The Battle at King’s Mountain is notable for two reasons: it was the turning point for the rebellion in the southern colonies, and it was fought entirely by Americans against Americans—there was only one British soldier on the entire battlefield. So far in 1780, the British strategy of attacking the southern colonies was working out … More Kings Mountain Battlefield

As long as there are birds and airplanes flying around in the same atmosphere, there will be bird strikes. Each year, worldwide, over 10,000 aircraft collide in flight with birds, ranging from the smallest chickadees to the largest geese and swans. (As an odd aside, birds are not the only animals that collide with airplanes: … More Sully’s Airplane

Greetings from North Carolina. I’ll be in Charlotte for a week or so, then over to Wilmington for a couple more weeks. I don’t think I’ve ever met an aviation museum I didn’t like. And after spending four weeks in Charleston SC camped under the flight path to the airport with planes going by all … More Carolina’s Aviation Museum

“Can I bring my dog or cat along in the van?” is one of the most common questions asked by newbies on the various vandweller forums, often appearing two or three times in a single day. It can be enormously controversial, and the discussion sometimes gets intense and emotional. So it is worth looking at … More Pets in the Van

In colonial times, Dorchester was a small trading town on the banks of the Ashley River near Charleston SC. During the Revolutionary War it became a supply base for the Patriots, who built a defensive fort there from “tabby”—a cementlike mixture of lime and oyster shells.When the British took Charleston in 1780, they also took … More Dorchester State Historic Park

This park in Charleston SC is a former rice plantation that was built by the Drayton family in the 1700’s as a rice farm, burned during the Civil War, and rebuilt. Today it offers tours of the house, tours of the gardens, a small petting zoo, and a nature trail run by the Audubon. Some … More Magnolia Plantation and Audubon Swamp

[NOTE: I’ve blogged all these “how-to” posts before, but am gonna re-run them on occasion, since folks may have missed them, and many of them have been updated or expanded since they were first posted.] So, how do I cook while living in the van? Often, I don’t. Walmart parking lots are usually surrounded by … More Cooking in the Van

This State Park, right outside Charleston SC, was established on the spot where the original settlement of Charleston was located in 1670 (called “Albermarle”), before moving to its current location in 1680. The park features a reconstruction of the original settlement’s stockade fence and cannon fort, a replica of a 17th century trading ship, an … More Charles Towne Landing State Park

This is a small museum in the Geology Department of Charleston College in SC. These local university museums tend to focus on specimens collected locally (though this one has a variety from all over the country). Some photos. The museum Inside the museum Mammoth and Mastodon Shark vertebrae Cave Bear Coccoderma, a lobe-finned fish Apsteon, … More Mace Brown Museum of Natural History

Founded in 1773, the Charleston Museum is the oldest museum in the US and bills itself as “America’s First Museum”. Originally begun as a collection of “curios”, it now has exhibit halls featuring the prehistoric and historic events of the city. Some photos from an afternoon in the museum. Skull of ancient whale Albertocetus Pelagornis, … More Charleston Museum