Historic Places
El Paisano Hotel
Why we keep stopping at Marfa’s historic Hotel Paisano, from its courtyard and architecture to its connection with the movie Giant.
Historic Places
Places where the history is part of the reason to stop. Some are well known, others are easy to miss, but all gave us a better sense of the people, events, and stories connected to the places we were traveling through.
New Mexico
The Miraculous Staircase at Loretto Chapel — Santa Fe, New Mexico
Inside a small chapel in Santa Fe stands a remarkable wooden staircase with no central support post and a legend involving answered prayers and a mysterious carpenter who vanished without payment. I went to see it for myself, and the story is every bit as interesting as the staircase.
Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site — Life on the Texas Frontier
A walk through Fort Davis National Historic Site, where restored buildings, Buffalo Soldier history and the remains of a frontier Army post bring West Texas history to life.
Kansas
Old Cowtown Museum — Wichita, KS
On our way home in April 2024, Lisa and I decided to add an extra day to our stay at Air Capital RV Park and go see Old Cowtown Museum. What surprised us most was that we had been traveling through Wichita for years and somehow never knew it was
New Mexico
La Posta de Mesilla — Mesilla, NM
Fred recommended La Posta de Mesilla to us, so we stopped there on our first trip west in Harriet. It turned out to be exactly the kind of place that works for Rolling Nichols — good food, a memorable setting, and enough history around it to make the stop about more
Nebraska
Fort Robinson, NE — Crawford, NE
We stayed at Fort Robinson State Park in October 2024, and it turned out to be a really pleasant place to spend a few days with the RV — even if the weather was starting to remind us that winter wasn’t far away. The park has plenty of room, beautiful
Tennessee
Graceland Mansion — Memphis, TN
We visited Graceland during the same May 2024 trip to Memphis. Elvis Presley bought the property in 1957 at age 22 and lived there for the rest of his life. The mansion opened to the public in 1982 and has since become one of the best-known music landmarks in
Tennessee
Lorraine Motel — Memphis, TN
During our May 2024 trip to Memphis, we stopped at the Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. This is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, after stepping onto the balcony outside Room 306. The museum preserves the motel and uses
Tennessee
Millionaire's Row — Memphis, TN
We visited Memphis’ Victorian Village in May 2024, the stretch of Adams Avenue once known as “Millionaire’s Row.” During the mid-to-late 1800s, wealthy Memphis families built a series of elaborate homes here, many tied to the city’s cotton, riverboat, and business fortunes. Several of the surviving
Wisconsin
Circus World — Baraboo, WI
We visited Circus World in Baraboo in July 2025. The site occupies part of the original Ringling Bros. winter quarters, where the circus was based from 1884 to 1918, and today preserves historic buildings, artifacts, and an extensive collection of restored circus wagons. The wagons were what stood out most
Texas
Gruene Hall — Gruene, TX
We’ve been to Gruene many times, and Gruene Hall is one of the places that keeps drawing us back. Built in 1878, it is Texas’ oldest continually operating dance hall, and remarkably little about the basic character of the building has changed. One of our favorite visits came during