Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's holiday and that 2008 is a great year for all of us.

I will resume posting after the holiday. Until them, please know that I appreciate all of you and am very appreciative for the blessings I have received this year.

Sincerely,

Dale Cox
www.exploresouthernhistory.com
www.battleofmarianna.net
www.twoeggfla.com

Merry Christmas!!!

Just taking a second here to wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2007 has been an interesting year, with its share of challenges and blessings. Thank you all for being a part of it. I hope 2008 is all that you hope it to be.

Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas quotes for you. I hope you enjoy them:

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Luke, 2:33-35

Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset....

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Books still available for Christmas

If you would like to obtain copies of Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts, The Battle of Marianna, Florida or The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, it is still possible to have them delivered in time for Christmas.

I checked this morning and both http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/ still have copies in stock and are promising delivery by December 24th.

If you are in Northwest Florida, Chipola River Book and Tea at 4402 Lafayette Street in downtown Marianna (across the street from the Battle of Marianna monument) also has a few copies of each left.

New Branson, Missouri Pages are now Online!

Our new Branson, Missouri pages are now online at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/! Just look for the link under the "Also New This Month" section of the site.

Although our Branson section will be expanding over the coming days and weeks, for now it includes a number of key sites including the Showboat Branson Belle, the Branson Scenic Railway, historic Big Cedar Resort, Country 76 (the famed Branson Strip), the Branson Titanic Museum, the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area and many others.

Drop by and take a look!

Last chance to order for Christmas!

If you hope to order copies of any of my books in time for Christmas, this is pretty much your last chance. Due to mail volume this time of year, this weekend is the last opportunity to make sure that book shipments are delivered by Christmas day. If you order before Monday, they should make it.

Copies are available of all three: The Battle of Marianna, Florida, The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, and Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts.

You can order them online at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox or through www.barnesandnoble.com, www.amazon.com or your favorite online bookstore. If you are in the Northwest Florida area, signed copies are available at Chipola River Book and Tea at 4402 Lafayette Street in downtown Marianna (on the same block as the Gazebo restaurant across the street from the Battle of Marianna monument).

Grand Gulf Military Monument - Mississippi

Our new pages for Grand Gulf Military Monument near Port Gibson, Mississippi, are now online at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/!

Although we will be expanding this part of the site over coming days, already you can read about the Battle of Grand Gulf, learn more about Fort Wade and Fort Cobun and see, of all things, a homemade moonshine running submarine!

Grand Gulf is located not far from Port Gibson, Mississippi, the town that General U.S. Grant found "too pretty to burn." The park is exceptional and well worth a visit.

Alamo pages now online!

Our new section on the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, are now up and online at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/.

We will expand this section more as the month goes along, but so far we have up the Alamo main page, a page exploring the historical backgrounds of the Alamo, a page on the siege of the Alamo and a page on the evidence surrounding the death of David Crockett.

Be sure to drop in and take a look! Our thanks also to Bruce Schulze of www.civilwaralbum.com for the new photographs of the Alamo included on our pages.

Pearl Harbor Day

Today is December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day.

Please join me in remembering the hundreds of thousands of American men and women who served in World War II.

It was a war that our country did not seek, a war that was fought with enormous sacrifice and a war in which American servicemen and women brought peace and freedom millions.

The sacrifices of our fathers and mothers should never be forgotten.

Battle of Corinth, Mississippi pages now online!

Our new pages on the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi are now online at ExploreSouthernHistory.com.

The new addition to our site includes an overview of the Civil War points of interest in and around Corinth, Mississippi, a review of the Battle of Corinth (October 3-4, 1862) and a look at the National Park Service's outstanding new Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.

To visit the new Corinth section, please go to http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com and click the link under "Also New This Month."

New Home Page is Up

Our new home page is up at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. Drop by and let us know what you think!

We are also in the process of adding a number of new pages to the site. Among them are visits to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, the Corinth and Grand Gulf battlefields in Mississippi and more! These pages will come fully online this week!