When my husband and I made the decision to go to California in the spring, we knew that Yosemite would be a priority stop. Although we began to look into lodging in the park at the end of last year, we discovered that people book their rooms there a year…
Driving in pitch blackness from our hotel to Tunnel View in Yosemite, 5 am was unexpectedly beautiful. The surrounding barely visible ancient massive rock formations seemed to cradle us as we moved through the valley thousands of feet underneath them. When my husband and I pulled into the parking lot…
You know that feeling of entering someone’s house, being greeted by the host or hostess? Or how wonderful it is to welcome someone into your home?
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…
