It’s a cliche of course, but no less true, the statement by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I’m reminded of this for two reasons. First was a quote by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in last week’s Republican debate, “Our troops should not go off and fight […]
historic sites
As a kid, nothing made a long drive complete like a stop at a historic site. From the battlefields of the Civil War, to time traveling back to early Plymouth at Plimoth Plantation, there’s more to American history than we realize, and it’s all around us. Just ahead at the next exit even.
Living history in America’s most historic attraction: Plimoth Plantation brings the seventeenth century to life
Of the living history sites I’ve visited, none capture the imagination like Plimoth Plantation. Plimoth Plantation feels real, for aside from the visitors, there are no traces of modern life. There are no signs, no artifacts behind glass cases, no areas roped off. This is truly living history, as the interpreters never leave character, and […]
Ancient America comes alive at Angel Mounds State Historic Site
I’ve always been a fan of crackpot science. There’s something about the unknown and the unknowable that spurs the imagination. I love ley lines, standing stones, the pyramids – be them in Egypt or Central America. I’m frequently asked if I believe in UFOs, to which I always answer yes. After all, there are certainly […]
Stepping back in time and into the muck at Cache River State Natural Area
Tucked away in the southern tip of Illinois you can find places which don’t seem to belong there. When you think of Illinois – aside from Chicago, or references to Abraham Lincoln, you tend to think of acres of flat land covered in corn, wheat and soybeans. What you might not think of are sheer […]
Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg
On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, approximately 13,000 Confederate soldiers, in a line a mile long, stepped out from the woods, marching side by side, all looking to converge less than a mile away, and in the process, crush the Union army. In the light of history it’s easy to see each of those men […]
Chelsea Manor, East Norwich, NY: A Long Island Christmas Carol
“So what you’re saying then,” said Miss Bronwen, “is that Santa Claus is a ghost?” “Maybe not a ghost,” I replied, “But certainly what would be called an agent of the supernatural.” “Oh,” she answered, stifling a laugh, “that makes all the difference in the world.” “Well yeah,” I continued as we walked down the […]
Hempstead House and Castlegould: A Tale of Two Houses in Sands Point, New York
It’s Jay Gould was a New York business man, reviled as a Jew by those who were of an anti-semite bent, but was a Scottish/English mongrel as I recall. He was one of the main stockholders of the Erie Railroad, and an associate of the infamous Boss Tweed. “Just who was Boss Tweed?” Miss Bronwen […]
Rosemary’s Farm: “Life’s But A Walking Shadow …”
Top: Bridge to the stage at Rosemary Farm (Conklin Farm), Huntington, New York. “A poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.†William Shakespeare, Macbeth Across this bridge, some of the […]
