The Williamsburg area is rich with history - it is called the historic triangle: Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. We didn't get up to Yorktown this time, but we did get a cab down to Jamestown Settlement. The Jamestown museum, Powhatan village re-creation, and Jamestown village rec-reation is actually a different sight from historic Jamestowne (aka… Continue reading Jamestown Settlement & Historic Jamestowne
Colonial Williamsburg – Oct 30 & 31, 2015
You'd think that living on the East Coast my entire life, I would have been to Williamsburg at some point. But no! At 28, I was finally able to go and I absolutely loved it (as expected). I wish I could have spent more time there--and will most definitely go back at some point (we… Continue reading Colonial Williamsburg – Oct 30 & 31, 2015
238th Anniversary of the Battle of Germantown
Fought October 4, 1777, the Battle of Germantown was one of Washington's final attempts to win back Philadelphia from the British. By the time the Battle of Germantown was fought, Washington's army suffered low morale due to the back to back losses at Brandywine and Paoli (which actually wasn't the full-out massacre the papers of… Continue reading 238th Anniversary of the Battle of Germantown
Review: A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Amazon blurb: Drawing on the diaries of a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier. I love reading old diaries,… Continue reading Review: A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
Review: The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
Amazon blurb: Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the Revolutionary War general who betrayed America and fled to the British—as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John André, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington. But few know of the integral third character in… Continue reading Review: The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
Review: Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg
Blurb from Amazon: Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It's the Jazz Age, with romance and booze aplenty--even when Prohibition kicks in--and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty,… Continue reading Review: Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg
Impromptu Visit to the Shippen-Wistar House
I had time to kill before my dentist appointment today, so I took a little impromptu detour over to the Shippen-Wistar House. The Shippen-Wistar House in Philadelphia. Yes, it was for sale last year and then a real estate developer bought it this past Feb (hence the for sale sign)to be sold again at $5.5… Continue reading Impromptu Visit to the Shippen-Wistar House
238th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany
Two historical posts in one week!? I know! And I'm in the middle of moving so things are hectic. But coincidentally, August 6th holds another historical meaning for me in terms of what I write about. This year marks the 238th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany. I have mentioned here before that in school… Continue reading 238th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany
Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki 70 Years Later
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have stuck with me ever since I first learned about them. As they should - as they should for most people, I think. On August 6, 1945, "Little Boy" was detonated 2,000 feet above the city of Hiroshima in a blast of around 12 to 15,000 tons of TNT.… Continue reading Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki 70 Years Later
Review: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Novel blurb via Amazon: In the tradition of The Thirteenth Tale, Brunonia Barry’s bewitching gothic novel, The Lace Reader, is a phenomenon. Called “[a] richly imagined saga of passion, suspense, and magic” by Time Magazine, it is a haunting and remarkable tale told by an unforgettable, if strangely unreliable narrator—a woman from an enigmatic Salem… Continue reading Review: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry