My tour of waterfalls seemingly at an end, I spread the map out on my lap and contemplated the best route between Tallulah Falls and Atlanta, Georgia. As I scanned my options I noticed a red dot on the map, not far from my current location. I squinted to make out the small print: Toccoa Falls. Another waterfall! There was no question I would divert to see it.

Toccoa Falls, 186 feet high, is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College

Upon arriving in Toccoa I stopped by the renovated train station that serves as the area’s Welcome Center to ask directions. My intention was to make a quick stop at the waterfall and then be on my way but the gracious staff convinced me there was much more to see in this tiny town nestled in the foothills of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. With no schedule to adhere to, I decided to investigate what Toccoa had to offer.

I began with the Stephens County Historical Society Museum and the Currahee Military Museum, both also located within the historic railroad depot. In the Historical Society Museum I wandered from exhibit to exhibit, learning about well-known personages connected with Toccoa. I was not surprised to discover that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was among them. Roosevelt’s love affair with Georgia is well known; he often traveled to his vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia, which became known at the “Little White House.” On one such Read the rest of this entry »

A little bit of history pulled into Key West last week. The 523-foot long USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg arrived from its previous berth in Norfolk, VA, where it had been languishing since being decommissioned in 1986, one of 25 retired ships often referred to as the “Ghost Fleet.” Now, rather than rusting away or being cut up for scrap, the WWII troop carrier will serve one final mission: it will be scuttled six miles offshore, where it will become the world’s second-largest artificial reef.

The USS Vandenberg will be scuttled six miles offshore from Key West in 140 feet of water, where it will become the second largest artificial reef in the world

Key West boat captain Joe Weatherby conceived the idea for the project 13 years ago and began searching for a mothballed ship that would be suitable, eventually selecting the Vandenberg because of its interesting structure, military history, and massive size. For years he navigated myriad state and federal regulations in his attempt to bring the ship to Key West while the price tag grew into the millions. Prospects looked bleak until Read the rest of this entry »

The minister stood in front of the 70 couples who had gathered in Sarasota’s Bayfront Park and bid them rise and join hands. Solemnly, he discussed the sacrament of matrimony and then launched into the vows. A split second after they had all agreed to love, honor, and obey, an ambulance screamed by with sirens blaring.

Seventy couples gather to renew their vows in the shadow of the giant "Unconditional Surrender" sculpture

“I trust that isn’t for anyone here?” the minister said, giving everyone a good laugh.

Indeed, there were no terrified spouses or fainting brides at this mass renewal of vows. Each of the couples had paid $100 for the privilege of standing beneath the giant “Unconditional Surrender” sculpture temporarily on display in the park and saying “I Do” the second time around. Billed as “A Monumental Valentine’s Day Kiss,” the event was a fundraiser for Sarasota Season of Sculpture, which is attempting to keep the work in Sarasota permanently. Read the rest of this entry »

Because I am fascinated by anything having to do with World War II, I was delighted when a friend sent me a video about P-51 Mustang fighter planes, affectionately known as the “Grey Eagles.” The story of this enduring aircraft is told through the eyes of pilot Jim Brooks, a WWII ace who flew the Mustang named “February” during the war, providing protection for B-17 bombers as they penetrated deep into German territory.

Although there were nearly 16,000 Mustangs built only 200 remain worldwide. In September of 2007, nearly half of these remaining P-51′s came together at an unprecedented event, “The Gathering of Mustangs and Legends“, held at Rickenbacker Field in Columbus, Ohio. Through this event, Brooks was reunited with his plane, and his family was finally able to get him to reminisce about his war experiences. The video, which is is extremely touching and at times even humorous, features Brooks’ two grandchildren, who accompanied their grandfather to the event for his first view of the restored plane and subsequently had an opportunity to fly in it.

I can relate. My father was a belly gunner in a B-17 bomber in WWII and he, too, Read the rest of this entry »

In the middle of the night on March 24, 1944, 76 Allied airmen crawled on their bellies through a 300-foot long tunnel to escape from the Nazi POW Camp, Stalag Luft III (see photo above). They did it by constructing three tunnels the airmen named “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry,” using only tools that they could make themselves out of tin cans, bed boards, strips of cloth, and other materials that they scavenged. This went down in history as one of the greatest mass escapes of all time and became the basis for the movie “The Great Escape.” After the war one of the POWs, Ley Kenyon, drew a map of the camp and “Harry,” the tunnel that was ultimately used for the escape. NOVA created an interactive map from Ley’s sketch, which can be seen HERE. Roll over each of the numbers on the map to read about the fascinating details of just how they accomplished this amazing feat of engineering, despite having rudimentary tools. The numbers go from 1 to 16; be sure to click on ‘next’ at the bottom of each page until you get all the way through to item 16.

NOVA created the interactive map for their TV series on Great Escapes (the non-interactive version is shown above). To learn more about Tunnel Harry, including the story of the only three escapees who made it to freedom (73 were recaptured), and to view Ley’s stunning collection of sketches made during and after the war,

A friend from my previous life in real estate, Bill Holt, sent me an email the other day that contained a series of old black & white photos. Apparently, these photos were discovered on the film from a Brownie camera found stored in an old footlocker belonging to a sailor who was serving on the USS Quapaw ATF-110 in 1941. When developed, the photos contained spectacular images of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th of that year.

Recently discovered B&W photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor

These were definitely some spectacular photos, so I sent them off to my Dad, since he served in WWII. Dad was a belly gunner in a B-17-E Bomber during the war. For those of you who don’t know what a belly gunner was, after the B-17 was airborne, these airmen climbed down through a hatch that accessed a small plastic sphere in the rear of the plane. They curled up in an upside-down position while the sphere was hand-cranked down until it rested beneath the plane. Then the ball was rotated so that the belly gunner was sitting in an upright position, from where he could operate hand and foot pedals that turned the ball in a circle and fired machine guns at enemy fighters. Once rotated into this upright position, the belly gunner was totally cut off from the interior of the aircraft.

The belly guns and the machine guns in the main fuselage were the only weapons the bombers had because their payload was devoted to carrying the bombs. Up to the point where the bombers entered “the slot” (the target area), they had the protection of fighter aircraft that flew along with the formation. But once they hit “the slot” the fighters broke away and the bombers were on their own. At this point, the pilot Read the rest of this entry »