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
Opera in a Ghost Town
By Linda Tancs
Death Valley Junction is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in California. Formerly known as Amargosa, its sole claim to fame these days is the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel run by a former New York City Radio City Music Hall dancer, Marta Becket. Performing faithfully on weekends for an audience of none or some, Marta’s House is a previously abandoned recreation hall built by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. The marker in town explains that the community, with a population high of 300, is a historic crossroad used by Indians, ranchers, farmers, settlers and tourists. At this junction, the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad connected with the Las Vegas-Tonopah Railroad to service the Ryan and Lila C. borax mines near Ryan during the years 1914-28. The town is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Tater City
By Linda Tancs
Blackfoot, Idaho was known as Grove City, a tribute to its abundance of trees and parks. Don’t forget the potatoes, though. Blackfoot is the agricultural epicenter of Idaho’s revered potato industry. Known as the Potato Capital of the World, it hosts–what else–the Idaho Potato Museum. With each paid adult admission,
you will receive a box of hash browns to take home with you. Welcome to tater heaven.
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Crossroads of the West
By Linda Tancs
Salt Lake City, Utah claims to be different by nature. So what’s so different? You can join their real-time chat and find out. Maybe it’s the Great Salt Lake, the largest lake west of the Mississippi, covering 2,100 square miles. Did you know that only the Dead Sea has a higher salt content than the Great Salt Lake? Another distinguishing feature of the city is its world-renowned genealogical center. Located downtown at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, computers at the FamilySearch Center access millions of worldwide records. Best of all, admission is free. Of course, there’s also the skiing. Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort has the longest ski season in Utah (through the month of May). You want to see it all, don’t you? Get the Connect Pass and save on 13 of Utah’s best attractions. It’s what nature intended, after all.
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The Fur Flies in Alaska
By Linda Tancs
An event celebrating winter’s transition is Alaska’s Fur Rendezvous, also known as Fur Rondy. Fur in this instance refers to fur swappers, who would meet at winter’s end and exchange their pelts. Held in Anchorage since the 1930s, the event includes sled dog rides, craft shows, a carnival, reindeer runs and a blanket toss. Of particular note are the Rondy pins (as in lapel pins) commemorating each year’s festival, a popular collector’s item. This is also home to the World Championship Sled Dog Races. Enjoy it through 6 March.
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A Hare-Raising Experience in San Francisco
By Linda Tancs
The rabbit, or hare, is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Welcome to the year of the rabbit. San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Festival will culminate on 19 February with an evening parade from Market and Second Street to Kearny and Jackson. Named one of the top ten parades in the world by the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the San Francisco march is one of the grandest night illuminated parades in the country (think: Disney), not to mention one of the largest celebrations of Asian culture outside of Asia. Parade highlights include elaborate floats, lion dancers, folk dancers, Chinese acrobats and a 250 foot long Golden Dragon (“Gum Lung”) flowing along the parade route. Happy Year 4709.
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Ridgway Rendezvous
By Linda Tancs
The art of wood carving takes center stage at the International Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous in Ridgway, Pennsylvania through 26 February. Previous entries have included life-sized bears, owls and other animals, statues, bench works, human-like depictions and gargantuan works of art. According to a founder of the event, chainsaw carving will do for art what the electric guitar did for music. Considering that the event is 12 years’ strong, maybe you should stop by and see if you agree.
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Life and Liberty in Kansas City
By Linda Tancs
Designated by Congress as the United States’ official World War I Museum, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri opened to the public in 2006. The Museum presents a comprehensive interpretation of World War I (1914-1919). In poignant fashion, visitors cross a Western Front poppy field to enter the Museum. Each of the 9,000 poppies represents a thousand combatant deaths, or 9 million souls. In addition to gun and tank displays, the war is made palpable through the use of trenches with actual objects and relevant ambient sounds as well as a walk-through crater illustrating the devastating effects of a 17-inch howitzer shell on a French farmhouse. Combine these features with animated battle maps that draw the visitor into the planning and execution of the battles. A worthwhile visit–and active and career military are welcome free of charge.
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The Curious Class in Vegas
By Linda Tancs
Nearing a whopping $4 billion, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened in mid-December. A new luxe resort on The Strip, they aspire to cater to what they refer to as the “curious class.” Are you curious? Given the low fares to Vegas these days, you can afford to indulge it.
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Seaworthy in San Diego
By Linda Tancs
American author George William Curtis once said, “It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.” That could certainly be said of the Star of India, a wood-and-iron trader constructed in 1863 as the Euterpe. Now a museum piece at San Diego’s Maritime Museum, the masted beauty was made seaworthy again in 1976 after years of decay and holds the Guinness World Records distinction as the oldest active sailing ship. The downtown waterside museum also boasts a replica of a British frigate as well as a submarine, steam ferry and steam-powered yacht. All aboard!
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Disney’s Wild Side
By Linda Tancs
Africa meets Orlando in Disney’s newest animal park, Wild Africa Trek. This is truly where the wild things are, complete with a savanna hosting teeming numbers of native African species like hippos, rhinos, crocs and giraffes. Three hours long, this expert-led adventure includes a clip onto a lifeline to the edge of a cliff to get amazingly close to the hippos and crocs. Imagine navigating through a bushwalk and breezing through the savanna in an open air vehicle. Admission is not included as part of the Animal Kingdom Park. The new park’s introductory rate was $129 and will vary seasonally. The price may be a bit steep, but still cheaper than the Serengeti.
