Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for tourism
Art and Architecture Tours
By Linda Tancs
For nearly 40 years National Trust Tours has been offering the intellectually curious traveler a world of cultural enrichment in luxurious surroundings through more than 70 distinct itineraries. With a special emphasis on art and architecture, tour members gain unprecedented access to private homes, gardens, castles and collections around the world. Upcoming offerings include art and architecture in Chicago, the imposing Biltmore estate in historic Asheville, North Carolina, and the Hudson River Valley fall foliage cruise aboard American Glory. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America’s communities. Want to share your passion for history and culture? Join Gozaic, their online community and destination guide for cultural and heritage travelers.
Share this:
Exotic Foods in West Virginia
By Linda Tancs
When you think of exotic foods, what comes to mind? Deep-fried crickets? Cock’s combs? Blood pudding? You don’t have to travel to the far corners of the earth to experience strange or exotic foods. Just head to the West Virginia Roadkill Cook-off and Autumn Harvest Festival on 24 September in Pocahontas County. There you’ll enjoy such delicacies as squirrel gravy over biscuits, teriyaki-marinated bear and deer sausage. Get ready for some grub!
Share this:
National Food Fest in France
By Linda Tancs
The late cookbook author and TV chef Julia Child referred to French cooking as a serious art form and a national sport. So it might be surprising that France has never hosted a national food festival. Until now. The inaugural La Fête de la Gastronomie will take place this year on 23 September (the first day of autumn) and will herald the start of autumn each year thereafter. The theme this year will be “la Terre” (the land), highlighting local products made in different regions of France. Famous chefs will cook on the streets, including Thierry Marx and Alain Ducasse. Bon appétit!
Share this:
Hawk Watch in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
The time is ripe for hawk watchers to visit Washington Valley Park in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Located along the First Watchung Ridge, the park is one of the East Coast’s premier locations to watch thousands of raptors migrate south every autumn. In the Miller Lane section of this natural setting boasting over 700 acres, hawks, eagles and falcons wing their way over the treetops from August to November to points south in Central and South America. Mind you, there’s a world underfoot as well, like largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and yellow perch in the 21-acre reservoir at the Newman’s Lane section. Bounded by pine and hemlock forests, open freshwater wetland marshes, and impressive rock outcroppings, the area offers some of the best hiking and mountain biking in the state.
Share this:
Persimmons Rule in Indiana
By Linda Tancs
The persimmon is an edible fruit, a large berry about the size of an apricot with a tomato-like skin. In southern Indiana the fruit is a native delight, its abundance celebrated each year during the Persimmon Festival in Mitchell, Indiana. This year’s event runs from 17 to 24 September. A major highlight, of course, is the parade on 24 September at 2 p.m., one of Indiana’s largest parades. It forms at Lehigh Field, moving west on Main Street to Seventh Street, then north on Warren, west to Eight and ending at the high school. Save your appetite for the persimmon pudding. Last year’s concoction was a mix of buttermilk, heavy cream, butter, eggs, a little vanilla and a touch of cinnamon. If that doesn’t sound gooey enough for you, then maybe you should have tried last year’s Gooey Butter Cake, winner of the Persimmon Novelty Dessert award.
Share this:
All Buttered Up in Idaho
By Linda Tancs
Just 10 miles south of Idaho Falls lies the epicenter of celebration of Idaho’s famed export, the potato. Specifically, the small city of Shelley, Idaho has hosted the annual Spud Day festival (www.ci.shelley.id.us) since 1927. The 17 September event commemorates the potato harvest and includes events like a parade at State Street, a potato picking contest, talent show and treasure hunt. Pick up your free baked potato and trimmings at City Park.
Share this:
Bourbon Capital of the World
By Linda Tancs
Kentucky is known for its thoroughbreds. In addition to the four-legged variety, it’s known as the epicenter of bourbon, the thoroughbred of distilled whisky. They’ve been making liquid gold in Bardstown for centuries. Today through 18 September the small town celebrates its bourbon-making heritage at the annual festival (www.kybourbonfestival.com). Over 10 bourbons are participating in the event, including such well known monikers as Wild Turkey and Jim Beam. Rest assured, there’s plenty for teetotalers, too, like a historic walking tour, hot air ballooning and some tutelage in the ancient craft of barrel making.
Share this:
Motorcycle Rentals Overseas
By Linda Tancs
Someone once said that two wheels move the soul. Easy riders know this. Now anyone with a heavyweight motorcycle operator’s license can experience moto mojo overseas through Harley Davidson’s international rentals program. Not a rider? Why not learn at the Academy of Motorcycling?
Share this:
Spinach Capital Hosts Festival
By Linda Tancs
Popeye, the fictional sailor of comic strip and other media fame, certainly made spinach look cool when he sang “I’m strong to the finich cause I eats me spinach.” The folks in Lenexa, Kansas would no doubt agree with that sentiment. Part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the city once dubbed the “spinach capital of the world” pays homage to this super green with a super-sized salad and a recipe contest. This year’s Spinach Festival takes place on 10 September from 9 to 5 at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. Not into greens, you say? No worries. The annual event is equal parts art, crafts and antiques, from stained glass to puzzle boxes to copper tree art.
Share this:
Palming Off in Spain
By Linda Tancs
Palm trees are typically symbolic of tropical vacations but are also of historical significance, representating victory, peace or fertility in various cultures. What better place to contemplate the ancient origins of this popular plant than at Palmeral of Elche, Europe’s largest palm grove in the Spanish province of Alicante. Just 20 minutes from Alicante’s main rail station, the maze of old (200 to 300 years old) and young palms is easily navigable thanks to circles in the pavement telling visitors which way to walk. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, cultivation of palms in Elche can be traced back to the 5th century B.C.; the grove’s elaborate irrigation system dates back to the 10th century Moorish roots of its host locale.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 