme) with everything you can imagine in it!! It's nothing like I've ever seen in my life and the history of it was the founders started off giving out free ice water! You can go to their website and read up on it :-) A truly fascinating place!
I think the other place we visited was Custer's Last Stand. :-) One of these days, I'd love to go back to that area to really take time to visit all these places again. Especially Wall Drug, unless you've been there you just can't imagine how BIG it is and all the shops it has!
Thank you Janet for sharing all the fun pictures and your many adventures!
Great post, Janet! I loved all of your photographs.
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up outside of Washington, DC, there were always places to explore. My favorites were Mount Vernon, Williamsburg and The Manassas National Battlefield Park.
God Bless America!
Jill, I was going to say D.C. had probably been my most memorable historical trip. Boston and surrounding areas like Lexington are a close second.
DeleteJanet, what a great post! I love touring historical homes and learning more about our country.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy visiting forts, maybe because my grandfather had a Civil War fort on his farm. My Uncle Ben also had a fort and they were completely different. My uncle's was full of trees, and the one on my grandfather's land was almost like a big crater. The soldiers evidently lay around the edges of the big area and shot at the enemy. I guess on Uncle Ben's place they hid behind trees to shoot at the enemy. The family never would talk about the war, but we live in Kentucky so I think the war divided my family as well as the country.
Okay, that was probably more than you wanted, but thanks for sharing today, Janet. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Hi Janet! When I was in school, I truly disliked history. I think it is because of all the memorization of dates. As I grew older, I am now passionate about America's history. On our honeymoon there were two places I wanted to go to and that was Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Gettysburg. I too felt honored to walk were are fore fathers walked in Independence Hall. I also was able to get up close to the Liberty Bell. We went through the house of Betsy Ross and so many other things that I just loved. In Gettysburg I had food poisoning and unfortunately didn't get to see much but I love to learn about the Civil War period so we plan to go back for a lengthy stay when I retire in a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteAnother place that we visited was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD (Google it and see what an awesome thing it is) it was truly awesome. Then we went to Custer SD and visited the Crazy Horse memorial being erected. We also went to the National Park for Custer's Last Stand. Our guide was in full Civil War uniform for the North and he was in character the whole time. On the same trip that we saw all the things in SD, we also went to see Mt. Rushmore which was awesome.
It seems like I am always reaching out to your all for prayer. I hope you don't mind. I'd like to ask for prayer for my mother Dottie, we had to take her back to the hospital early yesterday morning, they left her in ER for over 8 hours before getting her into a room. She has congestive heart failure and Parkinson's Disease and she was having difficulty breathing and her whole body was in pain. The doctor was going to play around with her medications again to help release the fluid retention she continues to hold. My mom was comfortable last night but upset because she is "missing" my birthday today. I told her we would celebrate when she is home and felling better. Any prayers you can offer up for her would be so greatly appreciate. I love all of you here at Seekerville!
May you all be blessed,
Cindy W.
Cindy, we're glad you reached out for prayer for your mom. I'll be praying for her.
DeleteI hope you have a blessed birthday!
WALT, thanks for sharing this battlefield and the pleasure visiting it has given you over the years. I've visited very few Revolutionary or Civil War battlefields. So they're on my list of places I want to see.
ReplyDeleteThis Spring we visited Andersonville Prison and Prisoner of War museum. Not a battlefield but it connected me to the horror of war and those who sacrificed so much, for some, everything.
Janet
TRIXI, I've visited Wall Drug and Corn Palace on our trip to see Mt. Rushmore. Like you, I was impressed. The Corn Palace murals were amazing, so detailed and pretty, and the people who work on them are so dedicated.
ReplyDeleteI was a little overwhelmed at Wall Drug. Hard to imagine for a shopper like me, but I wandered around like I was in a fog, trying to take it all in.
I haven't visited Custer's Last stand. Montana is a state I haven't yet visited.
Janet
JILL, you were blessed to grow up near all the fascinating and beautiful places. I love D.C.'s monuments and governmental buildings and the Smithsonian. You've made me want to go back. RWA was held there a few years ago. My DH discovered once again that it's not an easy city to drive in. :-)
ReplyDeleteManassas is another battlefield I need to add to my list of places to see.
Thanks for sharing!
Janet
JACKIE, I've never heard of anyone having a fort on their property. How fascinating that had to be for you as a child. It's sad to think of the families who were divided over the Civil War.
ReplyDeleteIndiana was a Union state but during Morgan's Raid, Indiana's volunteers were no match to the far larger southern troops and surrendered at the Battle of Corydon to avoid more casualties.
I didn't even know about this skirmish until I learned about it at Conner's Prairie.
Janet
What a wonderful post! I love finding out the history of places and getting out and exploring. My family took us on several cross-country camping trips over the summer and visiting monuments, natures beauty and historical sites was always on the list. One of my favorites was Colonial Williamsburg.
ReplyDeleteI currently live in Arizona and feel blessed to have some really cool places to enjoy. It isn't all about the Grand Canyon. We live in Prescott where there are lots of really great places to hike and bike and the weather is comfortable at a mile high. My family loves togo hiking in Sedona and exploring ruins like Montezuma Castle, Toozigoot, and lots more. Our town has a lot of history too as Arizona's first capital.
Thanks for sharing Janet!
I grew up in Indianapolis so I remember Conner Prairie Farm. I love learning about our great country. Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for those of you who write historical fiction. I commented on my regional Nano group about an interesting google research I had just done for my story which is Cherokee and a challenge to get it accurate. Unbeknownst to me was that one of ladies in the group is Cherokee. She was very discouraging telling me that the Cherokee don't like to share their customs with anyone not Cherokee. She did give me a list of books to help with my research, but that I should be very careful and could be heading for trouble if I continue to write a book about the Cherokee.
I wanted to contact Al Lacy because years ago I had read a series he wrote about the Cherokee to see how he handled that. I was shocked to learn he had died a few months ago.
My question is this. Since it is fiction and I do my best to make it as accurate as I can, should I fear reprisal. I am planning to continue to writing and continuing to do all the research I am able
Have a good day everyone.
CINDY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We are blessed to be able to pray for Villager's needs. I'll be praying for your mother Dottie. And for her doctor that he will have the wisdom to fine tune her medication. I'm so glad she's doing better today and hope she gets home in time for Thanksgiving. I know her presence will be the best birthday gift you could have.
ReplyDeleteWe saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell ages ago. Would love to go back. I've never been to Gettysburg or Betsy Ross's home. We love to fly the flag but have to replace it often as wind whips it into the brick and frays it. South Dakota is packed with history and great places to see.
Janet
KELLY, thanks for sharing the great places you live near and have visited. I loved Sedona but didn't have enough time there. Actually that's how I've felt about most everywhere I've gone. :-) I know nothing about Montezuma Castle and Toozigoot. Tell us more!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a camper. As a teenager, my family camped in a tent in the Smoky Mountains. A huge storm blew up. It was scary lying in that tent, praying none of the trees toppled on us. Everything was soaked so we went to a motel the next night. I was a "happy camper." ;-)
When we visited the Grand Canyon, we weren't able to stay in the Park so had to drive out each night. It was so totally dark. Not easy to navigate, but nice as it's rare to see the sky without light pollution.
Janet
WILANI, I'm sorry you have to be concerned about reprisal with your novel. It's fiction so I would think you'd be okay. If you're planning to self-pub, you might want to ask a lawyer if you could be sued.
ReplyDeleteI stopped writing books set in real towns because it took so much time to research, and like you, I wanted to get it right. But I borrowed the name Gnaw Bone, a tiny burg in Indiana for the setting of The Bounty Hunter's Redemption. I made it clear in my Dear Reader's Letter that it was nothing like the real town back in the day. Not sure if you could write a disclaimer that would avoid any legal issues.
Janet
You've experienced some fascinating historical places in America, Janet! Experiencing historic settings firsthand is what led me to set my Till We Meet Again series in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful so many of these have been preserved so that future generations can learn by actually being there. Like you, I'm amazed when I realize I'm walking where our predecessors walked.
MYRA, I loved the story and the setting of Till We Meet Again! I've never been to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Another place I'd like to visit. We're blessed to live in such a beautiful, huge country.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful that Rockefeller saved Williamsburg and Eli Lilly saved the Conner home. People in the town of Decatur saved their depot. Proof we don't have to be rich to preserve our past.
Janet
Thanks Janet. I will try a publisher first
ReplyDeleteOf course I have to finish the book I am at almost 8k.
WILANI, I would think a publisher would have the resources to ensure a purchased novel would have no legal issues. I wouldn't worry about any of it. This is a book you need to write. Wishing you all the best with getting words on the page!
ReplyDeleteJanet
Janet, what a fun post. :) This summer we took the boys to Philadelphia. And we spent a day in the Old Town part of the city. Hubs and I had never visited there either. I loved it, and I hope we can go back and see more of the city.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Williamsburg, and to a few sites in my home state, Colorado. I enjoy history and reading everything. But . . . when our two boys are with us, it's a little hard to spend the time I want to at each exhibit. :)
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Janet!
I was with you in Connor's Prairie. I just loved it. And one of the MAIN reasons I loved it was because of the way it stirred creative juices.
ReplyDeleteThe fascinating thing about Connor's Prairie is it's set in about 1830, this is ten years before the Oregon Trail started to open up the west. This was the time when Indiana was the extreme far west (pause and think about that for a moment).
It's a part of history that is largely ignored.
And everything about it was interesting. The pots and pans. The medicine. The way they constructed buildings. It's just a piece of history that is lost. Lots of Oregon Trail. Lots of Civil War. Lots of Revolutionary War. Lots of Mountain Men and Louis and Clark. Lots and Lots of Cowboys!
But that is all either before or after this particular time and place and NOBODY writes about it.
Janet, now that you made me think about it, I haven't visited too many historical places.
ReplyDeleteThis past summer we went Tallapoosa County, Alabama and visited several cemeteries where my kin are buried. When I was a kid, we went to Andrew Jackson's house.
And we visited the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Oh wait, that probably doesn't count.
I'd like to do more traveling.
But what you said in the opening of your blog is so correct. America is a great place to live. The American dream is still alive and well due to the sacrifice of others.
There's a museum near me called Fort. Atkinson and it's set nearly in this time. Ft. Atkinson was open from about 1920 to 1930. A single fort, the only settlement in all of Nebraska or Iowa. They envisioned a series of forts up the Missouri River to protect and advance the fur trade. But this is the only one that got built. When it was Indian Country and illegal to settle anywhere from Iowa's eastern border, almost, I think to the Pacific Ocean. There is so much that is interesting there.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most adored museums is in De Soto Bend. It's a park/wildlife reserve/not sure what all near me. They have a museum there to hold the contents of a sunken river boat they unearthed...The Bertrand.
ReplyDeleteThe boat sank in 1865. Do you get that date? That is right after the Civil War and it is right in the heart of so many of my books.
And anything in that museum........I have proof it existed. It's so interesting.
Ketchup. How weird is that?
Canned pineapple?
We knew Pa Ingalls had canned oysters, but when you think about canning oysters it's really shocking that it was possible.
Guns. I find historical guns fascinating and where ever I am if they have they I want to look and ask questions and if humanly possible, hold one in my hands. to get how they're loaded, the weight, what it sounds like and really feels like.
Well they won't let me pick up a gun most places (the big dummies!)
But they did let us back behind the glass in De Soto Bend to study up close (without touching) the contents of the Bertrand.
Dawn Ford lives nearby and she was the mover and shaker who got us behind that glass wall and the guy who gave us the tour knew EVERYTHING. And he seemed thrilled to talk. We've done it twice.
There's a tiny museum called Prospect House in Battle Lake MN that I absolutely love. I could type three paragraphs about that. It boils down to a pack rat who served in the Civil War. He kept EVERYTHING. At the time it probably drove his wife crazy, but a grandson or maybe great grandson got the house when his mother was dying and he came home to care for her and started going through things.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fascinating. 150 year old junk is fascinating. So all you pack rats out there, hold on to hope. YOu'll be long dead when your stuff is finally appreciated but it will happen!!!
I was in a tiny museum in Fort Cahoune, NE, I mean TINY and in a 'children's area' there were things you could touch. I picked up a mastodon tooth.
ReplyDeleteIt was like that tooth just jolted an entire story into my head.
Did you know Louis L'Amour once had a mastodon in his book, Jubal Sackett?
Louis said there is some evidence that suggests in remote parts of the Rocky Mountains mastodons survived much, much longer than is conventionally believed.
HOW FUN WOULD IT BE TO HAVE A 'LOST' VALLEY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND MY COWBOY COME ON A HERD OF MASTODONS?????????????
I haven't done it but oh my gosh would I love to.
JEANNE, I would love to go back to Philadelphia. I hope you get to do the same. There's never enough time to soak up all the history, is there, especially with children along? They like to keep on the move. :-) Even if I get to read everything I can't retain it all. Thank goodness for the Internet.
ReplyDeleteOn a trip to Colorado, my brother and his wife drove us up to the peak of Mt. Evans. The drive was a bit scary but the experience of being up 14 thousand feet and seeing Big Horned sheep and Mountain goats was exciting. Unfortunately the males were not there. The Ranger we talked to said they were off playing poker. LOL On our last trip there, we took the steam engine train from Durango to Silverton, a fabulous, sooty experience. :-)
Janet
Now I really need to go find a museum.
ReplyDeleteThere's one having a Christmas Festival of Trees in Tekamah Nebraska this Sunday but I don't like crowds. I want a museum I don't have to share! (LOL is this small town Nebraska or what?)
My Cowboy went with Janet Dean's husband (and others) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
ReplyDeleteWell ART MUSEUMS are sooooooooo not My Cowboy's thing.
But he found out there was art on EVERYTHING. He looked at suits of armor and ancient Egyptian things. GUNS. All adorned with art.
He loved it!
I didn't get to go! I had to attend a writer's conference!
ReplyDeleteSome of my most memorable historical tours have been with Seekers in conjunction with a writers conference. Let's see . . . we've done the Fort Worth Stockyards, Conner Prairie, Andrew Jackson's Hermitage . . . what else?
ReplyDeleteMISSY, Boston is so interesting! We toured there several years ago on a trip with our daughter to visit Gordon-Conwell Seminary before she enrolled there. We walked all over the historical district, and also visited Salem and Plymouth. Just so much history in the New England States!
ReplyDeleteJanet, what fun this all is! I love history, too, and I've had great fun investigating cool things in various areas, mostly where there were kids in school.... I love tromping around Philadelphia and Boston... old homes, old places, old museums and old cemeteries... And NYC has some great historical spots, too... And Pennsylvania is alive in history, such an amazing heritage in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteI love checking things out... and I'd love to get to Williamsburg someday. I think if there was more time off from work I'd make the history trips a priority... but this way I get such a kick out of stopping off the beaten path whenever I can!
MARY, I had the best time exploring Conner's Prairie with you and all those in the post photo! I hadn't really thought how that period is largely ignored in books. Indiana was a state by then, but still far west. That's something to think about.
ReplyDeleteThe first time we went to Conner's Prairie, the guide told us that where we were standing back then, the trees were so dense, they couldn't have seen the sun.
Janet
Myra, My Cowboy went with some Seekers to the ... I want to say the old Denver State Capitol? He loved that.
ReplyDeleteAgain I did NOT get to go.
And the Fort Worth trip was when you and I and JANET all got our picture taken sitting on a longhorn bull. (ps, My Cowboy, a cattleman, noticed it was NOT a bull, but that's a little too personal to get into here on our very beloved, but g-rated Seekerville)
My favorite thing to do when we lived in Colorado was the living history museum in Littleton Colorado.
ReplyDeleteThey have a pumpkin patch each year, an October Craft Show on the lawn, and live Christmas programs outdoors in the snow. It's so much fun. Sometimes they hold period weddings there. Real weddings but you can buy tickets to attend.
If you live in Colorado, make it your next destination:
Details. The Littleton History Museum
For more than 40 years, the Littleton Museum has served as the primary repository for the history, art, and culture of Littleton. Located on 39 acres, the museum consists of two living history farms (one representing the 1860’s and one representing the 1890’s), a small lake, a collections center, and a main exhibition and administration building.
The main building was renovated and expanded in 2004, increasing the structure’s square footage from 9,000 to almost 32,000. The new building, which opened in February 2005, houses the museum’s four galleries, research center, lecture hall, educational classrooms, and offices.
Often cited as one of the top ten local history museums in the United States, the Littleton Museum has an outstanding reputation within the museum community. It is one of only 700 museums to be fully accredited by the American Association of Museums, and one of only 140 members of the Smithsonian Affiliates. In 2007:
The museum budget is $1.358 million.
The museum is staffed by 13 full-time and seven part-time employees.
The budget and staff are divided among four divisions: Administration, Collections, Education/Interpretation, and Exhibits
It was the Denver State Capitol, Mary. I led that expedition. We also went to the real Molly Brown House that day.
ReplyDeleteJanet that makes me think of The Last of the Mohicans.
ReplyDeleteI just checked. set in 1757 in Upper New York wilderness, but those dense wood, so beautiful and so close to completely trackless wilderness, reminds me of Indiana.
I've got a story set in woods like that. A survivalist who kidnaps a woman and vanishes into the impenetrable forest. And the former survivalist who has to go after her and save her.
Ruth, Mary and I visited Philbrook Museum in Tulsa.
ReplyDeleteThe Festival of the Trees is something not to be missed this time of year. They also have a gingerbread house exhibit.
Philbrookw
My Cowboy loved that museum, Tina. He still talks about it.
ReplyDeleteAnd about getting to know Seekers for the first time. It was the first time he came with me to a Conference and he ended up loving all you guys and your husbands.
I remember the Philbrook. so so so much marble. It wasn't a warm house.
ReplyDeleteAnd we went to the Will Rogers Museum with Vince? That was fantastic. Oddly I was just talking about what a great trick roper Will Rogers was.
I may be boring people.
But I love it!
And I used stuff I learned at the Philbrook Museum in my newest series. The Phillips Petroleum people owned a massive ranch in New Mexico which they found GOLD on and later (no doubt with the gold was gone) donated to the Boy Scouts of American. Lots of great history and pictures available for research.
ReplyDeleteCONNIE, cemeteries are fascinating and sad. Were you able to find your ancestors gravestones? We've passed through Alabama, maybe spent a night along the way, but haven't spent time there.
ReplyDeleteWe just toured Andrew Jackson's home The Hermitage when we were in Nashville, TN for ACFW. The guide mentioned that if the guest bedroom/s were full, travelers would bed down in the large halls up and downstairs. I'm assuming some or most of these travelers could've been strangers to the family. Can you imagine?
We have a lot to be thankful for when we count our blessings this Thanksgiving!
Janet
The Philbrook--Mansion turned museum.
ReplyDeleteVilla Philbrook was a child of the Twenties. World War I was over. Women could vote. It was a time of flappers, rumble seats, prohibition, bootleggers and five-cent Cokes. More than that, in Tulsa the Twenties smelled of oil and resounded with money. In 1926 Edward Buehler Delk (1885–1956), a Kansas City architect, was hired to design an Italian Renaissance villa on 23 acres by oilman Waite Phillips. Delk skillfully interpreted Renaissance styles in the most fashionable manner of the day and was hired in a burst of commissions with three major projects at once: Villa Philbrook, Villa Philmonte and the Philtower office building. This impressive home was completed in 1927. Friends say that the Phillipses built the villa as a place where their two children could entertain friends. When they moved in, daughter Helen was sixteen, son Elliott was ten.
The vision first made possible by Waite and Genevieve Phillips is now one of America's finest art museums.
In 1938 Waite Phillips surprised Tulsans with the announcement of his gift of the 72-room mansion and surrounding 23 acres of grounds as an art center for the city of Tulsa. The vision first made possible by Waite and Genevieve Phillips is now one of America's finest art museums. The integrity of the original residence remains intact while later additions to the facility and
Janet,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post this is. I love reading about the historical spots in everyone's back yard.
AND THE ST LOUIS ARCH!
ReplyDeleteTo me, the best museum I've ever been in. The History of Westward Expansion.
I've been there three or four times.
Once we found a woman just wrapping up a 'living history' talk about historical laundry.
It makes me laugh. I don't think she knew what hit her. She's say something and we'd all say, "WAIT FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS ABOUT BLUEING! CLOTHES PINS! FABRIC! SOAP! How do you make lye again?"
She was in hog heaven. I doubt she gets many follow up questions. But she was GREAT!!! She really knew her subject. We were all rapt and taking notes.
I think Cheryl St.John and Sherri Shackelford were there, too.
Or did I just talk to them later about historical laundry.
MARY, after your comments about the fort and museums, I have an urge to explore Nebraska and MN! Wow, what a wealth of story fodder near you!
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing that pack rats will finally be appreciated--at least eventually. My in-laws were savers. I wouldn't call them pack rats, as everything was clean, orderly. But we were amazed by all the fascinating things we found in the attic, barn, and sheds. They were farm people so nothing was of great value but everything they kept revealed what life was like back in the day. We have a tin ABC baby plate "Who Killed Cock Robin." Can you imagine feeding a baby from a plate with a robin with an arrow through it's breast?
Janet
This is all very interesting considering I live at least a day's distance from most of these places you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Gettysburg, PA; but that was a looooong time ago (I was seven or eight at the time). President Garfield's house is right next door to our library, but for some reason we have never gone there though we keep talking about remedying that. When we were down in Mason OH, visiting King's Island we stayed at an inn that had a breakfast buffet. The building that held the breakfast buffet was a building that was built around the time of the American revolution. We've also been to the Lake Eerie science center that has a giant freighter moored there, the William G. Mather Steamship, which we visit sometimes. It is HUGE whenever I am on the top looking down I get vertigo.
We also visited Stone Mountain in Georgia, which is a giant mountain with the picture of three confederate generals carved into it. It was pretty cool to look at, even if I am a Yankee myself.
MARY, my DH's family had an old musket. If I'd known you back then, you could've handled it, but I would've been scared to have anyone fire it. A few years ago, we saw them fired at a fort near Niagara on the Lake in Canada.
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, mastodons in a Louie L'Amour novel? Wow! If he can do it, so can you! I would love to read a story with your cowboy finding a herd of mastodons!
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, not sure if you're talking about an Art Museum in Indianapolis that has a nice collection of some Remington's bronzes and paintings by western artists that are worth a bundle and so fun to see. I want to visit again. Or if they visited a museum in D.C. or NYC. The cowboy and his sidekick get around. :-)
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MISSY, the great thing about D.C. is a tour of the White House or the Capitol give us a deeper appreciation for our past and an awareness that in these buildings history is being made.
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MYRA, were you in Denver for the Unsinkable Molly Brown house tour> The tour of Denver's Capitol building? The Alamo in San Antonio?
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MISSY AND MYRA, we walked Boston's Freedom Trail and found it all fascinating. Plus I loved the row houses!
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RUTHY, Thanks for the reminder that our own towns and cities and nearby places can be rich in history but may be overlooked because they're right under our noses.
ReplyDeleteKnow you'll love Williamsburg when you do visit. Don't miss the molasses cookies at the bakery.
Janet
MARY, climbing up in that Longhorn was one of the thrills of my life. Which shows I'm no dare devil as it was tethered and tame. But it was a long way up. Or down. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
Janet, we did find just about everybody we were looking for at the cemeteries.
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather was the youngest of 16 children. (About 8 of them moved to Texas after their father's death.)
Several of cemeteries were grown up and neglected, but it was still fascinating to see the area where so many of my kinfolk came from. We also visited the courthouse and found more interesting things.
I was also blessed w/a couple of Alabama ticks after we went traipsing through the woods.
Janet, when I was in the Army and stationed in Massachusetts I did the Freedom Trail. The shot that was heard around the world. I went on a tour and saw Walden Pond too. Such a great trip!
ReplyDeleteIn truth, I went on every field trip I could with my kids. You get in a lot of history trips that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Janet
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Even with all the social upheaval and such, America is still the best place in the world to live. (my heart aches for the people in Syria - esp Aleppo).
As for historical places, I've seen Mount Rushmore, most of the stuff in Colorado, here in the Va Beach area, I've visited Jamestown and Antietam, but not Williamsburg... yet. (maybe I can connect with Ruthy for that visit!!)
Awesome post. I'm really enjoying the comments section too. Wilani, we visited the Cherokee reservation where I read about your inspiration for you Cherokee book. My husband is part Cherokee and I think it is a story that needs to be told. That museum was amazing.
JANET! Ivan went to that museum. Okay this is a recurring theme. I didn't get to go. He loved the Remington art/western art. Western art is about his limit as far as having it in the house, that and pictures of our kids. :)
ReplyDeleteTina I was an official driver to many, many field trips. They weren't all as fascinating as you'd think. For example, I've been to every airport and police station in the tri-state area. They're all kinda the same.
ReplyDeleteWe got plastic police badges and plastic pilot wings.
I have thrown those out and btw I am NOT a pack rat.
TINA, thanks for sharing Littleton, CO's cool history museum. The list of credentials is impressive! On our next visit to CO, we will make every effort to see it.
ReplyDeleteJanet
I went to Washington DC because I have a rogue daughter who has moved away from her MAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHer husband's a crazed Cornhusker fan I'm hoping that's enough to lure them back...eventually.
Gettysburgh was the best...................EXCEPT We spent the morning there....and I wanted THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!
The slackers, including My Cowboy, kept saying they were hot (it was July) and hungry. The big babies. There was a living history medical field hospital from the CIVIL WAR. We just drove by. Oh My Gosh my heart still hurts. No I didn't ask to stop. The VIBES were overwhelming that no one wanted to!
Janet, I believe I peer pressured you and Myra to get on the bull.
ReplyDeleteOf course you two are slender and spry. You just hopped right up?
Me? well, I wish I'd worn stretchier pants....
TINA, we had a fun day visiting Colorado's beautiful State Capitol and the Molly Brown house tour. Thank you for giving us such a fun day! I still think about the unusual marriage between Molly and her mine owner husband who spent most of his time at the silver mine. Was it located in Leadville?
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY said: I've got a story set in woods like that. A survivalist who kidnaps a woman and vanishes into the impenetrable forest. And the former survivalist who has to go after her and save her.
ReplyDeleteIs the story published or about to be? It sounds fascinating.
Janet
TINA, some of those gingerbread house exhibits are amazing! And are usually held this time of year. I'm trying to think what Chicago hotel it was, but the chef had made this amazing gingerbread house that was on exhibit in the lobby. Maybe the Ritz Carlton.
ReplyDeleteJanet
I missed those Denver tours, JANET. I didn't go with you to the Alamo, either, but I've been there before. Project Guy grew up in San Antonio, and we lived there twice in the early years of our marriage.
ReplyDeleteTINA, can't remember now but I think we got to the Philbrook while living in Tulsa. The other one that's fascinating is the one about an hour's drive north of there--and now I'm blanking on the name of it but it's also from the Phillips family. It's a Western museum located on a wildlife preserve. Lots of Native American art and artifacts.
There is what I think of as this golden rectangle of museums in Nebraska.
ReplyDeleteThe Kearney Arch...very cool, the history of Interstate 80. It starts with the Oregon Trail, then the Union Pacific Railroad (there is a cyber-buffalo stampede right over the viewer) It comes all the way up to the interstate. All these things followed this same trail.
Then there's the Stuhr Museum. A living history frontier town, so so so cool. I watched a guy making tin pans. But other than him it was fall and almost completely abandoned. I loved walking around those empty streets and buildings. I wrote a book while I was there. Time travel, haven't used it either.
Then Pioneer Village...wow...I could have stayed there a whole day. Wildly cool. I spent over an hour looking at historical cars (the village is a collection of historical buildings-small town businesses) But the building is full of everything and I'm no big historical CAR person....but they made it so cool.
Then lastly Homestead National Park. Where the man said to be the first homesteader lived. They've got a SOD HOUSE.
Okay, I'm pathetic. But I want to get in my car and drive to The Homestead National Park right now.
MARY, fun to see how much your museum trips trigger or enrich your stories!
ReplyDeleteJanet
These four places are a long drive from me and more than a person can see in one day. I'd have to make a three day weekend of it. And it probably oughta be summer.
ReplyDeleteMARY, you may have one rogue daughter, but I have two!!!! One of them moved all the way to Montana! The other is the one whose entire family is now living with me, but she keeps going overseas for missions work.
ReplyDeleteONE EXTREME TO THE OTHER!!!!!!
I got to the Alamo. I took several pictures before I realized it was against the rules. But then I was afraid to use them because HELLO!!! Illegal.
ReplyDeleteMyra LOL Over seas or in your house, that is the two extremes.
ReplyDeleteI was once in a town Georgetown, a preserved old silver mining town, fascinating. It was on a bus tour that went out of Denver.
ReplyDeleteI would ask questions of the people working in the General Store and the livery and they knew NOTHING.
I finally found a woman in some little 'office' or something and she wanted to tell me EVERYTHING. I could barely force myself to leave. The bus was waiting ON ME! Everyone else was back, including My Cowboy.
TINA, great art museums and restorations stem from donations of the wealthy. I'm so grateful that their money saved homes and entire cities like Williamsburg, VA.
ReplyDeleteIn southern Indiana are two beautiful old hotels in the small town of French Lick that are just beautiful and fully restored thanks to a man named Bill Cook. The French Lick hotel has fake marble pillers and fireplaces, which were less expensive than the real thing back in 1906 when the hotel was built. When Mr. Cook oversaw the restoration and discovered that bringing artisans to replicate the marble was far more expensive, but he wanted to be true to the original. The other hotel built the same year is the West Baden with this huge rotunda that was a wonder at a time. The draw to French Lick was a mineral spring that people believed promoted health and the first gambling casino in the US. I've read that 14 trains a day brought guests into town.
Janet
Trixi was in The Corn Palace and Wall Drug once on a trip to Mt. Rushmore (I was a teenager. All I remember about the Corn Palace was that I worried the whole time about how many MICE must live in a building made of corn. I couldn't relax.
ReplyDeleteMARY, I loved the St. Louis arch museum! My heroines have done laundry several times so I need all that information. I'm always amazed how much tour guides know but never tell unless they're asked. They probably read for the sheer pleasure of knowing more about the subjects in their tours.
ReplyDeleteJanet
NICKY, thanks for sharing all these great destinations you've visited. Do you remember the name of the Inn that dates from the Revolution? It sounds like a place I'd like to visit.
ReplyDeleteGutzon Borglum was the first sculptor of Stone Mountain. He got sideways with those in charge and destroyed his model. One story says southern ladies objected to General Lee wearing a hat in the carving, insisting he would not keep his hat on in the presence of ladies and Borglum refused. Other stories contend the problem was over the expenditure of the money raised to finance the carving. Whatever happened, Borglum went on to carve Mt. Rushmore.
Janet
Ahhh, Janet. You've done some things I haven't done yet. :) I haven't been to the top of Mt. Evans since I was a girl. And, I don't think I've ever taken that train ride. And, I would love to give our boys that experience. I'm glad you mentioned that one! If you ever get down to Colorado Springs, you can take the cog railroad up to the top of Pikes Peak. :)
ReplyDeleteCONNIE, glad you found your ancestors but sorry about those ticks! My mom used to light a match and burn the ticks off our dog when he'd been roaming in the fields and woods around our house in the country. Ticks give me the willies.
ReplyDeleteAre you from the TX branch of the family?
Janet
TINA, you saw a lot of great sites on that trip. You've worn a lot of hats. Soldier, nurse, librarian, Seekerville mayor. :-) Not counting Seekerville, which hat did you like wearing best?
ReplyDeleteJanet
Janet I love the music of Hamilton, but have not seen the musical itself. I'm from Pennsylvania and the historical site that I have been to is the Gettysburg Battlefield.
ReplyDeleteField trips are great ways to learn about our area. Thanks for mentioning that, TINA. It's been a long time since I've been on a school field trip. When I substitute taught, I found field trips unnerving as I didn't know the kids' names, which made control more difficult.
ReplyDeleteJanet
Myra, I chaperoned my three kids' class trips to Boston and learned something new each time!
ReplyDeleteJanet, I tried several times to comment some more but my Blogger phone app kept crashing. Now I'm home. I wanted to add that I loved touring some of D.C. with you and your hubby! Of course, I could barely keep up with you two! :)
LOL, Tina, I just mentioned doing the field trips! Yes, I took advantage of going on all those I could. It was fun to hang out with the kids, too.
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ReplyDeleteMARY....only YOU would think of mice in the Corn Palace, OY.....LOL!! I thought the murals on the outside walls and in the auditorium were very unique and beautiful. And how many man hours & creativity it took to decorate those walls. :-)
ReplyDeleteMaybe you need more coffee or something to RELAX...haha! (teasing you)
DEBH, wouldn't it be fun to hook up with Ruthy for a day in Williamsburg? There's a great art and furniture collection museum there, along with the house that the Rockefellers lived in while overseeing the restoration and afterward. On the tour of the house, the guide told us that David Rockefeller came through and said he'd never seen the kitchen before as the kids were forbidden to bother the cook. Can you imagine not being able to run to the kitchen for a snack?
ReplyDeleteEvery time we go to Williamsburg, we find something new.
Janet
MARY, pictures of the kids and grandkids are the best. Still a Remington bronze of a cowpoke and his pony would fit in nicely. ;-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
Trixi I hope I've matured since then. LOL
ReplyDeleteI kept wondering if the corn was like....shellacked or something. Polyurathane...you know SOMETHING to keep the mice away.
I was a teenager.
I can't remember much else about it. Major corn art, though. All like pretty mosaic art, seriously, no mice.
MARY, my heart aches for you but maybe maybe missing a Civil War field hospital is a good thing. It had to be a gruesome place. Right?
ReplyDeleteBut you make a good point. Museums don't always have food. At least that was true in Andersonville. You're the reason we went. We figured we'd be done in a couple of hours. NOT. Thankfully we had some snacks in the car and water.
Janet
MARY, we used a box, but it still wasn't easy. My Capri pants were stretchy. I think they just kind of bounced me on.
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, is there a museum of history anywhere near you that you haven't visited? I'm impressed! Even more impressed that you wrote a time travel on your tour. I'm silently weeping.
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MYRA, San Antonio had to be a fun place to live! I loved the area, the River Walk, the missions and especially The Alamo. My heart ached that those men stayed and died, knowing they didn't have a chance.
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, I'm laughing just thinking about you getting caught up in the history, then having to crawl on that bus with everyone waiting on you.
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, I never once thought of mice inhabiting the corn palace. LOL I'm sure they have traps set everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWe moved into our house in November. The next fall I went to the basement to get my Indian corn and all the kernels were gone. We caught sixteen mice. It was pretty traumatic for me. You might have had to move out.
Janet
JEANNE, years ago my DH and I were in Colorado Springs on business in May and got to stay at The Broadmoor Resort. It was so lovely. The cog train couldn't go to the top of Pike's Peak because snow blocked the tracks. Winter lasts a long time at those elevations. Another cool thing I saw was these enormous, fascinating whirlygigs in the sculptor's yard.
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KIRSTEN, did you enjoy Hamilton's music?
ReplyDeleteGettysburg is a must see!
Janet
Kirsten, I just got to Gettysburg two years ago... and I was in awe of what happened there. So much pain, so much history, that pretty, small town changed forever....
ReplyDeleteIt was a real wake-up call.
MISSY, I loved sightseeing with you in D.C.! The one place where my DH slows down and I speed up is the mall. LOL
ReplyDeleteJanet
Ok I give....what does DH stand for??? I've been racking my brain trying to come up with it to no avail!
ReplyDeleteAns since I forgot to ask, please add my name for the giveaway. I have the "Home for Christmas" collection so I'd love a choice of ebook instead, thank you so much :-)
TRIXI, usually it means "dear husband." :) Or something similar.
ReplyDeleteI think JANET needs a nickname for her "DH," like Mary's "My Cowboy" and my "Project Guy."
ReplyDeleteIs anybody watching the new TV series Timeless? It's about this team that travels back in time to catch a guy who's trying to change history. They've revisited the Hindenburg crash, Watergate, the Alamo, and some other interesting events. It's (slightly) educational while also very creative and a fun mystery!
ReplyDeleteTRIXI, glad Myra explained the meaning of DH. I need to come up with a title for my man.
ReplyDeleteYou're in the drawing!
Janet
MYRA, I saw an ad for Timeless that was about the Hindenburg. It looked interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe're watching This is Us On Demand. It's fascinating how the show goes back and forth from babyhood to adulthood. I'm hooked.
Janet
Janet, such a delightful post. I'm so grateful to live in the United States of America! I'm also grateful for the brave men and women in uniform who defend our freedom. God bless them all!
ReplyDeleteI went to Mount Vernon High and lived less than a mile from George's home. In fact, my girlfriend and I used to walk there to get ice cream. The remains of George's wine cellar was in a friend's backyard. :) Also loved nearby Pohick Church where he worshiped. In those days, we actually sat in his pew. Woodlawn Plantation was close by and belonged to Martha Washington's family. I loved that home even more than Mount Vernon. Yes, to Williamsburg and Gettysburg, Philadelphia...as well as Charleston, Savannah nbd Saint Augustine, which are steeped with history.
The Little White House is not far from where I live now. Always a nice day trip to the place where Roosevelt vacationed. I've stayed at the hotel in neighboring Warm Springs where the press would lodge while he was in GA. The phone booth remains where they called in their stories when he died. In that same area is the polio center and the pool fed by the local warm springs where polio victims from all over the country received treatment.
So much to see in this great country of ours!
Wow, Debby. That's so cool. George Washington Sat Here. Tell me there's a sign that says that.
ReplyDeleteAnd Janet I have made a real concerted effort, and a lot of that is in conjunction with the Nebraska/Iowa ACFW group, to visit LOCAL sites. We travel all over to sight see (and when I say WE I mostly mean NOT ME!) but we don't go to the tourist attractions in our own back yard.
ReplyDeleteSo the ACFW group and prompted by that, me by myself, have done the tourist thing locally and I've seen such cool stuff.
Janet, thank you for the post about Americana. I love visiting historical sites. While I was pregnant with twins, my family and I went to Colonial Williamsburg. We took our children to Yorktown where my then 10-year-old daughter didn't want to go through the fields once the guides explained about the ticks, and now she is a history major in college. We've taken our children to Mount Vernon, Fort Pickens, the Smithsonian Institute, the Lincoln Memorial, the Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, Grant's home near St. Louis, Hannibal for Mark Twain's house, the Hermitage, and other historical sites. My daughter and I have also gone to the MLK Center in Atlanta. I love talking to my children about history, and they listen to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love Fala's paw marks on the siding of the Little White House. That is a wonderful day trip.
Janet ... My Cowboy sort of just happened. Connealy is a very unusual name, spelled like ours, then HE has an unusual name. My Cowboy is my meager attempt to keep some tiny space between myself and the whole world. There are quite a few Mary Connealys, even in Nebraska. There were five living within two miles of me when I got married. I have out lived most of them and get my own mail with surprising frequency.
ReplyDeleteMary C, they bought their family "boxes," not sure that's the name...the pew and the gate that enclosed it. You step up into the box so their feet were on the wooden floor of the "box" and not the cold floor of the church. Yes, so special! And it used to be open. Folks could go in by themselves. We passed it last summer when we were in the area but didn't have time to stop. We did tour the Grist Mill, which is newly renovated and an informative stop with a tour. I'm so impressed with all that Washington did. He was such a keen businessman as well as a savvy farmer.
ReplyDeleteTanya, I loved Hannibal, MO. We lived in Kirksville, MO, at the time and drove over with the children. In the middle of nowhere as we were driving there along back roads, we saw Santa Claus. He was standing in the middle of a field, red suit, beard and all. He waved as we passed. So strange and unforgettable. :)
ReplyDeleteThe cog railroad is a scary thing. I opted out. But there is a ton of stuff to do in the Springs. visiting the Air Force Academy and then Focus on the Family and their ice cream parlor, are two favorites.
ReplyDeleteRUTHY....this is off subject, but I had to let you know, my copy of "Home on the Range" is FINALLY scheduled to arrive via UPS tomorrow!! It was suppose to be here well before now, but I had gotten notification in my email from the reviewer program saying there was a delay in the shipment. I'm so excited as Nick will be coming with me on our Thanksgiving vacation :-) I hope my husband doesn't mind....Haha!!
ReplyDeleteNow to get my hands on Trey's story in the Spring :-)
DEBBY, thanks for sharing your childhood memories of Mount Vernon and Woodlawn Plantations. I had to look Woodlawn up as I've never been there. The house is so pretty.
ReplyDeleteOoh, Charleston, Savannah and St. Augustine are wonderful! You're giving me the travel bug at a very inopportune time with Thanksgiving this week and Christmas just around the corner. :-) But it's still fun to think about these beautiful southern cities. Do you have a sweet grass basket that Charleston is famous for? My mom and I purchased one years and years ago. They're so beautiful and well made.
Janet
Oops, forgot to say, DEBBY, that my DH visited The Little White House but I haven't been. Would like to go sometime. I've seen it on a documentary on Roosevelt.
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, I think we all miss visiting sites near us. Maybe we figure it's easy to do so we put off going. We have a antique/classic car museum in Indiana, the Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg museum. There were tons of manufacturers of cars back in the day. The Duesenberg cars are my favorites, very low slung and fancy. Come visit and we'll go. The museum is Art Deco so interesting, too. There's a big auction of fancy antique cars and cars owned by famous people that takes place Labor Day weekend. People come from all over.
ReplyDeleteJanet
TANYA, you've mentioned some great places to visit. I would especially like to visit Mark Twain's home. I love that your kids enjoy history and listen to you when you talk about it. Does your daughter plan to teach history? When I substitute taught, I enjoyed teaching Indiana history. I was way more excited than the students were at first but some caught my enthusiasm. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
MARY, I'm glad you're standing strong and getting your mail. :-)
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll call my DH Travel Guy. I like to travel but I'm a homebody compared to him. What do you think?
Janet
It was so fun reading about history today. Why are the history lessons in school this much fun? I live close to the Peace River, Alberta which was instrumental in opening up the country. The fur traders used it for their travel, and Dunvegan was a fort and fur trader settlement. Other than that, it feels like we don't have the history you in America have. I love visiting Wickenburg and Prescott.
ReplyDeleteDEBBY, Washington's church sounds like Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in Williamsburg that has a step up into the pews and a door that closes to keep worshippers warm. The names of famous occupants are on brass plates on the ends of the pews.
ReplyDeleteJanet
TINA, we visited the Air Force Academy that seems ready to take off into flight. Focus on the Family was closed, as the only day we could go was a Sunday. I didn't know they had an ice cream parlor.
ReplyDeleteJanet
This is a fun post. I love visiting historical places and have been to Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and other places of historical interest. In my own state, I live on the Oregon Trail, so there is plenty of history. We have the Archway Monument that is a museum going over the interstate and tells the history of the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails from past to present. It is very cool.
ReplyDeleteI am excited today because after many years I have finally sold another story to Pockets magazine, which is a magazine for children published by Upper Room. It will be in the March issue. That helps my confidence!
MARIANNE, from what everyone is saying, we didn't like history in school because we had to memorize dates, which is no longer important with the Internet at our fingertips.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen a lot of Canada but Quebec is a favorite. Though it's not an English part of CA. We found a man building a boat in a barn in Nova Scotia. Not something you see every day. And enjoyed all the history about the War of 1812 at Niagara on the Lake. Have you been to Calgary?
When I think of fur traders I think of Michener's Centennial and the fur trader with two wives. I think one was in St. Louis and the other was Native American. Robert Conrad played the character for the TV movie, if I'm remembering right.
Janet
SANDY, congratulations on your sale to Pocket's magazine!! Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThe Oregon Trail is so interesting. The Archway Monument museum sounds great. We stayed in Seaside close to where Lewis and Clark's men boiled salt water for salt before heading back. Salt was vital for the trip.
Janet
JANET, I loved this! Thank you for sharing your photos and memories. You've been to some truly fascinating places. Also, thanks to everyone who shared in the comments!
ReplyDeleteJanet what museum did we go to when you came to Notre Dame to see me?
ReplyDeleteDusenburg sounds right but it isn't. Some wealthy car guy. Studebaker! That's it.
That was super cool. (You can't tell but between those two sentences I spent about 30 minutes online hunting,)
BTW I always hope if somehow I ended up a multi-millionaire, I'd have more sense than to build a 50 room mansion.
Good grief, go feed a third world country for heaven's sakes Or at least give all the homeless in your nearest metro area a Christmas dinner!
SANDY!!!!!!!!! You live out close to the Kearney Arch don't you. It's called The Gateway Arch??? I'd forgotten that.
ReplyDeleteDo you go to the Stuhr Museum or Pioneer Village? Homestead National Monument?
I wish I got to that area more.
And CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SALE, SANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Upper Room is a wonderful publication, way to go.
LAURA, you're welcome. Have you visited someplace that takes you back in time? Even a short distance? Like my grandparents' farm yanked me back to an earlier time.
ReplyDeleteJanet
SANDY!!! Congratulations! When i was writing for children's magazines, i always dreamed of selling to Pockets!!! That's wonderful!!!!
ReplyDeleteMary, I do live near the Kearney Archway. It isn't the Gateway Arch. That's the one in St. Louis. This one used to have the official name The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. I think it is now officially known as The Archway. You should definitely come. Our Nebraska-Iowa group should take a road trip out here! I have been to Pioneer Village and the Stuhr Museum. When my son was in 2nd grade I went with his class on a field trip there in November to learn about Christmas on the prairie. That was really cool. I have not been to Homestead Monument. I need to get there.
ReplyDeletePockets is the publication I sold for. It is published by Upper Room.
Thanks, Myra. I had sold quite a few stories to Pockets in the past but since they dropped the word count, it seemed like the stories had changed a bit and I hadn't quite been able to figure them out again. So maybe I have it figured out a bit now!
ReplyDeleteMARY, Studebaker is right. :-) You make a good point, Mary, but I'll admit that I enjoy visiting the cottages of Newport, RI, as well as Hurst's castle in CA and the Biltmore mansion in Ashville, NC. Americans are a generous people. Some of the rich have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth but not necessarily to people in this country.
ReplyDeleteJanet
Janet, loved this post! You know, I'm amazed at the untapped historical sites I run upon accidentally.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are the sites that we all know and love... for instance, my latest series is set in Natchez and on the Natchez Trace, one of the oldest trails in the Southeast.
But then there are little known places and things that nobody has ever heard of that fascinate me as well. A couple of weeks ago, a friend was telling me about a time capsule that a senior class built inside a box-shaped sign back in the 1950s. They were the last class to graduate from the school before it closed and the time capsule is supposed to be opened after 100 years. Isn't that cool?
My friend and her husband now own the property and the school is no longer there, but the children of one of the graduates came to see them recently and told them about the capsule, requesting that the sign be preserved and the capsule kept intact until time to open it.
She also said they put one of the desks inside the sign, that's why it's such an odd-shaped sign. I haven't seen it myself, but want to go check it out soon.
Another cool place is a "ghost" town in Mississippi called Rodney. It was almost the cap ital of Mississippi.
And then there's the place where a train ran off the tracks and plunged into the Chunky River, killing soldiers and civilians on the way to Vicksburg during the Civil War. Rumors abounded that there was a Confederate clerk on the train with a payroll for soldiers and that the payroll was never found. So interesting and it's just a few miles from me. :)
I could go on and on.
Oh Janet, you've been to Conner Prairie ... it's been on my list for years. Someone there helped me years ago when I needed research on a hay press from the 1840s.
ReplyDeleteI was a history major in college -- and can't remember when I didn't love history -- so I have a long list of recommended historical sites. Williamsburg; Jamestown; Monticello;, Louisiana plantations; the historic areas of almost any city or town; the Texas Forts Trail; the Mission Trail near San Antonio; Natchez, Mississippi; Asheville, North Carolina; so many places in New Mexico; the Grant-Kohrs ranch; the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas ... I'll stop but that is by no means all of them. I particularly like historical sites that have knowledgeable re-enactors or guides. I've learned so much from them!
Now to read comments and find out about more recommended historical sites. There can never be too many :-)
Thanks for the lovely pix!
Nancy C
JANET!!! I apologize for my tardiness, but my computer has been in the shop all day, and I just got it back a few hours ago. I actually was SHOCKED at how much fun Keith and I had doing errands and shopping because I WASN'T tied to a computer! :) I think I may just have a no-computer day every week! ;)
ReplyDeleteWONDERFUL post, my friend -- beautifully patriotic, which is something that we desperately need in our country right now AND something I am praying we will see more of in our country in the future.
You asked if I have visited any historical sites in my state, and just this summer I visited the Ha-Ha-Tonka stone ruins of a turn-of-the-20th-century castle built by a prominent Kansas City businessman high atop a bluff at the Lake of the Ozarks. I'm sorry to say we've been coming to the Lake for over almost 40 years now, and we have never visited this remarkable historical park and castle ruins. It's pretty amazing, and now we take anybody who visits us there in the summer because it's so very cool!
Hugs,
Julie
SANDY!!!!! SUPER CONGRATS, my friend, on your sale to Pockets Magazine -- that is a HUGE confidence builder for sure, so you go, girl!!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Julie
Janet, My daughter wants to become a college professor in history. I would have laughed if someone had told me that at Yorktown while she was counting down the minutes until we could go back to the hotel, but she's really happy with her college history classes. A lot of the other posts have also reminded me that we've also been to Jamestown, the Gateway Arch, and we've also been to naval museums. We always tell our kids that our vacations have to include some ways to learn about America.
ReplyDeleteMyra Johnson said...
ReplyDeleteTINA, can't remember now but I think we got to the Philbrook while living in Tulsa. The other one that's fascinating is the one about an hour's drive north of there--and now I'm blanking on the name of it but it's also from the Phillips family. It's a Western museum located on a wildlife preserve. Lots of Native American art and artifacts.
Myra, that's the Gilcrease Museum. An amazing collection ... a must for anyone who writes about the Southwest, for sure.
Nancy C
Janet, I've never traveled far, but there are a few places in Texas that I've visited numerous times because I feel so drawn to them. The main one is the Presidio La Bahia in Goliad (now a museum complex), and the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier that's docked at Corpus Christi and is also a museum.
ReplyDeleteCloser to home, there's the odd little places that have gripped me and never let me go. I wrote local history for newspapers for many years and through that I heard some incredible stories.
For instance, there's a grave of a little girl beside the road in the county I live in - literally right beside the winding dirt road - that has been there since the late 1800s. (I'm posting a photo of it on my author page in the next few days). Some people called it the "Penny Grave" because the marker was covered with change that people left there when visiting. I found it hard to believe when I first heard about it, but I went out to take a picture anyway (this was in the mid 1990s) and found exactly what everybody had been describing. The marker noted that the little girl had somehow fallen from a covered wagon as her family was traveling west. She died from her injuries, and they buried her there, on the trail. There were no cemeteries nearby, and only a handful of settlers. A family they met further down the road agreed to look after the grave, and they did (I was fortunate enough to interview one of their descendants) and then later, after the roads were made, the county commissioners took over and maintained it. Sometimes it's a mess out there (people leave the weirdest things beside the grave, one year there was a Christmas tree there) but it's quiet (still a dirt road) and easy to feel that "back in time" sensation. I can't even imagine how grief-stricken and helpless that family felt. Sorry to ramble on, but this story has always fascinated me.
Uh ... I meant for that to be "I think" that's the Gilcrease Museum ... :-D
ReplyDeleteNancy C
Wilani do you know about the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC? Have you tried contacting them to see if they know of someone who could vet what you write?
ReplyDeleteNancy C
Hi Janet, sorry I'm late today, but so glad I didn't miss this terrific post. I love our country also and especially love the discovery of the historical aspects of this country. I love visiting museums, historical monuments and historical landmarks. I also love the outdoors. The reason I'm late today is we traveled north to Camp Verde to spend the Thanksgiving week with friends. Here there are many historical monuments of the Ancient Sinagua tribes, the current Navajo and Apache tribes and Fort Verde State Historic Park showcases the early cavalry brought in to protect the pioneers coming west. And geographically the red rocks of Sedona are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding us of all we have to be thankful for. Have a blessed holiday.
Its been a blast traveling around with all the Seekers and hearing of their interesting historical areas. This post is a keeper because if we need any info from an area, now we know who to ask.
ReplyDeleteSandy, congrats on your sale to POCKET! Yay!!!
ReplyDeleteJanet, I like Travel Guy. It suits your dh!
PAM, thanks for sharing all these unique places and situations that intrigue historical writers, anyone really.
ReplyDeleteThe time capsule requires your friends or future land owners to keep it safe for another 34 years. I hope there's some plan to make the opening a big deal.
The train crash is mysterious. Maybe you'll write the novel one day.
What happened in Rodney that turned a thriving town into a ghost town? Did the railroad bypass it?
Janet
NANCY C, fun to hear that Conner's Prairie staff helped you do research.
ReplyDeleteMonticello is so interesting. Not the typical house and one of my DH's favorite spots.
I must look up the Grant-Kohrs ranch and the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, TX. I don't even know where Lubbock is.
Debby and I visited the missions near San Antonio, a wonderful experience.
There's so much to see!
Janet
JULIE, a day un-tethered is a good way to refill your tank and spend time with your hubby.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the castle ruins you mentioned. I will be checking it out. One day I hope to see where you two live and you can take us there.
I don't think schools do the pledge of allegiance to the flag much anymore. Sad.
Janet
TANYA, wishing your daughter the very best! Professor Agler has a nice ring to it. You obviously gave her a love of history with your travels. Even if she didn't always appreciate it at the time. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
Sorry I'm so late stopping by, Janet, but wanted to say I LOVED your post! Especially makes me want to visit Williamsburg, VA again (haven't been since I was 13 - - a "few" years ago, LOL). ;)
ReplyDeleteOne of your comments really spoke to me: No matter what's going on in the news, time spent surrounded by nature gives me peace and awareness of our Creator.
AMEN!! :)
Our Georgia coast has lots of history, and even after visiting there on family vacations for decades, I still learn something new each time we go.
Thank you again for sharing this post and great photos!
Hugs, Patti Jo
LAURA, the story of the little girl gave me chills. That was a terrible heartache for that family, but not uncommon to bury loved ones that had died and move on. I'm amazed at how that grave has been looked after all these years. I want to read more and see the photo. Is this on your Facebook author page?
ReplyDeleteJanet
SANDRA, I'm glad you've settled in and will be ready for your Thanksgiving celebration with friends. The area sounds rich with history and very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteJanet
DEBBY, it is fitting. But I don't want him to get even more wanderlust. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
Janet, it's always given me chills, too. Like you said, not uncommon, but so sad. I will post the photos tomorrow. Here's a link to the site https://www.facebook.com/lauraconnerkestner/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel Thank you!
ReplyDeletePATTI JO, there's so many beautiful places in the south. I would love to meander along Georgia's coast!
ReplyDeleteJanet
LAURA, thanks for the link. I will check it out tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteJanet
SO very late but super post, Janet!
ReplyDeleteOh my... You speakin' my language! I majored in history and elementary ed! Woot! LOVE history!
Thank you for sharing...
Near us are a number of historical sites, as our history in TN is layer upon layer. One of my favorites is www.historicrugby.org. And there's an author involved too! ;)
Even here in the place we call home (Crossville, TN) is the Depot. You'll see the city name on a sign in the film starring Gary Cooper - Sergeant York. The real Sgt. York traveled by railroad and stopped here before heading home after WWI. Be sure to let me know if you're in the area and we can rendezvous!!
The Cumberland Homesteads have a fascinating history. Part of the Trail of Tears is nearby and who could fail to mention the Chattanooga Choo Choo?
Y'all come!
Janet,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your wonderful post! America is the best place in the world to live! I've not gotten to travel much around America but I have visited several historical sites here in Georgia, including Stone Mountain and the cemetery in Savannah where many of the founding fathers of the state of Georgia, as well as other famous people, are buried.
Please put my name in the drawing!
Thank you, Janet! Authors have always been important to me because of the perspective you add to history. I was never good at memorizing dates, but I can picture scenes from the past. (And get pretty close to putting them in the right order on a timeline.) Williamsburg is a favorite of mine, too. In our tour of the courthouse, a docent took an opposing view of the separation of church and state, and brought some lively debate into our family. The point of his Colonial perspective: If the tithe isn't enforced by the government, then who will take care of the widows and orphans? Feel free to discuss! Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI love nature, and yes i feel exactly as you, when i look around at all of Gods beautiful creation I can't help but sing "How Great Thou Art"! Bodies of water, are probably some of my favorite scenes in nature. Its just so beautiful! I also love History. I've always wanted to visit Williamsburg, but have yet to do so.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post. Happy Thanksgiving!
KC, sounds like TN has a lot of cool places to visit! If I'm in your area, it would be fun to hook up and do some touring. You and I have a heart for kids and the past. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanet
EDWINA, When we were in Savannah, we didn't visit the cemetery. Next time. :-) We had the loveliest walk, noting beautiful downspouts, gates and gardens, houses. Savannah is a lovely city.
ReplyDeleteJanet
CHRIS, living in America, I'd never even thought of the government forcing its citizens to tithe. I disagree with the docent's take but agree the churches have responsibility to support widows and orphans. We leave too much to the government.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving.
Janet
ABIGAIL, like you, big bodies of water are my favorite destinations. I always feel relaxed when I'm gazing at the ocean or one of the Great Lakes. I'm awed by God's creation. The way everything works. Singing "How Great Thou Art" right along with you.
ReplyDeleteJanet
I've got a couple of bronze western statues (probably not real bronze, but they're heavy, but not expensive enough. Probably cast plaster, maybe glazed with bronze (or okay, TIN)
ReplyDeleteBut they are pretty. I think I got them to 'reward' myself for some sale or other.
Ones a bucking horse with a cowboy riding
One's a mare and foal, sweet.
Hi Janet,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the oh-so-timely post. America the beautiful. She is that through and through. My husband was in the Air Force for 8 years, so we truly embrace patriotism. Back on 9/11, we were with a tour group in Ireland. The camaraderie and sense of our home country was so strong. Even our Irish hosts hurt for us and did everything they could to offer support and comfort. It would be tragic if the only time Americans united was in the midst of horrific tragedy. We need to stay focused on the blessings our God has given us. Thanks so very much for this post.
MARY, western statues, whatever they're made of, are perfect for your brand and your cowboy!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to reward our efforts. I bought this cute inexpensive cowgirl boot with a spur that I use for a pencil holder on my desk. I bought it after I sold The Bride Wore Spurs, my only western. :-)
Janet
REBECCA, thanks for sharing that lovely story of the support you received when you were away from home during 9/11. Like you, I hope we Americans can appreciate what we have and thank God for this country instead of tearing it down. Thank your husband for his service.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving.
Janet
I have visited Washington DC but I haven't had a chance to travel much. I do, however, live in KY and we have several historical places that I have been able to see. Abraham Lincoln's birthplace; Jefferson Davis memorial; Perryville, the site of a Civil War battle; Mammoth Cave, one of the 7 wonders of the world; Cumberland Gap, where Daniel Boone entered MY and so many more! I do love history and I am blessed to live in a great state and wonderful country.
ReplyDeleteConnie
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI love all historical sites. I enjoyed going to St. Augustine years ago and visiting the museum there and The Oldest House. My favorite sites are the smaller out of the way ones in the Midwest. Like the Old Schoolhouse in Belmont County, or Bollinger Mill State Historic Site in Jackson, MO.
Thanks for your pictures.
Becky