“Part of our task is to learn how to make our lives work…we cannot lock them into definite patterns…Through knowledge of the past we can come to understand our present and reshape our future.

Ted Andrews/Uncover Your Past Lives

 

• 

“

 

Check out the Ghost and Gravestone Tour of St. Augustine Fl.

Haunted History of St. Augustine

What to do in the city of St. Augustine

https://www.visitstaugustine.com/things-to-do/attractions

 

 

check out the Alligator and Spoonbills live web cam just south of the CIty

https://www.explore.org/livecams/spoonbills/alligator-spoonbill-swamp-cam

 

 

and learn a bit more about this oldest city in USA:  

 

St. Augustine, FL: Virtual Tours

 

 

 

There’s an interesting mix to ‘Robin Hood’ because it’s kind of modern but medieval. There is a blend of adventure with a very modern feel.

Joanne Froggatt

 

 

 

 

 

Titusville, Florida

https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-to-do-in-titusville-fl/

Is not an area that most people think of when they think of places to go in Florida  but Titusville  (as you’ll learn if you click above has several areas, many related to the Kennedy Space Center, that you might find interesting 

 

 

Check here for some of NASA Video Feeds you might find interesting since you can’t visit currently

https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/video.html

 

 

But there’s other less famous that you might enjoy on just a walk about town.

St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church

414 Palm Ave

https://nbbd.com/npr/stgabriels/index.html

 

 

 

Built 1887 on land donated:

J. Dunlin Perkinson, a lay reader

and Mary F. Titus, wife of 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57061330/mary-evelina-titus

 

 

 

Colonel Henry Titus

https://www.amazon.com/Colonel-Henry-Theodore-Titus-Antebellum/dp/1611176565

 

 

 

An outstanding example of neo-gothic architectural style

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/neo-gothic+architecture

 

 

A cemetery had been planned but the city council opposed one with in the city limits and it was never built.

St. Gabriel’s is known for it’s windows of St. Gabriel  by Tiffany

https://nbbd.com/npr/stgabriels/images1.html

 

 

 

as well as reportedly the largest bell in Brevard Co. (installed 1892)

Check out the church’s Website for more information

https://www.stgabriels.church/

 

 

 

and note they are streaming Palm Sunday service this Sunday 4/5/20 here

https://www.facebook.com/StGabrielTitusville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elgin Depot Museum

https://www.elgintx.com/200/Elgin-Depot-Museum

 

 

 

James H. Long Railroad Park and Museum

SMITHVILLE

https://explorebastropcounty.com/listings/james-h-long-railroad-park-and-museum/

 

 

 

 

 

explore the Trail more fully at this site:  https://texasbrazostrail.com/

this site covers so much of history of this particular region  which was a land of major cotton production after the civil war the crops produced mostly by tenant farmers and share croppers.and the rails and boats that were needed to take it to markets.  

 

 

 

 

 

Whitby Abbey 

Whitby, North Yorkshire

Whitby’s distinctive outline makes it not only one of the most recognizable monastic sites in England,  but certainly one of the most photographed, although its popularity may have far more to do with vampires than architectural merit.

Derry Brabbs

Abbeys & Monasteries

 

 

oh interested more in the Vampire and Whitby check here

 

Dracula and Whitby

 

 

 

 

 

Brevard Zoo

 

 

See the Baby Giraffe:  

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zubehrs61wikywg/AABx2u4DaaEUxUGye71fgG2ua?preview=Brevard+Zoo+giraffe+calf.mp4

 

 

 

 

Meet the animals

 

Animal Wellness

 

and check out the

Treetop Trek Adventure

https://www.treetoptrek.com/

 

 

 

MaVynee Betsch

“The Beach Lady”

 

https://thegedsection.com/ma-vynee-betsch-conservationist-environmentalist-dedicated-life-to-environment-american-beach

 

 

January 12, 1935 (Jacksonville)

September 5, 2005 (American Beach)

 

 

I was leafing thru a “Visit Florida” Black Heritage booklet recently and I discovered this interesting and certainly not your stereo-type  of a black woman born in the early 20th century in the deep south.  

 

 

Her grandfather was Abraham Lincoln Lewis,

who always went by “A. L  who in 1901 founded an African American Life Insurance company in Jacksonville and was the first African American millionaire in Florida not to mention he was one of the wealthiest men in the  southeast during this time.  But for our little narrative we’re interested in his purchasing a  section of beach on Amelia Island in 1935 and creating a beach resort for African Americans that was popular into the 1960’s.  

 

 

American Beach has been described as the African American Hyannisport “where the creme de la creme of Black society came to relax in the Jim Crow South.  

 

Ms. Betsch was brought up in the “lap of luxury” and privilege.  She earned a double degree in voice an piano from the Oberlin Observatory and sang opera in Europe for many years.  

 

 

 

In 1982 she returned to Jacksonville and began to study an promote conservation and protection of the environment, focusing on her beloved beach and the American Beach community.  She eventually gave away her entire fortune to charities that supported these beliefs.  She was featured  CBS and PBS, written up in USA Today and the New York Times among others.  

 

 

She eventually became The Beach Lady with her seven foot long dreadlocks and she gave guided tours of the beach to visitors giving them a view of the beach from a person grew up there during its heyday.  She was a passionate lady with a strong belief in her which was her beach.  She passed away at age 70 having lived as long as the beach.  

to learn more about A.L. Lewis:   https://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/committee/AAFSA/A.L.%20Lewis%20-%20Hometown%20Hero.pdf

 

 

American Beach   https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/ambch_history.htm

 

 

The Jim Crow Laws   https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedom-riders-jim-crow-laws/

 

 

Before the Beach                                                                          https://thegedsection.com/ma-vynee-betsch-conservationist-environmentalist-dedicated-life-to-environment-american-beach

 

 

 

American Beach Today                             https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77843367

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harrods

Harrods i a long terracotta building, crowned with a cupola and bedecked at all times with the flags of the nations.   It is like a museum where you can buy the exhibits, which range from the quaint and the curious through the grotesque to the gaspingly wonderful

Nick Yapp

Rupert Tenison

London:  The Secrets and the Splendour

 

 

virtual tour Harrods 5th floor:  https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77843367

 

 

another tour of Harrods:  https://visualise.com/2009/08/harrods-360-virtual-tour

 

 

and one of London:  https://360.visitlondon.com/#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off the Royal Mile In Edinburgh —love the city been there 3 times

 

 

 

 

“I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.” —Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

 

 

 

More on the Royal Mile  Lady Stairs House (1622)

Off Lady Stairs Close (a close   is an alleyway–and/or walk way) off

 

 

https://www.thehub-edinburgh.com/latest-news/edinburghs-old-town-closes/

 

 

and a very detailed look at these closes:

http://www.royal-mile.com/closes/royalmile-closes.html

 

 

and one that was lost and now is found:  HONEST this is a great few minutes

 

 

 

 

the Royal Mile in the city of Edinburgh

you can down load a few app and do various virtual tours thru Edinburgh College here:  https://www.ed.ac.uk/local/news/virtual-walking-tours-of-edinburgh

 

One of my visits to Edinburgh I and some friends rented an Apartment that was directly on  the Royal Mile—but our view was out over Lady Stairs house and the square it sat on.  We were discover that the

 

 

Writer’s Museum

Lawnmarket

Lady Stair’s Cl,

Edinburgh EH1 2PA,

 

 

was here and visited it it included items relating to and items belonging to the Writers.  It is a wonderful place to look into even if you’e locked down

 

 

http://robert-louis-stevenson.org/106-the-writers-museum-edinburgh/

Burns

The rise of Robert Burns (1759-1796) from ‘ploughman’ to poet and darling of Edinburgh society is the stuff of legend. The Writers’ Museum holds an outstanding collection of personal objects, published works and manuscripts relating to one of Scotland’s best-loved poets

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-burns

 

 

 

 

Stevenson

This collection at the Writers’ Museum evokes the adventurous life of one of Scotland’s best-loved writers. It includes portraits and photographs, personal possessions and books, as well as treasures from Stevenson’s travels.

https://www.biography.com/writer/robert-louis-stevensonhttps://www.biography.com/writer/robert-louis-stevenson

 

 

 

Scott

A fascinating collection of items relating to the great Scottish writer and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), ranging from a printing press and chess set to an inkwell and published works.

Sir Walter Scott

 

 

 

 

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

 

 

 

 

 

Kids–and maybe a few adults might like this Field Trip

The Philadelphia Museum of the American Revolution allows you to take a behind-the-scenes virtual field trip to see artifacts and documents from the American Revolution. Learn about the stories that bring history to life.

 

 

 

 

Or try a virtual Zoo tour

11 am and 2 pm Central Daylight time

Mon-Friday

at  Sedgewick County Zoo

in Witchata, KS

Just go to:

https://www.facebook.com/SedgwickCountyZoo/?rf=239974986045968

 

 

 

Go to Documentary Heaven

www.documentaryheaven.com

Home

and check out all manner of things to stream—Titles include

 

Secrets of  The Stone Age

 

How to Lubricate Stiff Joints

 

Being Bipolar

 

Stupid In America

 

and

The Battle of the Bulge

to name a few.

 

Home

 

Kissimmee Air Museum

https://www.warbirdadventures.com/

Vintage Flight school & air museum

As of Friday, March 27, we will only be operating the T-6 and P-40 flights by appointment. We will be closing the Museum to the public until further notice due to the Corona closures and we also plan to re-organize and deep clean the hangar while we are closed. Flights can be booked by calling (407) 870-7366 or visiting us online: www.warbirdadventures.com We will accommodate flights 7 days/week during daylight hours. The Citabria will not be available for instruction, nor will we open for Museum visitors at all until this has passed. Again, none of us have showed any signs of being infected and you are responsible for your own health and safety while out and about. Let’s go flying!

 

IN the meantime you can shop for items and look at some vids of the planes etc. or schedule a flight on their site above.

 

 

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” George Bernard Shaw

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work out:  9 Totally Free At-Home Workouts for When Coronavirus is Keeping You Inside

https://www.health.com/fitness/coronavirus-at-home-workout

 

 

How about setting up an Instagram Page?

 

Get the Pooch Selfie from Amazon for $9.99

 

then follow these guidelines:  https://animalwellnessmagazine.com/instagram-account-pet/

 

to make it easier:  The Original Dog Selfie Accessory (AS SEEN ON Shark Tank)

and following these hints from Southern Living:

https://www.southernliving.com/culture/pets/photography-tips-dog-photos

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes you just need to talk to a four year old and an 84 year old to understand life again. – Kristen Butler

 

 

 

 

How about a few ghosts

 

—for that what better place than London’s Tower setting since the Norman’s on the banks of the Thames.

https://www.livescience.com/42821-tower-of-london.html

 

 

The Picture above is of the

Queen’s House

https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Tower-of-London/Description/Queen-s-house.php

 

 

Legend says that Guy Fawkes and his fellows in the

Gun Powder Plot (1605)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/gunpowder_robinson_01.shtml

 

who attempted to blow up parliament were “Persuaded to talk and where witnesses claim to have heard screams and the grinding sound of machinery which some believe was the sound of the machines of torture.  

 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Torture-in-the-Tower-of-London/

 

 

There were also sightings of a Grey Lady who was seen only by women, others saw various ghosts in medieval dress drifting along the corridors and the sound of loud footsteps ascending  the stairway to the rear of the building.  There have also been reports of the sounds of medieval religious chanting here.

 

 

 

Some say that Ann Boleyn

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Boleyn

 

 

spent her last days here,

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/anne-boleyn-death-execution-where-buried-how-die/

 

 

 

and it was in fact the house where she resided before her wedding to Henry VIII

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/henry-viii-and-anne-boleyn-suzannah-lipscomb-dispels-myths-about-the-lovers-who-changed-history/

 

 

Ann has been reportedly seen leaving the building by various witnesses and there has been reports of a peculiar perfume here—Thought why this must be Anne’s is beyond me.

 

https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/the-ghost-of-anne-boleyn/-

 

One note I must add:  The present Queen’s House is not where Anne was imprisoned as these apartments were not built until around 1540, at least 4 years after Anne Boleyn’s execution.

 

For a very in depth look at the Gunpowder Plot:  https://www.parliament.uk/gunpowderplot/

 

 

other Grey Ladies out  and about England:  https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Torture-in-the-Tower-of-London/

 

 

 

 

 

“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.” –Mark Twain

 

 

https://bestfriends.org/sanctuary/animal-areas/dogtown

:8665 Harrison St,

Sandy, UT 84070

Visual reality tour:  https://bestfriends.org/sanctuary/virtual-reality-tour

Also try the vid below

 

 

Check out the unusual in the city of London   Beside finding out what this city has to do with Camels at

1. 1] Peek House

Camels in the City of London

Including 11 alleys

2 public Arts

4 pocket Parks

 

 

 

How about a Underground/Tube themed jigsaw puzzle to pass the time?

 

London Underground themed jigsaw puzzles

 

 

and check out the Travel Channel’s pictures and accounts on the Ghosts of London.

https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/photos/haunted-london-1

 

 

 

 

In 1905 Alexandra‘s

How Alexandra Feodorovna Became The Last Empress Of Russia

 

friend Anna Vyrubova 

ROMANOV FAMILY FRIEND: ANNA VYRUBOVA

 

 

Nicknamed the Cow,  Anna came from a distinguished family.  Her father was

Director of the Imperial Chancellery

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Third-Department

as well as being a composer.

 

 

introduced her to the bearded, hypnotic-eyed Grigori Efimovich otherwise known as Rasputin

https://www.thoughtco.com/grigory-rasputin-3573786

 

 

Rasputin ….was a moujik, or peasant

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/08/1917-peasant-revolutions-russia-serfs-bolsheviks

 

 

 

from Pokrovskoe in Siberia

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-rasputin-anniversary-pokrovskoye-relative/28165625.html

 

 

In Rasputin, Alexandra felt that her faith had been rewarded.  She had found her “miracle” worker.

https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSalexandra.htm

 

 

 

She was to pay a terrible price for her relationship with him

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/169167

 

 

it was to create a rift that wold tear the imperial Family apart

https://www.rbth.com/history/326160-romanov-house-history

 

 

 

and contributed to the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/romanov-family-executed

 

 

Check here for Fodor’s presentation of sites in Europe and Russia involving

the Royal Family and Rasputin:

https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/russia/st-petersburg/experiences/news/tracing-the-last-russian-imperial-family-as-they-marched-toward-execution

 

 

 

Try some classic movies to pass your time:

 

 

Classic Witches

The Crucible (1967)

Director: Alex Segal
Writer: Arthur Miller
Stars: George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, Melvyn Douglas, Tuesday Weld, Fritz Weaver, Cathleen Nesbitt, Henry Jones, Will Geer

watch the trailer”  https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7punjj

 

The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 during the Salem witch trials. The play is a fictionalized version of the trials and tells the story of a group of young Salem women who falsely accuse other villagers of witchcraft.  The play was written by American playwright Arthur Miller, who was wrongly accused of communism and un-American activities during McCarthyism in the 1950s. Miller wrote the play as an allegory, revealing the political and moral parallels between the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy trials of his own time.

 

 

 

Go Feline

Cats (2019)

A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.