Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for tours
A Titanic Cruise Fare
By Linda Tancs
Following the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in April next year, Horizon & Co. will mark the occasion with a series of space-limited excursions to her final resting place. In July and August, the company will offer three opportunities to visit the wreck site and dive down in a deep sea submersible unit to explore the vessel close up on the ocean floor. For an experience like that, expect to pay a titanic sum–that is, from $66,257 for submarine divers or $12,498 for non-submarine divers. If those numbers give you pause, consider the effects of inflation. In 1912, a first class suite on Titanic was around $4300; that’s $50,000 or so in today’s money.
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Dead Men Walking
By Linda Tancs
The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., a must-see for CSI and FBI fans, might be considered a frightful place on an ordinary day by those unaccustomed to its collection of artifacts like an electric chair helmet, face harness head cage, Venetian finger screws, and an ice mallet. Add Halloween to the mix and you get an eerie sense of dead men walking. As the museum describes it, the adult-only Halloween event includes low lighting, fog, intermittent, sudden and frightful noises and movements, water soluble blood, and other decor that may stain clothing or be deemed scary and morbid. Costumes are welcome but masks are prohibited. The museum is located at 575 7th St. NW.
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Moonlight Escape in Napa
By Linda Tancs
You’ve probably heard of the harvest moon, the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox. You might have seen a red moon, caused by the particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. How about a snow moon or a wolf moon? Full moon names come to us courtesy of Native Americans. You can experience each one of them on the Napa Valley Wine Train’s Moonlight Escape tour in Napa Valley, California, one of the top wine growing regions in the world. Who could resist dinner for two in a private booth under the light of the full moon, two glasses of house wine, and the adventure of a train traveling through the night over the silver vineyards? Pick your favorite moon, relax, and enjoy the ride.
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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.
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A Haven for Wild Horses
By Linda Tancs
For hundreds of years wild horses have lived on the shores of Maryland’s Assateague Island, their native habitat preserved through miles of fencing to protect them against contact with contemporary means of transportation. You can use those means, though, to meander peacefully among the sanctuary and observe them as nature intended, along with eagles, osprey, falcons, dolphins, sting rangs and a host of other species living along the coastline. The Pony Express Nature Cruise is available now through 9 October. Get there via Chincoteague, Virginia or Ocean City, Maryland, the gateways to Assateague.
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Voucher to Travel
By Linda Tancs
You may have heard that Delta Airlines is offering travel vouchers for lost flights. The interesting detail is that the vouchers are obtained as a result of bidding for compensation on a bumped flight. Undoubtedly, compensation for bumped flights costs airlines a bundle. The current scheme saves Delta money, particularly considering that the remuneration consists of a voucher for the value of a bid for the bumped flight. Cash is undoubtedly king–but a voucher? Consider your options. The same applies to travel insurance plans offered by tour operators. Be sure that a cancellation without cause policy results in a cash refund for the full value of the tour and not simply vouchers for a future tour in a time frame of one year or less. It’s your money. Spend it wisely.
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Holiday Cheer Coming to Whippany Railway
By Linda Tancs
All aboard for the Santa Claus Special at the Whippany Railway grounds in Morris County, New Jersey. Beginning on 5 December, the annual 10-mile, 45-minute train ride features gifts and merriment from Santa and his helpers. Located at Railroad Plaza in Whippany, the railway museum also offers a glimpse into local railroad history on Sundays only from April through October. The grounds include a Central Railroad of New Jersey club car, the Jersey Coast. You’ll also find the Pennsylvania Railroad caboose, the old railroad company being one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the world. Its likeness has even been imitated by the Lionel toy train company; a model has been in production since 1953. Plan to come back for the spring thaw.
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Tour Operator Pitches Hands-On Travel
By Linda Tancs
You won’t find the word culturious in the dictionary, but if you did, it would probably be defined as a state of mind. That’s what the folks at Tauck are promoting with their cultural immersion tours known as Culturious. Covering destinations like Costa Rica, Cinque Terre and Namibia, the small group tours are calculated to stretch your mind as well as your legs. Physical activity ranges from walking to kayaking, bicycling or horseback riding. You’ll expand your horizons by participating in activities like making a meal with a French chef, picking coffee beans on a Costa Rican plantation and watching a restoration specialist in Florence follow her passion. In other words, you’ll have an authentic travel experience. Isn’t that the point of travel, after all?
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Road Scholars
By Linda Tancs
Learning is lifelong. And worldwide. Combine the two and you get Road Scholars, an educational travel program for the 50-plus set. On a fixed income? No worries. You can hike the waterfalls of the Carolinas and explore lighthouses, shipwrecks and treasures for under $600. The journey may have a price, but the experience is priceless.
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The Tour Guy in Toronto
By Linda Tancs
Toronto is a city of nearly three million inhabitants. That’s a lot of ground to cover (no pun intended) in a city populated by immigrants. That’s where Tour Guy (Jason Kucherawy) comes in. On Fridays and Saturdays you can take his walking tour of the city’s prime landmarks free of charge. Along the way you’ll learn about the city’s six Chinatowns and multicultural Kensington Market. You’ll walk for a couple of kilometers. Bring your appetite and a comfortable pair of shoes.
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