For strange reasons we decided to travel to Central Illinois for Independence Day. Most things were closed of course, but we did manage to make go of it.
Category Archives: American History
Five photos from July 4 in Peoria IL
Filed under American History, Family, Travel
Traveling Back in Time on the Natchez Trace
It’s a sad story really…
Presidents’ Day Weekend. Kind of fitting, so many of their decisions created the trauma and drama of the Trace
We started in Holly Mississippi where Ida B Wells Barnett got her start at Rust College. The Coffee was terrible, the art was folksy.
It’s ultimately a clash between humanity and manifest destiny. The Choctaw and the Chickasaw were slowly pushed out of these lands as the Trace brought a continuous moving chain of settlers. One treaty and broken treaty after another, the Native People lost it all. They had their own Trail of tears tears before the Cherokee.
Slavery, poverty, the destruction of cultures, underlies all the beauty of Mississippi. I can never be happy there. But, I continue to return.
Filed under American History, National Parks, Photography, Uncategorized
Wrapping up a Quest
I have been on a mission to visit every state park site in Missouri. This weekend I wrapped up the quest with my final two locations: Dillard Mill and Nathan and Olive Boone Homestead state historic sites. These are both lovely locations worth a visit.
Filed under American History, Photography, Travel
Just The Facts – Traveling in March.
Fact: it’s really hot in Tennessee and Mississippi in the summer.
Fact: springtime flowers bloom a little sooner in the south, than in the north.
Fact: solo travel allows for maximum sightseeing with no negotiations. 😊
Spring break at a beach is crowded. Spring break to out-of-the-way state and national parks provides low crowds, no mosquitoes, and perfect temperatures.
I explored Western Tennessee and Northern Mississippi for a few days. The travel conditions were ideal. Here are a few glimpses of the equinox magic.
There were plenty of things to see, eat, and do. These were my favorite images.
Filed under American History, Art, National Parks, Photography
Coddiwompling in Illinois
Since the Covid shut down all my vacations in 2020 I have been heading out on short trips to see parks, small towns, geological formations, and wildlife. On Halloween, I visited some of the most rural areas in the Midwest – central western Illinois. You can’t find any coffee shops, there aren’t any museums, there are barely any people. The land is glaciated and generally flat. There is lots of corn. And of course, colorful trees.
After the Mexican war and Blackhawk war soldiers were given land in Illinois. One gentleman, George Meyer, was given a beautiful piece of property in western Illinois near the Illinois River. This land had a spring and a small town grew up around it. The man lived to be 104 years old, so everyone believed the water was healing. After George passed on, a real estate man got his hands on it and sold the water for decades. Later this area became Siloam Springs State Park. This history is hidden among the picnic pavilions and hiking trails.
We left Siloam Springs for the biggest town in the region – Jacksonville: the county seat of Morgan county. When we arrived, it too was a ghost town.
Or…
I don’t know if the coffee shop was really closed today or everyday. I don’t know how it could survive with no people. I walked into the bakery to see if I could find a doughnut. The door was open but nobody was inside. I could see cakes and cupcakes – but no doughnuts. And no people.
We wandered to another remote state park – Beaver Dam State Park. We heard there was people there.
So we headed home.
Filed under American History, Art, Photography, Travel
The Ghost of GnomePa on the Lincoln Trail
In 2016, Grandma died.
In 2017, Grandpa took off with me to visit all the state parks in Illinois. We left on our first trip two days after Christmas in the winter of that year. The temperature was -2 F. When we reached Starved Rock State Park, he pulled out his CAT orange stocking hat and immediately transformed into Gnomepa. We only made it on two trips. In the fall of 2018, Gnomepa succumbed to illness. His last words to me: “I wish we were at the Ice.”
The mission continues…
August 2020, during this journey my cousin and I visit parks #21-24 out of 72. Fox Ridge, Eagle Creek, Wolf Creek, and Ramsey Lake State Park. Plus we added on State Historic Sites: Lincoln Cabin, Monroe House, and Vandalia First State Capitol.
GnomePa in the Ice
Careful Communion in the Time of Covid
On the Lincoln Trail in Charleston Illinois
Illinois treats Lincoln Well
Like Living in the 1850’s
GnomePa would have said “This is Cool!”
Eastern Illinois Pioneers
A working farm
White Oaks of Some Sort
Grandpa loved the woods
And trails to the river
And Sandbars
August was kind to us
living creatures of all kinds
The Monarch still rules
Ramsey Lake
Filed under American History, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Atoning for our Sins
The Dakota Sioux controlled this quarry from 1700 to the mid 1850’s before American settlement started poaching the valuable mineral. This red/brown stone was soft enough to carve and durable enough to last centuries. Ceremonial pipes carved from the rock for thousands of years. This stone made its way all over the Americas before the Europeans arrived. The one square mile site is a sacred place for the Plains Indians even today. The United States government protected this valuable commodity and gave exclusive quarrying rights to the Sioux. The rest of us can still respectively enjoy the stunning red quartzite cliffs, the flowering prairie, and the waterfall fed forest.
An American Indian Monument
A quarry no longer used
This is either the pipestone or quartzite
regardless of type its stunning
The Town of Pipestone used Quartzite
The quartzite is abundant
The pipestone is much deeper underground
The trails through this monument surprise
sacred land for the Sioux and Crow
Minnesota – hard to believe
3/4 mile trail it’s worth an hour of your time
Active Quarry for American Indians
U.S. History omits the horror of assimilation
The trail surrounds a prairie
a river runs through the land
wild bergamont
lizard’s tail
Sacred ceremonies still continue
A peaceful place to commune with nature
Connections
Filed under American History, Art, National Parks, Photography, Uncategorized
For the Love of Kansas
I am from Missouri, and I had no idea how much there is to appreciate about my neighbor state Kansas. With the Covid-19 running rampant my wife and I explored central Kansas. And it was lovely.
The Capitol Shines
The Keeper of the Plains
The Solstice Eye – Meet Me On The Equinox
Just A Simple Old Cow Town – Wichita
Filed under American History, Art, Photography, Travel
The Ides of March
Beware the Ides of March.
This has always been a fun theme for my birthday. But in 2020, the Covid-19 virus arrived. People abandoned the streets, breweries, restaurants, museums, and coffee shops. Schools closed. Businesses died.
I was able to cross a few things off my travel lists:
- Finished up visiting all the breweries in St. Louis at Charleville.
- Went to the final of six National Parks in Missouri at the Ulysses Grant National Historic Site.
- Had coffee at the Mud House one final time, before it closed. I hope it reopens after the plague.
After cancelling a trip to Sonoma Wine Country, we did the best we could to make up for it in 24 hours. On March 16, 2020 – we were asked to stay inside. Social Distance. Flatten the Curve. We are homebound.
What does the Future hold?
Empty Cherokee Street
The National Parks were empty
White Haven abandoned
Magic Mountain eerily similar
The LAST coffee…
The Mud House closed after our visit
A final treat before quarantine
Fright, Fight or Flight?
Charleville empty
Social Distancing
Happy Birthday to Me
Filed under American History, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
A Dark Road We Travel Often in the USA
As I traveled across the country this summer, I made a point to seek out this concentration camp built for our American citizens in 1942. The Citizens of Japanese descent were offered a safe place to “relocate” to protect them. They gave up everything and complied. When they got to the camp, they found out that they were prisoners. The guard towers weren’t there to protect them from others; it was built to protect their country from them. Such sadness.
We must know
Relocation or Concentration
Over 110,000 Americans
The Guns Were Trained Into the Camp
From the West Coast
Fever Pitch Division
Who does?
Barracks site
Dehumanizing
shocking
Utter Sadness
To Protect Whom?
We Must Never Forget
Filed under American History, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Freshly "Pic'ed" 