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 Everyone’s An Artist
By Linda Tancs
The Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York, is one of America’s oldest and largest art museums. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York City’s second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. One of its latest innovations gives anyone the opportunity to be an artist, thanks to a renovated arts education center with three studios offering expanded access to art-making and
learning for all ages and a dedicated gallery hosting rotating family-friendly installations. In addition to general admission and ticketed exhibitions, First Saturdays (monthly evenings of free programming) occur from February to June and in August and October.
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Fairy Tale Forest
By Linda Tancs
Imagine a parkland filled with attractions bringing stories from Grimms’ Fairy Tales to life! That’s exactly what you’ll find at Fairy Tale Forest in Oak Ridge, New Jersey. The story of Fairy Tale Forest began in 1953 when Paul Woehle Sr., a German immigrant, started to build it at the age of 40. He came from a family of 13 children and his mother used to read them the Grimms’ stories every night. What began as a few storybook cottages has evolved into a theme attraction bringing to life over a dozen of the famed fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm.
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Cleveland’s First Skyscraper
By Linda Tancs
Erected in 1890, the Society for Savings Bank building in Cleveland, Ohio, is the city’s first skyscraper. Ten stories tall, it combines elements of the Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles in red sandstone. Now a branch of Key Bank, it’s worth a visit inside the lobby (during banking hours) to view the stained-glass ceiling and four large murals. The building is located downtown on the north side of Public Square.
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The Kissing Bridge
By Linda Tancs
Alluding to its feature as a spot for a romantic stroll, the Kissing Bridge (Ravine Bridge) is a suspension bridge on the Douglass campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey that was engineered by the same firm that built the Brooklyn and George Washington bridges. As its official name suggests, it was designed to span the ravine dividing the original campus from the land given to the college in the 1800s by James Neilson, a prominent benefactor of the college and colonel of the New Jersey State Militia. The bridge is located behind the Mabel Smith Library.
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Tall Grass Prairie in Texas
By Linda Tancs
Rare remnants of the tallgrass prairie are some of what you’ll find at Eisenhower State Park near Denison, Texas. Nestled on the shores of Lake Texoma, the park’s name honors the 34th U.S. president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was born nearby. Explore trails along high bluffs, swim, or fish for striped bass, crappie and catfish. Some of the wildlife you may encounter include armadillos, beavers, deer, foxes, opossums, bobcats and roadrunners. This time of year, colorful wildflowers bloom throughout the growing season, which lasts until November.
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A Long Shot in Baltimore
By Linda Tancs
Built in 1828, the Phoenix Shot Tower in Baltimore, Maryland, was the tallest building (at 215 feet) in the United States until 1846. It was a manufacturing facility for drop shot used in small game hunting using a patented process of pouring molten lead down the open shaft, which would cool as it descended and form into a smooth ball. The shot would be collected from a water barrel at the tower’s base and then sorted for distribution. The tower remained active until new methods of production rendered it obsolete in 1892. Now on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, the tower is open to the public as a museum.
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In Homage to Mother Nature
By Linda Tancs
An icon of Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the Tree of Life is a 145-foot sculpture of a baobab tree boasting over 8,000 branches of very different sizes and about 102,000 artificial leaves. Over 300 animals are carved into the tree, celebrating nature’s diversity; they come alive during a colorful light show that begins after dark. You’ll get a close-up view of the carvings by walking the pathways around the tree, where a lush landscape brims with wildlife.
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A Rite of Passage in Carlsbad
By Linda Tancs
The advent of spring in Southern California is marked by a very special attraction in North San Diego County. That’s where you’ll find 55 acres of ranunculus flowers laden like a rainbow at Carlsbad Ranch in Carlsbad. Heralding the season for over 60 years now, the display blooms for approximately six to eight weeks from March to May. A popular tourist attraction, it’s best to visit on a weekday to avoid the crowds. Be sure to buy a ticket online in advance.
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A Landmark in Duluth
By Linda Tancs
The Aerial Lift Bridge is a landmark in Duluth, a port city on Lake Superior in Minnesota. In fact, the lake itself is its closest rival, being one of the Great Lakes and the largest freshwater lake in the world. At 138 feet tall and 390 feet wide, the steel bridge spans the Duluth Shipping Canal, connecting the sandbar of Park Point with the rest of Duluth. The elevator bridge features a suspension system that raises the bridge to a height of 135 feet to allow ships to pass underneath. Check the lift schedule to watch this amazing feat. You can also walk across it to experience the bridge in its entirety.
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Freedom’s Fortress
By Linda Tancs
Positioned on a 565-acre peninsula known as Old Point Comfort, Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia, is known as “Freedom’s Fortress.” That’s because, due to a legal loophole, thousands of enslaved Africans escaped and found refuge there during the Civil War. Strategically located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, it was a key defensive site. The site’s military history is chronicled at the Casemate Museum. Buildings of note include the oldest house (Building #1, Old Quarters), where Abraham Lincoln stayed while planning the attack on Norfolk in 1862, and Building #17, where Robert E. Lee and his family stayed while he was a young engineer helping to oversee the construction of the fort. The peninsula is also home to Old Point Comfort Lighthouse, the second-oldest light in the bay and the oldest still in use.
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