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
A Victorian Fantasy in New Orleans
By Linda Tancs
Turrets, columns and gingerbread aren’t the usual fare associated with architecture in New Orleans. But then again, anything goes in the Big Easy. In the middle of the Garden District you’ll find a turquoise and white Victorian dream known as Commander’s Palace, a restaurant known for its cuisine–and famous guests–since 1880. Located on Washington Avenue just steps from the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, this is where Emile Commander entertained folks like Mark Twain and Confederate Jefferson Davis. Nowadays it’s particularly known for its festive weekend jazz brunch, featuring a special menu and live New Orleans jazz by Joe Simon’s Jazz Trio.
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Double Trouble in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
In Ocean County, N.J., you’ll find Double Trouble. No, not the nefarious kind. It’s a state park located on the eastern edge of the Pine Barrens –and with a name like that, you’d be correct in assuming that it isn’t exactly teeming with visitors. All the better for you, though. Enjoy the peace and serenity of fabulous walking trails dotted with cranberry bogs. Embracing a historic village that typifies centuries-old company towns reliant on local industry, the woodland is emblematic of cranberry culture. The Double Trouble Company had one of the largest cranberry operations in the state there (hence, the name). The Double Trouble Historic District was placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1977 and on the National Register in 1978.
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A Star in the East
By Linda Tancs
There’s a star in the East–no, not the biblical kind: the Hollywood kind. A 26-foot-tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe is a featured attraction at New Jersey’s Grounds for Sculpture. Created by renowned sculptor and philanthropist Seward Johnson, the piece returns “home” from Palm Springs as part of the Hamilton museum’s retrospective on Johnson’s career. Taking place through September, the months-long festivities will include hands-on art-making workshops, tours of the park and artwork, screenings of archival footage, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour with Johnson.
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New Jersey’s Largest Rose Garden
By Linda Tancs
This time of year, New Jersey’s Rudolf van der Goot Rose Garden is at its peak. The state’s largest public rose garden is awash in color and aroma–hardly surprising, with 325 varieties abounding. A popular locale for wedding photography, the one-acre site is located in Colonial Park in Somerset. Don’t expect to find too many wilts; only roses that thrive in central New Jersey are kept in the garden. Let’s give that a green thumbs-up!
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A Symbol of Resilience in Manhattan
By Linda Tancs
Today marks the official opening of New York City’s National September 11 Museum to the general public. The complex includes an outdoor memorial plaza with reflecting pools (already accessible to visitors from around the world) and a museum of 10,000 artifacts and exhibits, including personal effects, wreckage and videos. The twin reflecting pools sit within the footprints where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood. The name of every person who died during the 1993 attack as well as those who died on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon are inscribed into bronze panels edging the pools. Inside, the museum’s Last Column (an imposing hulk of steel that helped support the inner core of the south tower and was last to be salvaged) serves as a somber backdrop in a cavernous hall that recounts the heroism and courage displayed on that fateful day. Purchase advance museum tickets for access at your preferred time and date. The site is within easy reach of public transportation.
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Gone With the Wind
By Linda Tancs
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gone With the Wind spawned one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time, not to mention classic quotes. Fans may love to talk the talk, but now they can walk the walk via the Gone With the Wind Trail. Winding its way in and around Atlanta, the journey takes in sites such as Margaret Mitchell’s house (an apartment in the 1930s, which she famously referred to as “the dump”), her grave at Oakland Cemetery and the Gone With the Wind Museum, where Scarlett’s honeymoon gown (one of only eight originals known to exist) is a popular attraction. Springtime is a great time for a visit, when the state is awash in color thanks to plentiful azaleas, wisteria and magnolias. Don’t expect to complete the entire circuit (taking in Atlanta, Marietta and Jonesboro) in a single day. Why should you? As Scarlett so aptly put it, “Tomorrow is another day.”
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Dramatic Scenery in Alaska
By Linda Tancs
Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument is where Nature’s drama unfolds. An area of unfathomable beauty, its two million breathtaking acres feature cascading waterfalls, glistening lakes, lingering mists and goliath walls of granite amidst forests of spruce, hemlock and cedar. Located 22 miles east of Ketchican, it’s the largest wilderness in Alaska’s national forests and the second largest in the nation. Kayaking is a popular way to experience the mighty fjords, but by seaplane you can fully experience its charms, taking in the Tongass Narrows and volcanic Revillagigedo Island on your way.
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Not Your Usual Science Museum
By Linda Tancs
At the historical Camp Evans military base in Wall, New Jersey, you’ll find the nation’s only fallout shelter theatre at InfoAge, a museum featuring the best of wartime technology. There’s a fascinating display of intelligence systems, jamming equipment and rooms devoted to the development of radar. This vital complex is where top-secret innovation took place to protect the United States against German and Japanese forces. Not just for techies, the grounds also include a shipwreck museum, a World War II miniatures room with toy soldiers, a collection of helmets, rifles and early jeeps and an airborne motor scooter. The museum is open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Where Nature Speaks
By Linda Tancs
The Chihuahuan Desert region covers over 220,000 square miles, the third largest desert of the Western Hemisphere. It includes parts of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, as well as parts of the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi in Mexico. Here you’ll find more cacti than any other region in the world, including the prickly pears, hedgehogs, living rocks, nipple cacti, and cory cacti. So how do you go about exploring such a vast expanse? Why not start at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis, Texas. Beginning hikers will love the Hummingbird and Butterfly Trail, a short, easy trail with spectacular views of Mitre Peak. The more difficult Outside Loop Trail will take you up to Clayton’s Overlook, the highest point on the property. Plant and bird lovers should flock to Modesta Canyon Trail. If hiking is too strenuous, be sure to visit the botanical gardens, where they say it’s quiet enough to hear nature speak.
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Big Trees Abound in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
The New Jersey Forest Service has been keeping a record of the largest trees in the state since the 1950s. Consider the silver maple off Route 179 in Ringoes, measuring 27 feet in circumference. That tree also happens to be 208 years old. And there’s the 175-year-old slippery elm (named for its sticky inner bark) in Wantage and the largest red oak (the State Tree) in Wyckoff. These and other trees are part of the Champion Big Tree Register. In 1884, New Jersey celebrated its first official Arbor Day celebration. Tomorrow is National Arbor Day, a special day for tree planting celebrated nationwide. Plant a tree. Who knows, it just might grow up to be a champ.
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