2019 Year in Review: 65 Highlights
2019 was a year for the record books. We travelled over 25,000 miles from TopSail, North Carolina to Gloucester, Massachusetts and a ton of places in between those spots. We had a few common themes (you’ll notice them below) and no matter where we travelled, we found friendly locals, rich history, and tons of fun.…
Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City
Regular readers will recall my passionate enthusiasm for the National Park Service. A quick search on my blog and you will find dozens of sites we have visited- check them out here. Whenever we travel or visit a new area, I always check for any nearby site- the Park Service has an app and website…
Mount Vernon in Virginia
Mount Vernon, home to George and Martha Washington and their family, is the most popular home in America- over one million people visit each year. The home, located twenty minutes outside downtown Washington DC in Mount Vernon, Virginia, was originally a 8,000 complex with five farms: Dogue Run, Muddy Hole, River, Union, and Mansion House…
Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City
Built as the Delancey Mansion in 1719, Samuel Fraunces purchased the building in 1762 and turned it into a tavern, later offering it as a place for political and social gatherings and distribution of news. The tavern became known as the Fraunces Tavern and is most famously recognized as the spot where George Washington said…
Playing ‘I Spy” in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a town of less than 10,000 people, is the site of the largest Civil War battle ever fought, lasting three days in early July 1863. Over 51,000 soldiers were captured, wounded, or killed. The Battle is considered the turning point of the American Civil War, as the Union won the battle over Robert…
Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee
Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage was the exclusive property of Andrew and his wife Rachel. He lived there from 1804 until his death in 1845. It was bought by a nonprofit organization in 1889 and opened later that year as a museum in his honor. Almost every artifact in the mansion is authentic. The property averages about…