Trail of Tears

Largely due to our lack of knowledge and research, our visit to the the Trail of Tears was not what Damon or I expected.  We assumed that similar to most of the historical sites that we had visited in the surrounding area, that the Trail of Tears would have something to do with the Civil War.  We were wrong.

The Trail of Tears commemorates the path taken by thousands of Native Americans (mainly Cherokees) as they were mistreated and forced under poor living conditions to leave their lands in the … Continue reading

Little River Canyon

With the weekend quickly approaching and our new desire to visit parks and acquire passport stamps, Damon and I opened up our Explorer Edition Passport book and started making plans for a day trip.  Given multiple choices within driving distance, we reviewed our options and decided upon Little River Canyon.

Damon and I were not anticipating the beauty that we saw in Fort Payne that day.  We were driving along on a main road (a somewhat relative term given this is not a big city), and did not expect to … Continue reading

Chattahoochee

For me, the Chattahoochee is a part of every day life in Atlanta.  I pass over the river every day on the way to work and watched as it overflowed damaging bridges and flooding parts of Atlanta six months ago.   I have hiked, leisurely walked along trails, and picnicked on the grounds of the Chattahoochee many times with friends or family over the years.  One of my all time favorite Chattahoochee experiences is spending a relaxing afternoon tubing down the river with friends.  I have always tubed with Cool … Continue reading

Chickamauga and Chattanooga

This park marks the site of two Civil War battles, one won by the North and the other by the South.  This park was the first National Military Park created to preserve and has been in the hands of the National Park system since 1890.

As a non-history buff from the North who has been living in the South near multiple Civil War sites for nearly ten years now, I have nearly had my fill of Civil War history.  I have also come to accept that I will be called … Continue reading

Dayton Aviation Heritage

The city of Dayton is centered around aviation, both historically and currently.  Home of the Wright-Patterson Airforce base and the National Air Force Museum, there is a lot to see outside of the National Park system as well.

Our first stop was at the main Visitor’s Center in a small neighborhood in Dayton.  After wandering around and learning a great deal about the Wright Brothers and their early flying attempts, a park ranger escorted us to one of their five bike shops located a short walk away.  I believe … Continue reading

William Howard Taft National Historic Site

We arrived at the childhood home of President Taft early Sunday morning upon opening.  That said, we were the only visitors.  My husband and I knew very little about Taft (literally nothing except he was a plump past president) and really did not expect to enjoy this site very much.  We were pleasantly surprised.

The site’s Visitor Center offers a video and information about Taft.  Taft was a man with a wide variety of experiences including serving as a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice and Governer-General of the … Continue reading

Obed

We did not have much time to spend in Obed. The Visitor’s Center was nearly closing and dusk was not far behind.  We perused the information in the Visitor’s Center, picked up some gifts for some animal lovers in my family, and bought ourselves the Explorer Edition passport book.  The Explorer Edition book runs about $50 and it larger, but in our opinion is worth the money.  It is much nicer and far more durable than the small spiral bound Passport Book.

We will need to return to Obed one … Continue reading

Big South Fork

Given that I work in a school, the luxury of Spring Break was quickly approaching.  A road trip to Michigan had been on our calendar for a few months to visit family.  As we would be traveling much of the trip up I-75, we decided to visit some parks along the way.  My husband and I were a bit overambitious in our plans with the intention of visiting 5-7 parks in a 2-day time span.  We  did not realize how interesting some of the parks would be and how much … Continue reading