Museums, Historic Site Visits, and Other Travels
My Journey
As a student of social scientists, I have been drawn to museums and historic sites out of a love of history. Over the years, I have started to specifically look for museums that can help inform my work as a glass artist and my studies of Norse/Viking history and culture. I will go into detail on my more recent glass and Viking related museum adventures later.
My daughter and best friend exploring Ocmulgee.
Middle Georgia
Growing up in the south, we are surrounded by history. Not all of it is pleasant but it is always there. I have over the years visited many museums and historic sites local to me. My love of historic sites and museums was developed in my studies in history at the University of Georgia and my studies in public history at Georgia College and State University. I had the opportunity with GCSU to do research in the archives at the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds and Jarrell Plantation. I have visited historic sites and museums in Macon, Athens, and Milledgeville that span the history of humans in the region.
Analysis of The Ocmulgee National Monument's Interpretive Plan
Savannah and South Georgia
During my studies at Georgia College and State University, I spent a weekend in Savannah, GA researching the history of people of color who were firefighters in the Antebellum south. I have also spent time exploring historic Cumberland Island, and with my GCSU studies in public history, I visited the Andersonville National Historic Site and the Naval Museum in Columbus, GA.
North Carolina, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri
My travels have given me the opportunity to visit museums and sites across the eastern half of the country; Chattanooga, TN, Franklin, NC, Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, Fort Knox, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, St. Louis Arch, Willis Tower Chicago (Sears Tower), and New River Gorge. I have also taken my Mustang (Big Blue) on Moonshiner, Blue Ridge and Tail Dragon Roads.
Mobile, AL
Spending a day at Battleship Park in Mobile, AL. I have been to the Mobile Bay Civil War Forts a few times.
Atlanta, GA
In Atlanta, I have visited the Civil Rights Museum, Coca Cola Museum, the Georgia Aquarium, the Atlanta History Center and Fernbank. Fernbank gave me a limited opportunity to view some objects related to my interest in jewelry.
New York
I have made a few trips to New York visiting the upstate region; Lake Champlain, Au Sable Forks, White Face, and Lake Placid. In New York City, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, the Natural History Museum, as well as city sites like Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
South America
My partner and I have been to Aruba, Haiti, Jamaica, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico. We enjoyed walking the historic cities, visiting local markets, and even shopping for gemstones. The highlight of our trips for me was going emerald shopping in Columbia and Aruba.
These are not all my museum and historic site visits, but it is a good sample. There will be more to come on my travels. In the future, I hope to do a better job of drilling down on my interest in glass, jewelry and Norse history.