When Kaskaskia, Illinois, served as the first state capital in the early 1800s, its population was somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000. Today, the population is fewer than 25, and the only way to access this Mississippi River town is through Missouri. Only accessible through Missouri? That curiosity alone made us want to check it out.
Read more
Road trips are our thing. Add history and nature, toss in a little culture, and it’s a perfect combination. That’s what we found as we explored the historic mills of the Missouri Ozarks. The mills date back as far as the 1800s.
Read more
When the Kansas Gunsmoke Trail launched last year, we couldn’t wait to experience it. The trail is made up of four Kansas cities that were mentioned often in the old radio and television Gunsmoke series— Wichita, Dodge City, Hays, and Abilene—and includes lots of Old West-related attractions.
Our latest Midwest Wanderer Explores e-zine issue, “Kansas Gunsmoke Trail,” includes twelve articles about our experiences on the trail, plus links to related blog posts we’ve published in the past.
…and so much more.
Read moreWe’re excited to announce we’ve published the first issue of our FREE e-zine, Midwest Wanderer Explores.
The focus of the first issue, which you can read right now, is Alabama’s Coastal Connection National Scenic Byway. We share with you our month-long experience on the byway and all of the fascinating things we learned, like…
Read more
The USS Alabama almost went to scrappers. For fifteen years following decommissioning, the battleship sat at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Then, in the early 1960s, the federal government announced plans to scrap its aging World War II battleships, including the USS Alabama. The people of Alabama wouldn’t have it. The children alone raised $100,000 toward the $800,000 it would cost to move its namesake battleship to Alabama. In 1965, the USS Alabama opened in Mobile as a memorial and museum. Today the submarine USS Drum and a plethora of military aircraft and vehicles join the battleship on the 155-acre USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
Read more
Richmond/Wayne County, Indiana, has unveiled a brand-new Black History Trail.
Read more