A Step In Time Walking Tours

08/02/2024

While my daughter enjoyed a day camp at Henricus National Park this week, I explored historical Virginia to my nerdy heart's content. I spent the first day in downtown Richmond. Parked at the site of Libby Prison and walked across the street to the Virginia Holocaust Museum for the morning. Harrowing exhibits, but very well done. After lunch, I toured the nearby Poe Museum in the oldest house in Richmond. Day 2 I drove over to Yorktown to dig into my ancestors, the Digges family. I had the pleasure of having lunch in the 1720 Cole Digges House, my 8th great-grandmother's nephew. His father's house was just down the street. The whole family is buried out at the old Bellfield Plantation outside town. Finally, on day 3, while the kids were out kayaking, I got to wander through Henricus itself. This 1611 settlement deserves just as much credit as Jamestown. Go check it out! (Plus, we got to visit with some sweet deer at our Airbnb.)

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05/27/2024

Took advantage of the long weekend for a trip up to Pilot Mountain! We started our first full day by checking off another ( #18 of 27 for us) at Horne Creek Farm and got to know some of the animals and people working there. We spent that evening in Mt. Airy for dinner and a ghost tour of the town. Very informative day! The second day we went to the top of Pilot Mountain to check out the views and later wandered over to see the ruins of the Rock House (a formerly 4-story stacked rock home built between 1770 and 1785 by a Revolutionary Patriot). It was a simple weekend, but full of fun. Go check out your world!

04/27/2024

Just returned home from a day trip to Durham to celebrate the 159th anniversary of the largest surrender of the American Civil War at Bennett Place. Some fascinating and well-documented history here. I'm so glad we went, especially since there was a good bit mentioned about the battle of Monroe's Crossroads nearby to us and its impact on the negotiations at Bennett Place. Lots of connections made with our history! Go out and explore your world!

04/01/2024

We three history nerds spent our Spring break at the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown. We enjoyed the Haunted Williamsburg tour, visited with some of the farm animals, got surprisingly entranced by the upholstery exhibit at the Art Museum, and came face to face (sometimes literally) with ancestors at Jamestown and Yorktown. All in all, we saw 5 different museums and countless historic sites and structures. I think my favorite was the Jamestown Rediscovery site with all of the archaeology! Go out and explore your world and put history into context with your life!

10/24/2023

Had to make a day trip to the Carolina Renaissance Festival last weekend and forgot to take more pics because we were too busy enjoying the day. Great Celtic Music Weekend! (I mean, in my book, you can't go wrong with a bagpipe and some drums!) Just a few more weekends left before they're done for the season!

10/10/2023

Took advantage of the long weekend to take the train to Philadelphia! It was our first time there, doing a little genealogy research and just nerding out at all the history in general. Stayed near Rittenhouse Square, which was an easy walk from the train station and full of gorgeous sculptures. Spent our first full day, which was a bit rainy, at the Mütter Museum and the Rodin Museum, both amazing! Our second full day, we started with Carpenter's Hall, the first meeting place for the Continental Congress, so we could see where our ancestor, Charles Thomson, had presided as Secretary. Then we checked out the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. After lunch, we took a walking tour with and our guide, Joey, took us all over Old City and shared stories of some of the more hidden figures in the city's history. Highly recommend! And on our way back to our apartment, we stumbled across the burial ground for another ancestor, Thomas Paschall, at the Friends Meeting House! The next morning, we paid our farewells to the city and strolled along the banks of the Schuylkill River back to the train station for our ride home. Wish we could've stayed longer!

09/02/2023

Spent a beautiful morning sharing Southern Pines history with four lovely ladies!

Now that the weather is cooling off it is the perfect time to book a tour for your group!

08/13/2023

Took an impromptu trip to North Carolina's Crystal Coast last week! Started off with a visit to Fort Macon, one of NC's first state parks and key defense of Beaufort Harbor over the centuries. After a dip in the water to cool off and an early dinner, we took a sunset ferry to Shackleford Banks to visit the wild horses, do some shelling, and see dolphins (a pod of three swam around us for 20 minutes)! The next day, we wandered through the Old Burying Ground, visited the NC Maritime Museum, and toured the Beaufort Historic Site (the 1854 Apothecary was our favorite)! One of NC's oldest European settlements and well-worth the visit (plus, all of the restaurants were excellent)! Get out and explore your world!

06/02/2023

Don't forget to grab your tickets for the tour tomorrow!

Welcome to Southern Pines, North Carolina—a charming town with a rich history and a story to tell. Embark on a captivating history tour as we take you on a journey through time, unveiling the fascinating past and hidden gems of this beautiful Southern town.Our tour begins with a visit to the Shaw ...

05/30/2023

Big news! I am so excited to be partnering with Sandhills Trolley Company to bring the history of Southern Pines to everyone! Our inaugural tour is this Saturday afternoon! Get your tickets today!

Welcome to Southern Pines, North Carolina—a charming town with a rich history and a story to tell. Embark on a captivating history tour as we take you on a journey through time, unveiling the fascinating past and hidden gems of this beautiful Southern town.Our tour begins with a visit to the Shaw ...

04/30/2023

Took a fantastic day trip to Halifax, NC yesterday, the birthplace of independence. If you've always wondered what the date on the bottom of the NC flag means, this place has the answers. A fantastic visitor's center, multiple historic buildings to tour, great tour guides, lots of information. This was once the most significant city in the colony, at a crossroads of trade on the Roanoke River. Maybe our favorite NC Historic Site so far, it filled a lot of holes and connected a lot of dots in our knowledge and appreciation of NC and US history. Go check it out!

04/14/2023

Spent an amazing morning sharing WW2 stories with the Upper Elementary students at Moore Montessori Community School! If you've never noticed the monuments in front of the school, go by and check them out. They are all dedicated to the Southern Pines High School students who served our country during WW2. One of which, J.E. Newton, was the first North Carolinian to join after Pearl Harbor! Another, Major William P. Fisher was injured at Clark Field during the Pearl Harbor attack. Over 150 names, including 8 women, all with fantastic stories. So grateful to be able to share with the students today. They had excellent questions!
Moore Montessori Community School

03/06/2023

On the way back from a quick trip to Asheville, we realized that both of the surviving covered bridges in NC were on our way home. So, of course, we had to stop and see them! They are beautiful little feats of engineering and well worth a short stop off the highways. Both have small parks around them with walking trails. Bunker Hill Covered Bridge is off of Interstate 40 in Catawba County, and Pisgah Covered Bridge is off Interstate 74 in Randolph County. Check them out next time you're in those areas!

02/16/2023

In case you missed it, this is just one of the projects the Moore County Historical Association has been up to lately!

Born in 1746, on the Isle of Skye, Peter Bethune was one of thousands of Scots who fled their homeland and settled in the Sandhills. When he died in 1805,

08/12/2022

Good article about the event last weekend!

“Come out, Alston!” Fanning yelled as balls from his men’s muskets pockmarked the outer walls of the Patriot Phillip Alston’s family home. “Your time is through.” After nearly three …