Favorite "Other" history hangouts

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

Since moving, I've been taking the family to a lot of historical sites I've known about all my life, but haven't been close enough to to make it a thing. Which got me thinking about the fact that no matter where we've lived, we've always made the most out of day trips.

Currently, that means one weekend, it's a tour of Guilford Courthouse, where Nathanael Greene twisted Cornwallis' tail, but good. Next weekend, it'll be off to Yorktown. But those are the "biggies" -- what about the day trip stuff where you stop for an hour or two because the roadside advertising caught your eye?

In Texas, folk know about the obvious sites, like the Alamo, or the Capitol, or Goliad, but may not know about some other cool sites for day trips, like the Fanthorp Inn in Anderson, or the aboriginal art in Seminole Canyon, or John Nance Garner's grave (dig all the "Vice President's Grave Right This Way!" signs on the way to Uvalde... camp factor is excellent), or the Judge Roy Bean museum in Langtry, etc.

Every corner of the country has 'em, whether historically interesting, like the Fanthorp Inn, or hysterically apocryphal, like the World's Largest Chest of Drawers in High Point, NC.

What are some of your favorite out of the way day trip sites throughout the country? I'm interested in both the legit and the ridiculous. Stuff that is worth an hour or two, but you wouldn't necessarily plan your whole vacation, or even your whole day, around it.

[El Diablo 4,232]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Camp,_North_Carolina

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

1 minute ago, El Diablo said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Camp,_North_Carolina

We're actually looking for land out there, because the prices are going down, since the locals are skeered of a new gravel quarry going in. They're convinced that granite dust is carcinogenic, in spite of a pretty well documented longitudinal history of medical studies showing otherwise. And, yeah, the Regulator uprising is definitely some interesting trivial history -- turns out there were six other such uprisings in North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War. Good example.

 

[El Diablo 4,232]

4 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

We're actually looking for land out there, because the prices are going down, since the locals are skeered of a new gravel quarry going in. They're convinced that granite dust is carcinogenic, in spite of a pretty well documented longitudinal history of medical studies showing otherwise. And, yeah, the Regulator uprising is definitely some interesting trivial history -- turns out there were six other such uprisings in North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War. Good example.

 

I spent about 5 years living in the Piedmont, little town of Roxboro north of Durham on 501. Tobacco and rednecks as far as the eye could see. Met a guy thru work who lived near Snow Camp and visited there a few times. Nice part of the world. That was 30 years ago so no telling what I would recognize there now. Just remember there being an overgrown house out in the country where a hermit lived, lol. NC was full of places like Snow Camp. 

This one would be a bit of a drive for you but would be a good trip to take when they're having an event there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Valley,_North_Carolina

[Deej 77,482]

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Gettysburg by horseback.   Great day trip for me. Horseback on the battlefield with a well qualified guide . Headsets on the trail as they explain a day during the battle where you're riding.  They mix in personal anecdotes about specific people, and their story of the days events.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Onboard 2.0

[deadshank 24,653]

Dom on El Camino Del Rio

 

[abuelo gringo 324]

Since you seem to like big furniture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Chair

 

 

 

 

 

[jimmyjazz 46,755]

Johnson Shut-Ins State Park (MO) is like Mother Nature's water park:

Edited September 18, 2019 by jimmyjazz

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

18 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Since moving, I've been taking the family to a lot of historical sites I've known about all my life, but haven't been close enough to to make it a thing. Which got me thinking about the fact that no matter where we've lived, we've always made the most out of day trips.

Currently, that means one weekend, it's a tour of Guilford Courthouse, where Nathanael Greene twisted Cornwallis' tail, but good. Next weekend, it'll be off to Yorktown. But those are the "biggies" -- what about the day trip stuff where you stop for an hour or two because the roadside advertising caught your eye?

In Texas, folk know about the obvious sites, like the Alamo, or the Capitol, or Goliad, but may not know about some other cool sites for day trips, like the Fanthorp Inn in Anderson, or the aboriginal art in Seminole Canyon, or John Nance Garner's grave (dig all the "Vice President's Grave Right This Way!" signs on the way to Uvalde... camp factor is excellent), or the Judge Roy Bean museum in Langtry, etc.

Every corner of the country has 'em, whether historically interesting, like the Fanthorp Inn, or hysterically apocryphal, like the World's Largest Chest of Drawers in High Point, NC.

What are some of your favorite out of the way day trip sites throughout the country? I'm interested in both the legit and the ridiculous. Stuff that is worth an hour or two, but you wouldn't necessarily plan your whole vacation, or even your whole day, around it.

You're doing Yorktown,VA. ?  You might be disappointed.  We hit Yorktown after visiting Gettysburg.  It was a huge letdown.

The facilities at Gettysburg are far far far superior to Yorktown. You'd think the birthplace of America would be pretty well built out, and documented. It's like a second rate tourist location.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

1 minute ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

You'd think the birthplace of America would be pretty well built out, and documented. It's like a second rate tourist location.

I've come to appreciate the idea that America's historical sites will have wildly inconsistent quality. The Alamo is, as a historical site, for example, pathetic. As a tourist trap / photo op zone, it's great, but none of the restoration on that site was done with an eye towards preserving the history. 

Until recently, Appomattox was not that great, either, though there have been vast improvements there over the last two decades. But some other Civil War sites (especially in the South) have never been given the TLC they deserve. Kennesaw Mountain outside Atlanta, for example, is a beautiful place, but as a historical site, is not especially well developed. So, it's all hit or miss. I still wanna see it.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Just now, Walden Ponderer said:

I've come to appreciate the idea that America's historical sites will have wildly inconsistent quality. The Alamo is, as a historical site, for example, pathetic. As a tourist trap / photo op zone, it's great, but none of the restoration on that site was done with an eye towards preserving the history. 

Until recently, Appomattox was not that great, either, though there have been vast improvements there over the last two decades. But some other Civil War sites (especially in the South) have never been given the TLC they deserve. Kennesaw Mountain outside Atlanta, for example, is a beautiful place, but as a historical site, is not especially well developed. So, it's all hit or miss. I still wanna see it.

Very true. It was just a big letdown. Living less than 2 hours away, I've hit Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown thru the years as a kid.  

I haven't been anywhere that compares to Gettysburg yet.  The diarama in particular brought some tears to my eyes, thinking about what those men went thru.  The only other place that did that to me was the Marine museum in Quantico.

[DoobieWah 1,525]

In addition to the Alamo, the other San Antonio Missions are worth a visit but almost no one does it.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Just now, DoobieWah said:

In addition to the Alamo, the other San Antonio Missions are worth a visit but almost no one does it.

The other missions are much more interesting than the Alamo IMO.

[RPM 26,475]

Little Big Horn is interesting. It was a running fight and they have speakers set up at intervals along the way to narrate the battle. Pretty moving to hear the sounds of battle in the middle of a wind swept prairie. It literally hits close to home.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

14 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

In addition to the Alamo, the other San Antonio Missions are worth a visit but almost no one does it.

Absolutely true. And one of them even does a Mariachi church service every Sunday. 

[52-80 19,363]

1 hour ago, abuelo gringo said:

Since you seem to like big furniture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Chair

 

 

 

 

 

found your mom's knitting chair

[jimmyjazz 46,755]

2 hours ago, DoobieWah said:

In addition to the Alamo, the other San Antonio Missions are worth a visit but almost no one does it.

I helped chaperone a trip to several of those missions when my son was in ~ 5th grade.  You're right, it's worth the effort.  They are quite different than the Alamo.

[Eggo 4,026]

Happened upon the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument while in Phoenix over Labor Day. Pretty cool stop for half an hour.

[deadshank 24,653]

3 hours ago, RPM said:

Little Big Horn is interesting. It was a running fight and they have speakers set up at intervals along the way to narrate the battle. Pretty moving to hear the sounds of battle in the middle of a wind swept prairie. It literally hits close to home.

Did you see the giant mural that showed Custer looking through his binoculars at the all of the Sioux having a big orgy along the banks of the lake with the big fish with the halo over its head jumping out of the lake?  Did you understand the significance of the mural?

Edited September 18, 2019 by deadshank

[RPM 26,475]

I didn't get to go down the whole trail. I was in an 18 wheeler.

[deadshank 24,653]

15 minutes ago, RPM said:

I didn't get to go down the whole trail. I was in an 18 wheeler.

It's a pretty cool artist's interpretation of when Custer knew he was in big trouble.

It roughly translates into "Holy mackerel, where did all these fucking Indians come from?"

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

I still wanna see the corn palace at some point, but I can't think of anything else out that direction that would make the overall trip worth the effort.

[GreenspointTexas 9,896]

 

 

Lance Harbors House - Coupland

 

[Kennythetiger 9,524]

Drove from the Rio Grande to the Milk River this summer, and stopped at Roy Bean’s place, so this thread hits close to home. 

[DoobieWah 1,525]

Regal Texas Courthouses. This is just a small sampling.

If you've ever taken 290 between Houston and Austin, you've also seen the Lee County Courthouse in Giddings which is not included in the link. There are many more that are just as captivating.

Lee County:

Edited September 23, 2019 by DoobieWah

[DoobieWah 1,525]

Speaking of Lee County, just a few miles south of Giddings is the St. Paul Painted Church.

 

There are several old German and Wendish Painted Churches in Central Texas, but this is a personal favorite.

(I have five generations of ancestors buried around Lee  and Milam Counties.)

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

5 hours ago, DoobieWah said:

There are several old German and Wendish Painted Churches in Central Texas, but this is a personal favorite.

High school classmate of mine was Wendish, and never missed an opportunity to do various presentations on Wendish history and culture. That girl had ridiculously proper posture. I don't think I've ever even seen a Marine Corp drill sargeant sit that straight.

[HouTex 1,911]

Very close to the Alamo is the Menger Hotel and the Menger Bar where Teddy Roosevelt gathered the Rough Riders. In Houston is the San Jacinto monument and the battleground where Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna in a matter of minutes winning Texas’ independence. In Dallas at least once you must drive JFK’s motorcade route by the Texas School Book Depository. I hear the museum is interesting too.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

On 9/23/2019 at 9:46 PM, HouTex said:

Very close to the Alamo is the Menger Hotel and the Menger Bar where Teddy Roosevelt gathered the Rough Riders.

The Sisters Grimm Ghost Tour in downtown San Antonio is a must. You get the full haunted history of the Menger, and several other points of interest (the Emily Morgan was an assylum, and the Holiday Inn Express was a prison, with several particularly gruesome executions on site).

The best stories, though, all came from the Menger.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

So, tomorrow's road trip is to the North Carolina Maritime Museum, where they have over 300 artifacts from Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge. Got me thinking about pirate museums and events around the country. I grew up in Kingsville, of course, so Buccaneer Days over in Corpus was on the annual calendar for a while. I got curious, so here's a short list of pirate museums around the country:

St. Augustine Florida - St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum
Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Newport News, VA - Mariner's Museum & Park
Salem Massachusetts - New England Pirate Museum
Mystic Connecticut - Mystic Seaport Museum

There's bound to be others. Share 'em if you've got 'em.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

23 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

So, tomorrow's road trip is to the North Carolina Maritime Museum, where they have over 300 artifacts from Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge. Got me thinking about pirate museums and events around the country. I grew up in Kingsville, of course, so Buccaneer Days over in Corpus was on the annual calendar for a while. I got curious, so here's a short list of pirate museums around the country:

St. Augustine Florida - St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum
Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Newport News, VA - Mariner's Museum & Park
Salem Massachusetts - New England Pirate Museum
Mystic Connecticut - Mystic Seaport Museum

There's bound to be others. Share 'em if you've got 'em.

Where is that Blackbeard museum ?  Been to the mariners museum Newport News va a few times over the decades.

[workswithseed 2,199]

On 9/18/2019 at 9:27 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

The other missions are much more interesting than the Alamo IMO.

I didn't know there was other missions.

What do y'all think of the Alamo's restoration?

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

2 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Where is that Blackbeard museum ?  Been to the mariners museum Newport News va a few times over the decades.

The museum we're headed to is in New Bern, but they've got a bigger one on Okracoke Island.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

Man, talk about wild "extras'. On this weekend's day trip, I saw this historical marker:

 

For those who aren't familiar:

 

[Macanudo 13,173]

On 9/18/2019 at 11:34 AM, RPM said:

Little Big Horn is interesting. It was a running fight and they have speakers set up at intervals along the way to narrate the battle. Pretty moving to hear the sounds of battle in the middle of a wind swept prairie. It literally hits close to home.

Never been to the Battlefield but I have driven through that area several times.  The first time I did drive through, at 16 years old, my response was "Custer was a fucking idiot."

[tchookem 3,943]

I still wanna see the corn palace at some point, but I can't think of anything else out that direction that would make the overall trip worth the effort.

Mt. Rushmore, Bad Lands NP, and Minuteman Missile NHS (all worth the effort) are only 4 hours away.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

So, I went to the Bennett farm today (where Johnston surrendered to Sherman to actually end the Civil War), and I learned something very important from the period-costume re-enactors:

Santa was a Yankee.

[MaybeACoordinator 8,350]

Windsor Ruins, sw Mississippi near Alcorn State. Obvious Gone With the Wind imagery, but it's way, way back in the sticks and pretty damn spooky.