Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel
A Taste of the Mediterranean in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Inspired by the beauty and warmth of a Mediterranean villa, Van Vleck House & Gardens is a peaceful oasis in Montclair, New Jersey. It originated as a 12-acre private estate more than 140 years ago when successful businessman Joseph Van Vleck and his family moved to Montclair from Brooklyn in 1868. Of all the dwellings that once graced the property, the current home (built in 1916) remains and is surrounded by magnificent gardens open free of charge from dawn to dusk year round. The grounds are prized for a strong representation of ericaceous plants, particularly rhododendrons and azaleas. Other gems include the Chinese wisteria planted by Howard Van Vleck in 1939 and the stately Dawn redwood and Blue Atlas cedar in the rear garden.
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Sweets and Savories in Laramie
By Linda Tancs
Late April marks the time when invitations are sent for summer Victorian tea at Wyoming’s Laramie Plains Museum. The event is appropriate enough, considering that the museum is housed at the historic Ivinson Mansion, a Victorian-era home boasting nearly 12,000 square feet. It was the home of Edward and Jane Ivinson, early leaders of Laramie’s thriving community in the Wyoming Territory as the West expanded with the development of the Union Pacific Railroad in the late 1800s. Wyoming would later join the Union in 1890. Museum tours are regularly offered from March through December.
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A Humpback in New Mexico
By Linda Tancs
Ask anyone in northern New Mexico to name their most unusual geological oddity and they’ll likely say it’s Camel Rock. As the name implies, it’s a rock that looks like a camel—sitting down. Located in Pojoaque, this inanimate nod to an ancient mammal is a quirky attraction opposite a casino (called Camel Rock, of course) owned by Tesuque Pueblo. The big question is (no, not ‘guess what day it is’)—one hump, or two? You decide.
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The Center of the USA
By Linda Tancs
The geographic center of the contiguous United States is the point where a plane map of the 48 contiguous states would balance if it were of uniform thickness. That point has been officially established by the U.S. Geological Survey nearest the town of Lebanon, Kansas. This arguably obscure fact is commemorated by a stone monument at the end of Kansas Highway 191. The actual center is about a half mile away in the middle of a former hog farm. Another more colorful marker is a few miles away on U.S. Highway 36. At least this community can boast that it is, quite literally, at the center of it all.
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The Grand Lady of Bartlesville
By Linda Tancs
Frank Phillips was a poor farm boy in Iowa who later became an oil magnate in Oklahoma, founding Phillips Petroleum Company. His success is evident at the Frank Phillips Home in Bartlesville. Fondly referred to as the Grand Lady of Cherokee Avenue, the Neoclassical house sports intricate mahogany woodwork, silk damask wall coverings, Waterford crystal chandeliers and a 2,000-volume library no doubt enjoyed by guests like Will Rogers, Wiley Post, Elliott Roosevelt and architect Edward Buehler Delk. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the house is now owned and operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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Where the Car is King
By Linda Tancs
Car enthusiasts, rejoice! Looking to find the world record-breaking SSC Ultimate Aero TT, Gumpert Apollo and Lamborghini Countach QV5000 all in one place? Then head to the London Motor Museum in Greater London, home to one of the largest collections of both classic and custom automobiles in Europe. Other jaw-dropping attractions include the Batmobile (both the film and TV versions), Hollywood icons like the General Lee and American muscle cars.
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A Chieftain’s Table
By Linda Tancs
Legend has it that South Carolina’s Table Rock got its name from a Cherokee chieftain who used a ledge of Table Rock Mountain as a dining table to feast on the bounty of his hunt. Indeed, long before this area of the Blue Ridge Mountains become Table Rock State Park (one of 47 state parks), its Cherokee inhabitants named it Sah-ka-na-ga, the Great Blue Hills of God. The extensive trail system carries hikers past streams and waterfalls to the top of Table Rock and Pinnacle mountains. Pinnacle Mountain is the highest peak located entirely within the state.
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A Memento in Budapest
By Linda Tancs
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Dangerous Water in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
One of the most recognized and photographed icons in Minnesota, Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors is a National Historic Landmark. Completed in 1910, it addressed the disastrous loss of 29 ships in a 1905 storm, two of which foundered in this area dubbed “the most dangerous piece of water in the world” by an American novelist. Its compelling location on the top of a sheer cliff that plunges 130 feet made it the most visited lighthouse in the United States in its heyday. Today, it’s still a favorite among visitors to the Lake Superior shoreline.
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In the Heart of Horse Country
By Linda Tancs
In the heart of horse and bourbon country in Lexington, Kentucky, is Gratz Park. One of the city’s oldest neighborhoods and a historic district, it’s named after early Lexington businessman Benjamin Gratz. Other luminaries who once graced this area north of Main Street include Mary Todd Lincoln, Horace Holley and horseman John Gaines. Colorful houses from the 1800s join stately dwellings like the Hunt-Morgan House, built for millionaire businessman John Wesley Hunt. His great-grandson Thomas Hunt Morgan was the first Kentuckian to win a Nobel Prize for medicine. The home is also the site of the Alexander T. Hunt Civil War Museum, a great resource for Civil War researchers and enthusiasts.
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