By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. — For nearly half a century, Dekalb County in the mountainous northeastern region of Alabama along the Georgia line really was the sock capital of the world. It wasn’t just a slogan like some places have, where the chamber of commerce makes something up and struggles to make…
By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — If you are feeling cooped up or claustrophobic and locked up in your suburban home glued to the bad news on cable television about coronavirus, you may want to consider another way to get away from other people: Visit a national park during this time of national crisis.…
U.S. Senator Doug Jones, the Democrat from Birmingham, Alabama, Urges People to Be Concerned and Prepare, but Not Panic – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Spring Break travel and tourism season is just now getting into full swing along the Gulf Coast, just in time for what could be the worst human…
By Glynn Wilson – The National Park Service will host special events and provide free entrance to all national parks this year in honor of the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 20. The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is an official day of service in remembrance of the man whose…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s hot as hell could be inside the Beltway again, with a projected high on Sunday of 96 degrees and a low of only 75 tonight, a harbinger of the future for cities along the Eastern Seaboard. As I hit the button to publish this…
By Glynn Wilson – SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. — Looking back on it now, with all the turmoil we face these days in the United States and American publishing, it must have been grand to be the first American writer to make a living with the pen — and to be acknowledged by critics the world…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington NEW YORK, N.Y. – As Commander of the Continental Army, General George Washington became known not for winning battles against the British so much,…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lurking on a wooded little island in the Potomac River just across the water from Georgetown, there lie important lessons for progressive Democrats from the most progressive president in American history. In continuing our exploration of the U.S. capital region, not just the partisan politics,…
By Glynn Wilson – Like many a fellow traveler before him inspired by the American landscape, Missouri country boy turned middle-aged Alabama forester Mark J. Hainds grew impatient with his life of teaching, raising a family, and conducting research to conserve and propagate the return of the longleaf pine forest in the South, long ago…
Secret Vistas- By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In late 2016, on the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in the United States, a rare white fawn was born in the woods of Greenbelt National Park, where visitors come from all over the country and the world to see the the neo-classical architecture,…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — So you’re a patriotic American or an international admirer of the United States and you’ve always wanted to visit the nation’s capital city? The Neo-classical architecture? All the buildings, memorials and other sites related to the United States federal government? All the Smithsonian museums? Maybe you’ve hesitated, thinking…
By Glynn Wilson – VALLEY FORGE, Pa. – When George Washington moved the Continental Army of colonial militias 18 miles west of Philadelphia on a ridge overlooking the Schuylkill River in the winter of 1777, the motivation that kept a sick and starving rag tag group of soldiers together was the prospect of being governed…
By Glynn Wilson – YORKTOWN, Virg. — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Of all the federal holidays in the United States, Independence Day, which falls every year on the Fourth of July, is my favorite in many ways. This year thanks to a trip to Yorktown, I am thanking the French.…
By Glynn Wilson – APPOMATTOX, Virg. — We didn’t make it here in time for Memorial Day, but National Park Service rangers and volunteers say nearly 500 people showed up for the playing of “Taps” and holiday weekend programs. I don’t know for sure, but considering that Confederate sympathizers seem to generate more engagement these…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — The spring bird migration is in full swing along the Gulf Coast, an annual event when thousands of species of birds make their annual trans-Gulf flight from South and Central America back to North America for the summer and hundreds of birders make it here for one…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — Thousands of bird watchers are flocking to the Alabama Gulf Coast this spring for the annual bird migration, but it’s also mating season for other species, including this fairly large American alligator [Alligator mississippiensis] that has become a tourist attraction in its own right as people come…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. – The annual spring bird migration is in full swing along the Alabama Gulf Coast, as well as the spring mating season for North American raptors like this osprey [Pandion haliaetus], unique for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them. These…
By Glynn Wilson – MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — Sitting beside the Tennessee River in McFarland Park by the Florence Visitor’s Center after spending a few days in the quad city area often just called “the shoals,” I cannot help but think about what might have been. What if I had stuck with the music business…
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Advocates for a fee-based definition of all value are having spasms of ecstasy over the plans for giant increases in entrance fees at the nation’s most popular national parks. The America Feesters, as these patriots call themselves, praise interior secretary Ryan Zinke for his courageous politically incorrect decision,…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the past three years I have chased a dream to visit the White House and stand on the same hallowed ground where so much American history has taken place in the nation’s capital. Finally, thanks to the helpful staff of Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the Congressman from…
