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
The Other Jersey Shore
By Linda Tancs
This is a true statement: you won’t find Snooki or The Situation at the Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, that is. The picturesque borough along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in southern Lycoming County offers a wealth of recreational activities that are lacking at its more celebrated namesake, like downhill and cross country skiing, trout fishing, hiking, mountain biking, camping, snowmobiling, hunting, and outlet shopping. Spray tans are optional.
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Historic Trees in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Shakespeare spoke of tongues in trees. Oh, what tales New Jersey’s historic trees could tell. On the Cranford campus of Union County College near the Sperry Observatory is a historic tree grove born of seedlings from some of the nation’s most historic trees. Take a gander at tree #7, the Abraham Lincoln Overcup Oak, grown from a seed of the tree that graces the yard of our 16th President’s boyhood home. Tree #10, the Berkeley Plantation White Ash, represents several seminal events in colonial history in Virginia: two signers of the Declaration of Independence were born at the Plantation, which also boasts the first three-story brick structure in America. Other notables include the Antietam Sycamore, Gettysburg Address Honey Locust, Wilbur and Orville Wright Red Cedar and Sergeant Alvin York Tulip Poplar.
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A Haunted Jaunt in Ohio
By Linda Tancs
It’s no wonder that the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio has seen its share of Hollywood film sets considering its imposing architecture comprising Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne styles. The reformatory’s doors first opened in 1896 and closed in 1990. The inmates may be gone in the physical sense, but many would say it’s still a spirited place. The prison recently announced its ghost hunt schedule for 2012, a series of serious but informal attempts to document paranormal activity at the castle-like structure. Check-in begins at 7 p.m. You won’t be locked down for the night, but if you drive out of the gated area you won’t be getting back in. Skittish ghostbusters might want to join in on the evening ghost walk instead. You will be taken on a two-hour, guided tour to the hot spots where reports have been made about paranormal activity. Whatever you believe, you’ll see one of the country’s most historic structures.
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To Sur With Love
By Linda Tancs
Big Sur is a popular tourist destination in California, a coastline stretching along Highway 1 generally between San Simeon and Carmel. The stunning vistas afforded by the Santa Lucia Mountains’ dominance over the Pacific Ocean and the rock formations at sunset on the beach are a shutterbug’s dream. But don’t forget about the redwoods, conifers, oaks, sycamores, cottonwoods, maples, alders, meadows, water ouzels and belted kingfishers in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, just 26 miles south of Carmel. Open one half hour prior to sunrise until one half hour after sunset, this Central Coast treasure beckons hikers and campers. There’s even a 61-room lodge with a conference center, Wi-Fi, cafe and grocery store.
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Trash Into Treasure
By Linda Tancs
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s particularly true at Glass Beach, a beach in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California that is abundant in sea glass created from years of dumping garbage over the cliffs into what became a public dump. Over many decades the sea and surf has molded an array of household garbage (including obviously lots of glass) into curious colorful trinkets. Tread carefully.
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America’s Luckiest City
By Linda Tancs
San Diego, California bills itself as “America’s Finest City.” Turns out, it might also be the luckiest according to Men’s Health magazine. The editors analyzed such data as debt levels, the most hole-in-ones on the golf course, the fewest lightning strikes, and the least deaths from falling objects. Apparently, residents of the southern California city enjoy their sunny clime with low debt, little lightning and even fewer mulligans. Where does your city fall on the list?
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Dead Men Walking
By Linda Tancs
The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., a must-see for CSI and FBI fans, might be considered a frightful place on an ordinary day by those unaccustomed to its collection of artifacts like an electric chair helmet, face harness head cage, Venetian finger screws, and an ice mallet. Add Halloween to the mix and you get an eerie sense of dead men walking. As the museum describes it, the adult-only Halloween event includes low lighting, fog, intermittent, sudden and frightful noises and movements, water soluble blood, and other decor that may stain clothing or be deemed scary and morbid. Costumes are welcome but masks are prohibited. The museum is located at 575 7th St. NW.
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The Toilet Paper Capital of the World
By Linda Tancs
Green Bay, Wisconsin, home to the 12-time National Champion Green Bay Packers, is known as “Titletown” to football fans everywhere. They might be surprised to learn of the small city’s other title: toilet paper capital of the world. That’s because the first splinter-free toilet paper was produced there in the early 1900s. And the paper industry is still one of the area’s largest employers. Not bad for Wisconsin’s oldest little city.
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Moonlight Escape in Napa
By Linda Tancs
You’ve probably heard of the harvest moon, the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox. You might have seen a red moon, caused by the particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. How about a snow moon or a wolf moon? Full moon names come to us courtesy of Native Americans. You can experience each one of them on the Napa Valley Wine Train’s Moonlight Escape tour in Napa Valley, California, one of the top wine growing regions in the world. Who could resist dinner for two in a private booth under the light of the full moon, two glasses of house wine, and the adventure of a train traveling through the night over the silver vineyards? Pick your favorite moon, relax, and enjoy the ride.
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The Mullet of Boggy Bayou
By Linda Tancs
The mullet of Boggy Bayou: sounds like a children’s tale, doesn’t it? In a sense, it is. It’s a place (Boggy Bayou, that is–now known as Niceville) in Florida’s Panhandle where children will gather with their families and neighbors in a time-honored tradition of consuming the local fish, the mullet. In time, those children will teach their children about mullet fishing in the former village of Boggy Bayou. This annual mullet festival, taking place this year from 21 to 23 October, is one of the best known country music events. Headliners this year are Trace Adkins, Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen and Steel Magnolia. Get ready to make some memories.
