The last time I was at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument was at least 20 years ago. As I’ve been filling up my National Park Passport book with stamps, Perry’s Monument was elusive. Close by but hard to get to and only open during a limited season. Because it opens in May and closes …
From National Parks
Nature Trail Brochure and Numbers
One of my projects at Fort Frederica National Monument this year was to develop a nature trail brochure. Last year the nature trail got all cleaned up and people started using it – a lot. This year people continued to use it and I thought it would be nice to identify some of the plants …
Archaeology Dig at Fort Frederica
During June and July, Fort Frederica National Monument usually hosts an archaeology dig. Archaeology students from universities come and dig. We also host three weeks of archaeology camp for middle school students. This year the pandemic has thrown a wrench into the works. We did not get approval to host the archaeology education camps. Most …
Phase Two Reopening at Fort Frederica
We are now in Phase Two reopening at Fort Frederica National Monument. This means we have our buildings open, but we are supposed to be enforcing social distancing guidelines. Tom and I were pretty happy with Phase One because visitors could walk around the grounds and we could do some programming outside. In Phase Two …
Strange Six Months at Fort Frederica
It has been a strange six months at Fort Frederica National Monument. I recently looked back on the four years we have been working at Fort Frederica with our boss, Ranger Michael. The first year we had to clean up from Hurricane Matthew. The second year we had an ice storm. The third year we …
Wrapping Up at Fort Frederica National Monument
Tom and I are wrapping up our time at Fort Frederica National Monument. We have been here six months, which is the longest we have worked or lived anyplace since we retired. Of course, we weren’t planning on being here this long, but Covid-19 has disrupted lots of plans this year. Next week we will …
Wildlife at Fort Frederica National Monument
You might think the term wildlife refers to Tom and I, but you would be wrong. We aren’t usually very wild, and during the last four months, we have been positively turtle-ish in our refusal to leave our homes. But, with fewer people around, the wildlife at Fort Frederica has taken over the park. We …
Leather Working Class at Fort Frederica
Tom has been leading a leather working class at Fort Frederica National Monument. Although the grounds are open, we still don’t have the buildings open and there aren’t any tours or programming. We are taking advantage of this “down” time to do some training. Tom recently taught the three rangers (and one intern) how to …
Marsh Trail at Fort Frederica National Monument
During the time Fort Frederica National Monument was closed, most days you could find Tom on the Marsh Trail. Before the closure there was no marsh trail. But, by the time we opened again, Tom had cleared a trail that is fun to walk and has a wonderful view of the marsh. Clearing a new …
Fort Frederica National Monument Is Open
The National Monument is open! After seven weeks of being closed, Fort Frederica National Monument opened just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Tom and I kept working while we were closed, but it was odd not to see any people in the park or cars in the parking lot. Occasionally we would run across …