Hawksbill Crag and Glory Hole Falls

After leaving Petit Jean State Park we continued north into the heart of the Ozarks. We started our journey at the iconic Hawksbill Crag Trail (also known as Whitaker Point) which features one… Continue reading

Petit Jean State Park, Part 2: Cedar Falls and Seven Hollows Trails

We started our second full day at Petit Jean State Park with a hike to Cedar Falls, a 95-foot waterfall in the canyon below Petit Mountain. Though it’s a short hike, the elevation… Continue reading

Petit John State Park, Part 1: Lake Bailey, Turtle Rocks, Rock House Cave, and Mountain Overlooks

The first thing I did once we had decided we were going to the Ozark Mountains was start searching my friend Paige’s blog, fortheloveofwanderlust.com. Paige and her husband Matt are avid adventurers and… Continue reading

Vicksburg, Mississippi and Vicksburg National Military Park

Despite my interest in history, I was not enthusiastic when Tom penciled a stop at Vicksburg battlefield into the itinerary: I envisioned a day spent walking around looking at signs with regiments and… Continue reading

Mounds and Mounds: Emerald Mound Site and Poverty Point National Monument

It’s been seven months since I last posted, by far the longest time I’ve gone without writing since I started blogging in 2013. For now at least I don’t want to write about… Continue reading

Jefferson Island and Rip Van Winkle Gardens

Our last activity before leaving southern Louisiana was a visit to Jefferson Island, another of the salt dome “islands” that rise above the southwestern delta country. Like Avery Island where we’d visited the… Continue reading

Louisiana Lowlands

Louisiana is undoubtedly a unique place; the Acadian, French, Native, and Western African influences on culture, food, and architecture combined with the distinctive coastal marshes and swamps that dominate the delta make the… Continue reading

Hot Sauce History

Sometime in the 1860s a Mr. Edmund McIlhenny of Avery Island, Louisiana acquired some capsicum frutescens, commonly known as Tabasco peppers, planted and harvested them near his home, aged their pulp in white… Continue reading

R&R: From German Beers to the Beach

We left on our winter RV trip the second week of February, making a beeline south to Fredericksburg, Texas. Situated in the Texas Hill Country, Fredericksburg was settled by German immigrants in the… Continue reading

Another Winter Dog

I don’t think we had our first snow until the end of December but it was definitely feeling like winter at least a few weeks before that. Allie seemed to thrive in the… Continue reading