Tag: history Page 7 of 8
This past weekend, we made our first visit to Greenfield Village of the season. At this point, it almost doesn’t feel like spring until I get to soak up the sun in the Village. It was hard to believe that our last visit had been for holiday nights just a few days before Christmas. Now, the grass was green, the trees were beginning to bud, and everyone seemed to be glad to get to be able to get out of the house.
The first thing that caught my attention on this visit was that the train whistle sounded different. When we got closer, the reason for that became clear. It was a Day Out With Thomas and the train had been transformed into Thomas the Tank Engine. I’m sure if I had watched the show this decade I may have recognized that whistle at once, and I’m sure all the kids I saw with their Thomas balloons were very excited to get go on a ride on the famous train. This special event definitely seemed to bring young families to the Village.
We made a stop at the Cotswold Forge and the light coming in the window illuminating the blacksmith tools really caught my eye. It took a few tries to illuminate the shadows enough so as to not have a lot of noise. Being that this structure was built in the 17th century, I thought black and white was appropriate.
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The Fisher Building, located in Detroit’s New Center district and is known as “Detroit’s largest art object”. Right when I walked in the door, it became obvious how it received that title. This Albert Kahn (the architect who did the Guardian Building and the Belle Isle Aquarium and who is known as
The Architect of Detroit”) designed marvel is full of marble from all over the world, high, painted ceilings, and accented with brass and bronze. It features 1,800 bronze window and 641 bronze elevator doors. The ceilings in the arcade feature frescoes that were hand painted and at the time cost $20,000 (which would be about $265,000 in today’s money)! The exterior of this masterpiece is made up of over 325,000 square feet of marble and is the largest marble structure in the world! Somehow, it took only 15 months to complete and the building opened its doors to Detroit in 1928.
In later decades when Detroiters moved to the suburbs, the Fisher building was able to keep tenants because of its dedicated 1,100 spot parking garage, the first of its kind! Over the years, the building has changed hands several times because it is not cheap to run. In 1970, The Detroit Free Press wrote that the Fisher and the neighboring New Center Building cost $3.1 million a year to operate (Historic Detroit)! The building was most recently purchased along with the nearby Albert Kahn Building (previously known as the New Center Building) in 2015 for $12.2 million (Detroit Free Press). The new owner is reportedly putting $100 million into restoring these gems to their former glory! About the Fisher Building, Developer Peter Cummings said “It is more than just a beautiful building or a landmark; it is a beacon in the heart of Detroit for all of Detroit. It is the beacon of our city, both of its past and its future,” (Crain’s Detroit)
If you are in Detroit, and I advise that everyone should be at some point, definitely make a visit to the Fisher Building. On weekends, the Pure Detroit store in the lobby runs free, historical tours that are definitely worth the time!
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On my last post, I shared about our time in Mackinaw City. We were camping at Wilderness State Park which is about twenty minutes outside the city and our way to town we passed a sign for the McGulpin Point Lighthouse. Being fans of lighthouses, we decided to make a stop. This was one of the best maintained lighthouses I have visited. There was barely a scratch to any of the paint, inside or out. You can see in the photo, it is surrounded by a nice little garden. You can even stay in an apartment on the grounds. Where the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse (which is at the base of the Mackinac Bridge) is right in the heart of town, McGulpin Point is tucked away (it is near the Headlands Dark Sky Park). Where the Old Mackinac Point is pricey, McGulpin is donation only. Where the Old Mackinac Point is climbed in a group (and not guaranteed with admission, I must point out), McGulpin is at your own pace, with the ability to stay out on the catwalk and take pictures as long as you would like. From the catwalk, get out your telephoto lens for an interesting perspective on the Mackinac Bridge (my photo was a recent Wordless Wednesday). I was absolutely blown away by this lighthouse! If you are in the Mackinaw area definitely make a point to stop in and check it out and make a donation so they can continue to maintain this gem! You will not be disappointed.
Thanks for stopping by! To plan a visit to McGulpin Point, check out McGulpinPoint.org. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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After visiting Bodie Island Lighthouse, we headed to Roanoke Island to learn about the oldest American mystery. Do you remember the story from American History Class? The first English colonists were sent to Roanoke Island in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh. Shortly after arriving, Governor John White sailed back to England with the plan of returning later that year with supplies. Shortly, England went to war with Spain, the ships were comandeered by the English convernment and John White was not able to return to Roanoke until 1590. When he arrived the colonists were gone, the fort was dismantled, and the only clue left behind was the word “croatoan” carved in a tree. “Croatoan” was the name of present day Hatteras Island, but due to bad weather, White was unable to venture south and search for the colony. (wiki)
To this day, we do not know what happened to the colonists. We went to a ranger talk on the island where we discussed some of the theories: Did a hurricane wipe out the colony? Were they annihilated by disease? Did they assimilate with the nearby Indians? Did the colonists try to build a boat and return to England? Were they killed by the Indians? Or was it aliens? After returning home, we found this book by a 21st century anthropologist that gives a very compelling theory as to what happened to the first English settlers in the New World. Its too complicated to paraphrase, so I recommend you give it a read if you are at all interested in American history and what really happened at Roanoke.
Of course, when you’re in Roanoke, you have to see The Lost Colony! The drama is performed each summer on the site of the actual events. The drama just ended its 80th season which makes it the longest running outdoor symphonic drama in the U.S. Its the #1 thing to do in The Outer Banks on TripAdvisor and I highly recommend it too! The above photo is the only shot I took on Roanoke and is of the theater that houses The Lost Colony Show.
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After our morning at Yorktown, we made our way to Historic Jamestowne. When looking to visit Jamestown, you have two choices, Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement. At Jamestown Settlement, you will see costumed re-enactors and get to experience how the first American colonists lived. We chose instead to visit Historic Jamestowne which is run by the National Park Service and is the actual site of the Jamestowne Colony. We got there just in time for the archaeology tour and I was glad we made it. The tour was led by a Jamestowne archaeologist and she took us through recent archaeological discoveries that were made right where we were standing. I was surprised to learn how much is still being learned about these people that lived over 400 years ago. Honestly, some of their discoveries are shocking and I don’t want to spoil it for you if any of you are planning on visiting Jamestowne. If I’ve piqued your interests, you can read about their finds on the Historic Jamestowne website.
This was the highlight of the trip for me and I would recommend that everyone should visit, especially if you are an American History buff. The photo above is a recreation of the original Jamestowne fort. They didn’t just look at drawings of the fort to put this together, they actually figured out where the posts used to be by looking at the color of the soil. That is some attention to detail!
I believe this will be my last post about our time in Williamsburg so I want to talk about the campground. We stayed at Chickahominy Riverfront Park which had tent sites right on the Chickahony River. This must not be a popular spot to tent camp during the week because everyone around us left on Sunday and we had the place to ourselves Sunday night. The park is a little drive from the Williamsburg sites, but I enjoyed our time there. They have a fishing pier, boat ramp, and a pool which is nice way to cool down in the Virginia summer. It was a peaceful place and I would definitely camp there again. For more information about the campground, visit JamesCityCountyVA.gov
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Just outside of Williamsburg, on the Colonial Parkway, lies the Yorktown Battlefield. In 1781, The Americans and their French allies surrounded the British by land and sea. The British were significantly outnumbered and after three weeks of battle, General Cornwalis surrendered to General Washington. The Battle of Yorktown marked a major win for the colonists in the American Revolution and was the last of the major battles of the war. The Moore House, above, was where the two sides met to negotiate the terms of surrender. During the surrender, General Washington refused to grant the British the traditional honors of war (marching out with flags flying, bayonets fixed, and bands playing) because a year before the British had denied the Americans the same after the battle of Charleston.
Now that you’ve had your daily dose of American History, lets talk about visiting Yorktown. When you arrive at the visitor center, they tell you about Ranger-led programs, a video you can watch, and other ways you can explore the battlefield and learn about the history. We made the mistake of doing all of it. That may not sound bad, but between the video, the costumed reenactor, and the driving tour I felt like I had heard the story a million times. I really appreciated the costumed reenactor (I believe he was Thomas Nelson, the Governor of Virginia after Thomas Jefferson returned to Monticello) and I feel like I got the most out of that. The driving tour is nice if you want to actually see the sites, but, unless you have a love of cheesy acting, I would skip the movie.
Don’t miss next week’s post where I take you to Jamestowne! Thanks for stopping by! To plan your visit to Yorktown, visit the National Park Service. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.
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Our first night of the trip, we stayed at Laurel Hill State Park in Pennsylvania. We got in late and had to set up camp in the pouring rain. We had a lot of driving to do so we left before we really got to explore the park, but what I saw I liked and I would like to visit there again when I had more time to relax and explore the nature of Pennsylvania’s highlands.
Anyway, from the park it was a twisty-turny road through rural Appalachia. We made our first stop along the way at the C&O Canal Visitor’s Center (left) so Chris could get his first National Park passport stamp of the trip. The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal is a 184.5 river system that was designed to connect the east coast and the Great Lakes. The towpath trail is a popular biking spot that runs from Cumberland, Maryland to DC.
After exploring the canal trail a bit we continued south and made our next stop in Fredricksburg, Virginia. We visited some of the sites at the Fredricksburg Battlefield (above) and the Fredricksburg Cemetery. Fredricksburg was a Civil War battle that ended in a Confederate victory and over 12,000 Union casualties. This was the first Civil War Battlefield I had visited and it was hard to reconcile the history and the tragedy with the beautiful scenery that has sprung up in over 100 years since the bloody battle.
It was a short drive from Fredricksburg to Williamsburg where we set up camp for the next two nights. More on that next week. Thanks for stopping by! For more information on the C&O Canal and Fredricksburg, visit the National Park Service. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.