Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for March, 2024
An Old Brick School in Southbury
By Linda Tancs
Built in 1762 of locally-made bricks, Bullet Hill School in Southbury, Connecticut, is one of New England’s oldest schoolhouses and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story structure remained in operation as a school for 179 years until December 1941. After the school closed, the building served as a meeting place for the Episcopal Church Sunday School, the War Rationing Board, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the first Regional School Board Superintendent’s office. It now serves as a living history museum for visiting school groups.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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The Castle in the River
By Linda Tancs
The Knights Templar was a medieval military order of the Catholic faith. In Portugal, they were granted lands and authority to defend the River Tagus from incursions by the Moors. One of their fortifications was the Castle of Almourol located in the river. Its commanding position offers great views from the ramparts. You can take an inexpensive ferry to get there.
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Underwater in New Orleans
By Linda Tancs
Located on the Mississippi River adjacent to the French Quarter, Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, Louisiana, offers a top-rated underwater experience. In addition to local species from the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, the facility features underwater wonders from the Caribbean to the Amazon. Overall, more than 3,600 animals from more than 250 species are represented, including endangered species such as African penguins and rare animals like white alligators.
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An Infamous Battle in Groton
By Linda Tancs
Fort Griswold is a former American defensive fortification in Groton, Connecticut. Named after Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold, the Revolutionary War site marks an infamous 1781 massacre by British troops aided by turncoat Benedict Arnold. Now a state park, the battlefield features the Ebenezer Avery House, which sheltered the wounded following the massacre. Also at the site is the Groton Monument, a granite obelisk honoring the fallen heroes. The 135-foot-high memorial is open for climbing in season.
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The Legend of John Henry
By Linda Tancs
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad built their main line between 1869 and 1872 through the labors of thousands of freed African-American slaves and Irish Catholic immigrants. Of thousands of African-American railroad workers, John Henry became the stuff of legend and the subject of a ballad. Historical research suggests that Henry was a real person, a steel driver blasting a tunnel through Big Bend Mountain in West Virginia. Legend has it that he died during a contest between a steel drill and steel drivers. Whether man or myth, a statue of him stands outside Great Bend Tunnel at John Henry Park in Talcott.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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New England’s Railroad Heritage
By Linda Tancs
The Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Connecticut, preserves and restores New England’s railroad heritage. The museum boasts a diverse collection representative of New England railroading including locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and cabooses. Through its operating subsidiary known as the Naugatuck Railroad (originally chartered in 1845), they tell the story of the region’s rich railroad heritage, conducting scenic and historical excursions between Torrington and Waterbury.
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Tranquility at the Hammond
By Linda Tancs
Founded by American artist Natalie Hays Hammond, the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden in North Salem, New York, is a museum with Japanese art and a 3.5-acre Japanese stroll garden. A peaceful oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Westchester County, the garden is centered around its pond and includes numerous rare Japanese plants and trees as well as species native to the area. Also on the grounds is a traditional Japanese tea room, which was imported from Kyoto and is used for tea ceremony events. The Hammond will open seasonally in April until November.
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Connecticut’s Kate
By Linda Tancs
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, known as The Kate, is a performing arts center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It’s named for the late movie star Katharine Hepburn, the town’s most celebrated resident. Adjacent to the lobby is a museum dedicated to the famed actress featuring letters, photos, home movies, costumes, personal wardrobe items and other memorabilia. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum offers rotating special exhibits and hosts lectures, workshops and film screenings.
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A Heroic City in Hungary
By Linda Tancs
Suleiman I, commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent, was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 until his death in 1566. He died at the Siege of Szigetvár in the Kingdom of Hungary, where an attack on the fortress ultimately blocked the sultan’s line of advance toward Vienna. You can experience a re-creation of the key battle at Zrinyi Castle, which has undergone several fortification works along the centuries. Now a national monument, it’s a key tourist attraction in the city, which was awarded the title “Most Heroic City” by Parliament.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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A Founder’s House in New York
By Linda Tancs
Born in New York in 1745, John Jay was descended from French Huguenot refugees. One of America’s most influential Founding Fathers, he was a lawyer, framer of the Constitution and the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, among other accomplishments. In Katonah, New York, the John Jay Homestead State Historic Site interprets his life and legacy. The 62-acre site features his home (which remained in the family through several generations until 1959), several gardens and farm buildings.
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