Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for September, 2017
Madison’s Montpelier
By Linda Tancs
James Madison was the fourth president of the United States and a chief architect of the Constitution. He did most of his research and writing for that document and others at his estate, Montpelier. Located in Orange County, just north of Charlottesville and east of Culpeper, combine a mansion tour with a walk through over eight miles of marked trails. In addition to offering spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the trails highlight notable tree and plant specimens, particularly along the James Madison Landmark Forest, an old-growth forest managed only to remove non-native invasive species.
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Jersey City’s Oldest Apple
By Linda Tancs
In the 17th century the Dutch village of Bergen occupied an area south of Journal Square in present-day Jersey City, New Jersey. Historically, the village’s location provided perfect ground to keep an eye on the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, particularly from a one-story, one-room deep farmhouse built of locally cut ashlar sandstone. That old Dutch homestead (subsequently enlarged) became known as the Apple Tree House, listed on both the state and national historic registers. Bounded by apple orchards and a cider press, legend has it that George Washington and Major General Marquis de Lafayette met under an apple tree on the front yard to discuss war strategy. Once owned by the Van Wagenen family, one of the area’s original settlers, Jersey City purchased the property in 1999 and has renovated it for use as a museum.
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Cavernous Appetites in Helsinki
By Linda Tancs
Caverna Restaurant is situated deep in a natural limestone cave near the center of Helsinki, Finland. Debuting last summer, the venue offers lunch and dinner buffets, including Brazilian churrasco meat skewers and Japanese teppanyaki-style food. Designed to make dining an entertainment event, the facility seats 300 guests. It’s just a stone’s throw away from Helsinki Central Railway Station at 5 Yliopistonkatu.
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England’s Wool Town
By Linda Tancs
Located in the heart of Suffolk, Lavenham is widely recognized as one of England’s prettiest medieval villages. Known in particular as a wool town, it was granted its market charter in 1257 and started exporting its famous blue broadcloth across the globe. Although its woolen trade fell to market forces in the 16th century, the village’s half-timbered medieval cottages remain the same today as they would have looked in those halcyon days. The Guild Hall, in particular, dominates the town and offers exhibitions on local history, farming and industry, as well as the story of the medieval woolen trade.
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Sweet Devouring in Mississippi
By Linda Tancs
Eudora Welty was a writer of international acclaim whose novels and short stories earned numerous literary awards, including the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for her novel “The Optimist’s Daughter.” She spent the vast majority of her life at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi, in a Tudor Revival-style house built by her parents in 1925. There she crafted many of her works of fiction, book reviews and essays. A National Historic Landmark since 2004, the Welty House welcomes thousands of visitors a year from all parts of Mississippi, every state in the nation and from an average of 23 foreign countries. One of the most intact literary homes in the country, her vast library underscores her description of reading as a “sweet devouring” and her devotion to the arts. Tours of the house and its gardens are by reservation only.
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America’s First Settlement
By Linda Tancs
Historic Jamestowne in Virginia is the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America. It all started in June 1606 when King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. They landed on Jamestown Island, where the settlers built a fort and the First General Assembly (the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere) convened to govern the Crown colony some years later. Thanks to archeological efforts, the lives of the first settlers and their relations with Native Americans like Pocahontas are displayed through exhibits and artifacts at the award-winning Archaearium museum.
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