Beyond the Adventures

03/20/2025

The Alabama cave with over 10,000 years of Human History. (Y'all I'm tired, please don't come at me with "Earth is only 6000 years old". We're friends now. We're past that. We agreed to disagree. ❤️)
Located in Northeast Alabama. There's an active archeological dig going on here. And the river flows into the cave. What's not to love about it?
📍 Russell Cave National Monument

03/18/2025

Check out our Roller Coasters of Dollywood book!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1241875838/roller-coasters-of-dollywood-book-travel

03/18/2025

03/18/2025

Know your geographic land forms...

03/16/2025

Explore these old-world towns and feel like you're in history!

Photo credit: Tombstone Monument Ranch

03/15/2025

Take the trip.

Even though it means you’ll have to use vacation days and a little extra money out of your budget.

And yes, there’s so much to do and it’s hard to rearrange your schedule.

Take the trip.

Even though you might have to move a little bit slower than you’re used to.

And you’ll stop a few extra times to chat with strangers and ask about the weather and make small talk with people just because it’s what they do.

“Hi. Where are you from? We don’t know much about oceans, but we can tell you all about farming.”

Take the trip.

Even though you worry about new locations or tricky roads or places that aren’t kid-friendly.

Take the trip with your mom and dad. Your sister. Your brother. Your aunt and grandma and grandpa and cousin. Take the trip with that friend from high school you always said you’d meet again. With your spouse and your kids. Your loved ones.

Take the trip.

It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. If you simply can’t get out town, meet up for coffee. Play a game of cards. Do whatever you have to do to get together.

Because you’re all getting older, and life is getting busier and you’re just not sure when you’ll be able to do this again.

Take the trip.

Responsibilities will be there when you get back.

Work can wait.
Life can’t.

Take the trip.

Because these memories will live in your heart forever.

Leslie Means

03/14/2025

03/13/2025

As European settlers passed through the Cumberland Gap to find a better life, the people of the Cherokee Nation were bitterly divided on how to handle this migration. Some, such as Dragging Canoe, pushed for war. They believed this surge of European settlement would lead to the end of the Cherokee way of life. Others, including Nanyehi, argued for peace.

Born around 1738 in the Cherokee capital Chota, Nanyehi was either a cousin or sister of Dragging Canoe. She was a warrior in her own right who accompanied her husband, Kingfisher, into battle. In 1755, as they both fought against the Muscogee Creek in the Battle of Taliwa in Georgia, Kingfisher was killed. A few years later, Nanyehi married an Irish trader and anglicized her name to Nancy Ward.

After the 1775 Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, Ward came into conflict with Dragging Canoe. She pushed for diplomacy with the white settlers, while Dragging Canoe argued for war. When Dragging Canoe decided to attack Wolf Hills (Abingdon, Virginia), Ward sent a warning to the community. She also saved several women, including Nancy Bean, from ex*****on. In 1785, she helped to negotiate the Treaty of Hopewell. A controversial figure even during her own time, Ward continued to promote the idea of diplomacy for the rest of her life.

Image Description: Print of Nancy Ward, by Ben Hampton, 1976. The "Beloved Woman" of the Cherokee Nation, Tennessee State Museum Collection