Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for U.S. travel
Where Senita and Organ Pipe Grow
By Linda Tancs
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. national monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona that shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. Organ pipe cactus is named for its tall, cylindrical stems that grow in clusters, resembling the pipes of a church organ. Senita cactus is sometimes confused with organ pipe and is also found in certain places within the national monument. The park is the only place in the United States where senita and organ pipe cactus grow wild. Come for a wilderness hike, a scenic drive or a night of camping.
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Zoolumination
By Linda Tancs
Tennessee’s Nashville Zoo is one of the largest zoos in the country. It features more than 3,700 animals representing more than 350 different species. This time of year, though, it’s best known for Zoolumination, an event that boasts over 1,000 stunning Chinese lanterns. The largest festival of its kind in the nation, the theme varies from year to year.
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Aglow in Telluride
By Linda Tancs
During winter, Mountain Village is the base area for Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado. Both locales are aglow on New Year’s Eve at 6:30 p.m., which is when the Torchlight Parade takes place. It’s an annual tradition when Telluride instructors glide down the mountain with torches to light up the mountainside. Fireworks begin shortly after the parade and are visible from the Mountain Village side. Enjoy the New Year countdown in Telluride on Colorado Avenue.
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Lights Under Louisville
By Linda Tancs
Operating from November to early January, Lights Under Louisville is the world’s only underground drive-through holiday lights display. You’ll find it at Mega Cavern in Louisville, Kentucky. Boasting 7 million points of light illuminating the cavern’s vast spaces, the attraction features themed displays, characters, holiday music, lasers and more. You can drive your own vehicle through the cavern, choose a guided tour on an open-top vehicle, or charter a motorcoach or van.
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Surfing Santas
By Linda Tancs
Christmas Eve in Cocoa Beach, Florida, marks Surfing Santa Day, a time to assemble both surfing and Christmas enthusiasts from around the world. Hundreds of surfers donned in Santa’s best will ride the waves in the morning before 10,000 or so onlookers. Join them on the beach at the end of Minutemen Causeway.
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Little Hollywood
By Linda Tancs
Vistas of sagebrush and towering sandstone cliffs have lured filmmakers to Kanab, Utah, for 80 years. That’s why it’s become known as “Little Hollywood.” Movie posters and autographed photos abound in buildings; abandoned film sets are tourist attractions. You can experience more of frontier movie making at The Little Hollywood Movie Museum on Center Street, which reveals how Southern Utah became the backlot for some of the most spectacular movies ever made.
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Mardi Gras World
By Linda Tancs
Located along the Mississippi River, Mardi Gras World is a tourist attraction located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Guests tour the 300,000 square foot working warehouse where hundreds of floats are made for Mardi Gras parades. This all-access opportunity winds you through the massive studio, where artists and architects work year-round building Mardi Gras floats from the ground up. The facility offers a complimentary shuttle for people taking their tour, with stops adjacent to the French Quarter.
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Christmas Boat Parade
By Linda Tancs
The Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Beach, California, is an annual event where fully decorated boats cruise around the harbor in the evening for holiday light viewing. One of the largest boat parades of its kind, hundreds of decorated ships of all sizes compete for top awards in over a half dozen categories. The parade route begins and ends at the tip of Lido Isle. Bayfront estates also get in on the action and take part in their own competition called the “Ring Of Lights.” This year’s parade is from December 17 to December 21, with fireworks and other festivities opening and closing the event.
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The Longest Bridge in the US
By Linda Tancs
Spanning 24 miles over Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana, the U.S. Causeway (also known as The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway) is the longest bridge in the country as well as the longest bridge in the world over water. It was built in 1956 to connect New Orleans with the North Shore of the lake. Drive it for bragging rights and, additionally, great views over sunrise or sunset.
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Uplifting in Albuquerque
By Linda Tancs
One of the largest balloon festivals in the world, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly hot air balloon festival that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So what better place to have a museum that celebrates ballooning. Located in the heart of town, the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum explores the history, science, sport and art of ballooning as well as other forms of flight. It also features one of the world’s finest collections of ballooning equipment and memorabilia and a shop with unique balloon-related merchandise.
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