Hi There! I’m Rachel 🙂
I’m a mom who loves to see and experience all that this state (and beyond!) has to offer, so myself and my two boys have set out to do just that. I believe history is better learned in person and there’s no better cure for the blues than a good road trip!
Your Journey Starts Here…
The Mystery of Pittsburgh’s National Amusement Park
A defunct Pittsburgh amusement park that has frequently intrigued me is the National Amusement Park formerly located in the Harmarville/Blawnox section of Pittsburgh. What is particularly interesting about this park isn’t just that it existed, but more that it appears to have disappeared without much of a trace. The first mention of the park is…
Oh hi there! I’m Rachel!
I’m so glad you found my little space here on the web.
I am passionate about so many things, but I am particularly interested in history and travel.
Family is so important to me so I try to include my two boys in as many of my adventures as I can. I feel that the things and places they actually experience are way more powerful than just reading about it in a book.
I have always had a passion for history — as long as I can remember. I finally turned this passion into action when I published my first postcard history book in 2007. It was followed up a year later by my second book, and then again by third which was published in 2020. (Spoiler alert: the third one was my favorite!)
Abandoned Plateau de Mount Ski Resort
In one of my past posts I talked about how I used Google Maps to find Plateau de Mount, a former ski resort located in the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands. Although I knew that the ruins of the former lodge existed, it wasn’t until this year after skiing at Hidden Valley one day I decided to…
Devil’s Den at Conneaut Lake Park Let’s You Stick it to the Devil
*On January 2, 2022 “Devil’s Den Tom and his wife Arlene announced that they were stepping down as being the ride’s volunteer caretakers. No further details were provided but the tone of the Facebook post did not sound promising for the Devil’s Den remaining at Conneaut Lake Park.* I’m painfully aware of the changes that…
Pittsburgh’s Fountain of Youth in North Park
What would it be like to stay young forever? Or maybe just to rewind 10 or 20 years? Would you do anything differently? Society has been obsessed with reversing time pretty much since the beginning of time. This is why when you see a stone structure marked “Fountain of Youth” along a road outside of…
