Cherry Street AME Church: The Church That Defied Dothan

Front view of Cherry Street AME Church in Dothan, Alabama, showing the historic red-brick exterior and wide front steps beneath a clear morning sky.

Some stops don’t call ahead — they just wait quietly until you stumble into their orbit. On the last morning of Alabama Road Trip #2, Dusty and I found ourselves with a little time to kill before the Dothan Visitor’s Center opened. So we did what any good backroad wanderers do: we followed the trail … Read more

Fort Pickens: The Haunted Sentinel of the Gulf

Sunlit brick walls of Fort Pickens on a clear, sunny day just before sunset.

The road to Pensacola crawled that morning. Dusty and I had already conquered every cup of coffee the truck could carry before we finally reached the causeway that led into Gulf Islands National Seashore. Traffic melted away as white dunes swallowed the skyline, and the Gulf turned the color of polished glass. Somewhere under a … Read more

Brierfield Ironworks: The Confederate Forge That Armed a War

Ruins of the main brick furnace at Brierfield Ironworks

Alabama Road Trip #2 There’s something about ruins that pull you in—the way time folds itself around stone and iron, how silence can still hum with memory. We hadn’t planned on finding Brierfield. It was one of those “Murph detours” that started with a roadside sign for the Absalom Pratt House and ended with Dusty … Read more

Lost Beneath the Pines: The Forgotten Town of Oriole

Live Oak Tree in the distance from the Withlachoochee trail near Oriole Ghost Town

They say some stories don’t find you until you’re ready to hear them.For me, that story began under the canopy of Withlacoochee pines—where time, moss, and memory have buried a town called Oriole. It took three separate hikes to find it.The first, I wandered alone through the brush, chasing rumors of old chimneys and whispers … Read more

Murph’s Double Feature: Closed Museum

Entrance sign for National Capital Trolley Museum

Operation Iron Lantern — Mission Log, Stop 7 Sometimes the mission doesn’t go dark — it just goes sideways. The plan was simple: infiltrate the National Capital Trolley Museum for reconnaissance on vintage D.C. transport systems, then swing by the Giant Globe in Silver Spring for a quick geospatial morale boost before sundown. Murph, of … Read more

TMP Origins: The Ghostly Secrets of the National Archives

The front of the National Archives Building outside in Washington DC from across the street.

Washington, D.C. – 2013 & Still on the List In 2013, I stood in front of the National Archives during a business trip that would later help spark the idea for TMP Origins. It wasn’t a sightseeing adventure — just me stealing a sliver of time between conference sessions. Two quick photos from the sidewalk … Read more