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 …
Charred Oak Grill in Somerset, Kentucky
After spending the afternoon at Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, Tom and I headed to the Charred Oak Grill in Somerset, Kentucky, for supper with Ranger Caitlyn. We were early, so we had a little time to walk around the beautiful downtown area. Of course, it helped that it was a lovely, warm spring day. …
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. …
Dulce Dough Bakery on St. Simons Island
Tom and I discovered a new bakery here on St. Simons Island, Dulce Dough. It wasn’t here when we were here two years ago, and we were excited to think the island had its own bakery. I had seen it listed this year as being one of the island restaurants, but it always had the …
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 …
No Sanctuary for Easter
This was the third year Tom and I did not worship in a sanctuary on Easter. This statistic is especially remarkable because of all the Easter services I attended for so many years. During my 21 years at Wedgewood we usually had three services every Easter Sunday. If you add in Holy Week services, I …
2022 Visitors to the Golden Isles
Tom and I didn’t get as many visitors to the Golden Isles in 2022 as we have in the past. Wendy and Ron were going to spend all of January on Amelia Island, close to us, but they had to cancel because of work responsibilities. John and Jackie were going to come down but John …
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. …