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This Week on the Road - March 17th-23rd

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This Week on the Road - March 17th-23rd

Hello Everyone! First and foremost this week, I want to say how much my heart goes out to those affected by the tornadoes yesterday in New Orleans and across Texas. The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans suffered enough for a lifetime with Hurricane Katrina and I’m heartbroken by the images coming from there today. I wish them well with their recovery. As for me, I’ve spent most of this week traveling across the Llano Estacado or the “Staked Plains” of northeastern New Mexico. This is not an area that sees a lot of tourism, but there is actually quite a bit to see out here and I’ve been enjoying it. The winds, however, have been blowing hard at me all week, which makes it hard to drive and since no matter which way you turn it never seems to be at your back, it doesn’t help with my gas mileage. When I pulled into Clayton an hour ago though, gas was at $3.70/gallon, the cheapest I’ve seen in over a month! It would have seemed expensive 3 months ago, but for today it brought a smile to my face. I’ve spent a lot of the week dodging suicidal tumbleweeds which wait until the last second and then make a beeline for my undercarriage. The beautiful pronghorns I’ve seen out in the grasslands have made up for it, though. I’ve actually been feeling really good this week and have been enjoying seeing this region of the state. Even though towns are few and far between and the wind makes me feel like I’m captaining a boat instead of driving a van, it’s been a really good week out here.

When I left you last week, I was on my way out to take some photos around Santa Fe, but clouds had moved in and it was a bit gloomy. I tucked into a little bar and met the most cantankerous person I’ve met thus far in New Mexico. Since he was the bartender and owner, it seemed like a good sign to call it an early night and get a good jump on my Thursday.

I hit the gym first thing Thursday morning and came out to find it snowing pretty heavily out. Since I couldn’t take my camera out in the snow, I went for an early lunch at a spot called Horseman’s Haven which my friend Estilla had recommended. When I got there, I double checked my phone to make sure I was in the right place because it was a little plain-looking spot tucked into the corner of a gas station parking lot. I’m sure glad I didn’t judge the book by its cover, because it turned out to be a really great restaurant. I had some chicken adovado, a New Mexican dish of chicken marinated and cooked in red chili, and I also got a side of their famous green chili which was as good as I had been promised (Anthony Bourdain apparently said it would “melt your face off”). It may be the best restaurant I’ve been to thus far in the state.

From there I headed back downtown and went to see the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of Governors. The museum was pretty good and set out to tell the history of the state from the earliest Paleo-Indians to the modern day. I must admit my ignorance on a lot of the details of this region. Even though the names were all familiar from guiding tours here for many years, I didn’t have a good chronological understanding in my head and this museum really helped with that. I also enjoyed their in-depth look at the Harvey Hotels, an early chain of hotels and restaurants that grew up with the railroad, of which Santa Fe’s own La Fonda was one. I’ve been to La Fonda many times, and El Tovar and the Bright Angel Lodge at Grand Canyon, but I’ve always been interested in the brand, which was also one of the first big tourism operations in the Southwest. After early run-ins with locally hired employees, Fred Harvey decided to hire mostly young, single women - lovingly remembered as the Harvey Girls. In doing so, the Harvey brand may have had more responsibility for populating the region than they intended by bringing single, adventurous women to the Southwest. The Palace of Governors, which is attached to the museum, has been on the plaza in Santa Fe since 1600. It’s been occupied by the Spanish, the Pueblo Indians, Mexico, the United States and even, briefly, the Confederacy. The building has been altered, expanded, contracted, and was even given Victorian flourishes at one point. When you learn all of this, it’s amazing that this adobe building has survived for 400 years. Sadly, there isn’t much to it on the inside except a bunch of whitewashed walls and I wish they would furnish it from its many different periods. It was still interesting to see and I’m glad I went.

It being St. Patrick’s Day, my next stop was Boxcar – a very un-Irish bar, but seemingly the only game in town for the big day. To be fair, they did try and they all worked very hard to make it enjoyable. There was corned beef, Guinness and green beer…

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Snapshots: Socorro - A Lucky Stop Under Perfect Skies

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Snapshots: Socorro - A Lucky Stop Under Perfect Skies

In 1598, Juan de Oñate y Salazar was on a conquest to colonize Nuevo Mexico for Spain. Traveling north of El Camino Real, his caravan had just passed through the dreaded 90 mile stretch known as the Journada del Muerto or “Journey of the Dead Man” when they encountered the Piro people of the Tempana Pueblo. These people offered the party food and water and Oñate called the place “Socorro” meaning succor or aid. In 1626, the Spanish built a mission church nearby and christened it Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro or Our Lady of Perpetual Succor. The mission was abandoned and destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and wouldn’t be resettled until 1815. A beautiful new church was built and named after San Miguel.

I came to Socorro because it was where I was when I ran out of steam for the day. It was on my radar, but I didn’t know if I would have time to stop. I’m sure glad I did. There are so many wonderful historic buildings around town, and the evening was absolutely perfect for photography. I enjoyed a nice long walk around downtown and then settled into the mining-era Capitol Bar for a couple of their house-brewed beers. Then I ventured out to El Camino Restaurant and Lounge, a holdover from another time. Both the restaurant and the lounge are worth visiting for the ambiance alone. It snowed overnight and while there wasn’t much on the ground, the mountains had a lovely dusting. I happily snapped a few more shots with the snow before hitting the road. Socorro is definitely worth a stop on your way through New Mexico and I hope you enjoy these photos from my brief time in this wonderful little town.

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Snapshots: Truth or Consequences - Interesting Name, Beautiful Town

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Snapshots: Truth or Consequences - Interesting Name, Beautiful Town

People have been visiting the natural hot springs in the Palomas Basin for centuries. The Spanish called them Ojo Caliente de Las Palomas and the cowboys called them Palomas Hot Springs. In the late 18th century, a public bath was built on a ranch in the area where people could come and take the waters. When the Elephant Butte Dam was built in 1912 to help with irrigation, the area became more attractive to settlers and the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico was incorporated in 1916. Twenty-one years later, it would become the county seat of Sierra County. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular radio show Truth or Consequences, promised to air their 10th anniversary show live from any town that would change its name to match that of the show. Hot Springs residents jumped at the opportunity and officially changed its name to Truth or Consequences. Edwards made good on his promise and visited the town on the first weekend of May every year for the next 50 years. His visit was turned into a celebration, Fiesta, which still happens every year at that time. T or C, as the locals call it, is a wonderful and colorful little town full of hot springs resorts and art galleries and with a backdrop of beautiful mountains that light up when the sun is low in the sky. I loved my brief stay in one of the country’s most uniquely named towns, and I hope you enjoy these photos of fabulous Truth or Consequences.

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This Week on the Road March 10th-16th

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This Week on the Road March 10th-16th

Hello Everyone! Well I’m finally starting to feel more adjusted to the dryness of the desert and the altitude here in Northern New Mexico. It definitely takes a few days to get used to in my sinuses and with just walking around. On the other hand, Shadow Catcher has gotten better gas mileage this week than at any time since I’ve had her, and it is definitely the right time for that. Daylight Savings is back and I’m absolutely enjoying the later sunset – it stretches my day out a bit and I feel a little less hurried. I spent a good chunk of this week in Albuquerque, a city I had only visited in passing before. At first it seemed a little bit seedy, but it really grew on me and I enjoyed it quite a bit and look forward to returning. Beyond that, the weather has been near perfect all week and I’ve continued to really enjoy my time in New Mexico. It’s growing nearer and dearer to my heart every day. I guess they don’t call it The Land of Enchantment for nothing.

So when I left you last week, I was in the small town of Truth or Consequences which turned out to be a neat little town and one of the most photogenic I’ve been through so far. I headed out to Elephant Butte Lake State Park to take some photos and grab a quick shower, but the lake out there is really low after years of drought. I returned downtown in the evening and enjoyed wandering around and taking photos until the sun went down. Then I stopped in for a couple of beers at the great little Truth or Consequences Brewery and enjoyed speaking with the lady who worked there who had moved to T & C from El Paso and never looked back.

I was up and off on Thursday with big plans that I couldn’t quite fit into a day. My first stop was at old Fort Craig, an army fort built in 1854 - soon after the New Mexico Territory became a part of the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The fort was established to provide protection from Indians for settlers moving west into the newly acquired territory. It was staffed mostly by recent immigrants, one of whom described Fort Craig as “some lonesome sort of hole on the edge of the hot and dusty desert”. It would become the unlikely site of a fairly important battle (for the Western Theatre) of the Civil War as the Confederacy had its eyes on Colorado and California gold and a Pacific port which would be free from a Union blockade. To get to either, they had to cross New Mexico first, no small feat in the 1860s. Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley, who led the charge, planned on providing for his troops by “living off the land”. I don’t think he was quite prepared for the desolate and sparsely populated desert environment he found. Fort Craig, at the time, had tremendous storehouses and provided food and supplies to the entire region, so Sibley set his sights on the small desert fort. The armies met on the Valverde Battlefield, not far away, and the Confederates managed to send the Union troops retreating back to the fort. Sibley then demanded the fort’s surrender, which was probably met by laughter but was definitely refused by Commanding Officer Colonel Edward Canby who saw no reason to surrender his secure and well-armed fort. Sibley didn’t have the ammunition or the firepower to attack the fort, so he was forced to move on in search of provisions for his men further north. Canby left in pursuit, leaving Kit Carson in command in his absence. A defeat near Santa Fe sent the Confederates high-tailing it back to Texas. The fort would go back to serving its original purpose of fighting off the Apache, but was abandoned by the 1890s. Today it is just a collection of ruins overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, but it’s an interesting place. The caretaker told me they average just 8 visitors a day, but sometimes get as many as 20.

After a few hours at the fort, I headed on to the beautiful Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge just up the road. These natural wetlands are an essential stopover for migrating birds, and seeing it helps to show the importance of the Wildlife Refuge System…

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Snapshots: Old Mesilla - New Mexican, Old West Charm

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Snapshots: Old Mesilla - New Mexican, Old West Charm

When the Mexican-American War ended with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, much of present-day New Mexico became part of the United States. Mesilla was founded just south of the new border for local Mexicans who wanted to remain in Mexico and the town grew quickly to a population of over 800 in 1850. In 1854, Mesilla would be included in the Gadsden Purchase and become a part of the United States from that time forward. Mesilla would briefly serve as the Confederate capital in New Mexico during the Civil War. Billy the Kid once called Mesilla home and it was there that he was sentenced to die by hanging for the murder of Sheriff Brady in the Lincoln County War. Mesilla was also a stop on the famed Butterfield Stagecoach route. Today, the bells still ring in the San Albino Church and the Historic Plaza is a vibrant gathering place. The incredible bar and dining room at the Double Eagle are a must-see if you visit, even if just for a margarita. Just around the corner is La Posta Restaurant which used to be the old Corn Exchange Hotel where the likes of Billy the Kid, Kit Carson and Pancho Villa once stayed. There is a ton of history in old Mesilla and it’s one of the coolest little towns I visited in Southeast New Mexico. It’s definitely worth a stop if you’re ever in that part of the state. I hope you enjoy these photos from fabulous Old Mesilla.

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Snapshots: Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

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Snapshots: Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

The Three Rivers Petroglyph site offers an amazing look into the ancient rock carvings of the Jornada Mogollon people. These rock carvings, created between 900 and 1400 AD, are scattered across a boulder field in the Chihuahuan Desert between the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. There are over 20,000 recorded petroglyphs in this area, making it one of the most prolific petroglyph sites in the country. While nobody knows the exact meaning of these chiseled carvings, some of the more recognizable animals and birds offer a glimpse into what these ancient people found important. Located 17 miles north of Tularosa and 28 miles south of Carrizozo, this site, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, makes an excellent detour. There is a $5 admission fee to the site, but it is federal land so all National Park passes are also accepted. You could make the one mile out-and-back hike in under an hour, but the longer you stay, the more you will see. I hope you enjoy these photos of a tiny fraction of the carvings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.

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This Week on the Road - February 24th-March 3rd

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This Week on the Road - February 24th-March 3rd

Hello Everyone! Well it was a fun romp across the country and I’ve made it to New Mexico. I’ve definitely been having a wonderful first week here in The Land of Enchantment. I’ve traveled from the oilfields of the southeast, through UFO country at Roswell and into the Old West at Lincoln. I paid my respects at the grave of Smokey the Bear, passed through some beautiful ski resort towns and then down into the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert where I saw some cool petroglyphs and incredible White Sands National Park. My week is ending here in sunny Las Cruces where I celebrated Mardi Gras last night, far from New Orleans, but close in my heart. It’s been an amazing and incredibly diverse start to my New Mexican adventure, much like the people of the state itself. I can honestly say that my first impression of New Mexican people in the short time I’ve been here is that they are very sweet. That’s probably not a good word, but it’s the one which constantly comes to mind. I’ve had quiet and pleasant conversations with roughnecks, bouncers, a bartender missing his front teeth and a guy with neck tattoos and every one of them just seemed like a teddy bear who would giggle if you tickled them (an impression I did not test out on any of them). I have, of course, met wonderful people all over the country, but there are places where you get a particularly good feeling and so far this part of New Mexico has given me that feeling. The places I’ve traveled have been great and the food has lived up to my memories of how good New Mexican cuisine can be. All in all, it’s been a fantastic week on the road and just what I needed to start off this leg of my journey.

When I left you last week I was headed towards Luckenbach in the Hill Country of Texas. On my way, I stopped into Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Site in Johnson City, a town named after one of Lyndon’s relatives, James Polk Johnson. The site was fascinating and included LBJ’s boyhood home in Johnson City and the Johnson Ranch and “Texas White House” a few miles down the road where he lived later in life and eventually retired. It’s also where he is buried in a very simple family cemetery. LBJ grew up in a humble home with no electricity, one of five children born to two local teachers. He went on to become a teacher himself and taught impoverished children of Mexican descent. LBJ entered politics in 1931 as a legislative secretary and went on to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate (where he rose to be the Majority Leader). In 1960, he ran against John F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination for president, joining JFK’s ticket after his primary defeat. When LBJ became president after Kennedy’s assassination, he often returned to his Texas ranch, inviting friends, colleagues, and foreign dignitaries to join him there and experience some Texas hospitality. Their barbecues were both massive and legendary. While the Texas White House was closed during my visit, the grounds were open and I enjoyed learning more about Johnson, his early life and his political successes. I had always pictured Johnson as a Texas rancher, but never realized his humble upbringing and had always assumed he was just carrying on with Kennedy’s agenda instead of how much actually came from him. I’m glad I made the stop and after a few hours there, I was off to Luckenbach.

Luckenbach was settled in 1845 and steadily grew to a population of 492 people in 1904. By the 1960s, though, it was virtually a ghost town and the town was advertised for sale in the newspaper. Two men, Hondo Crouch and Guich Koock, bought the town for $30,000 and set about trying to revitalize its aging dance hall and country store. The town’s fate was sealed when Waylon Jennings recorded a song called Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love), a song he hadn’t written about a town he’d never been to. The song hit #1 on the charts and people have been coming to check out the town ever since. It hosts concerts, festivals and live music daily. The night I arrived the scheduled musician had called off due to the weather but luckily a group of musicians just happened to be there to celebrate a friend’s birthday and jumped at the opportunity to take the stage in such a storied venue. They were great and I enjoyed chatting with them after the show. I also enjoyed meeting the locals and talking about the history of the town and the people who have passed through over the years. It was a really fun night.

Freezing rain came overnight and caused both shows to cancel on Thursday so I decided to head on down the road. The rain had frozen in the trees, creating an absolutely mesmerizing landscape as I descended out of the Hill Country and into the flatlands of West Texas. When I got to a lower elevation, the frozen trees gave way to prickly pear cactus and I felt as though I had arrived in the West. I made my way through Mason, Menard and Eden before landing for the night in San Angelo. I hit the gym and then headed out for some delicious Tex-Mex food and a quick beer before calling it an early night.

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Snapshots: Lincoln - The Baddest Town in New Mexico

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Snapshots: Lincoln - The Baddest Town in New Mexico

The area in southeast New Mexico that now includes the town of Lincoln was originally inhabited by Mogollon people and later by the Piros and Mescalero Apache. When a group of settlers arrived from the Rio Grande Valley, they named their new town La Placita del Rio Bonito, or “the place by the beautiful river”. The town was renamed soon after the Civil War in honor of President Lincoln and was made the county seat of the massive Lincoln County. In 1873, Irishman L.G. Murphy opened a general store and won the contract to supply beef to nearby Fort Stanton. When Englishman John Tunstall set up a rival store down the street and challenged Murphy’s monopoly on the beef contract, the Lincoln County War broke out with each man hiring his own army of gunslingers. One of Tunstall’s men, who the world remembers as Billy the Kid, has gone down in history as one of the most notorious figures from Old West lore. The Kid was arrested and tried for his role in the murder of the county’s sheriff and was held in the county courthouse, which had once been Murphy’s store, to await his hanging. He outsmarted and overpowered the two deputies who were watching him and escaped, only to be cornered and killed by the new sheriff, Pat Garrett, just a few months later at Fort Sumner. The volatility in Lincoln led President Rutherford B. Hayes to call the town’s main street "the most dangerous street in America". Today there are quite a few remnants from its wild past and much of the town is an historic site. I found the whole place fascinating and learned a lot while I was there. I wish I had had more time to explore it, but I hope you enjoy these photos from my brief stay in tiny Lincoln, New Mexico, once one of the Old West’s baddest towns.

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Snapshots: Roswell - Alien City

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Snapshots: Roswell - Alien City

Roswell is a town of about 48,000 people, making it the fifth largest city in New Mexico. The area was originally settled in 1869 when Van C. Smith and Aaron Wilburn built a small store, inn and post office. They named their settlement Roswell, which was Smith’s father’s first name. Roswell was the home of Walker Air Force Base from 1941-1967 and housed a POW camp during World War II, holding mostly German prisoners. In 1947, a UFO purportedly crashed in the area and the military seized the aircraft and its alien operators. This alleged incident has brought interest and controversy ever since, and you can read all about it and decide for yourself at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Roswell has embraced the tourism opportunity from their UFO encounter and there are no shortage of T-shirts and bumper stickers to be had. Beyond that, I found Roswell to be a pleasant place full of kind and welcoming people and I’m definitely glad I stopped in for a while. I hope you enjoy these photos from fun and beautiful Roswell, New Mexico.

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This Week on the Road - February 2nd-9th

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This Week on the Road - February 2nd-9th

Hello Everyone! I am thrilled to be back on the road after a wonderful two months at home in D.C. It’s definitely tough to leave my folks and my friends, but it’s time to get back to it and I’m very excited for the road ahead. I left on Sunday afternoon and have been making tracks to get south to warmer weather, which I have found here in Northern Alabama where the sun is shining and temperatures were in the mid-fifties today. While I’m sure you all know by now that I prefer the back roads and scenic byways, the interstate is definitely a nice option when you’re trying to hustle. I do love seeing all the exit signs on the way which remind me of some amazing times I’ve had in these southern states. My drive to New Orleans could have taken months, as it has in the past, but I do want to get out west sooner rather than later.

It is always nice to be back in the South, where the food and music are great and people hold doors and wave a ‘thank you’ when you let them in in traffic. I’ve been somewhat surprised at the number of people I’ve seen with masks on, but I’m also well aware of the low vaccination numbers and high hospitalization rates down here as well. It breaks my heart, really, because I know and have met so many good people in these parts who, because of whatever news they are reading, have decided not to get vaccinated. And now so many are getting sick and dying unnecessarily. I wish they knew as many doctors and nurses as I’m fortunate enough to know who could tell them, as they’ve told me, that vaccination is both safe and effective. But I’m not here in this area or here in this newsletter to preach, I just want people to be safe and healthy.

I certainly had a great few days at home this past week before I took off on Sunday. On Thursday my folks and I headed out to the Surratt Tavern in Clinton, Maryland for a tour of this fascinating historic building. My mom and I had been there before when we were on the Trail of John Wilkes Booth Scenic Byway last year, but it had been closed. We were happy to get back and see the inside of the place. Our guide was a wonderfully informative and we enjoyed or conversation with her. She realized that we knew the basics of the story of Mary Surratt and her son John and the role they played in the assassination of President Lincoln. Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the federal government. Since we already knew most of that story, she wanted to tell us more about the property itself and the role Mary may have played in the death of her own husband. She also wanted to share what she knew about the enslaved people who worked at the tavern and on the property. We were able to take our time wandering around the building and my mother was thrilled to look in all of the closets, nooks and crannies. It is certainly an interesting place and worth a visit if you’re in the area. From there we drove back into the city and made a quick stop at Mount Olivet Cemetery to show my stepfather where Mary Surratt is buried. We stopped for a beer at the relatively new Other Half Brewing Company in Ivy City. Their beers were good, but whoever named them needs a class in creativity and they were awfully expensive, even for D.C. Then we went around the corner for another beer at Atlas Brewing Co., an old favorite of ours. While we were there, the man in charge of their trivia night recognized my mother from her time working with the Boy Scouts. I was really glad he came over to ask because it really made her night. For dinner, we headed over to the Panda Gourmet just down the road. Tucked away in the Days Inn at the corner of New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road, this is the restaurant Chinese President Xi Jinping ate at during his visit to Washington. It’s a pretty great spot although it’s not what it was before the pandemic. I’m sure they’ve been doing mostly takeout and delivery as there was only one person working the front of the house when we were there. The food was still good though…

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This Week On the Road - December 23rd-January 5th

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This Week On the Road - December 23rd-January 5th

Hello Everyone. Happy New Year to you all – may 2022 be everything you hope and dream it can be. I apologize for this newsletter not going out last week, but my folks and I were out of town on a little trip I will tell you all about later in this post. I had hoped to get my newsletter done before we left, but it just didn’t happen. Then the New Year came and went and then a snowstorm hit us on Monday and now it’s a whole week later. I’m sure you all had plenty to do as well this past week, but I missed writing this post nonetheless. It was definitely a festive week here at home and we enjoyed spending a lot of time together. We got out and saw some very cool places these last couple of weeks which I’d love to share with you here.

The Thursday before Christmas, we all headed down to Old Town Alexandria for lunch at Gadsby’s Tavern which was opened in 1770 and hosted two of George Washington’s birthday celebrations. It’s a great little colonial inn and our lunch was really good. From there we wandered around the Alexandria waterfront a little bit and then made our way back to downtown D.C. We had a nice visit to the National Christmas Tree in front of the White House and to the Capitol Christmas Tree at the U.S. Capitol. On the drive between the two, we were really struck by the beautiful tree at the Canadian embassy as well. Downtown Washington is a beautiful place every day, but it’s especially nice at Christmas and a really nice day really put us in the mood for the holiday weekend.

And a wonderful Christmas weekend it was, with lots of cooking and eating and music and fun. It was wonderful to get together and cook all day on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and turn out both an excellent breakfast and dinner on both days (no lunch was required, believe me). Everything came out well, and I was very proud of my first cheesecake which was delicious. While I don’t really want or need anything in the whole world, my mother really surprised me with a wonderful gift this year. I had mentioned in my blog a few weeks ago when I was out in Minnesota how much I had wanted an Indian pipestone pipe carved from their sacred quarries, but simply couldn’t justify the purchase. I don’t get a lot of souvenirs on the road, but that was one I had wanted and was disappointed about not getting. My mom found a really beautiful pipe online which had been hand carved by Roy Redwing of the Santee Dakota Nation from the quarry I visited while I was there and it’s something I will really treasure. I got a Roku for each of them so that when they are watching TV they can watch what they want as opposed to what’s on, and they are enjoying them so far.

After Christmas we lay low for a couple of days and then headed north and west to Pennsylvania. We had visited the National Historical Sites of Western Pennsylvania before, but it had been a bit rushed and we hadn’t had the chance to really dig into them as much as we would have liked, so this trip set out to remedy that. Our first stop was Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS, which tells the fascinating story of the first continuous transportation link between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (and also, therefore, between the eastern seaboard and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers). The biggest challenge on this route was over the mountains between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown. In 1834 a system was completed by which canal boats could be towed onto railcars which could then be towed up the mountain by being attached to cables which were powered by steam powered engines. It was quite the engineering feat and was utilized for 20 years to make the crossing. Charles Dickens passed this way on his travels, as did the bodies of two presidents (William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor) on their way west for burial. With the opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, this route became obsolete in the 1850s and not much of it remains today, but it is a fascinating place and the National Park Service does a great job of interpreting the site, as usual.

From there we headed on to Johnstown Flood National Memorial which commemorates the tragic 1889 flood which occurred following the failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River.

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Snapshots: Winona - My Last Stop in Minnesota

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Snapshots: Winona - My Last Stop in Minnesota

Winona was my last stop during my six week stay in Minnesota. This small city with a population of about 26,000 is right on the Mississippi River and the Great River Road in the far southeast of the state. This land was once home to the Mdewakanton Band of Lakota Indians and is named for the first-born daughter of Chief Wabasha III. Originally settled in 1851, Winona grew to be a major rail and steamboat town with wheat and lumber playing a major role as well. Today, there are some great old buildings lining the streets and the St. Stanislaus Basilica is one of the most beautiful churches in the state if not the country. I also enjoyed a stop in the Historic Society museum located in the old armory and the beautiful stained glass windows at Merchants National Bank. I wasn’t in Winona long as it was time for me to be heading on down the road, but I hope you enjoy these few photos from my stay.

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