In the middle of a state park in Camdenton, Missouri–amidst sinkholes, bluffs, caves, a natural bridge, and overlooking sunlit ripples of the Lake of the Ozarks–sits a turn-of-the-century castle with a history similar to other American castles I’ve been exploring this summer. Although I haven’t visited this one, it’s only a couple of hours from my home, so it’s on …

Last week I got to spend three days on Florida’s Atlantic coast with five of my college roommates (missed you, Bria and Karen!). Twenty-five years after graduating, I was feeling the profound blessing of history with those women. We caught up on life, families, kids, work, lessons learned and lessons-in-process, and the hopes that even with all the blessings each …

How to choose just one American icon to highlight during Independence week? We have a lot to choose from: Roanoke, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Plymouth–those are a few that can’t possibly tell the stories of all the people who’ve called this land home. American history includes multiple people groups who’ve won and lost and regrouped on this soil. There’s pain and tears …

Possibly the most well traveled historic site of upstate New York’s “Thousand Islands,” Boldt Castle on Heart Island in Alexandria Bay captures a tale of love and tragedy to make any story lover swoon. George C. Boldt may not be commonly known to most of us today. But we do recognize NYC’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, of which he was the …

Twice in the past month I’ve had the fun of visiting two southern plantations: Boone Hall outside Charleston, South Carolina, and Belle Meade outside Nashville, Tennessee. While they don’t quite fit the definition of ruins, they get me in the heart all the same. It was my third trip to Charleston. Both previous times I toured other antebellum homes before …

More than 650 years ago, a story grew up out of an Arizona desert. In 1350, the Sonoran Desert People constructed a network of community buildings and canals for irrigation or trade transportation from the Gila River. They had lived there many generations before building what we currently see, but what still stands reaches to us through time. Although Casa …

Another beauty from the past! A decent hike along Breakneck Ridge in Cold Spring, New York, leads you to the ruins of the Cornish Estate, also known as Northgate to the family who called it home. (Along the way, you can also catch a glimpse of Bannerman Castle–see previous post.) If I could spend months meandering through the Hudson Valley …

My character Mila travels to the Hudson Valley from post-war Europe and might see this gem tucked away on Pollepel Island (aka Bannerman Island), sixty miles north of Manhattan. Like her story and ours, there’s more to this curious place than what made up its past. These ruins hold wonders to explore. Scottish-born munitions dealer and Brooklyn resident Francis Bannerman …