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 People’s Voice on Air Travel
By Linda Tancs
Air travel is rife with passenger complaints and concerns over everything from tarmac delays and status information to transparency in pricing and food allergies. Do you want to have your say in the resolution of the matter? Then be sure to comment on proposed regulations when they’re drafted by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Regulation Room makes it easy to know what the feds are up to; you can easily view at a glance the topics that are currently awaiting public comment. And who better to address the travails of the traveling public than…you? As the late economist Milton Friedman once remarked, “The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.”
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New Jersey Film Festival Reels Them In
By Linda Tancs
Over twenty film/video directors, artists, and actors will delight visitors at this year’s New Jersey Film Festival. The event will run through 4 November and feature over 50 film screenings, many of them premieres. Enjoy the cushioned seats, stadium seating and high definition projection and sound systems at the primary screening venue in Voorhees Hall at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Highlights include experimental film screenings on Thursday nights and the annual Halloween 3D Show (on 28 October), featuring a 3D screening of Creature From the Black Lagoon. Tickets for the festival are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Better hurry!
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400 Years of Culture in Santa Fe
By Linda Tancs
New Mexico’s capital city of Santa Fe is celebrating its 400th anniversary all year long. So what’s in it for you? Plenty. Be inspired by the landscape often depicted by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, whose works are exhibited in the city’s Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Nicknamed “The City Different,” Santa Fe is the product of centuries of co-existence among Native Americans, Spanish, Mexican, European and African Americans. For instance, Canyon Road was a route by which Native Americans brought their goods to trade with the Spanish settlers in the Plaza de Santa Fe, where the Spanish began to build their adobe homes in the 1750s. A fine example of adobe is the Palace of the Governors, which served as Spain’s seat of government for the entire Southwest region. In this city also stands North America’s oldest church, San Miguel Chapel, whose adobe walls were constructed around 1610. Another curiosity is the Loretto Chapel, drawing visitors the world over for its remarkable spiral staircase to the choir loft built without any visible means of support with nails or beams, considered a miracle by the convent’s Sisters of Loretto. Other attractions include world-renowned art galleries, marketplaces, and performance venues, accessible on foot or by city bus.
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Down to Earth in Willamette Valley
By Linda Tancs
Thirty-five miles southwest of Portland, Oregon is the Willamette Valley’s Yamhill-Carlton District AVA (American Viticultural Area), an area rife with dark, plummy, black-fruited Pinot Noirs framed by minerality reminiscent of pipe tobacco, espresso, clove and dark chocolate owing to the marine sedimentary soils of the region. In other words, earthy–or down to earth–a moniker characterizing the inhabitants of the valley as much as the wines themselves. The AVA is bringing the valley to Portland today for a wine tasting at the Gerding Theater, Portland Armory, from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $35 at the door. Why wait in line? Buy your tickets now.
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Air Show Turns 21
By Linda Tancs
The number 21 often signals a coming of age. No wonder, then, the folks at South Lake Tahoe California’s Lake Tahoe Airport are throwing a big bash at this year’s air show on 28 August. Among the many events planned are guest appearances by aerobatic performers Bill Cornick and Jon Melby and the gravity defying antics of Spencer Suderman in his famous Pitts. Gives new meaning to the phrase, birds of a feather fly together.
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Nevada State Fair Opens Today
By Linda Tancs
The Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center hosts the Nevada State Fair today through 29 August. Admission is free on opening night; the grand procession begins at 7 p.m. As is the case with any state fair, the event will highlight the usual livestock shows, auctions, agricultural events, and exhibits, as well as carnival rides and live entertainment. However, in this and future years Nevada’s long and storied Wild West history will be featured during the annual attraction. That means you can expect to experience a mining camp, a frontier town, a Native American village, stage coach rides, and a host of other features defining the State’s history. That’s a lot to see in one day, so why not buy a 3-day passport and save $45!
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Feeling Blue Around the World
By Linda Tancs
Feeling blue? In some parts of the world, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That is to say, if you live in a blue zone–areas of the world where the population regularly lives to the ripe old age of 100 or more. Places like Loma Linda, California, Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Sardinia, Italy and Okinawa, Japan. Don’t pack your bags just yet, though. Just being there won’t increase your chances for longevity. You gotta walk the walk, as they say. That means lots of whole grains, veggies, beans and fruits. Maybe Mama was right after all.
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Non Stop Fun in Iowa
By Linda Tancs
Attracting more than a million fans the world over each year, the Iowa State Fair kicks off now through 22 August at the Fairgrounds, located 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines at East 30th Street and East University Avenue. Today’s opening day festivities are highlighted by a tribute to the armed forces, including a live Skype chat with Iowa military in Kosovo, Iraq and Missisippi, a performance by the Central Iowa Hooves horse drill team and an evening concert by country music star Lee Greenwood (free with your fair ticket admission). The grandstand lineup includes Keith Urban, Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, Darius Rucker, Sugarland and Sheryl Crow. The entertainment may change from year to year, but annual staples like the Butter Cow (sculpted from butter, you see), double ferris wheel, livestock judging and endless stalls of food will remain–all to keep you in “non stop fun,” as this year’s theme goes.
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World’s Fair of Money
By Linda Tancs
The American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money takes place in Boston today until 14 August. Sponsored by the nonprofit American Numismatic Association, the show’s theme espousing the locale as the birthplace of American money is an apt choice considering the story of American money began more than three centuries ago when the early settlers of New England relied heavily upon foreign coins for conducting their day to day business affairs in the New World. Featuring more than 1,000 of the nation’s best coin dealers at Hynes Convention Center, the show will also feature museum-quality exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution, the ANA Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and private collectors. As many as 20 mints from around the world will give visitors an opportunity to collect coins from five continents, recalling America’s reliance on foreign currency in early American history.
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Drawing Lines in the Sand in California
By Linda Tancs
In Imperial Beach, California they’ll be drawing lines galore in the sand at the 30th annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition. An event for pros and amateurs alike, the competition on 8 August includes a Masters contest for pros and cash prizes up to $21,000 for pro and amateur sand carvers in other categories. Works will be available for viewing until 4 p.m. due to the tides. Why wait until Sunday? Make it a beach weekend and enjoy the Sandcastle Dance on Friday and the street fair along Seacoast Drive on Saturday. Sounds beachy keen to me.
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