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
Virginia’s Oldest Plantation
By Linda Tancs
Shirley Plantation has survived Indian uprisings, Bacon’s Rebellion, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, and the Great Depression. In the hands of 11 generations of the same family, it’s Virginia’s first plantation and the oldest family-owned business in North America. A National Historic Landmark, it remains a working plantation, a private family home and a growing business, presided over by direct descendants of Edward Hill I, who founded the site in 1613. Lauded as the most intact 18th century estate in Virginia, the Great House is a treasure trove of original family furnishings, portraits, silver, and hand-carved woodwork, and its “flying staircase” and Queen Anne forecourt are the only remaining examples in North America of this architectural style. In addition to a guided tour of the mansion, the self-guided grounds tour includes formal gardens and eight original colonial outbuildings. This unique part of America’s heritage is located in Charles City, east of Richmond and west of Jamestown in the heart of Virginia.
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Idaho’s Volcanic Wonderland
By Linda Tancs
Along Idaho’s Snake River Plain a series of eruptions over 15,000 years ago formed a volcanic wonderland known as Craters of the Moon National Monument. And yes, the name does derive from its lunar-like appearance, a moniker popularized by promoter Robert Limbert in a national magazine article. Dormant rather than extinct, the area comprises more than 25 cinder cones, each one a small volcano. This time of year tiny wildflowers in neat little rows adorn the cinder slopes of the monument. Rest assured, there’s no professional landscaping here. The plants space themselves naturally to compete for limited resources in this harsh environment.
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Ode to Indy
By Linda Tancs
What racing enthusiast wouldn’t want to lay down a hot lap for a chance to qualify for the Indy 500! You can indulge that fantasy at Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway, Indiana. Located near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the facility offers visitors the chance to get behind the wheel of full car simulators or box cart simulators equipped with iRacing. That feature is part of their Interactive Zone, where racing buffs can also immerse themselves in Dallara Automobili history and learn the engineering of an IndyCar. Want to take a victory lap at the Speedway? They offer that, too; choose a two-seat IndyCar, Nascar, or event car.
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Rocky Mountain High
By Linda Tancs
The Rocky Mountains have their share of high points. For instance, there’s Grays Peak, the highest point along the Continental Divide and the Rockies’ 10th highest summit. Longs Peak is another high and prominent summit, beckoning climbers like Rev. William Butler (who climbed it on his 85th birthday) and Clerin “Zumie” Zumwalt, who summited 53 times. Those peaks are both located in Colorado, the home of Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is in the midst of a year-long celebration of its 100th anniversary. Free talks, walks and evening programs are being offered until the centennial celebration closes in September; be sure to check their schedule of events.
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The World’s Longest Porch
By Linda Tancs
A National Historic Landmark, Michigan’s Mackinac Island is a refuge from a bygone era, where bikes and horse drawn carriages rule the roads. Enjoy spectacular views of the Straits of Mackinac in a rocking chair at the Grand Hotel, another national landmark boasting the world’s longest porch. The island’s splendor is particularly striking in bloom season. Tomorrow through June 14 is the 66th Annual Lilac Festival, the largest summer event.
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On the Avenue in Richmond
By Linda Tancs
Dotted with Gothic and Classical Revival churches as well as stately homes in the Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial, Tudor Revival, French Renaissance and Italian Renaissance styles, Monument Avenue Historic District is a leafy enclave in Richmond, Virginia. One of only two National Historic Landmark districts in the city, it’s the nation’s only grand residential boulevard with monuments of its scale surviving virtually intact. The street, extending for some five miles from inner city Richmond westward into Henrico County, takes its name from a series of monumental statues that mark its major intersections. The statue of Virginia native Robert E. Lee is the largest and grandest of them all, featuring a 12-ton bronze statue that is over 20 feet high sitting on a 40-foot-high granite pedestal designed by French architect Paul Pujot. Although the avenue sports its share of Confederate heroes, a notable exception is the Arthur Ashe statue, dedicated in 1996 to Richmond’s native humanitarian, scholar and athlete.
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The Great Divide
By Linda Tancs
The Continental Divide is an epic hydrological divide separating the watersheds draining into the Atlantic Ocean from those draining into the Pacific Ocean. In the United States, its route is over 3,000 miles long, extending from the Canadian border with Montana to the Mexican boundary in southwest New Mexico. Following this course you’ll find the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, part of a series of national trails established by Congress in recognition of their natural beauty. The Continental Divide trail in particular passes through 25 national forests, 21 wilderness areas and three national parks, providing access to spectacular vistas in some of the most scenic places left in the world. The highest point is in Colorado at Grays Peak (14,270 feet) and the lowest is along Waterton Lake in Glacier National Park in Montana (4,200 feet). The long winter season along the Divide (September through May) is now over. Why not plan a hiking or camping trip! From backpacking to family day trips, there’s something for everyone.
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The River of Many Names
By Linda Tancs
It’s been called “the big river,” the “River of May,” the “river of our lady” and “the turbulent river.” But it’s popularly known as the Rio Grande (Great River). Discovered at its mouth by Spanish conquistadores in 1519, it’s among the world’s longest rivers and the fourth or fifth longest in North America, somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900 miles long. It starts near the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. In northern New Mexico the watercourse of the Great River follows a tectonic chasm. An amazing site bridging the depths of the resulting gorge is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge northwest of Taos. The steel deck arch bridge stands at 565 feet above the river, the seventh highest bridge in the United States. Enjoy the spectacular vista of the gorge from the bridge’s overlook.
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Black Hand Sandstone and a Hermit
By Linda Tancs
Talk about strange bedfellows. What does black hand sandstone have to do with a hermit? The answer lies in Hocking Hills State Park in southeastern Ohio. More than 200 million years ago, Ohio’s ancient waters drained away, leaving behind a course sandstone resistant to erosion known as black hand sandstone. The sandstone formed cliffs, gorges and recesses like Ash Cave (Ohio’s largest cave) and Old Man’s Cave. A hermit lived in Old Man’s Cave (hence, the name) in the late 1700s and is buried at the site. Hocking Hills claims not only remarkable geologic sandstone formations and a hermit but also the state’s tallest tree.
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Suspension in San Francisco
By Linda Tancs
Who hasn’t marveled at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, one of the world’s most iconic suspension bridges? However, it isn’t the city’s only suspension bridge of distinction. Just across the bridge in the Marin Headlands is another suspension bridge leading to Point Bonita Lighthouse, the only American lighthouse to be reached by a suspension bridge. Still active, the lighthouse is part of the largest urban national park in the United States, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Think the best photographic views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge are from Battery Spencer in the Marin Headlands? Some say the view from the lighthouse is the real sweet spot.
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