Blogs from Pennsylvania, United States, North America - page 3

This is the second blog of a two blog series about searching for our colonial ancestors during a visit to New England and the Mid-Atlantic States. I recommend that you start by reading the first blog at . Before recounting our visits to ancestral sites a little background is necessary. I thought that I would try to follow the various branches of our family tree from the beginnings at the ports founded on the Delaware River, as they would merge with other branches in the westward migration across Pennsylvania. I selected my Ross ancestors as the main family to which other would intermarry. I did so because the Ross family of my great grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Ross, can be traced directly, without going through spouses, to the progenitor, Sir Farquhar MacTaggart (Mac an t-Sagairt Ó Beólláin), ... read more

Pennsylvania boasts its own Grand Canyon along Pine Creek. You can get the best view from Colton Point State Park. The morning ride north from Cedar Run is the last long forest run. I was up early. The wood was quiet and cool. I got completely lost on this section last year. This time I was right on target, and nailed the park first time. Being alone at the view point made it that much better. The viewpoint for the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon on Pine Creek is also a memorial for the Community Conservation Corps. Workers from the Corps helped build the roads and sites for Colton Point park. The posters memorialize the many other contributions to tourist and environmental infrastructure built by the Corps during the Depression. Made me wonder if we will have to ... read more

What did the founding fathers drink when they signed the Declaration of Independence? Drunk by the founding fathers during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Madeira was also what Francis Scott Key sipped as he composed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” George Washington (who reportedly drank a pint every night with dinner), Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin all adored it, as did John Adams (who wrote to his wife, Abigail, about the copious amounts they consumed during the Continental Congress). By the end of the eighteenth century, nearly a fourth of all the Madeira produced was being exported to the American colonies. The unbridled American passion for Madeira was certainly a testament to its compelling flavor. But Madeira’s popularity was equally based on something far more mundane: taxes. As of 1665, British governing authorities in the colonies ... read more

I really like Harpers Ferry. Geographically, scenically, geologically, infrastructurally, it has it all. The two defining rivers of the region come together, sweep through the mountains and flow East in a wide swathe of swirls and ripples. The Shenandoah comes in over a unique series of transverse rock formations, causing a long sequence of parallel cascades. The old town clings to the steep banks on the South side of the Potomac. To the North a black rail tunnel punches a hole in the rocky crag which defines the Gap. A broad road bridge crosses to the East. A 200 year old canal crawls up the northern side of the Potomoc. If you stand on the railroad bridge connecting Harpers Ferry to Maryland, you can see it all. And then the forests of West Virginia were over, ... read more

First of all, I call this trip "Mothers and Daughters Respite in Scotland" because I am travelling with my daughter, Sara, her friend, Helen, and Helen's mother, Faye. We all need a respite from something, whether it is family trials, work problems, health difficulties, or something else. So this trip is a respite, a relief, as well as an opportunity to cross a few things off our respective bucket lists. So we started this day quite early, up by 3:30 am and at the airport by 5:30 for a 7:10 flight to Philadelphia. Unfortunately we were stuck with a 12 hour layover in the city of brotherly love. So, we decided, this was our time for a little history lesson. Upon deplaning, we got an Uber to take us into the old city, starting at Constitution ... read more