Biltmore the Estate and Giveaway Christmas Ends November 16th

Welcome back! Debbie Lynne here with more on the Vanderbilts. But today I'm going to be talking about the Biltmore House. I have a GREAT GIVEAWAY! It's getting to be that time of the year when we are starting to turn out thoughts to the holidays. So I'm giving away a copy of A Biltmore Christmas and I'm giving away a beautiful Biltmore Christmas ornament!  Leave a comment (I'd love to hear what you'd put in your dream house) and don't forget your email addy so I can contact you should you win. Happy reading!

By Valerius Tygart - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2826627

I love the Appalachian mountains and I'm not alone. By 1880 passenger trains had come to Asheville, NC, making the town only a day's journey from New York. The quiet mountain town full of fresh air, hot mineral springs, and beauty became the perfect resort for busy city people.

George Vanderbilt visited Asheville in 1888 with his mother and was captivated by the area's beauty. He was hooked and immediately started purchasing land for his estate. When it was all said and done, George had acquired 125,000 acres! As he planned his new endeavor, Vanderbilt modeled his dream on European and English traditions where the country estate showed wealth, significant land ownership, pursuit of physical well-being, and the importance of family and friends.

By 1889 construction had begun! This French Renaissance Chateau was the largest undertaking in residential architecture. With 250 rooms, it nearly took a whole city of skilled craftsman six years to complete this fairy tale castle. 

Together with Richard Morris Hunt (architect) and Frederick Law Olmsted (Landscape designer), George Vanderbilt brought his vision to fruition. The three men worked closely together, building a strong friendship, focusing on the same goal—making a unique American country estate.

By JcPollock - Self-published work by JcPollock, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1220643

December 24th, 1895 the house George Vanderbilt has poured himself into is opened to friends and family, full of beautiful decorations and holiday festivities. The home consists of 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. It sports a very masculine Billard Room giving men a place to retreat. Doors concealed in the fireplace lead to a smoking room and a gun room, which are just a few of the marvelous rooms adorning the Biltmore Estate. 

It would take me another six posts to touch on all the rooms that Vanderbilt saw fit to build, but I'll mention a few that I found interesting. There is a 72 x 42 foot Banquet Hall with 70 foot high ceiling arches, a breakfast room, a music room, a 90 foot long Gallery, a library containing over 23,000 books, a gymnasium, a trophy room, indoor swimming pool, and the last room I'll mention but certainly not the least is the bowling alley. 

By Kristiebracag - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52286518

In 1889 Biltmore Village was purchased by Vanderbilt, formally the town of Best. Already consisting of a railway station, two small inns, a grist mill, and a few houses, Vanderbilt added cottages, shops, a school, post office, Church, laundry, hospital and the Biltmore Office Building. 

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about the history of the Biltmore Estates. I didn't even touch on the landscaping, so if you want to learn more you can go to www.biltmore.com. All pictures used are from the Biltmore website. 

If you'd like to have Biltmore wallpaper on your computer go to their photo gallery and they give you free downloads! 

Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what would be your dream room or feature in a house along with your email addy to be entered to win A Christmas at Biltmore and a beautiful Biltmore Christmas ornament. For an extra entry drop by http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com/2013/11/embracing-rejection-what-you-can-learn.html (this link won't work until the 16th) on November 16th and leave a comment and then come back here and let me know you stopped by to see me on Seriously Write and I'll give you a second entry to win.


Debbie Lynne Costello is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She attended Heritage University, where she studied Journalism and worked in the editing department. She has completed five full length novels set in the Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA area in the late 19th century and is now seeking homes for them.

She and her husband have four children. They live in upstate South Carolina with their family. In her spare time, she sews, paints, knits, camps (in a fifth wheel) and plays with the grandbabies.
WEBSITE: www.debbielynnecostello.com BLOG:  www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com BLOG: www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com 

Florida's 500th Anniversary and El Galeon

Are you aware that this year, 2013, marks the 500th anniversary since Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida? The state of Florida is doing some special things to commemorate the occasion, and while vacationing in St. Augustine last month, my family and I got to see one piece of the celebration. I wanted to share a bit about it with you.



El Galeon, © Jennifer Uhlarik

When we arrived in St. Augustine for our few days away, it didn’t take us long to notice a huge wooden ship docked beside the Bridge of Lions. We quickly learned that the ship was a life-size, all-wooden replica of a Spanish Galleon, like those Ponce de Leon and his contemporaries would’ve sailed. El Galeon, as it was called, was making the rounds of several Florida ports—Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Cape Canaveral, and St. Augustine—docking for several weeks at each in order for visitors to take self-guided tours of the impressive vessel. El Galeon had such a great turnout the first weekend in St. Augustine that they opted to stay from several months in order to accommodate the visitors.

Looking toward the stern, ©Jennifer Uhlarik

The life-size replica measures 170 feet in length, and weighs 495 tons. Forty crew members manned the ship and sailed it on the same general path that Ponce de Leon took to Florida 500 years ago. (You can see an interactive map of their route here). I have never been much of a sea-faring person, so stepping onto such a ship was awe-inspiring. It was also pretty mind-boggling when I began to realize that, while large, a ship this size didn’t provide a lot of personal space for that many people. And when you stop to consider that back in the days of New World exploration, many times an explorer would set out with several ships, only to lose some along the way. When that happened, the crew of the abandoned ship would get absorbed into the crews of the other ships. So by the end of their voyages, these ships often carried two or three times the number of people than they started with. Just imagine the trouble getting to use the bathroom must have been. LOL

Bathroom. Was this authentic to the time period?
©Jennifer Uhlarik

On a side note, one of the interesting things we were told while vacationing was that many of the explorers’ ships were lost not to storms or running around, but rather to a particular type of clam, the shipworm or toredo worms, that lives in saltwater and eats wood. These worm-like clams would begin to bore into the wooden vessels, and over time, the ships would spring leaks. When the crew couldn’t stop the incoming water, they would inform the captain that the ship couldn’t be saved, so they would flag down their sister ships, abandon their own, and watch it sink as they sailed away. After stepping foot on such a magnificent ship as El Galeon, I can only imagine the heartbreak such a sight would cause.

Tall ship! ©Jennifer Uhlarik

While El Galeon has departed from St. Augustine as of July 23, my understanding is that the crew will be sailing up the eastern seaboard for the next 3-5 years on tour. If you missed the ship in Florida, you might still have an opportunity to see it in another eastern port. And we also were told that El Galeon had petitioned to make St. Augustine its home port while not out touring. At the time we were there, the petition was being considered, but no decision had been made. Hopefully those in power will allow it, as it seems only fitting to me that such a ship should make historic St. Augustine home. You can find more impressive photos here.

Ship's bell. ©Jennifer Uhlarik

Now it’s your turn. Have you ever been onboard a boat or ship (including small boats or cruise ships)? What was your experience like?




Interesting view of Anastasia Island from El Galeon.
©Jennifer Uhlarik

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won the 2012 CWOW Phoenix Rattler, 2012 ACFW First Impressions, and 2013 FCWC contests, all in the historical category. She is also the winner of the 2013 Central Florida ACFW chapter's "Prompt Response" contest. In addition to writing, she has been a schoolteacher of English, literature, and history, as well as a marketing director. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.

Kathreintanz: A Whirlwind of Dirndls and Lederhosen

Hi everyone, Jennifer Uhlarik here. I'm taking a little R&R this month, so guest blogger Morgan Tarpley has offered to step in on my behalf. I hope you'll enjoy learning about her trip to Germany! I'll see you all again next month.

By Morgan Tarpley

This writer’s trip to Germany and back over the Thanksgiving holidays a few years ago was a 12-day whirlwind of culture, language, history and fun with words like Grüß Gott (short for “May God greet you”) popping up in my vocabulary.

The journey began by flying into Munich, where I stayed several days, then headed north toward Berlin for a few more and returned to Munich for the remaining time. In all, I was able to spend time in Munich, Berlin, Dachau, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Austria and several other places.

I was in Germany to visit my friend from college, Sascha, and other friends from northern Germany. I was very lucky to have native guides for nearly the entire trip, which made it extra memorable.

The time was the end of November, which may not seem like the ideal time to visit Europe due to the bare trees and beginnings of a usual wet and cold winter, but it was a perfect time for me. One reason being the weather was unusually warm—mostly sunny with no rain in sight. The other reasons were two amazing seasonal experiences: the opening of the Christmas markets and the attendance of a Kathreintanz.

The famous Christmas market in Nuremberg

Just about every city, town and village has a Christmas market (large cities have dozens). Christmas markets, which are usually held in a prominent outdoor area, open the last week of November and run through Christmas. Locals and tourists alike bundle up and go to buy handmade gifts such as hand-carved wooden toys, glass ornaments and small lit-up ceramic houses and enjoy the atmosphere while sampling a large array of sweets, roasted nuts and a steaming cup of “Glühwein” (hot mulled wine) to stay warm. I attended several of these markets in various places and it was just magical.



Some of the lovely wares at the Christmas market

The Kathreintanz came in at the end of the day I visited the former concentration camp of Dachau. If you choose to visit such a place as Dachau, you urge you to have a Kathrein dance awaiting you for the evening to lift your spirits a bit.



Couples at the Kathreintanz

A Kathreintanz (or Kathrein dance) is held on the last Saturday before November 25 and is the end of the traditional dance season. This tradition is maintained in Bavaria (Germany’s southernmost state) and parts of Austria and has been going on for a long time. The event goes to the holy Catherine of Alexandria, whose memorial day is November 25—one of the last saint’s days before Christmas.



 Sascha and I waltzing

Advent is a time of penance and so-called closed time to prepare for Christmas. Traditional Kathrein dances are rarely public events and are usually arranged by local heritage clubs and groups. Traditional music is played – consisting of hammered dulcimers, guitars, harps, horns and more.

The dances include variations of the waltz and polka as well as the Boarischer, Masianer, Landler and more. Lavish desserts – cream cake and apple strudel – are served as well as Apfel Schorle, my favorite German drink made with mineral water and apple juice.



Raspberry Cream Cake

I was lucky enough to be the only foreigner in attendance of a Kathreintanz on the first Saturday night of my trip. Sascha had invited me to the event, which turned out to be a truly unforgettable experience. The amount of people was just right for the small room, which created a cozy, welcoming feel that German’s refer to as “Gemütlichkeit.”

I agreed when Sascha said it about the place with the twirling couples dressed in their traditional lederhosen and dirndls as they waltzed and I did too in traditional dress. I was apparently a fast learner, according to him, so I was able to participate in several of the dances. I watched Sascha and his dance partner from his heritage club dance the more difficult ones. The whole event lasted about five hours until midnight and I definitely felt welcome and blessed to experience this unique part of local culture.



Sascha and I in lederhosen
and a dirndl

The evening seemed to be a time not only for locals to celebrate their heritage but also to socialize with each other. It felt a bit like stepping back in time to a simpler time and diving back in Bavarian history.


Locals having fun at the Kathreintanz

I was so blessed to take part in something so special and historic. There’s only appropriate word to describe it, “Gemütlichkeit” (sounds like Guh-moot-lit-kite). It’s a sense of belonging and home. That’s the way I feel about Germany and I hope to return someday soon. At the end of the dance, everyone joined in a circle and sang a traditional-style Bavarian love song about the end of the day and being happy to be with the one you love and when they all departed the event with a “Pfiat Eich!” (May God lead you and keep you!).

Morgan Tarpley

Morgan Tarpley is an award-winning newspaper reporter and photographer in Louisiana. She is also a historical novelist currently seeking representation. Besides writing and traveling to over a dozen countries, her interests include acting in her local theater, photography, Civil War re-enacting and singing.

For more information about Morgan, visit her website (www.morgantarpley.com) and blog (www.pensonaworldmap.com). You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Goodreads. If anyone would like to be a guest on her blog, contact her at morganltarpley@yahoo.com.

Ghost Town Memories: Where the West was Wildest

The track beneath my tires wended its tortuous way through the foothills of the eastern Sierra Nevadas. Other vehicles shared the road, some taking corners on two wheels, others crawling with too much caution. I chose a moderate approach, passing drivers with hands locked on steering wheels but giving way where possible to the restless herd behind me. Vehicles accelerated past, churning loose gravel as they hurtled through space and time, the drivers giving little regard it seemed for sanity. You had only to look into the ravine below to understand the dread of the slower drivers. I didn’t want to wind up there either, although the drop was less deep than many I’d encountered while driving through Yosemite National Park yesterday. At least today cars weren’t barreling towards me head-on in the middle of a narrow two-lane road with certain death mere inches from my tires. I'd arrived last night at the safety of the hotel on a wing and a prayer and possibly the last of my shredded nerves.

The long, winding road to Bodie Ghost Town
Please pin to Pinterest.

I’d rather have lingered in bed, then afterwards warmed my belly with repeated cups of coffee at the restaurant over plate-sized chocolate chip pancakes than venture forth on a new adventure, and yet the children in our family group were not to be denied. My own curiosity drew me onward until the ghost town of Bodie sprawled through dry grass and sagebrush before me. Built on gold, liquor, opium dens and houses of ill repute, Bodie was renowned for its lawlessness. Tweet This! Its reputation was so notorious that a little girl whose family moved to Bodie from San Jose is said to have prayed, "Goodbye, God. We are going to Bodie in the morning." (Source: Daily Bodie Standard, Bodie, CA, 13 February 1879)

I’d once visited this place as a young child on a family trip and had come away with the impression of sun-bleached buildings, scorching sunshine, and an abiding sense of history. Nothing seemed to have changed in the intervening years. Buildings over a hundred years old still baked in the heat of a sun that necessitated the application of sunscreen and repeated gulps from our water bottles. There was much to see, far more than we could possibly take in during the hours available for our visit. Many of the houses had been abandoned with the furnishings and paraphernalia of daily living intact, right down to wire hangers in the closets. Antique litter strewed the ground--the remains of a washbasin lay in the open, a rusting bucket sat beside a house, and a mining cart crouched in the grass.

Ancient litter strewed the ground.

Metal bucket beside a house.

Mining Cart at Bodie, California

Peering into windows revealed peeling wallpaper, coverlets on beds, and an antique potty chair. Tweet This! I peered into a brick strongroom and gasped. The safe inside had miraculously escaped decay. I put my arm through the grating to snap a picture of the safe still within the building. How many visitors have missed this discovery? And yet there was much we lacked time to see. Although only a fraction of the original buildings still stand, Bodie stretches into the surrounding hills with a scope that boggles the mind. Tweet This!

Peeling wallpaper graces walls.

A bed made up and waiting.

Antique toilet seat at Bodie, California

This strongroom guarded valuables.

This safe is one of the hidden treasures that awaits the alert.

I posed for pictures in the doorway of a crumbling structure. When a sharp buzzing sound alerted me to wasps or bees, I left it in haste. Although much of Bodie has fallen to nature, the remaining buildings boast details such as carved doors and tin ceilings and are preserved in a state of arrested decay. This means that roofs and windows will be replaced as needed and standing buildings will not be allowed to collapse. Bodie is preserved as a ghost town museum. Tweet This!

I had to wonder how anyone could survive living here in the innervating summer heat, let alone the winter cold. Although most of the structures we explored were locked, we grew adept at ducking into their waning shadows for relief from the merciless sun until empty water bottles and the wails of our youngest member, aged two, drove us to the former miner’s hall, now a museum and visitor center. Inside among other surprises waited two hearses, presumably employed often in this rough and ready mining camp.

Plumed Hearse in Bodie Museum

The west was reportedly wildest here. And yet, on the way back to the car for the arduous return journey, we passed a church.

God apparently followed that little girl to Bodie.

Interior of the Church at Bodie ghost town

This post has been brought to you by Janalyn Voigt. To see more pictures from Bodie and read the travel journal  Janalyn wrote at the time she visited Bodie, go to Ghost Town in the Shadow of the Sierra Nevadas at Janalyn Voigt's Fantasy Worlds site.

Receive updates from Janalyn's research and travels absolutely free by subscribing to the Creative Worlds newsletter and/or blog. As a bonus gift, you'll receive access to three of Janalyn's original photographs for use as computer wallpaper. Sign up is easy and secure, so don't hesitate. Click here to escape into Creative Worlds!

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The Writing Life of Janalyn Voigt (Or a Tale of Two Genres)

Steamboats and Indian Wars--by Jennifer Uhlarik

Hi, everyone! Thanks for stopping by. Can you believe that it’s already March? I blinked once, and January and February both disappeared.

March is typically a fun month for me, as that is the month that my husband requests his big vacation time for the upcoming year. We don’t always have the money to get away during his time off, but March tends to be the month of the year that I get to dream about packing my bags for the next adventure our family might take. In the nearly six years hubby and I have been married, we’ve gone on several fun trips, from a week cruising around the Hawaiian Islands (our honeymoon), to eight days learning our nation's history in Washington D.C., a few days investigating the rich histories of Savannah, GA and St. Augustine, FL, or relaxing amongst the beauty of the mountains of Georgia. All of them were wonderful trips in their own way!

This year as I consider possible vacations, I find myself daydreaming about taking a riverboat cruise along the Mississippi River. Not too many months ago, I discovered that the American Queen Steamboat Company does a variety of tours on old-fashioned rear-wheel steamboats like those of Mark Twain’s day. Trips range in length from six to fourteen days. I’ve got grand memories of a two-hour steamboat trip I took as a child during a family vacation, and would love to experience a longer trip with shore excursions to the towns along the Mississippi River. Southern plantations, local restaurants, historical sites, and museums. All of these sound fascinating to me. Such a trip is probably out of reach for now, but there’s no harm in daydreaming, right?

In addition to the fun of vacationing, I’d love to take one of these trips to aid in researching a story that’s percolating in my brain. I recently did some cursory research on steamboats in the Old West to see if a scene I’d dreamed up would work. I was aware that steamboats were prevalent along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, but hadn’t realized they were able to navigate some of the smaller tributaries of the Missouri River. Come to find out, a common joke about steamboats was that they could sail on dew alone.



photo by Dave Gostisha

In the tiny bit of research I have done so far, I learned that the steamboat, the Far West, was actually an important part of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It was commissioned to be a supply ship for the battle, carrying 200 tons of supplies from Fort Abraham Lincoln to the 7^th Cavalry’s camp along the Yellowstone River. In the Far West’s cabin, Generals Terry, Gibbons, and Custer planned their battle tactics. The boat ferried soldiers and horses from one side of the river to the other. And after the massacre, the steamboat carried the news of the battle, as well as the wounded back to Fort Abraham Lincoln. I’ve always tended to have a fairly romanticized view of steamboats, and learning these facts showed me a side of steamboat history I’d never known before. It certainly got my mind spinning with story ideas. More research is necessary before I’d feel confident to write a full novel centering around steamboats, but there’s plenty there, I’m sure, to carry a novel.

So let's hear from you...what is the best vacation you've ever taken, or what dream vacation do you hope to take some day? Make sure to answer one of my questions to be entered in the drawing for this beautiful vintage pin. Winner announced tomorrow morning!

A Royal Love Story: History of the Eleanor Crosses

Statue of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor
by Von Lincolnian (Brian) from Lincoln, UK
(http://flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/117137331/) [CC-BY-SA-2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

While researching DawnSinger (Tales of Faeraven 1), my epic fantasy novel based on 13th-Century Europe, I stumbled upon the history of England's Eleanor Crosses. I hope you enjoy discovering this royal love story as much as I did. 


Contrasted against the cruelty of the age in which they lived, the love story of King Edward I and his child bride, Eleanor of Castile, blossomed like a tender rose among thorns. Theirs was a marriage of political convenience, made when Edward was 15 and Eleanor somewhere between 9 and 13 years old (her birth date remains uncertain). Although they married early, they lived apart and did not consummate the marriage until Eleanor was probably in her late teens. In the years that followed, their marriage of convenience grew into a union of love marked by fidelity.

Edward was one of the few kings of his time who did not take a mistress. He and Eleanor were inseparable. When Edward visited the Holy Land during the Eighth Crusade, he brought Eleanor along, and she delivered a daughter (Joanna of Acre) in a tent. Altogether, the couple had 15 or 16 children, many who did not survive childhood.

Tragedy strikes. Eleanor and Edward were crowned King and Queen of England in August 1274, following the death of Henry III. Eleanor would live just 15 more years. While traveling to join her husband in the city of Lincoln in late fall of 1290, she grew ill, probably with quartan fever (malaria). She had to halt her journey just 10 miles from her destination, where with Edward at her bedside she died.

In a solemn procession, Edward accompanied his wife’s embalmed body on a 12-day journey to its burial in Westminster Abbey. At each place her remains rested along the way, he erected “Eleanor Crosses,” elaborate stone monuments in her memory. In all, 12 crosses stood at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddingston, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham, Westcheap and Charing. Edward had probably seen memorial crosses in France after the death of King Louis IX in 1271, although construction of cenotaphs (empty tombs) were common in the ancient world.

Feared among his subjects and by those nations he subdued King Edward I was called the Hammer of the Scots because of his bloody subjugation of that nation. This reputation has carried down through time. He is featured as a tyrant in the movie, Braveheart. And yet, Edward's tirelessly grief for his wife indicates he also possessed a softer nature. Many years after Eleanor’s death, Edward spoke of her as she “whom living we dearly cherished, and whom dead we cannot cease to love.” Although he eventually remarried, he continued to honor Eleanor’s memory until his own death in 1307.

Today only the three Eleanor Crosses at Geddington, Hardingstone, and Waltham survive. All have lost the tall crosses they bore, but the lower stages remain. The best of the three (and the only one still in its original location) is at Geddington. Fragments of the ruined crosses at some of the other locations can be viewed as well.

The Eleanor Crosses Today

Lincoln: A fragment can be viewed at Lincoln Castle.

Grantham: The Historical Notes on Grantham compiled in 1857 by Rev. B. Street, Curate at Grantham, tells what happened to its cross. "At the upper end of High-street, where it widens out West of St. Peter's Hill, stood a Cross of Stone, recording the resting of Queen Eleanor's corpse, at Grantham, in November, 1290. It was destroyed, together with other time hallowed monuments at Grantham, by the Parliamentary soldiers in the Civil War, most probably in 1645, when the town was garrisoned by the rebels under Colonel Rossiter.

At the Alderman's Court, held Feb. 19, 1646, at the Guildhall, Grantham, it was ordered that the town Constables should recover, from those inhabitants who had appropriated them to their own use, as many as possible of the stones which came off the cross at the upper end of High-street, commonly called the Queen's Cross, and carry and lay them in the Church. A Mr Howgrave, apparently in a letter addressed to Gough, the Editor of Camden, says, "I saw a stone carved with foliage work, said to be part of it, and I believe it, seeming of that sort of work." This must have been in Charles the Second's reign.

No known remnants of the original cross at Grantham remain.

Stamford: The Stamford museum houses a marble fragment of the original Eleanor Cross. A reinterpretation of the Eleanor Cross was built in 2008.




Eleanor Cross at Geddington

By Mark Shirley [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

via Wikimedia Commons

Geddington: This is the most intact Eleanor Cross and still stands in its original location. It is triangular, has drapery along its lower course, and contains a statue of Queen Eleanor.

Hardingstone, Northampton: The British library offers a glimpse of how the Eleanor Cross situated at the edge of Delapré Abbey originally appeared. A local story has it that the cross at the top was knocked off during World War II by a low-flying aircraft. Octagonal in design, it was built in three tiers and features open books in its lower course. What these books contained is now lost in time.

Stony Stratford: The exact location of this cross is now a matter of debate, but it may have stood at the lower end of town. Tall and elegant, it was destroyed during the English Civil War. Any trace of the ruined base has since vanished. A commemorative plaque in the town is the only reminder that it once existed.

Woburn: The funeral procession stopped for the night at a Cistercian abbey that may have stood at the site of the later Woburn Abbey. No one knows the exact location of the Eleanor Cross that once stood at Woburn, and no known remnants exist.

Dunstable: The Eleanor Cross was built at a crossroads where the local people gathered to mourn Eleanor's passing. A modern statue of Eleanor stands at a shopping precinct named in her honor.

St Albans: A commemorative plaque on the Clock Tower is the lone reminder of the cross that once stood in High Street. It was pulled down to be replaced by a fountain, and then the town pump.

Waltham (now Waltham Cross): The cross at Waltham still stands, although the original statues of Eleanor have been replaced by replicas. The originals now reside in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Victoria & Albert Museum.

Westcheap (now Cheapside): Succombing to an ordinance from Parliamont, the Cheapside cross was pulled down amid riots. Fragments rest in the Museum of London, but although drawings that would enable reconstruction of the Cheapside cross exist, the attempt has never been made.

Charing (now Charing Cross): Charing boasted an expensive marbe cross in a location on the south side of Trafalgar Square, but in 1647 this cross was destroyed on order of Parliament. A replacement cross went up in 1865 in front of Charing Cross railway station, but it is not an exact replica.

Tweetables

A royal love story that blossomed like a rose among thornes via @JanalynVoigt (Click to Tweet!)

True love story: She was a child bride a king couldn't forget. via @JanalynVoigt (Click to Tweet!)


Related Post: The Writing Life of Janalyn Voigt (Or a Tale of Two Genres)



Janalyn Voigt serves as a literary judge for several national contests and is an active book reviewer. Her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Beginning with DawnSinger, her epic medieval fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams. Janalyn is also currently writing a historical romance series set in the Wild West. She will publish in that genre under Janalyn Irene Voigt. Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary and affiliated with American Christian Fiction Writers and Northwest Christian Writers. She is a graduate of Christian Writers Guild. Learn more about Janalyn and read her Creative World posts at http://JanalynVoigt.com

Praise for DawnSinger (Tales of Faeraven 1)

"Janalyn Voigt is a fresh voice in the realm of fantasy. Her writing is crisp, her verbs muscular, and it’s all wrapped up in a lyrical style. Blending action and romance, DawnSinger is a journey through fear, failure, and faith, and I look forward to its sequel." Eric Wilson, NY Times bestselling author of Valley of Bones and One Step Away

"In DawnSinger, Janalyn Voigt has penned a novel full of surprises. With adventure, mystery, and an unlikely romance, this beautiful, epic fantasy debut will leave you scrambling for the next book in the trilogy." Jill Williamson, Christy Award-winning author of By Darkness Hid

"DawnSinger is a delightful fantasy spun with bardic prose and threaded with danger and intrigue." Linda Windsor, author of Healer, Thief and Rebel, Brides of Alba Historical Trilogy

A headstrong young princess and the guardian sworn to protect her fly on winged horses to the Gate of Life above the Well of Light in a desperate bid to release the DawnKing, and the salvation he offers, into a divided land. Will they each learn in time that sometimes victory comes only through surrender?

Taking the Waters at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

            “The action of our waters in the cure of disease is well marked, although opinions may be divided as to how they cure, all are agreed that they cure. Some say that there is no virtue in medicinal waters and the cures are due to other causes. Then, we say, show us what the causes are.” –Dr. William Johnston, Eureka Springs, AK

            By 1879, news of the healing properties of the waters around Eureka Springs, Arkansas was spreading rapidly. Tales of travelers cured of everything from polio to blindness abounded, all due to dipping in or drinking of the spring waters.

            Joseph Perry, friend to Kit Carson and other Wild West legends and son of a hotel family, came to Eureka Springs for the water and stayed to build an empire. Water from Basin Spring was available in every room of his hotel. This was a marked improvement over accommodations elsewhere, as visitors were often seen carrying buckets of water to their hotels for use in bathing and drinking.

            By 1881, the Invalids Association, a regular meeting of the invalids who had made the pilgrimage to the city, was held at the Elk Street ME Church. The purpose of this society was to inform attendees about all matters of interest in regard to cures and the locations where they might be found.

            Owing to the popularity of the area, a variety of boardinghouses, bathhouses, and hotels were built in the area. However, none could compare to the glorious Crescent Hotel. Built by the Eureka Springs Improvement Company and the Frisco Railroad, the Crescent was opened to the public on May 10, 1886. The castle on the hill, as some called the grand five-story resort, was built from local limestone fitted together by a group of specially qualified masons brought in from Ireland.

            And oh what a castle! Pilgrims could come to the waters and stay for the bowling, lawn tennis or horseback rides, to name a few of the luxurious amenities. Soon the Crescent Hotel became the place for society to come and take the waters. Not only had Eureka Springs become a destination for restored health, but also for an improved social calendar during the spring and summer months for the “carriage set”.

            But how did waters from a spring find their way up to a hotel on a hill? Modern engineering, 1880s style, of course. Water from Congress and Crescent Springs was pumped up the hill and into the hotel where it was made available to guests not only in their rooms but in the rotunda on a tap that looked very much like a modern soda fountain. Guests could come down to the lobby and pour a glass of Basin, Dairy, or Sweet Spring water at any time he or she wished.

            As medical knowledge improved, doctors began to question the curative effects of the waters, often calling on a placebo effect in explaining the cures. Other said the reason was the area itself with its beautiful hillside location and many outdoor activities that lured formerly placid visitors outside and into more invigorating activities. Whatever the cause, the waters still beckoned and the pilgrims still came.

            Today the Crescent Hotel still stands on the hill overlooking Eureka Springs, mostly unchanged in over 125 years. Though the taps for water by the glass are no longer evident in the rotunda, the pipes can still be seen on the ceiling of the first floor restrooms.
             Though through the years the hotel has been home to junior college, a hospital, and a conservatory for young women, the Crescent has been restored to its former glory and awaits the history lover who would like to know what it might have been like to come and take the waters. Or perhaps to come and merely fill up a dance card and enjoy a lovely summer.

             The Crescent Hotel is also the setting for my newest novel, Flora's Wish (Harvest House, February 2013). Flora Brimm, a not so prim and proper Natchez belle with four fiancés whose untimely deaths kept them from arriving at the altar has one wish: find a husband and secure the family home for a sibling who would otherwise be tossed out. Ever resourceful, she’s sure she knows exactly how to make that happen. So she makes her plans and arrives at the Crescent Hotel only to find out she is the subject of a Pinkerton investigation and just may be engaged to a jewel thief. Meanwhile, Pinkerton agent and inventor Lucas McMinn is trying to decide whether the lovely lady is part of the solution or the problem.

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Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of forty-five novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A Romantic Times Top Pick recipient of her novels, Kathleen is a proud military wife and an expatriate Texan cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies from north of the Red River. To find out more about Kathleen or connect with her through social media, check out her website at www.kathleenybarbo.com.

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