Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for July, 2016
World’s Largest Tree
By Linda Tancs
A giant among giants, the General Sherman in the Giant Forest in California’s Sequoia National Park is not only the largest living tree in the world, but the largest living organism, by volume, on the planet. A giant sequoia (sequoiadendron giganteum), General Sherman is over 100 feet at its trunk, nearly 3 million pounds in weight and 275 feet in height. Needless to say, it draws quite a crowd, which is why the park runs free summer shuttle buses to two separate stops, one above and one below this amazing tree.
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World’s Largest Talking Cow
By Linda Tancs
Larger than your average Holstein, Wisconsin’s Chatty Belle in Neillsville is the world’s largest talking cow. Sixteen feet high and 20 feet long, the fiberglass replica is equipped with a voice box, the operation of which has been leaving Belle much less chatty these days. So much for the dairy lecture. Her much smaller son Bullet (at a size befitting an actual Holstein) was also removed from the premises due to vandalism. What does remain nearby is the Wisconsin Pavilion from the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair, used today as a radio broadcasting center.
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Portobello Gins Up Interest in Hotel
By Linda Tancs
What could be better than ginning up interest in—gin! The opening of a new gin distillery in London, England, might not garner that much interest but for the fact that you can eat, drink and sleep in it! That’s the idea behind a new hotel from the folks at Portobello Road Gin. Opening in November, the new venue (at Portobello Road, where else) will include not only a boutique hotel but also a gin museum, blending rooms, a Spanish style “Gintonic” bar and restaurant, an actual distillery and the “Ginstitute,” a mixologist’s delight. Better book early for this spirited respite.
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The Horns of a Dilemma
By Linda Tancs
To run or not to run? That is the question this time of year as revelers contemplate the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The renowned centerpiece of the festival of San Fermin (patron saint of Navarra) takes place each day at 8:00 a.m. from July 7 to July 14. Runners (over the age of 18) must be in the running area by 7:30. The actual run stretches from the corral at Santo Domingo where the bulls are kept to the bullring where they will fight that same afternoon. Undoubtedly wishing to be spared a horn salute, the brave participants will first pray to the saint to guide them in their run, a mad dash that typically lasts three or four minutes. The most dangerous part of the bullrun is a closed curve leading into Calle Estafeta, the longest stretch. The last stretch is also very risky because it leads into a dead end street providing access to the bullring.
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Lumber Queen of the World
By Linda Tancs
The commencement of the lumber industry in 1837 set Muskegon, Michigan, on a course to become fondly known as the “Lumber Queen of the World.” Indeed, by the time the local lumber industry had reached its peak in the mid-1880s, 47 sawmills surrounded Muskegon Lake, and another 16 dotted the shores of White Lake to the north. The name “Muskegon” is derived from the Ottawa Indian term “Masquigon” meaning “marshy river” or “swamp.” Bordering the shores of Lake Michigan, Muskegon County offers visitors plenty of activities this time of year. With the ferry in season, visitors can easily travel between Milwaukee and Muskegon. Another favorite is the Musketawa Trail, a 25-mile paved, multi-use recreation trail between Marne and Muskegon that passes through farmlands, villages and wetlands and over creeks.
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More Than Cheese
By Linda Tancs
Edam is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands and put its namesake city on the map. But there’s more to this city than its cheese. In fact, shipbuilding is a prosperous part of its history, giving birth to Halve Maen (Half Moon). That was the ship assigned to Henry Hudson by the Dutch East India Company to chart a new route to Asia. Instead, bad weather found him charting the river in New York that now bears his name. Prized today for quaint shops and canals, it also boasts a fort with spectacular views of the wetlands. And, oh, about the cheese: the cheese market was the hub of the city in the Middle Ages where farmers brought their cheeses to be weighed, sold and exported all over the world. Re-enactments of the market’s hustle and bustle are held on Wednesdays during the summer from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Look for signage to Kaasmarkt.
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