Author: Sandra Friend

Staircase through ruins with expanse of sea on horizon

Atop Ancient Akroteri

Posted on Feb 28, 2011Jan 10, 2026 by Sandra Friend

It is a tough climb to ancient Akroteri, Greece, through loose volcanic scree. But the view from the top, and the treasures to be found, make it worthwhile.

Gateway to Gathland

Posted on Feb 25, 2011Jan 10, 2026 by Sandra Friend

At Gathland State Park in Maryland, this smaller stone arch is almost forgotten with the heavy significance of the War Correspondents Memorial arch just around the corner.

View of a mountain ridge from a rocky mountain ridge

View from Cheaha

Posted on Feb 21, 2011Jan 18, 2026 by Sandra Friend

Cheaha State Park affords views unparalleled for the region. This state park is truly vertical, showing off a spur of rock rising well above the valleys below. The Pinhoti Trail follows its top.

Men talking in front of cases of minerals

Prospecting at Poland Mining Camps

Posted on Feb 16, 2011Jan 18, 2026 by Sandra Friend

At Poland Mining Camps, a destination for prospectors, collections of minerals extracted from famous Maine localities line the walls. Purple apatite, an inch thick and translucent as glass. Platy, iridescent clevelandite, encrusted with tiny sparkling crystals of muscovite. The human company is outstanding, too.

A hilltop with monuments and bare trees and mist

Ghosts of Gettysburg

Posted on Feb 13, 2011Jan 10, 2026 by Sandra Friend

Gettysburg is an uneasy place. So much bloodshed. So much pain. And yet there is beauty on the battlefield, the forests and hills, the monuments placed skillfully so as to invite reflection.

Beneath the Withlacoochee

Posted on Feb 13, 2011Jan 10, 2026 by Sandra Friend

Way down under the Withlacoochee State Forest, there’s a whole other world waiting to be seen. The forest is rich with caves, and there are groups that lead explorations into them.