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Pretty soon we’ll be heading out to Las Vegas for the NGS 2013 Family History Conference. I gotta’ be honest, this is my first national genealogy conference. The excitement level for me is quite high. Add to that, I’m a planner. I like lists. In fact, my husband calls me “The Lister.” I should have a cape to go with that; it’s a title I carry proudly. So, my tendencies toward a Type-A personality get the best of me, and I’ve already started working on my “what to pack” list. Read More »

A while back I researched and wrote about the largest USA state, Alaska, as the Heritage Tourist. This week I have been looking at the smallest USA state, Rhode Island. Whenever there is a National Heritage Area in the state, I like to start there to get an understanding of what the local folks think is important from a heritage viewpoint. National Heritage Area 'national stories' come from many local meeting of many local people getting to gather to talk about what their local culture, history and natural elements can say to a national audience. Read More »

Yesterday the boys and I explored the highlands and lowlands of Scotland, the artists and writers, and other interesting facts as well. We did it all from the comfort of our front room, too! Have you seen the latest Pixar movie, “Brave,” yet? Disney and Pixar are hoping that after seeing the movie you will want to see more of Scotland, the setting of this story. They have teamed up with “Visit Scotland”, Scotland’s National Tourism Organization to bring you a website full of great ways to explore this beautiful country from the comfort of your home. Read More »

Is there a home you once lived in that you haven’t visited in years? Maybe you haven’t seen your grandparents’ house since they passed away. Call it nostalgia or whatever you want, it can be a fun and interesting experience to drive by a former home or an ancestral home. Here are three reasons from the family historian’s perspective to do just that. First, homes change over time. It might be as simple as a new paint color or a more involved addition to the house. If the home included acreage, it may have been subdivided. That’s what I discovered after an absence from an old neighborhood of only a couple of years! In other cases old homes are torn down and replaced altogether. Land uses can change too. What was once a pleasant residential neighborhood can turn into industrial use. I’ve run across all of these in investigating my family’s and ancestor’s homes. Read More »

It is easy to forget that there is a lot more to see and do in Wyoming than a visit to Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming is full of the historical, cultural and natural elements we each look for in our heritage travels. Our friend, Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, recently wrote about the many primary laws of the State of Wyoming. It reminded me of how many different countries and territorial governments Wyoming has been under in just a relatively few number of years. Wyoming was also crossed by many our ancestors on the California, the Oregon and the Mormon Pioneer Trails, as well as the Pony Express for its short lifetime in the early 1860s. Each of these has historical sites to visit in Wyoming. See some of these references in my Heritage Tourism in Wyoming. Read More »