Carl Henning

The Star Trek: The Original Series original sets were dismantled and scrapped in 1969 when the series ended. Back then its future success was not imagined. A super fan recreated the sets from the original blueprints under license from CBS. Normally I use a small number of the photos I take. This time I was tempted to include all 60 I took… but that seemed excessive. But here are a few.

Fort Ticonderoga is one of several forts on the shores of Lake Champlain. Originally a French fort built in 1755-1757 as Fort Carillion, the fort was active during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. After 1789 locals used remnants of the fort for their own buildings. They even melted down the cannons. By the early 1900’s it was in ruins. In 1909 it was reopened as a historic site. Today it mimics the original and houses an impressive array of artifacts.

My wife had seen ads for Tarpon Springs highlighting its sponge diving history. We were looking for a museum, but there was none. Instead we found a history display in the first gift shop we hit.

While in Sarasota, Florida we visited the Mote Aquarium (officially the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, or on the map as Mote Science Education Aquarium, Mote SEA).

There’s a lot of history on this site, not just Fort King George, a short-lived English garrison located to protect from Indians and those pesky Florida Spanish. Today it’s located in Georgia, but then it was a South Carolina colony. The visitor center had a small museum.

Not far off of I95 near Townsend, Georgia is the Smallest Church in America, Christ’s Chapel in Memory Park. Built in 1949 and rebuilt in 2017 after arson destroyed the original. There is room for 13 people in its 10×15 foot sanctuary.

This old church in ruins is called the Sheldon Church. All by itself in the woods, the parish still maintains the site. The grass was being mowed while we were there. The county website describes it: Old Sheldon Church was originally known as Prince William’s Parish Church and was built in the Greek Revival style between 1745 and 1753. It was burned down by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War. In 1826, it was rebuilt only to be burned again by General Sherman in February 1865.

NO, not THAT border – the North Carolina Border. South of the Border does have a Mexican theme, Mexican gifts, and a Mexican mascot, Pedro. We enjoyed the gift shop and its shark, but skipped the other amenities.

A fair piece off I95 is Wilson, North Carolina. And worth the detour. Made from scraps and recycled parts these 30 wind-powered sculptures at Whirligig Park are fun to watch.

I expected this to be called “Reston Zoo” but the internet search returned NOVA Wild.  NOVA is short for Northern Virginia. We were looking for an activity to enjoy while visiting our oldest great granddaughter in the Washington, DC area. (We actually had lived in Reston over 30 years ago and had visited the zoo then.) [And an apology to subscribers.]