Tag: historic sites
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An Ornamental History
When you’re a museum fan and an ornament collector, you might end up with a very full Christmas tree. . . Ornaments have long been one of my go-to souvenirs for big trips, so it’s little wonder that my tree is full of a lot of historic house museums. Several years ago, my friend and…
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Fan Girl
Over the years, quite a few trips have featured a visit to a literary landmark. For some, like Prince Edward Island or Mankato, MN, the destination was determined by the book. For others, like Orchard House and Hannibal, it was a pleasant (and necessary!) detour. Last week, an article called The Fantasy, and Folly, of…
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My Feminist Winter, Part 1
In this age of #metoo and constant headlines regarding sexual harassment, feminism isn’t quite the dirty word it used to be. Lately, several books I’ve read have approached feminism in some very different ways–usually successfully, but one not so much. Of course, it isn’t like my reading interests have taken a turn to feminism over…
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Road trip inspiration
Over the years, I’ve built a few vacations around visiting favorite literary sites. There was the Prince Edward Island Trip in 2002. Mankato in 2009 (which led to the genesis of this blog). Mansfield and Hannibal in 2010. Monterey in 2012 and 2013. So, I’m very intrigued by the newish website, Placing Literature. It’s a…
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Place Matters
If I had unlimited vacation time and funds, I could have quite the kidlit history summer. The bi-annual L. M. Montgomery conference just wrapped up on Prince Edward Island. Way back in 2002, my dear friend Amber and I made it to the conference, and it was a trip of a life time. In a…
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Could the real Mark Twain please stand up?
If there was one unifying theme to my touristy destinations (besides museums and friends), it might just be “small towns capitalizing on famous former residents.” In Springfield, IL there are more statues of Abraham Lincoln than should be legal for any one community to have. Independence, MO is complete with signs of Truman walking confidently…
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Meeting Laura
So, guess where I went today? Today, I went to the source. I walked the same rooms that Laura, Almanzo and Rose walked. Interior photos weren’t permitted, but let me just say this: it’s one of my favorite historic houses ever. It had so many wonderful personal touches, and their lives just oozed through the…
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Anticipation. . .
In less than 48 hours, I’ll be in the same room with Pa’s fiddle, Ma’ china shepherdess, and Laura’s desk. I’ll be in Mansfield, MO, the place where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House books. It’s a literary pilgrimage I’ve long wanted to take. A college friend lives less than 2 hours from Mansfield,…
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Power of Place
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the unique magic of literary places. Not that this is something I never think of (see previous posts here and here), but it’s really come to the forefront based on a few very different things. First, a unique opportunity has arisen for the Betsy-Tacy Society. …
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More on literary pilgrimages
Just spotted this article: Jo March Was Born Here, all about literary historic sites. It also includes a slide show (though I was unable to read the complete captions-not sure if that was the website or my computer). Some favorites of kidlit history are mentioned: Laura Ingalls, Jo March, Anne Shirley (though not in the…
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