Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Terrain

  • Ohio River, Part 7 (Corydon Loop)

    We used Louisville, Kentucky as our home base for the week and we took several day trips into the countryside. Because the drive to Louisville took a toll on us we decided to relax early in the week. Then our first foray focused on Corydon in nearby Indiana, barely a half-hour away. Something else figured…

  • Ohio River, Part 3 (Onward towards Louisville)

    I created a jagged route as we passed between Portsmouth, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky, before reaching the Interstate and continuing onward to Louisville. I needed to fill a county-counting hole in northeastern Kentucky. So I bounced between county lines for awhile and recorded seven new captures along the way. Of course I found a few…

  • Carolina Wetlands, Part 5 (The Swamp Fox)

    So we finally get to Brigadier General Francis Marion, the so-called Swamp Fox. He was born on the family plantation sometime around 1732 although no definitive record exists, strangely enough. Then he spent much of his life there except for brief forays that included a stint in the French and Indian War. Nonetheless he was…

  • Carolina Wetlands, Part 3 (The Great Outdoors)

    I bypassed all sorts of interesting and historical places because I wanted to avoid indoor spaces during the pandemic. So I searched for outdoor attractions to keep us busy. Typically we do a lot of this on our trips anyway, but we really took it over the top this time. A whole lot of walking,…

  • Carolina Wetlands, Part 2 (All About the Water)

    Water, water everywhere! Well what else would anyone expect? After all, the whole area was basically a swamp. They even called one big chunk of South Carolina the Lowcountry for its very specific lack of elevation and percolating water table. Liquid gurgled, flowed, pooled or crashed just about everywhere I stepped during the week. So…

  • Highlands and More

    Various Points in Scotland (January 2000) We used to be able to take spur of the moment trips before we had children. Thus, all the way back in 2000, one of the airlines offered an absurdly low fare for a last-minute trip to Glasgow, Scotland. I think it was something really crazy like $120. But…

  • Neolithic Henge, Cairns and Standing Stones

    Kilmartin Glen, Argyll, Scotland (January 2000) The Kilmartin Glen contained an impressive collection of neolithic sites. The richest cluster in the valley included Temple Wood Henge and the various Nether Largie artifacts. Conveniently they all sat within close proximity of each other (map). A circular structure set off from the surrounding landscape by an earthwork…

  • Dunadd

    Kilmartin Glen, Argyll, Scotland (January 2000) There are few places in Scotland with such an incredible collection of archaeological sites as Kilmartin Glen. There are hundreds of monuments, fortresses, cairns, standing stones and carvings between Lochgilphead and Kilmartin (map). They range from the prehistoric all the way to the early days of the original Scottish…

  • Ilhéus das Cabras

    Terceira, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Two dramatic rocks rise above the ocean off of the eastern end of Terceira’s southern coast (map). These are the Ilhéus das Cabras, the “Goat Islands,” and they serve as silent witnesses to the power of the Earth. Not too long ago these jagged fragments joined to form…

  • Porto Martins

    Terceira, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Porto Martins lies due south of Praia do Vitória along Terceira’s eastern shore (map). It is a scenic fishing village and summer resorts with a popular natural swimming pool at the waterline. We stopped where land met water. This was the location of the swimming hole set among…