The last National Park site that Tom and I visited, before heading home to Ohio, was Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. To Native Americans, Cumberland Gap was the passageway to their traditional hunting grounds on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. To the early pioneers, Cumberland Gap was the gateway to new land and …
From National Parks
Obed Wild and Scenic River, Tennessee
Obed Wild and Scenic River is another National Park site in eastern Tennessee. It was an easy drive from where we were staying in near Knoxville and we decided to visit. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 sought to preserve free-flowing rivers to balance national policies of extensive dam building. In 1968, eight …
Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Tom and I have been waiting two years to visit Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We have visited the other two parts of the Manhattan Project National Historic Park – in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico – and only needed Oak Ridge to finish the park. But we were waiting for the Department of Energy …
Big South Fork National River
Another National Park site that is just a short distance from Knoxville is the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. In fact, the Big South Fork is about the same distance west from Knoxville as the Great Smoky Mountains are to the east. Yet Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area only …
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tom and I have been to Great Smoky Mountains National Park many times. I went on vacations there with my family when I was young. Tom and I camped and hiked there when we were newly married. We have pictures of hiking on the trails when John was a little guy. Gatlinburg was our “home …
Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument
Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument is one of the newest National Park sites. It was dedicated on September 2020 after years of advocacy by the Mill Spring Battlefield Association. Thanks to the Association there is a beautiful Visitors Center and a very good museum already in place. Currently, Mill Spring Battlefield National Monument only has …
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Tom and I are back in Ohio now, but on the way we took a detour to see the National Park sites in eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. One of the places we visited was the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Tom and I always have mixed feelings about visiting presidential sites because they seem so limited. …
Marshes of Glynn by Sidney Lanier
One of our favorite things about working at Fort Frederica National Monument is living next to the Marshes of Glynn. The salt marshes along the tidal rivers are beautiful, swaying organisms, full of life. Tom and I love to walk along the Frederica River and see the marshes at low tide and high tide, at …
Archaeology Education Field Trips at FOFR
This year Tom and I got to help with Archaeology Education Field Trips at Fort Frederica National Monument (FOFR). After two years without field trips, it was nice to work with school groups again. The last time we had field trips at FOFR was in 2019 and Ranger Ellen Strojan was in charge of them. …
Postcards from the Edge of Fort Frederica
Tom and I had a new experience this year at Fort Frederica National Monument: we are now featured on some postcards. Tom, of course, being the diva that he has become while in British uniform, is on three of the new postcards while I am just on one. And my face doesn’t show in any …