Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for December, 2017
An Urban Oasis in D.C.
By Linda Tancs
Officially authorized in 1890, Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., is the third national park to be designated by the federal government. This 1,754-acre city park has over 32 miles of hiking trails and paths, a planetarium, Civil War fortifications, mills and colonial houses. Two popular attractions are Old Stone House and Peirce Mill. Situated in the midst of Georgetown, Old Stone House is the oldest structure on its original foundation in the nation’s capital. Peirce Mill was the most successful water-powered gristmill along Rock Creek until 1897 and today serves as an educational and heritage site. The Friendship Heights Metro is the closest station to the Nature Center, where you can find maps and other information about the park, which is free to enter and open year round.
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Celebrating American Writers
By Linda Tancs
Besides being celebrated American writers, luminaries like Mark Twain, John Updike, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Emily Dickinson and Lorraine Hansberry now have something else in common: they’re part of history at the new American Writers Museum. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the mission of the museum is to engage the public in celebrating American writers—past and present—and exploring their influence on the nation’s history, identity and culture. Not far from the Art Institute and Millenium Park (home of the Cloud Gate), the facility has 11,000 square feet of galleries with interesting interactive touches like the “Word Waterfall,” in which a light projection continuously reveals literary quotes on a wall of densely packed, seemingly random words.
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Drayton’s Palace
By Linda Tancs
Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, has a storied history. Home to one of the state’s leading colonial families, it was founded by John Drayton, was later saved from destruction during the Civil War by Dr. John Drayton and witnessed the presence of German Jaegers during the Revolutionary War. Known in the 1700s as Drayton’s Palace, it’s the first fully executed example of Palladian architecture in North America. The house is set amidst a lush riverside garden and the great lawn, landscaped as an expression of an 18th-century gentleman’s country seat. The home hasn’t been furnished or decorated to represent any particular era but it has been preserved in its natural state, the oldest preserved plantation house in America still open to the public. New this year is the Sally Reahard Visitor Center, including an orientation hall, education center and exhibition galleries. Professionally guided house tours begin on the half hour and last 50 minutes.
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World’s Largest Christmas Store
By Linda Tancs
It’s no wonder that Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, is dubbed the world’s largest Christmas store. They’ve got over 50,000 trims and gifts, decorations and gifts from 50 nations, 150 styles of nutcrackers and 100,000 lights illuminating the salesroom, among other things. If you want to go really big on the gift-giving, there’s a 17-foot fiberglass Santa Claus for $10,000. Over 2 million visitors arrive at the store each year, a sprawling complex of 45 acres with its own Christmas Lane thoroughfare. The Bronner motto is “Enjoy CHRISTmas, It’s His Birthday; Enjoy LIFE, It’s His Way.” Merry Christmas!
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Wings Over Florida
By Linda Tancs
The Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail is a network of 510 premier wildlife viewing sites across the state. Crystal River Archaeological State Park is part of that trail, offering bird watchers ample viewing from the shell midden. The park is also a National Historic Landmark, its Native American mound complex being one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida. In fact, for 1,600 years the site served as an imposing ceremonial center for Native Americans. The visitor center/museum contains exhibits displaying artifacts related to the site.
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An Anglo-American Gem in London
By Linda Tancs
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, spent nearly 16 years at 36 Craven Street near Trafalgar Square in the heart of London. The terraced, Georgian house, built circa 1730, is both architecturally and historically significant. Structurally, it holds a Grade I listing and retains a majority of original features, like the central staircase, lathing, 18th century paneling, stoves, windows, fittings, beams and brick. Historically, Franklin worked there during Revolutionary War times, and the dwelling served as the first de facto U.S. Embassy. Open to the public since 2006, the house is the world’s only remaining Franklin homestead.
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The Debatable Land
By Linda Tancs
In the early 18th century, Europeans called the land lying between British South Carolina and Spanish Florida the “Debatable Land,” referring to a conflict of control of colonial Georgia arising between Spain and Britain. The dispute came to a head in 1742 when the British defeated the Spanish at Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica National Monument is the site of the archeological remnants of the fort built by James Oglethorpe (the colony’s founder). The island is accessible by car via the F.J. Torras Causeway and is the largest of what are now known as Georgia’s Golden Isles, a premier destination along its southern Atlantic coast.
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The House That Rubber Built
By Linda Tancs
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is Akron’s first and largest National Historic Landmark. The Ohio property is also the nation’s sixth largest historic home open to the public. Spanning 70 acres, the estate includes five buildings and eight gardens. Named Stan Hywet (Old English for “stone quarry”), the manor house was commissioned by F.A. Seiberling, founder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The colossal house (at 64,500 square feet) is one of the finest examples of Tudor Revival architecture in America. Its furnishings are nearly all original and tell a story of American innovation and enterprise that flourished among the likes of Seiberling and his contemporaries, including the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts.
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Iceland in Miniature
By Linda Tancs
The Snæfellsnes Peninsula is often referred to as Iceland in miniature. True enough, considering its 56 miles cover everything the country has to offer, from volcanoes and lava fields to glaciers, cliffs and beaches. At the westernmost part of the peninsula is Snæfellsjökull National Park, the only Icelandic national park that stretches to the sea. The area takes its name from the saga of Bárður Snæfellsás, the half-man, half-troll protector of the region whose colossal stone statue is in Arnarstapi.
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Beer in the Baltics
By Linda Tancs
Aldaris Beer Museum and Brewery is the first of its kind in Latvia and one of the most modern beer museums in the Baltics. The launch of the facility in 2015 coincided with the opening of the First Latvian Beer Congress, which brought together nearly 100 representatives of its beer industry. Located on the outskirts of Riga, the museum is situated in an old part of the Aldaris brewery, offering visitors a collection of exhibits related to beer, as well as tastings and the opportunity to attend beer-making classes. Of particular interest is the room housing the vats, which has remained practically unchanged since 1938. Take tram No. 5 from Riga’s city center to “Aldaris.”
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