Category: Event
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Carolina Wetlands, Part 6 (Ruins and Tombs)
South Carolina sure loved its old buildings whether lovingly maintained or reduced to rubble. In particularly her people revered historic churches with their requisite cemeteries filled with live oaks and draped in Spanish moss. Old churches and weathered cemeteries became a recurring theme on my journey. Or sometimes just the family cemeteries of long-lost plantations…
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Carolina Wetlands, Part 5 (The Swamp Fox)
So we finally get to Brigadier General Francis Marion, the so-called Swamp Fox. He was born on the family plantation sometime around 1732 although no definitive record exists, strangely enough. Then he spent much of his life there except for brief forays that included a stint in the French and Indian War. Nonetheless he was…
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Carolina Wetlands, Part 4 (This Means War)
I expected to run into a ton of Civil War history during my excursions. After all, the first shots of the conflict happened nearby at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. So it surprised me to see a lot less than I figured within the pocket I explored. There was some of course, but not much…
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Marigot on Market Day
Wednesday Market – Place du Marché; Marigot, Saint-Martin (March 2011) An international border splits the island of St. Martin into French and Dutch halves. Marigot serves at the French capital and the largest French town with about 6,000 residents. It sits on the western side of the island on a picturesque bay, facing towards Anguilla…
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Belgium (November 2003)
Monde Sauvage, Aywaille Our visit to Belgium this time was quite a bit different than any of our previous trips. We needed to focus on keeping a 2-year-old entertained so our usual options would not work. Our little guy loves animals so visiting Monde Sauvage [roughly translated: “Wild World”] seemed a natural choice (map). His…
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Belgium (September 1998)
Grand’ Place, Brussels The Grand’ Place serves as the center of Brussels (map). Museums, Guild Houses and restaurants line the sides of the city square. These beautiful old buildings, decorated with elaborate stonework and gold leaf provide a spectacular visual setting. Guild Houses served as the headquarters and meeting places for various groups of craftsmen…
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Butte du Lion (“Lion’s Mound”)
Waterloo Battlefield, Braine-l’Alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium (1993, 1998) A great battle raged on June 18, 1815 just south of Brussels, Belgium near Braine-l’Alleud and Waterloo (map). The Duke of Wellington commanding allied troops from several nations defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and his fearsome army after a punishing eight-hour conflict. Historians recognize this as one of the…
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Return to Seattle
Everett to Seattle, Washington (May 16, 1998) It promised to be a pleasant day as we drove the short distance into Seattle straight to the waterfront. Coincidentally the Seattle Maritime Festival was held that weekend and there were many activities to keep us busy. We started our tour by taking a ride around the harbor…
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Golden Spike National Historic Site
Promontory Summit, Utah, USA (July 2011) Most of us remember the Golden Spike, Promontory, Utah and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. They featured prominently in long ago history classes when we were kids. Now we arrived in northern Utah. There was no doubt that we’d have to stop at the Golden Spike National Historic…