Florida- De Soto National Memorial

De Soto National Memorial- Bradenton Florida  Date of Visit December 7, 2010

 It was Pearl Harbor Memorial Day, so the US Flag was at half staff.  It was really windy during my visit, and the temperature was about 52 degrees. Not very many visitors here today. 

 The park is right on a peninsula, where it is believed that De Soto and his men camped when they came up from Cuba, looking for Gold.  Never did find any after looking for 4 years..... 

 This reminded me of Congaree National Park in SC!  A very eager volunteer talked me into taking the nature trail, and I'm glad I did.  There were some very nice interpretations of how life was back in the day. 

 This is representative of the area, and how they maintain the trail. 

This I believe is park number 102 or 103, I also got a pin and some postcards to mail. 

National Heritage Area: Augusta Canal

The National Heritage Areas are not "official" park units and are not counted as part of the 393 National Parks.  There are 49 such areas in the United States, and Augusta Canal is one of them.  there are 2 parts to this Area, and this is the Headlocks part, which is actually located in Martinez, Georgia, about 10 miles outside of town. 

This is the visitor's center, which was actually the gatekeeper's cottage.  It has some displays in it, and is shared by the County that Martinez is in, Columbia, as a visitors center, and staffed by them.  There was a very knowlegeable docent there that showed us the various exhibits, which included a display of paintings from Ellis Island, for some reason. 

This is part of the lock system, and fed the canal with water diverted from the Savannah River- this mechanisim dated from the late 1800's. 

Another view that shows how the canal was fed with water.  This is a very pretty spot on the river.  There were no pins to be had, be we did get a stamp.  We went downtown to visit the other unit of the Canal, but it was closed for the holiday.  Have to report on that on a later visit, perhaps during Christmas.  

Florida - Fort Matanzas National Monument

Date of Visit:  November 13, 2010

 Ran down here to verify that they did not have the stamp for Gullah-Geechee, which they did not.  they also confirmed that the fort outline stamp had been stolen, and they did not have a replacement as yet.  Did get the one site stamp. 

Florida- Castillo de San Marcos NM -St Augustine

Castillo de San Marcos NM

St. Augustine Florida

Revisit, Date is 11-6-2010

Original visit:  2/20/2009

From the National Park Website: 

A monument not only of stone and mortar but of human determination and endurance, the Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes the clash between cultures which ultimately resulted in our uniquely unified nation.  Still resonant with the struggles of an earlier time, these original walls provide tangible evidence of America’s grim but remarkable history.

A monument not only of stone and mortar but of human determination and endurance, the Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes the clash between cultures which ultimately resulted in our uniquely unified nation.  Still resonant with the struggles of an earlier time, these original walls provide tangible evidence of America’s grim but remarkable history.

Today was actually a re-visit, since we liver hear and had been here previously.  What made me go back was the fact that I discovered that they had an additional passport stamp here, one for the Gullah-Geechee NHC, so we added that one to the collection.  This is a beautiful old fort right on the water here in the inlet.  They have lots of volunteers doing reenactments here, the Boys saw them the last time we were here in April. 

The Gullah-Geechee National Historical Corridor

(From Wikipedia)

The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Historically, the Gullah region once extended north to the Cape Fear area on the coast of North Carolina and south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on the coast of Florida; but today the Gullah area is confined to the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which some scholars speculate to be related to the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia. The term Geechee is an emic term used by speakers (and can have a derogatory connotation depending on usage) and "Gullah" is a term that was generally used by outsiders but that has become a way for speakers to formally identify themselves and their language.
The Gullah are known for preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African-American community in the United States. They speak an English-based creole language containing many African loanwords and significant influences from African languages in grammar and sentence structure. The Gullah language is related to Jamaican Creole, Barbadian Dialect, and the Krio language of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Gullah storytelling, cuisine, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing traditions, all exhibit strong influences from West and Central African cultures.

President Bush signed the bill that created the Gullah-Geechee National Historical Corridor, and the unit is just now getting up to speed. 

Having spent my Junior and Senior years in Beaufort, SC, which is usually considered one of the Centers of Geechee, I am very familiar with this rich culture.  There are currently 13 locations where you can get a stamp for this Corridor.








Castillo de San Marcos NM, St Augustine, Florida.   Date of visit:  11/6/2010

Ft. Caroline NM and Kingsley Plantation, Florida (Jacksonville Area) DOV 10/3/2010

Cumberland Island National Seashore, St Mary's Georgia

Ft. Fredericka NM St Simons Island Ga  DOV 10/3/2010

 

Maine- Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park-
Bar Harbor, Maine 
DOV- May  20, 2010

Visited while staying the week at Bar Harbor at Mt Desert Narrows.  This is one of the more beautiful parks we visited.  We spent probably 4 hours in the park itself, and need to go back to pick up stamps I missed, as I didn't know the exact location.  We did visit Thunder Hole, but missed the stamp.  The roads were closed for part of the park, and I think that meant we missed one or two more.  Also, it appears there is one at Isle au Haut to get.  The weather on our visit was clear, but it was windy and about 60 degrees, sweatshirt weather.  Lots of tour busses full of folks from the cruise ship anchored in the water.  Since we'll be back to Maine again to pick up St Croix and the App trail, as well as a revisit to Roosevelt Campobello, we'll be sure to revisit this park again.  One of our all time favorites. 

 

A map of the park- We got to Jordan Pond, missed a stamp site at Blackwoods Campground. 

View from the top of Cadillac Mountain-  Big cruise ship at anchor in the bay, it left as we returned back to town.