by Kate Dolan | Jul 4, 2026 | Colonial America, Holidays, Latest Posts, Living History
Today we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence. It wasn’t achieved in a single day. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t even signed in one day—and it wasn’t on July 4, either. But a celebration needs to be limited or it loses its effect and...
by Kate Dolan | May 31, 2026 | 19th Century America, Camping with History, Colonial America, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Travel
This was our fourth stay at this park, and I was determined I wasn’t going to write about history at this one. It’s not one of Florida’s older parks, and the only historical sites I remembered were the remains of the homestead of a cattle driver from...
by Kate Dolan | Mar 14, 2026 | Colonial America, Faith, Holidays, Latest Posts, Living History, The Irish
New York is generally considered to hold the world’s largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade. And they claim to be the oldest as well. But they’re not even close to holding that title. The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade was not in Boston, even though that city has...
by Kate Dolan | Oct 14, 2025 | 19th Century America, Colonial America, Latest Posts, Living History, Travel
I love tourist traps—as long as they’re historic. I think it’s fun to imagine all the travelers who visted before me: parents in awe, children annoyed and underwhelmed and wondering when it’s time to eat. So, for years, every time we passed the billboards on I-81 in...
by Kate Dolan | Sep 30, 2025 | 19th Century America, Colonial America, Faith, Latest Posts, Living History, Religion and Magic
I went to secular public schools from pre-K through grade 12, so religion was not regularly addressed in school at all. Christmas was about Santa Claus and decorated trees. Easter focused on bunnies and eggs. Yet there was one religious event that managed to make it...
by Kate Dolan | Aug 30, 2025 | 19th Century America, Camping with History, Colonial America, Travel
We picked this Pennsylvania park purely for its location and the fact that it had some trails we could hike. As we neared the entrance, I saw a sign for a national historical site and thought maybe we could make time to visit after we left. But it turned out that the...
