Belle Boyd was born in West Virginia in May 1844. Boyd became a Confederate spy before her 18th birthday and conveyed information and supplies to Southern military leaders. The 10-year-old Marie Isabelle Boyd moved into the Greek Revival-style house with her family that her father, Benjamin Reed Boyd built in 1853; two years later Boyd […]
Month: December 2021
The Wildlife Refuge That Almost Became a Housing Development: Exploring Eastern Neck NWR
We visited Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) twice last month: once in the beginning of the month and then in the later half of the month because I’d read that the tundra swans had arrived. Both times we saw different birds: hawks, seagulls or terns, vultures, Cardinals, tundra swans from a very far distance, […]
Exploring the Art, History and Science of Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass
Still Life with Two Plums, 2000, Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick The Corning Museum of Glass should be on your bucket list, if it’s not already. Carrona (Carrion), 2011, Javier Perez, blown glass chandelier, assembled, broken; taxidermied crows, wire, monofilament; this provocative sculpture evokes opportunistic birds eating carrion in a pool of blood by the side […]
Walk through American History on Historic Huguenot Street
The Crispell Memorial French Church is a reconstruction of the 1717 stone church that wasused by the Huguenot families for both worship and education. The current structure was rebuilt in 1972. Historic Huguenot Street, in New Paltz NY, is one of the oldest, continuously occupied European settlements in America, dating back to the last three decades […]
Minnewaska State Park’s Must See Falls: Awosting Falls Hike
Awosting Falls are a spectacular water fall within the Minnewaska State Park, itself a very popular day-use park. The short and sweet Awosting Falls Hike is simply a must-do hike if you visit this park. The state park features a couple of “sky lakes,” as well as as about 50 miles of trails. With the […]
Fire and Ice: A Longwood Christmas Celebration
We started our Christmas season with a visit to one of our favorite lights displays: Longwood Gardens. We took a year off from our now almost-annual visits because of the pandemic, which made returning this year even better. We arrived during the daylight, the better to appreciate the last rose bloom … … and the […]
The Secret Flower in Skyline Caverns You Must See to Believe!
Skyline Caverns is a series of geologic caves and a tourist attraction located in Warren County, Virginia, one mile south of Front Royal. Unlike other caverns in the area, Skyline Caverns were discovered on purpose — a retired geologist went searching for them. Walter S. Amos went sniffing around for caverns that could be commercialized […]