Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for california
World’s Largest Corn Maze
By Linda Tancs
Thousands have braved the maze at Cool Patch Pumpkins, site of the world’s largest corn maze according to Guinness World Records. Sixty acres’ strong, each year’s design gets ever more challenging. The maze (and pumpkin patch) are open now through early November. Located in Dixon, California, look for the famous Milk Farm landmark sign visible from Interstate Highway 80 between First Street and Pedrick Road.
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Baker’s Hot Attraction
By Linda Tancs
Known as the gateway to Death Valley, Baker is a tiny desert town in California with a big boast. It’s home to the world’s tallest thermometer, measuring 134 feet. The top temperature it can display is likewise 134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded at Death Valley in 1913. So what’s the highest temperature it has actually displayed? That would be 127 degrees, recorded in August, 1995.
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Suspension in San Francisco
By Linda Tancs
Who hasn’t marveled at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, one of the world’s most iconic suspension bridges? However, it isn’t the city’s only suspension bridge of distinction. Just across the bridge in the Marin Headlands is another suspension bridge leading to Point Bonita Lighthouse, the only American lighthouse to be reached by a suspension bridge. Still active, the lighthouse is part of the largest urban national park in the United States, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Think the best photographic views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge are from Battery Spencer in the Marin Headlands? Some say the view from the lighthouse is the real sweet spot.
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Jewel of the Missions
By Linda Tancs
The legend of the swallows is a captivating facet of Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. According to the tale, a priest at the mission became very upset when a local innkeeper kept destroying the nests that cliff swallows were building in the crevices of the inn’s roof. He invited the swallows to build their nests instead at the mission, established in 1776 by a Franciscan priest. And the invite did not go unheeded. Old mud nests clinging to the stone church, the swallows arrive to rebuild their homes every year in March–on the nineteenth day, as a matter of fact–St. Joseph’s Day. The event is marked by an annual celebration at the Mission on 19 March that includes ringing of historic bells, live mariachi music and a special guest lecture on cliff swallows. The birds leave for their winter home in Argentina in October.
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Where Two Deserts Meet
By Linda Tancs
Two desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, come together in Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California. Tourists come together there this time of year for the wildflower viewing, so popular that park staff and volunteers compile wildflower viewing reports to aid the curious. A recent report shows the presence of desert globe mallow and mistletoe flowers, star-vine, creosote bush and desert lavender. More blooms will appear in March and April. And, of course, there’s the park’s namesake, the Joshua tree. Its creamy white candle-like blossoms can be seen from February to late March. And how did the tree gets its name? According to legend, Mormon pioneers named the tree after the biblical figure Joshua, believing that its branches resembled the upstretched arms of Joshua leading the Israelites to the promised land.
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America’s First Moving Historical Landmark
By Linda Tancs
Did you know that San Francisco’s iconic cable car is America’s first moving historical landmark? An official ceremony at Hyde and Beach on 1 October 1964 designated San Francisco’s cable car system a special “moving” National Historic Landmark. This and other fun facts about the city’s beloved transport system are found at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum located on Mason Street in the Nob Hill neighborhood.
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Serengeti of the West
By Linda Tancs
One hundred miles north of Los Angeles, California’s Carrizo Plain is the largest remaining grassland in the state, a terrain aptly nicknamed the “Serengeti of the West.” Poppies, lupine and monolopia dot the native expanse, as do fauna like the pronghorn, kit fox, antelope squirrel and giant kangaroo rat. Rimmed by mountains, its centerpiece is Soda Lake, a sheet of white salt guarded by the sacred pictographs of nearby Painted Rock.
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The Lowest Place in North America
By Linda Tancs
Springtime may be the best time to visit California and Nevada’s Death Valley National Park, but the upcoming autumn season is relatively uncrowded and a great time to visit some of the park’s most stunning features. Badwater Basin, for instance, is the lowest place in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Despite its name, the park is alive with historical landmarks, like Scotty’s Castle, a hideaway from the Roaring ’20s, and beacons to industry like Harmony Borax Works and Keane Wonder Mine, one of the most successful gold mines in Death Valley.
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The Del Celebrates 125 Years
By Linda Tancs
Not far from San Diego, California in nearby Coronado, the Hotel Del Coronado (the “Del”) is an iconic red-turreted Victorian hotel built in 1888. Part of Historic Hotels of America, this National Historic Landmark’s Hollywood connections (helped by its proximity to Los Angeles) draw many a curious visitor. If only the walls could talk. Notable guests have included Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable, along with a variety of political figures and royalty. The Del is celebrating 125 years with a series of special packages this summer, like a fourth night free or an upgrade to a cottage or villa at Beach Village. Look for the festive gold bow atop the turret, and say ‘happy birthday’ to the grand dame of beachfront luxury.
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California’s Cleanest Beaches
By Linda Tancs
The beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore in California are frequently cited as some of California’s cleanest beaches. But it’s the views that undoubtedly impress visitors the most. Some beaches are just a spit of sand like Limantour Beach, but you’ll find a bountiful array of seasonal inhabitants like ducks, seals, gray whales and shorebirds. And then there’s Kehoe Beach, a mix of dunes and cliffs made of sandstone and granite. Some beaches even have drive-up access, like Limantour, Drakes Beach and Great Beach. The lure of heavy surf is particularly strong at Great Beach, a misnomer considering that they’re all pretty great.
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