Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Treasures From a Golden Age
By Linda Tancs
The Allan Herschell Company, founded in North Tonawanda, New York in the early 1900s, was the fourth in a series of companies in the community which manufactured carousels and other amusement park rides. The company produced over 3,000 hand-carved wooden carousels and outproduced all of its rivals in the carousel industry. Of the 148 antique, hand-carved wooden carousels still in existence in the United States and Canada today, 71 were manufactured in North Tonawanda in one of the four Herschell companies. That makes the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum a beautifully preserved piece of history, showcasing the craftsmanship of elaborate Herschell carousels in their original factory setting. A highlight is a ride on one of the first carousels built by company, the 1916 “big” carousel, featuring 35 hand-carved jumping horses and two chariots.
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A Massive Presidential Library
By Linda Tancs
One of the most-visited presidential libraries, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Spanning an entire city block in downtown Springfield, Illinois, the state-of-the-art facility features cutting-edge exhibits, special effects theaters and displays of original Lincoln-era artifacts. The facility is open daily and visits are self-guided.
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The Stalacpipe Organ
By Linda Tancs
One of the largest caves in the eastern United States, Luray Caverns in Virginia features vast underground rooms connected by natural corridors and paved walkways adorned with vibrant rock formations. Its greatest boast, though, is the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a unique instrument that creates symphonic music from stalactites. Invented in 1954 by Leland Sprinkle, a mathematician and electronics engineer, it’s recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest natural underground musical instrument. It spans over 3 acres of the caverns and is a lithophone, meaning it produces sound by striking objects (in this case, stalactites) with rubber-tipped mallets.
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Shaker Village
By Linda Tancs
Emerging from a split with the Quakers in England in the mid-1700s, the Shakers were a Protestant Christian sect that established communities in the United States. Their practices and heritage are preserved at Hancock Shaker Village, a living history museum in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Located in Pittsfield, the National Landmark is the largest Shaker museum in the eastern United States. It features 20 historic buildings, extensive gardens and an impressive collection of Shaker artifacts. The village is open from April through December although guided tours are available for groups year-round by advance reservation.
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The American Experience in Corning
By Linda Tancs
Corning, New York, is known for its rich history in glassmaking, an industry chronicled at its famous museum of glass. But Corning is also the site of the Rockwell Museum, which reflects the American experience through American paintings, drawings, sculptures and photography as well as in artistic objects of material culture. The Smithsonian-affiliated facility on Cedar Street is housed in the Richardsonian Romanesque former city hall building.
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Niagara of the West
By Linda Tancs
Often referred to as the Niagara of the West, Shoshone Falls is a scenic waterfall on the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho. At 212 feet tall, it surpasses the height of Niagara Falls on the border between the U.S. and Canada. The best time to visit the 900-foot-wide attraction is when the snowpack begins to melt, typically in March and April.
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The Traveling Show Chronicles
By Linda Tancs
Based at the University of Sheffield in Yorkshire, England, the National Fairground and Circus Archive chronicles every aspect of the fair, circus and allied entertainments, and the culture, business and life of traveling show people in Britain. The collection includes photographic, printed, manuscript and audiovisual materials on entertainment related to fairground, circus, variety and music hall, magic, sideshows, boxing booths, traveling cinematograph shows, pleasure and zoological gardens, amusement and theme parks, menageries, performing animals, optical illusion, traveling exhibitions, seaside entertainment and world’s fairs and expositions. Among the highlighted collections you’ll find one of the most important collections of early British cinema ephemera in the U.K. curated by leading film historian, author and collector Bill Barnes as well as the largest public collection of circus history in the country. A reading room is available during opening hours for exploration of the archives.
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Perfect Symmetry in Annapolis
By Linda Tancs
The Hammond-Harwood House is a five part Anglo-Palladian mansion in Annapolis, Maryland, that features some of the best woodcarving and plasterwork in America. Prized for symmetry and proportion rarely found in 18th-century structures, the National Historic Landmark built in 1774 is the final work of architect William Buckland. Architecture buffs will enjoy the in-depth, two-hour tour. That’s in addition to the regular guided tour of the house and its collections of early American fine and decorative arts, the garden, and old kitchen.
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The Gilded Age in St. Augustine
By Linda Tancs
The historic Hotel Alcazar building in downtown St. Augustine, Florida, is an 1887 Spanish Renaissance Revival-style building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Once a Gilded Age resort hotel commissioned by Standard Oil executive Henry Flagler, it’s now home to the Lightner Museum, founded by Chicago publisher, collector and professional hobbyist Otto C. Lightner. He created the museum to share his extensive and eclectic collection with the public, ranging from ornate Gilded Age furniture and American Brilliant Era cut glass to vintage typewriters and whimsical curiosities. Located on King Street, the facility is open daily.
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Minimalist Ice in Taiwan
By Linda Tancs
Minimalist design focuses on simplicity and functionality. It isn’t a term you generally hear applied to ice cream, unless you visit Minimal in Taiwan’s Taichung City, the world’s first and only ice cream establishment to receive a Michelin star. It earned its award due to the way its artisans skillfully layer flavors and textures through temperature variations and creative combinations. The two-story venue on Meicun Road has both a takeaway outlet on the first floor and a dine-in section on the second floor that offers a seven-course tasting menu.
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