Top: The Glengesh Pass, Donegal, Ireland The top of Glengesh Pass in Donegal, Ireland is breathtaking. You’re in one of the most remote corners of the country here, sparsely populated, windswept and wild. You’re as likely to hear Gaelic spoken as English, for life hasn’t changed a whole lot over the past hundred years. The […]
Historic Towns and Villages
Some towns and cities reek of history. New York City has history literally stacked on top of history. Other towns are like stepping back into time … from the curated Colonial Williamsburg, to the towns where the twentieth century was just slow to show up. Nearly all towns and cities have their history, if you know where to look.
Yorktown Ghost Stories: Colonial era ghosts still haunt the streets of this landmark village of the American Revolution
The Nelson House is an imposing edifice by anyone’s standards. Three stories tall and on a hill overlooking the York River, the house was believed to be for a time, the headquarters of British General Cornwallis during the American Revolution, and was a frequent target of American and French cannon fire during the siege of Yorktown. […]
Piracy in Charleston, S.C.: The adoption of the gentleman pirate, Stede Bonnet
Top: White Point Garden, The Battery, Charleston, South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina has a colorful history related to pirates. The pirate with the main claim to fame would be Blackbeard, who once held Charleston Harbor for several days. But Charleston has latched onto one of Blackbeard’s lesser captains, the gentleman pirate, Stede Bonnet. This isn’t […]
The real mystery of Long Island’s Shep Jones Lane
Shep Jones Lane is notorious for being considered one of Long Island’s most haunted spots. The road begins paved before petering out, leaving one seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and actually passes through the Avalon Preserve in Stony Brook, as well as property belonging to the Nature Conservancy. Hikers and strollers alike are common […]
Concerning the Battle of Setauket: a tale of two churches, a minor battle in the American Revolution and the village green today
The 19th century artist William Sydney Mount came from Setauket, and would return back frequently to paint there, claiming it had the best light anywhere. The light is still there on Setauket Village Green, one of the best preserved greens to be found in New York. The Setaukets refer to the villages of Setauket and […]
Einstein at the Belvedere on Long Island
The Belvedere, c. 1860, Peconic, Suffolk County, North Fork of Long Island, New York. Click here to view larger and more images from the east end of Long Island Albert Einstein was a life-long pacifist, till the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930′s when he fled to the United States. As a physicist, […]
In old Charleston, the historic and haunted are around every corner
The slogan for Charleston, South Carolina is “where history lives.” This is true. The layers of Charleston history are laid out side by side, rather than mashed on top of each other. So if you aren’t finding what you want in Charleston, turn the corner.
A Field Guide to visiting Salem, Massachusetts: From Witches to the Maritimes, to literary fame, a history lover’s dream
I’ll admit it, the first time I saw the sign announcing that I had arrived in Salem, I got chills up my spine. The Salem witch hunt was a real-life horror story, and usually the first one we learn as school children. If you grew up in the sixties, there’s a good chance that mood […]
Return to Sleepy Hollow, from an essay by Washington Irving
Sleepy Hollow, a remembrance by Washington Irving is a short article which first appeared in the Knickerbocker Magazine in 1839. Unlike Irving’s more well-known short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Sleepy Hollow is autobiographical in tone. He explored the area as a teenager – a valley of the Pocantico River near Tarrytown, New York, […]
Historic attractions, shipwrecks and solitude on Cape Cod
Many things come to mind when you mention Cape Cod – JFK walking the beach at his summer White House at Hyannisport, a getaway for the well-to-do, the arts and alternative lifestyle of Provincetown. But an incredible amount of history has washed up on Cape Cod’s shores. One of the largest barrier islands in the […]
Historical attractions in Gotham City: A gin-soaked stroll through New York City’s Manhattan Island
For nearly eight years, I lived only an hour’s train ride to New York City. Yet I seldom visited there, and developed a true love/hate relationship with the place. The names associated with the place now don’t ring with the same sweet tones as the ones that came before them. There are no Gershwins, Cohens, […]
South Carolina’s Low Country: A Jimmy Buffet lifestyle meets the old South
People call it the lowcountry, or low country, and it’s made up of the coastal lands south of Charleston, South Carolina, including Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. Some include Charleston, some don’t. Some include Myrtle Beach. But all seem to agree that it’s as much a state of mind as a geographic area. I […]
