Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for April, 2016
The Center of the USA
By Linda Tancs
The geographic center of the contiguous United States is the point where a plane map of the 48 contiguous states would balance if it were of uniform thickness. That point has been officially established by the U.S. Geological Survey nearest the town of Lebanon, Kansas. This arguably obscure fact is commemorated by a stone monument at the end of Kansas Highway 191. The actual center is about a half mile away in the middle of a former hog farm. Another more colorful marker is a few miles away on U.S. Highway 36. At least this community can boast that it is, quite literally, at the center of it all.
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The Grand Lady of Bartlesville
By Linda Tancs
Frank Phillips was a poor farm boy in Iowa who later became an oil magnate in Oklahoma, founding Phillips Petroleum Company. His success is evident at the Frank Phillips Home in Bartlesville. Fondly referred to as the Grand Lady of Cherokee Avenue, the Neoclassical house sports intricate mahogany woodwork, silk damask wall coverings, Waterford crystal chandeliers and a 2,000-volume library no doubt enjoyed by guests like Will Rogers, Wiley Post, Elliott Roosevelt and architect Edward Buehler Delk. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the house is now owned and operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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Where the Car is King
By Linda Tancs
Car enthusiasts, rejoice! Looking to find the world record-breaking SSC Ultimate Aero TT, Gumpert Apollo and Lamborghini Countach QV5000 all in one place? Then head to the London Motor Museum in Greater London, home to one of the largest collections of both classic and custom automobiles in Europe. Other jaw-dropping attractions include the Batmobile (both the film and TV versions), Hollywood icons like the General Lee and American muscle cars.
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A Chieftain’s Table
By Linda Tancs
Legend has it that South Carolina’s Table Rock got its name from a Cherokee chieftain who used a ledge of Table Rock Mountain as a dining table to feast on the bounty of his hunt. Indeed, long before this area of the Blue Ridge Mountains become Table Rock State Park (one of 47 state parks), its Cherokee inhabitants named it Sah-ka-na-ga, the Great Blue Hills of God. The extensive trail system carries hikers past streams and waterfalls to the top of Table Rock and Pinnacle mountains. Pinnacle Mountain is the highest peak located entirely within the state.
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A Memento in Budapest
By Linda Tancs
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Dangerous Water in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
One of the most recognized and photographed icons in Minnesota, Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors is a National Historic Landmark. Completed in 1910, it addressed the disastrous loss of 29 ships in a 1905 storm, two of which foundered in this area dubbed “the most dangerous piece of water in the world” by an American novelist. Its compelling location on the top of a sheer cliff that plunges 130 feet made it the most visited lighthouse in the United States in its heyday. Today, it’s still a favorite among visitors to the Lake Superior shoreline.
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