Colorado is always a good idea.

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(DIA)

Dear Travel Diary,

Inspired by a graduation announcement and finalized with a well-timed EFF IT, we boarded an outbound flight to Colorado for the weekend.

The reason was a good one - to celebrate a relative's college graduation and her accomplishments. And what's even more exciting, is that she will be relocating to the Land of 10,000 Lakes this summer!

The hours were jam-packed with activity, documented through the lens of my iPhone 6 Plus because it all went by so fast. The photographs speak for themselves though. Observe - 

(Denver skyline)

My first visit came in December 2003, where I learned to ski at Copper Mtn. (Truth be told, learning to ski in the Rockies was a bucket list level of achievement, even though my skill is nothing to write home about.) We honeymooned in Breckenridge in January 2006. With family here, we're often called back for the best reasons and it is always a blast.

Moon River Brewing Company - Savannah, GA

(View of the street from inside Moon River)

 

Dear Travel Diary,

There is a bar in Savannah, Georgia called The Moon River Brewing Company.

 

It is pretty non-descript – white-washed brick with dark lettering, and an awning over the entry. It’s 3 stories mesh with the rest of the storefronts that overlook the harbor, and truthfully, one thinks nothing more of it than having a drink on the patio.

The term ‘haunted’ is thrown around there. Out of curiosity, I asked the employees if they believe it to be true, and they all said the same thing. “There is indeed a lot of history here, but since I work here, I cannot think about that.”

Originally built in 1821 and named The City Hotel, the establishment got its start as the city’s first hotel and post office. Patrons from the North would stay there, and violence would erupt when local people defended their Southern honor. There is at least one documented death, and a violent attack that left a man near death. The hotel closed in 1864 when General Sherman led the Union army through Georgia. 

With such turbulent history, it’s easy to associate a ‘haunting’ with a building that has withstood the passage of time. When Gen. Sherman arrived in Savannah, for reasons unknown, his soldiers spared the city its typical destruction of war. The building sat vacant until the 1990s, when it was transformed into Moon River Brewing and opened for business in 1999.

I listened to accounts of the building being used as a makeshift hospital for sick children, dying of an epidemic. They were treated as best they could with 19-century medicine on the third floor. I also heard that the roof was torn off during a hurricane. And yet, the building still stands.

One can say it’s the mind playing tricks on you. Or it’s just the imagination running wild, fueled by the stories told from within its walls. And speaking on general terms, I would agree. The mind will believe what it wants to believe. I had to see for myself.

We were granted access to first, the basement. Rumored to be connected to other historic establishments in Savannah, I wanted to see if I could find evidence of a tunnel. (I couldn’t.) However immediately, as you descend the staircase, the centuries melt away. It’s cold, and creepy, as basements typically are. The electricity seems foreign and out of place within a building built before its customary use. The lighting was dim. There was no furniture. And despite bar patrons taking advantage of the happy hour specials directly above us, it was absolutely silent.

Later that evening, we were granted access to the second floor. We were forbidden from going up to the third, however. These two upper floors are in a serious state of decay, with the third posing the worst threat to our safety. The story goes, renovations were attempted here to restore the entire building to its former glory. But then one day, the foreman’s wife was violently shoved down the stairs and the foreman quit that very day. The renovations came to a halt, and to this day, the supplies remain untouched. It is unclear if these renovations will ever resume.

Upstairs was even more of a time capsule. I admired the ornate detail work found in the trim, the transom windows, the banister of “the” staircase where the wife was pushed. Modern construction does not embrace such a thing, so I very much wrestled with a little jealousy over that. I imagined the building in its prime, when it was a hotel. People slept in those rooms. And there I was, standing in my jeans where women in hoop skirts once walked. 

That’s when I began to touch on the building's reported creepiness. The chipping paint that surrounds you seems to fuel that, as does the wallpaper that the years have not been kind to. In my imagination, I began to remember the children that died of illness, the cries and sorrow that filled these rooms and then the storm that tore the roof off. If these walls could talk, they would fill us in on details of a history we could have never imagined. 

Moon River made me realize that a haunting does not always mean a spiritual presence. Here, the ghosts are the tangible objects that have no place in 21^st-century America. What haunts the living, rather than a horror story, is a legacy that doesn’t want to be forgotten.

In 2003, the city of Savannah was named America’s Most Haunted City with Moon River housed in its most haunted building. But from what I’ve experienced, it’s not the dead the haunt this beautiful city. It’s the stories.

The Abandoned Farmhouse

{This is the photo I posted to my Instagram the other day. I decided to convert the photographs to b&w to convey its antiqued moodiness that hovers around the farmhouse as you pass it. }

 

 

Dear Diary,

 

Visible from our property stands an abandoned farmhouse that piques my curiosity.

 

 The No Trespassing sign is foreboding, the property barren. It is creepy that curtains are visible through the broken upstairs windows, and the entrances into the home are boarded up. Yet, the grass is always mowed and a couple years ago, a fresh coat of white paint was applied to the front of the house.

 

It is obvious someone is trying to maintain the property. 

I try to assume what the surrounding area may have looked like when this farmhouse wasn’t abandoned. At some point, there was a farmer here collecting his livelihood from the fields. He came home each night, possibly to a wife and children, judging by the pink window treatments that still hang on one of the windows.

And I admit that it saddens me a little to know at some point, the earth no longer sustained the inhabitants here. Instead, as the city of Minneapolis and its suburbs expanded south, the farm grounds became subdivisions. Eventually, those inhabitants shut the door behind them, never to return again.

Try as I might, I cannot determine a house number for research on its property record.

Questions remain – what is so significant about this house that the city is letting it stand? And if it has been saved from demolition, why isn’t it being restored to resurrect its former glory?

WHO is trying to care for this property?

 

There is a very good possibility that I will never know this home’s story.
And I'm not sure I can let it remain unknown.

The Minnesota Zoo - SAVE THE FAT UNICORNS!

Dear Photography Diary,



With a day off, we become city explorers, and recently, we walked the grounds of the Minnesota Zoo.

A volunteer at the zoo approached us and asked if we'd be interested in donating to a conservation fund. Africa is facing a poaching crisis, and the Zoo aims to help save the rhinos.

Madelyn took one look at the picture on the pamphlet and said, "That's not a rhino. I know a fat unicorn when I see one."

Well, after the volunteer and I wiped tears from laughing so hard, of course I donated.

SAVE THE FAT UNICORNS PEOPLE.

The size of the paws on these cats ... !!!

Galena, IL

Dear Travel Diary,

Our weekend excursion included a driving tour of 4 Midwestern states – Minnesota and Iowa, of course, but also Wisconsin and Illinois. Our Illinois destination was the historic, small town of Galena.

One reason I love Galena, IL; it is one of the few northern cities that celebrates and showcases its history, rather than bulldozing it to make a parking lot.

We walked through its city park with decommissioned cannons and trophies of war, down historic Main Street, and stood where Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant once did. We walked through the DeSoto House, where crossing the threshold was like stepping back into the 1860s. Landen, who is beginning to learn about Lincoln, stood in the exact spot where our 16^th President once delivered a public address from the DeSoto House balcony. To watch him connect history to where we stood today was such a cool experience.

The kids and I also walked the grounds of Grants’ old house, and the fact that we walked in the footsteps of former Presidents, on President’s Day, was not lost on me. Though Madelyn may still be too young to connect this, Landen did express plenty of interest in exploring, and I did my best to document the experience through my camera lens with the hope of retelling the story to Maddie when she’s older.

We set foot inside an antique store. I swear if history had a smell, it would be found within that small shop. We ate at an old café accessed only by an old staircase, since the buildings off Main Street were built into the bluff that overlooked the Galena River. Archeologists are still finding artifacts from the past, as the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium exhibits a small cannon excavated there. We viewed a map of the city from the 1860s that pointed our exact location as we stood in 2016. Just as history builds upon the layers of time, so too does our own story. And the reason why I enjoy traveling with the kids, is because I can help write their chapters through experiences like these. There is an entire world out there beyond our ¾-acre property, more vast than the current capacity of their imaginations, and with each of our excursions big and small, we are building their characters.

Though the cities of Dubuque and Galena are not “new” to us, we did receive a fresh perspective as we explored through their eyes.

President Ulysses S. Grant's estate

The view of Galena's historic Main Street as seen from Grant's property

The old train depot

This cannon is a trophy of war.

Dubuque, Iowa

Dear Travel Diary,

The story of “us” begins with an awkward hello between two college freshmen in a dorm room in Dubuque, Iowa.

Within the limits of this city, we met, got engaged and brought our first child into the world. Bachelor degrees were earned here, first “real” jobs were worked here and our first apartment was rented here. Ultimately, Dubuque launched us into the lifestyle we so much enjoy now.

When our time off meshed with Landen’s recent 4-day weekend, we rented a Suburban and made the 4-hour trek south to introduce our children to the city where it all began. So much of the area remained untouched, while other parts showcased a progressive growth. Upon settling into our room at the Hilton on City Island, we mapped out a quick itinerary that included a driving tour of “our” spots, exploring the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, swimming in the Grand Harbor indoor waterpark, and enjoying each other’s company. 

The experience felt like we had closed a circle. This city served as the backdrop to so many of our “firsts,” and now, here we are 10 years later. It was the kind of weekend that made sense, where everything seamlessly fell into place, and we returned home grateful (albeit exhausted) with a renewed spirit to continue to move forward. 

If you want to know where you’re going, you must first honor where you’ve been.

Thank you, Dubuque, for a lovely weekend – though you are a small city, you hold a rather large place in our hearts.

(As seen through a dirty passenger side window ... #RealLife)

Mr. Landen was born at this hospital, so the photo-op was necessary.

The detail in the architecture of the historic estates is stunning.

And no trip to Dubuque is complete without a visit to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. The kids enjoyed watching the fish and other animals native to the river!

This turtle has earned the nickname "Grumpy Turtle" with his frown.