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Seeing Medieval America
- Summer of 2018-
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot (Little Gidding)
Ok! Thanks for checking out this section of my website. It is all about my journey around the United States from April 2018 through October 2018. It was a magnificent six month sojourn.
I drove the whole thing in my car and I stayed in motels and hotels of all types.
I took my time and really saw America from it's big cities to it's small towns, it's museums, faires,
and of course castles.
If you want to look at some pictures of the highlights of this trip I have a flickr album you can easily scroll through right here: Album of Will's trip around America
Vai. E, se der medo, vai com medo mesmo. (Go, and if you are scared, then go scared.)
This map shows where in the US I visited.
I visited all 48 states, all my relatives in various states, and I drove 20,474 miles.
Here is a map that I have been keeping as I traveled. I updated it as I went. This one shows the path I took around the country. I love this map. I had it for a long time before I went on this journey. I often looked at it and visualized how I would drive around America. It feels good to have actually brought it into a reality. I will be framing this and putting it on the wall.
I started the journey near Boston Massachusetts. And I ended the Journey in Phoenix Arizona where I set up house and lived for two years before returning to Massachusetts.
The Count :
All 48 continental states visited
Journey took 6 months
Journey took 20,474 miles
I stayed in at least 100 different motels
I drove my own car; I went through deserts and over mountains. I did some hard driving and my car never broke down, never overheated, and I never got so much as a flat tire. It seems a bit amazing to me because I went up and over a few mountain ranges, drove through the mojave desert and more. I did however burn out both my headlights although not at the same time.
The journey started in my home city of Fall River Massachusetts. From there I drove north-east to Portland Maine to make my official start on the east coast.
The journey officially ended at the Grand Canyon in Arizona after of course I had traveled the full west coast states from north to south.
Why did I take this journey? There are multiple reasons. You can read about it here. When the reasons start to stack up it is usually a sign that you should act on it.
Gratitude: I am grateful for the amazing experience I had, for my car being so reliable and trouble free, for all the interesting people I met along the way, for all the beautiful places I visited, and for the whole thing being a safe journey with no problems. The Summer of 2018 is one that I will never forget.
Will's favorite places in America - but not in the usual way you think. This is about little places I found and fell in love with for no outwardly apparent reason.
April 27 2018 - Medieval America: Starting Out Everything is done. The old life is behind me and the new adventure begins. I checked into a local motel (Swansea Motor Inn) just to take a few days to decompress and relax. I didn't get much done or do much of anything.
April 29, 2018 - Happened to see a sign on the road near my motel that read "Old World Cobble". I drove down that road to discover a company that works in stone and makes a whole lot of cobble stones. They have tens of thousands of them in piles. Could this be the place that makes the stone for my castle?
May 3, 2018 Traveled around Portland Maine a bit. Took more pics and got some pictures of the Harbor and Atlantic Ocean.
May 4, 2018 Visited Searles Castles in Windham New Hampshire. And visited Searles Castle in Great Barrington Mass. And visited two meaderies including Maine Mead Works in Portland and Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry NH. You can read more about Searles Castles on my other website here: Searles Castle
May 5, Checked into a Super 8 Motel in New York. Visited Searles Castle in Great Barrington MA, Wing's Castle in Millbrook NY, Osborn Castle (Castle Rock) in Garrison NY and Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown NY.
May 6, Visited Bannerman Castle on an island of the Hudson River off Beacon NY. Good Day, not much of a castle though. Was originally a warehouse designed like a Scottish castle. You can see this castle in my youtube video here: Bannerman Castle and castles along the Hudson River
May 7, Day off, did video editing, laundry , email etc.
18th Century Diorama - Also known as a Paper Theater. I found on in the MET in New York. So Decided to make one. It is a complete tutorial project that you can make too. Right here: Make an 18th Century Diorama
May 12, Took a tour boat on the St. Lawrence River to see two castles: Singer Castle and Boldt Castle. Was an amazing day. Both castles are magnificent.
May 15, Visited Earle Estate Meadery in Penn Yan NY on my way to a new Motel in Buffalo New York. in Buffalo I looked up a local place called Duff's Famous Wings. I of course had to stop in and get myself some actual Buffalo Wings.
May 16, in Buffalo New York Visited Niagara Falls. Wonderful morning and afternoon at the falls. Got a lot of great pictures and video. In the evening I visited a meadery called LillyBelle Meadery.
May 17, Adventured into Canada to visit with a blacksmith. (Thak Ironworks). Great day, but I did get lost in Canada so that was a bit exhausting. But Thak Ironworks is pretty amazing.
May 19, checked out of Days Inn Motel in Buffalo and traveled to Microtel in Scranton Pennsylvania. Along the way I made a stop at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning New York. Terrific day including some surprises like glass dioramas. And some telescope and optics stuff. Saw a glass blowing demonstration which was rather nice. I was suprised to see the glass dioramas. I have a page with the glass dioramas right here.
May 20, Work day. I stayed in my Motel in Trenton did writing, video editing and laundry. Note that I also saw a truck accident on the ramp near the hotel and I watched as a wedding party pulled into the motel.
May 21, The Houdini Museum, An idea came to me and I shot a fun video about it. Otherwise I did video editing and normal web work, web pages etc.
May 26, Second day at Blacksmith of Trenton, Bryn Athyn Cathedral; Matt, Andre and his pregnant girlfriend.
May 27 Travel day to Baltimore Maryland, laundry and web work. Seriously dangerous rain on the highway. Come to find out that some of the Baltimore area is under emergency because of flash flooding. I might not be able to travel to where I want to go tomorrow!
June 5, Visited the Cleveland Museum of Art - They have a great armor and weapons display along with a wide array of paintings and sculptures spanning centuries. I broke out the Cleveland Museum collection by adding two more pages: Polearms, Weapons and Armor
Sep 3 Drove to Panguitch Utah, Stayed in a beautiful little motel called Blue something or other, Very Route 66 and nostalgic roadside motel. I like Panguitch overall.
Sep 4 Bryce Canyon - It is a beautiful red rock canyon.
Sep 5 Drove route 89 North from Panguitch. This is a very beautiful drive. One of the best drives in America.
Winslow Arizona - You have to be over 50 to know the Eagles song "Takin it Easy" It starts out with the line "Standin on the corner in Winslow Arizona". Well, it's a thing and I stopped in to see.
Here is a complete playlist of the Medieval America Series. You can watch all the videos through this player here without leaving my website.
Will is on a quest to See Medieval America. He is criss-crossing his way across the whole country from East to West. You can Join in the fun and follow along on his youtube channel right here: Will's Youtube channel.
He is learning how to build his own castle! You can support him in a variety of different ways including donating to the cause on Patreon. Patrons get special access to products, and videos specifically made for them. Will frequently creates a video on the road specifically for patrons. Learn more about supporting Will on Patreon Here
I have the first version of this castle done. It is an eight page pdf which includes the base sheet that you assemble it on. There are not yet any instructions to go with it. But you should be able to put it together relatively easily. I recommend you print it up onto some kind of index card or card stock. 90 pound paper is the best. Download it here: Merry Mead Castle Paper booklet
Ok! Thanks for checking out this section of my website. It is all about my journey around the United States from April 2018 through October 2018. It was a magnificent six month sojourn.
Will is on a quest to See Medieval America. He is criss-crossing his way across the whole country from East to West. You can Join in the fun and follow along on his youtube channel right here:
