Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for July, 2022
The Supermodel of British Beaches
By Linda Tancs
The first place in Britain to be named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Gower is a small peninsula in South Wales. It lives up to the adage that good things come in small packages, considering that one of its assets, Rhossili Bay Beach, has been anointed the “Supermodel of British Beaches.” Moreover, it ranks in the top 10 of the world’s best beaches. Not bad for a 3-mile expanse of shoreline, a good deal of which is exposed at low tide. That’s when it’s possible to walk across the bay to Llangennith or even cross onto Worm’s Head, a sea-serpent-shaped island lurking at the end of the bay. The sole holiday cottage on the bay is the Old Rectory, boasting a prime location facing the beach. The nearest town is Swansea, which is served by London Paddington and connected to Rhossili by bus.
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Honoring Writers in Edinburgh
By Linda Tancs
Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson are three of Scotland’s most celebrated writers. You can explore their lives at Edinburgh’s Writers’ Museum. The gems you’ll find include Burns’ writing desk and a plaster cast of his skull, one of only three ever made. Scott’s childhood rocking horse is there, along with the printing press on which his Waverley Novels were first produced, once among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe. Stevenson’s reputation as a storyteller is commemorated by a ring given to him by a Samoan chief, engraved with the name “Tusitala,” meaning “teller of tales.” The exhibits include a wide collection of portraits and works as well. This free museum is easy to locate just off the Lawnmarket, the top part of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, in Lady Stair’s Close.
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Museum of the North
By Linda Tancs
Located on the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska, the Museum of the North is the state’s only research and teaching museum. Featuring an astounding 2.5 million artifacts and specimens, the museum’s exhibits are the best introduction to Alaska’s diverse wildlife, people and landscapes. Highlights include a 2,000-year spectrum of Alaska art, the state’s largest public display of gold and a 50,000-year-old mummified steppe bison. The facility is open year-round, but this time of year you’ll enjoy the midnight sun and warmer weather.
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The Little Smokies
By Linda Tancs
Indiana’s Brown County encompasses nearly 16,000 acres of rugged hills, ridges and ravines. Its similarity to the Great Smoky Mountains earned it the moniker “the little Smokies.” That’s just one reason to visit Brown County State Park, the largest park in the state. The vistas are so incredible that park officials even sponsored a “7 Vista Challenge.” Some of the most popular views are found at Hesitation Point, the fire tower (the highest point in the county at 1,058 feet above sea level) and Hohen Point, where unglaciated sandstone dominates the terrain.
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Moose-Spotting in Sweden
By Linda Tancs
Summer is a great time for moose-spotting in Sweden. And we’re not talking about zoos or farms. You can spot them in their native habitat in a forest in Skinnskatteberg, just two hours from Stockholm. That’s where you’ll pick up a 5-hour moose safari beginning in the early evening, where you may also see fox, deer, owls, wolves or lynxes. The journey begins on foot with a walk through a taiga forest abundant in moss and berry bushes for an orientation of the ecosystem, followed by a minivan safari ride. Although the largest number of moose is spotted in May, June and July offer the best lighting conditions for photography.
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Laughing Waters
By Linda Tancs
Karst topography is the result of the dissolving action of water on bedrock and is characterized by caves, sinkholes, springs and natural bridges. It’s the prime attraction at Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka State Park. According to Ozark legend, the park’s unusual name derives from a Native American phrase meaning “laughing waters.” Located on the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks, it boasts the state’s 12th-largest spring, discharging more than 48 million gallons of water daily into the stream that flows into the Lake of the Ozarks. Other karst features include the 70-foot-wide natural bridge and 500-foot-long sinkhole. Luckily, the majority of these sights are preserved and viewable from trails and boardwalks within the park’s Karst Natural Area.
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