HMS Beangle

Welcome aboard! We're sailing across North America in our Bean Stalker teardrop trailer. Come share our journey.

Tag: American History

  • Bennett Place

    Our time in Raleigh while interesting enough in its own way was fairly quiet overall. But of all that we did and saw, the biggest draw for me was Bennett Place. For some time now, it had been in my top five list of places to see. In the front room of the Bennett family…

  • Drive it, hike it, bike it

    A lot of people out West like to talk smack about the Appalachians and other eastern mountains, and we admit to it as well. But after spending almost 4 months at or near sea level, it was a little thrilling to see the word Mountain in a campground’s name again. While hiking, biking, and driving…

  • The Rest of the (South Carolina) Story

    First and foremost, I have a grievous error to acknowledge. I have been misleading you all about Longleaf Pines for some time, and for that I apologize. What I often thought was a Longleaf (Pinus palustris) was instead a Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda). I know. I know. It was a careless, but I also learned…

  • History vs Hollywood

    We toured a lesser known plantation that was less flash and more pan, if you get my drift, and walked around the grounds of two others that were near our Buck Hall campsite. Since cost is a factor for us and these places are expensive to visit, we decided to visit one that puts their…

  • Charleston, daaaarling

    Walking around Charleston is a lot like walking around Vienna. Because things were meticulously rebuilt or restored to their former image, it’s easy to forget that the city was so damaged near the end of the Civil War. It’s a beautiful city, and the favorite of several people I know. To me, it often felt…

  • It’s three, three, three forts in one (newsletter)!

    At first I was going to write about three different forts individually. Then I decided that three forts in a row, when they all followed the same basic design and were part of the Civil War conflict, was asking a bit much of anyone’s patience. So I’m going to mostly write about Fort Pulaski, which…

  • Georgia and Henry Ford

    Now you might think those two names don’t go together. And I’d have to agree with you. For better or for worse, Henry Ford was Detroit, and Detroit was Henry Ford. But Henry Ford and Georgia? Just saying that out loud is going to get you some serious side eye. While we were visiting Savannah,…

  • Savannah, Georgia

    It’s old. It’s pretty. It’s full of gorgeous buildings, more leafy trees and blooming bushes in February than I could process, and far far more cobbles and uneven stone pavers than is good for Jeff’s dodgy ankle. Savannah is also the setting for John Berendt’s non-fiction crime novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and…

  • Fancy Pants Florida – Part 2

    When I say the temperature dropped the last night we stayed near Cape Canaveral, I mean it dropped. The temps slid downward all day Sunday and the winds climbed steadily upwards. Overnight, wind gusted up to 50mph and the actual temperature fell to 20°F on Monday morning. Our camp hosts were so concerned about us…

  • Fancy Pants Florida – Part 1

    Grab a snack, this is a long one. The company that Jeff used to work for has an office in West Palm Beach so he wanted to make sure that we stopped there long enough for him to say hello to some of his former colleagues. Now that coastal community is rather $$$Fancy$$$ so we…