The SS Palo Alto was a concrete ship built as a tanker in 1919 during World War I. An unconventional shipbuilding material, concrete was used due to the steel shortage. She never served as the war ended before her construction was finished. On her maiden and only voyage in 1929…
Muir Woods National Monument is located a half hour north of San Francisco in Mill Valley, California. Established in 1908, it is named for conservationist John Muir. I will initially describe this place in one word: REDWOODS. More park than monument, once you set out on the path, you almost…
In the story “Atop A Horse, A General. On Bended Knee, A Man.” I wrote of my love of depictions of General George Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge. There is something so profoundly moving to me about this man, who we have elevated to a height not reached…
When September 11th occured I was working for a global company and all of the US regional managers were in for a quarterly business review. We had just returned to the conference room from a “bio break” (gosh, isn’t corporate America quaint?) when someone shared that the first tower had…
Swedesboro, New Jersey’s Trinity Episcopal Church’s current building was constructed in 1784, replacing an earlier log church that was damaged during the Revolutionary War. Its minister, Reverend Nicholas Collin, kept a journal detailing the war’s impact on the church and the town, including his own capture by militia. Across the…
Delighted to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution last year, I ordered some merch: a Christmas ornament, pin, scarf and baseball hat. At the time, I took a photo of them all to accompany a future story. Inspiration did not come; I removed it from my…
The Death Of The Fox Inn was built in 1727 in Clarksboro, New Jersey. Its name came from what it did: provide drink and sustenance to members of the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club after their hunts. Founded in 1766 by a group of Philadelphia gentlemen as a coffeehouse, it was…
Driving through the town of Mullica Hill, New Jersey, I noticed two structures of the same height side by side. With my visual impairment, I am not always sure what I am seeing. “Was that the Twin Towers?,” I asked my husband. “I didn’t see it,” he replied as he…
Fourty-four year old Bodo Otto, Sr., his wife and children moved from Germany to the English Colonies in 1755, he ws 44. He opened a medical practice in Philadelphia; it quickly became prosperous due to the large German population in the city. Dr. Otto, Sr. believed in American liberty…
