by Kathleen Walls

The singers of today who gain attention for their outrageous behaviors have nothing on Ma Rainey. Her career spanned the last few years of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett used the name Ma Rainey after her marriage to Will Rainey in 1904. She performed for a time in the Rabbit Foot Minstrals and then branched out. She was one of the first women African American Blues singers and became known as "Mother of the Blues." I recently visited Ma Rainey's home in Columbus, Georgia now a free museum. It's a two-story clapboard house in a not-fancy section of Columbus.  

 

Travel the Civil Rights Trails

Exploring With Eleanor

 Biloxi is a Good Bet for a Getaway

By Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel

Said to be the best place to gamble in the South, Biloxi, Mississippi is also one of the best places to splash in the Gulf of Mexico’s crystal-clear waters. The 62 non-stop miles of shoreline have lured back thousands of visitors. Biloxi is a perfect beach getaway from late spring to late fall.

 

 

Go Exploring With Eleanor

Elite Street Eats

Linde Marie's Steakhouse on the Square

By Kathleen Walls

When she opened Linde Marie's Steakhouse on the square in Cave Spring, Georgia in 2013, Linde Marie Wentz is quick to admit "I don't know what I was thinking." One thing she knew was, "It had to be here in this building."

 

 

 

Travel Elite Street Eats

Fork in The Road

Wondermade: Sticky Fun

By Kathleen Walls

Can you imagine a simple Christmas present turning into a worldwide business? Neither did Nathan Clark when he gifted his wife with a candy thermometer.  Nathan explained how that happened. "It all started by accident. Several years back I didn't know what to get my wife for Christmas. I heard this person on NPR talking about that candy is not really so bad for you. I was so-o-o happy to hear that. I eat a lot of candy. They said if you eat a pie you’re full but if you eat candy it’s so little you still have room.

Travel down a Fork in the Road

Happy Trails

Abraham Linclon's Birthplace National Historic Park

By Tom Straka
Photographs by Pat Straka

 We covered Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in Indiana in the Spring 2015 issue and Jefferson Davis in Kentucky (his birthplace) in the Spring 2017 issue, so it seemed appropriate to travel to Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace and see if there really is a log cabin there. We did and there is. The location is a National Historical Park near Hodgenville, Kentucky, about 65 miles south of Louisville.   

Travel Happy Trails 

Information Highway ( a different way to promote travel)

Take a Tour

Want to visit fun places but you are not sure what to see there? How about taking a tour that is like having a friend who knows that city well along to take you to the coolest places. You can do that for under $5 now.

 

 Travel down Information Highway

History's Highway

Winchester's Wars

By Kathleen Walls

Winchester, Virginia was immersed in three of American's wars, French and Indian War, American Revolution and Civil War.  During the French and Indian War and Revolution, it was an emerging frontier. In what is now Winchester a young Colonel George Washington designed and ordered construction of Fort Loudoun in 1756 for protection during the French and Indian War.  George Washington spent a good amount of time in Winchester. By the time of the Civil War, the fort had been pretty much dismantled. Many of the houses along Loudoun Street are said to be constructed with material from the fort. 

 

 

Travel History's Highway

Inn Roads

A Little Bit of West Virginia Heaven: Capon Springs

By Kathleen Walls

Capon Springs' story began in 1765 when a man named Henry Frye stumbled upon the spring.  Of course Native Americans knew of the spring's healing power since they had long used this area as hunting grounds. Today's name, Capon Springs, is derived from the Shawnee word "cape-capepe-hon" meaning "medicinal water." Bur as a white settler with the means to publicize his find, Frye gets the credit. He named the spring Frye Springs and believed that the spring miraculously cured his sickly wife. 

 

 

Travel Inn Roads

Museum Row

Monticello: Thomas Jefferson's Legacy

By Kathleen Walls

Thomas Jefferson may have been our emerging nation's most controversial figure. He was the major drafter of the Declaration of Independence stating "All men are created equal" yet he practiced slavery at Monticelo.  He became our third president and is revered yet, he fathered several children with Sally Hemings, a young enslaved woman. 

 

 

 

Travel along Museum Row 

Music Row

Patsy Cline: Home is Where the Heart is

By Kathleen Walls

One of the most iconic names in country music history is Patsy Cline. She was the first female artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She was one of the first country music singers to have a big crossover hit. "Walkin' After Midnight" reached No. 2 on the country chart and No. 12 on the pop chart. When she was featured on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout she topped out the applause meter.  Other songs that will always recall Patsy Cline, no matter who the cover artist is, are "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy."

 

 

Travel Music Row 

Renee's Route

Virginia's Historic Legacy

by Renee S. Gordon

Many people regard Jamestown, VA as the birthplace of the nation because it is the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America. With a deeper look one sees that its importance is much more pervasive and it can better be described as the place where our country's initial courtship took place. Here that our nation's most important "first encounters" occurred and roles and a hierarchy would be established that would have a lasting effect. On May 14, 1607 three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, bearing 104 all male settlers, came ashore on land they called "James Cittie".

Travel Renee's Route

Renee's International Route

 Milan, Italy's Cultural Capital

by Renee S. Gordon

Milan, located in picturesque Northern Italy, was established around 400 BC after the Gauls overcame the Etruscans and named it Mediolanum. The Romans conquered the area in 222 BC and in 15 BC it became the Western Roman Empire's capital. It was in Milan that Emperor Constantine I proclaimed The Edict of Milan in 313 AD, announcing religious tolerance for the Christian religion in the Roman Empire.

Travel Renee's Route2

Scenic road

Saint Augustine's Wild Side

By Kathleen Walls

Saint Augustine has so much to see and do in the historic and food areas. we sometimes forget the magnificent amounts of nature available there. So here are some photos of the best nature has to offer in the Oldest City. 

 

 

 

Take the Scenic Road

Tibbs Trails and Tastes

Celebrate Southern Cuisine With Miss Kate's Food Tour

By Christine Tibbetts

Road tripping took a new turn in 2017 when a grand way to experience local culture and cuisine launched in a deep south city named Valdosta. (Val-dah-sta) 

Interstate 75 frames this Georgia community close to the Florida border and the exit is easy and direct.    

Travel Tibbs Trails

Weekend Explorer

Baltimore: A City of Firsts

By Kathy Barnett

When I visited Baltimore, Maryland recently, I soon learned it is a city full of "firsts." Actually known as a city of monuments, Baltimore is home to the first architectural monument in honor ofGeorge Washington, which stands at 178 feet downtown.The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., was modeled after the Baltimore version, which was erected in 1829. Architect Robert Mills, who designed and built both monuments, made sure it was known that he was the first native-born American with any architectural training. Upon The cornerstone was laid with great ceremony on Independence Day, July 4th, 1815.

Travel with Weekend Explorer

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