Taj Mahal

Naming our outhouse began as a stupid Appalachian Trail joke. Plan Bee is rugged and rural to say the least. We have few amenities save water, picnic shelter and an outhouse. My wife said she could forgo most niceties but insisted on a privy. So once we had begun developing the land, an outhouse moved to the top of the list as a project.

While hiking a section of The Appalachian Trail from Iron Master's Mansion Hostel to Duncannon, PA I spent a night in the Darlington Shelter. Someone had a sick sense of humor like me and had named the outhouse the Taj Mahal. As I pondered our privy while enjoying a little Trail comfort on the throne I decided we had to have the same name for our outhouse.

Taj Mahal @ Darlington Shelter

For those interested in a little history, Taj Mahal was named after a princess in India that died giving birth to her 14th child. Her husband made a promise to his dying favorite wife to never remarry and to build her the richest mausoleum over her grave. The name translates to crown of Mahal. Her name was Mumtaz Mahal or "Jewel of the Palace".

The good news is my Princess is doing fine and my promise to her for this project is complete. It took me a lot less than the 22 years it took Shah(Prince) Jahan. Of course our results are substantially different but then he had the help of 22,000 workers while I had 4.