From National Parks

November 16, 2016

Veterans Day Encampment

When Tom and I agreed to return to Kings Mountain, we knew that we would be going back during their busiest time. The six weeks from the Anniversary weekend to Veterans Day weekend are crazy with school kids, leaf-peepers, and people coming for the two special weekends. The temperatures are moderate during this period so …

October 26, 2016

National Coal Heritage Area

When you visit the National Park Service website, you can find a listing of National Park sites by state. When we went to Ohio for my Aunt’s memorial service, Tom and I had an extra day to explore a few places along the way. So we visited the National Park Service website and looked up …

October 22, 2016

Folks Sure Do Dress Funny Here

During the anniversary weekend at Kings Mountain, you could see many people wearing historic clothing. On Friday, October 7, we had almost as many people in 18th century clothing as we did in 21st century clothing. I overheard one little boy tell his parents, “Folks sure do dress funny here!” But dressing in historical clothing …

October 18, 2016

African American Monument Dedication

On the morning of October 7, Kings Mountain is a hotbed of activity for the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. Chapters that had an ancestor at the battle send representatives to lay a wreath as the U.S. Monument in a stirring ceremony. This year we had an additional reason for people to come: …

October 17, 2016

236th Anniversary Celebration at Kings Mountain

Tom and I returned to Kings Mountain National Military Park to help with their 236th anniversary celebration. The Battle of Kings Mountain was fought on October 7, 1780, so the 236th anniversary celebration was held a week ago. When the weather cooperates, the anniversary celebration weekend draws over 12,000 people so they need all the …

October 6, 2016

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

On our last adventure day in Ohio (this trip) we went with my mom and dad to visit Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. This is one of the eight national park sites in Ohio. All of us had been there before but none of us recently. So I needed to get the stamp for my …

September 9, 2016

Questions Asked at Grand Portage

Each national park site that Tom and I have worked at has its own distinctive emphasis and personality. This means that each national park site also has its own brand of visitors and visitor questions. I have discussed some of the unique questions that we get at each place in previous posts (Death Valley, Chickamauga, …

September 3, 2016

Ontario Provincial Parks

After visiting Voyageurs National Park, we drove back to Grand Portage through Canada and visited two Ontario Provincial Parks. Ontario has 112 Provincial Parks, about the same as you find in the state of Texas. Ontario’s size is equivalent to Texas and Montana combined. The first provincial park we visited was Quetico: “a wilderness sanctum …

September 2, 2016

Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park was our primary destination last week when we explored northern Minnesota. We had been wanting to go there all summer but couldn’t get reservations at any of the hotels / lodges in the area until the end of August. So we had to wait. Even though Voyageurs National Park is almost directly …

September 1, 2016

Building a Birch Bark Canoe

An ongoing project this summer at Grand Portage has been building a birch bark canoe. The staff of the park build one every other summer and we were lucky enough to be here in a year that they were building. All the staff have participated in various ways. Tom and I helped harvest birch bark …

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