Places I've Been... By State

Congaree Swamp National Monument's initial impression on me was the tall thin trees that bend like crazy in the wind. The second thing that impressed me was they actually had a mosquito meter on the Ranger's Cabin.

I was there during the winter and the Mosquito Meter was on "Low", so I can't tell you what it's like during June when they attack in squadrons. If it's anything like the border lakes in Minnesota, you might want to bring that insect repellent.

The Black Hills, long a sacred area for the local tribes, is now more a tourist destination. You can easily plan a weeklong vacation in the area, with attractions like Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, and the Western Towns such as Deadwood.

Just don't go there during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, unless you're specifically going for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally...

Custer State Park is my favorite state park, located right in the middle of the Black Hills.

It is a large and scenic park with accessible wildlife on one end and mountain roads on the other. One of the attractions to this park, is the close proximity of Mount Rushmore to the North and Wind Cave National Park to the South, in addition to all the other things to see and do in the area.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial represents a monument as big as the sculptor's ego. I admit, it's an impressive piece of art and national pride, and if you're in the Black Hills area, a definite must-see attraction. Just do it in the morning if you're planning on taking pictures.

Oh, and don't go there during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, unless you want to go to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Wind Cave National Park was originally created to preserve Wind Cave, but was expanded to almost 30,000 acres, preserving the grasslands and other wildlife habitat of the area. There is a sizable bison herd here, as well as the obligatory prairie dogs...

The cave tour (the general tourist one) is very easy and either level or downhill, and best of all there's an elevator at the end.

Should you be East or Westbound on I-90 through Western South Dakota, Badlands National Park is a no-brainer stop. It's close enough to Rapid City and the sites and attractions around there, to make Badlands a day trip should you be based there.

And be sure to stop in at Wall Drug for lunch, if it's possible. Be prepared to be there for a couple of hours just looking around.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited park in America due to its location in the East. It's a scenic park, with the tourist towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge just outside the entrance on one side, and the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of my favorite roads in America on the other.

It is a hugely popular park for fall colors.

I've actually driven all 443 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway, who's history goes back hundreds of years before the industrial revolution.

Once one of the most important roads in young America, today it's preserved as a monument to its past history, with dozens of historic and scenic sites along its length. If you're travelling to a destination somewhere along the Trace, it'd be worth the extra half-day or so to drive a portion of it...

I was first at the Meriwether Lewis Burial Site on the Natchez Trace Parkway in 2000, but it wasn't until closer to the bi-centennial of his trip to the West that I did a lot more research into the Corps of Discovery. I went back in 2011, when I found myself about a hundred miles away from the site.

This link will take you to the Natchez Trace Parkway Page.

Jack Daniels Distillery has one of the best factory tours around. You just have to find your way to Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Do try to visit on a weekday when the town (Historic Lynchburg) is open. Avoid Sunday's, because the distillery doesn't distill on Sunday. Ironically, Lynchburg is in a dry county, so you can't even sample the product, except for "souvenir bottles" of Jack in the White Rabbit Saloon.

Peaceful Pastures is a farm in Tennessee that a friend of mine owns. It's not a traditional farm that raises crops, unless you consider sheep, goats and cattle to be crops. Well, okay, you might... It's a tale of city boy meets rural life for a week. And sometimes, it's not very pretty. Also included is a side trip to the Natchez Trace Parkway, and Edgar Evins State Park.

This link use to take you to the "Other Stuff" section of this website.

I actually used the "cabins" (more like townhomes) in Edgar Evins State Park as a hotel when doing some stuff for Jenny during my Peaceful Pastures Farm Trip. These are mostly cabin interiors, plus a tale of my first introduction to the place.

These images live on the Peaceful Pastures page.

The San Antonio Missions was a very cool place to visit, allowing one to visualize what it was like before any sort of modern convenience.

Also include here are images of the Alamo, which is not part of the park. It's a Daughters of the Republic of Texas site, and does not allow photography inside of the church. So I only have exteriors.

I was in San Antonio twice, both times for a computer security conference. One time it was in the Marriot, the other time in the Hyatt, both off the Riverwalk Area.

But I probably spent more of my free time visiting the San Antonio Missions than I did in San Antonio...