Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for March, 2011
Museum Weekend in Holland
By Linda Tancs
Three of the most significant museums in Holland are in Amsterdam’s Museum Square: the Van Gogh Museum, the state museum and the municipal museum. How’s that for convenience? If you’re like millions of other visitors each year, you’ll want to see Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers portrait, immortalized in postcards and greeting cards. Most of his paintings have never left Holland, so viewing his work is a uniquely Dutch experience to enjoy. During the first weekend in April it’s also uniquely Dutch to visit as many museums as you can–free–thanks to Museum Weekend, now 30 years’ strong. Over a million visitors attended last year’s event.
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Sir Barton’s Abode
By Linda Tancs
Douglas, Wyoming was designated one of the best 100 small towns in America. You might assume that a small town like this has a slight history, but you’d be mistaken. Douglas is the resting place of Sir Barton, the first thoroughbred colt to win the American Triple Crown. Storytellers probably know it better, though, as the official home of the jackalope, a mythical creature described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers. The New York Times attributed the tale to Douglas Herrick of Douglas, Wyoming, and thus the town was named the “Home of the Jackalope” by the state in 1985.
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Libby’s Swinging Bridge
By Linda Tancs
Downstream from Libby, Montana, the Kootenai River enters a canyon and flows over Kootenai Falls, one of the largest free-flowing waterfalls in the northwest. The falls can be viewed from a “swinging bridge” that crosses the river. The falls area is a sacred site to the Kootenai Indians who inhabited the area. Located at milepost 21 on US Highway 2 between Libby and Troy, the site is a hiker’s dream and worth a visit.
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A Sailor’s Life in BVI
By Linda Tancs
Sailors have been competitively plying the warm waters of Nanny Cay in British Virgin Islands now for 40 years. This year marks the 40th anniversary of BVI’s Spring Regatta, taking place today through 3 April. Visitors can fly to the British Virgin Islands through San Juan, Puerto Rico and from Antigua or St. Martin with American Airlines, Cape Air, BVI Airline and LIAT. Flights to Antigua and Barbados are available on Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and BWIA. Ferry service is also available from St. Thomas, USVI.
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Ziptrekking Through Queensland
By Linda Tancs
For those wanting a bird’s eye view on their next journey, one option is a treehouse. Another option is the Kea Tour, a three-hour zipline eco-adventure in Queenstown, New Zealand that includes a stunning 20-minute guided trek along an ancient native beech forest. Best of all, you’ll be promoting sustainability in a unique mode of travel that has no footfall or industrial noise. Just like nature intended.
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Life on the Farm
By Linda Tancs
Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead in Overland Park, Kansas depicts a bygone era. The 12-acre property, designed to depict a turn-of-the-century family farm, has almost 200 animals, vegetable and flower gardens, a one-room schoolhouse and more. Re-named in 1985 in honor of a police officer killed in the line of duty, the aim of the farmstead is to preserve the traditions of the Kansas family farm, a way of life fast disappearing. Children can enjoy the experience of bottle feeding baby goats, milking a cow and taking a horse drawn wagon ride through the woods. The facility opens for the season on 1 April. Reservations are accepted for parties and tours.
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Something is Brewing in Fort Collins
By Linda Tancs
Fort Collins, Colorado is the second largest producer of beer in Colorado, the state ranked first in the country in volume produced by breweries. Here you can hit the ale trail–or, as the locals call it, the foam on the range tour–and vist CB & Potts, Coopersmith’s, Fort Collins Brewery, New Belgium Brewing Company and Odell. Anheuser-Busch has a brewery here, too. The first Saturday of the month is camera day for those wishing to pose with the famous Clydesdale horses.
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The McKinney Experiment
By Linda Tancs
The folks of McKinney, Texas want you to know that they’re unique by nature. Consider, for instance, the McKinney Experiment, a Wal-Mart test store for environmentally friendly processes and technologies. One of only two such experimental Wal-Mart stores in the world, the goal is to make the best use of renewable and alternate sources like wind and solar energy to generate electricity to supplement the power needs of the store. Environmental consciousness runs deep in this town 30 miles from Dallas. This is home to the world’s first environmentally friendly, LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) automobile dealership as well as the country’s first privately developed LEED platinum building. That should make any town green with envy.
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Open House in Charleston
By Linda Tancs
Calhoun Mansion is an 1876 manor house of italianate design and the largest residence in Charleston, South Carolina. It boasts Tiffany lighting, a 75 foot domed ceiling, 35 rooms and 23 fireplaces. For a fee you can tour this house, which happens to be a private residence. The gardens are free to tour, however, and they are spectacular. During Historic Charleston Foundation’s 64th Annual Spring Festival of Houses & Gardens today through 16 April, you can tour stately homes like Calhoun. Tours and events vary daily.
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The Best in Fine Art
By Linda Tancs
The world’s leading arts and antiques fair is beginning on 18 March. TEFAF Maastricht offers an impressive array of paintings, antiques, contemporary art, manuscripts, classical antiquities, jewelry, watches and decorative objects, applied art, prints, paintings and other paper. That’s an exhaustive list. Thankfully, you have until 27 March to walk through it.
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