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
Shard Sale in Hyannis
By Linda Tancs
Bikini season may have ended at the beach, but early fall brings out beach goers for treasure hunting as sea glass washes ashore in large numbers. Whether it’s shipwrecked or household waste, the right color shard could land you big bucks if you know what you’re looking at. Not sure? Then bring it to the North American Sea Glass Association convention in Hyannis, Massachusetts this weekend. Taking place at the Resort and Conference Center, the annual event features the award of Shard of the Year. Who knows, maybe you’ll be a contender.
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Pebble Beach of the East
By Linda Tancs
Sea Island is a resort along the southeast coast of Georgia sporting ocean-view villas, a football field-sized spa, and a seaside golf course. Sounds like the perfect spot for a golf tournament. The PGA folks think so, too; that’s why the resort’s course will host a new PGA Tour event called the McGladrey Classic. Gates open tomorrow through 10 October. Proceeds from the event benefit Special Olympics, the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia and Safe Harbor. Free parking is located at McKinnon Airport on St. Simons Island, where a shuttle to the course will be provided. Need a place to stay? The resort’s centerpiece, The Cloister Hotel, awaits you with five miles of private beach to keep you busy while the pros square off.
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Rural Life in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Experience rural life in the late Victorian era at Fosterfields Farm, a living historical farm in Morristown, New Jersey. The first of its kind in the state, the property was bequeathed to the local park commission by Caroline Foster, a successor in title from General Joseph Warren Revere, grandson of Paul Revere. Drop by and take in the agricultural heritage of the Garden State.
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A Revolutionary Event in Germantown
By Linda Tancs
On 2 October historic Germantown in northwest Philadelphia will commemorate the Continental Army’s fight against the British there during the Revolutionary War. The day’s festivities include an exhibition of maps and prints related to the war, a battle reenactment, graveside ceremony and, of course, an Oktoberfest to celebrate the area’s settlement centuries ago by German settlers. Travel time from Center City is approximately 25 minutes. Public transportation is available via the R8 (Chestnut Hill West) commuter rail line (Upsal Station) or the Route 23 bus.
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Neptune Rules in VA
By Linda Tancs
The beaches at Virginia Beach in Virginia are wide–quite fitting for an imposing colossal bronze statue of the sea god Neptune to reign over. Summer may be coming to a close, but Neptune rules at the festival this weekend all across the oceanfront. The annual event covers everything from a world-class sandcastle competition to numerous athletic competitions and the famous Neptune Grand Parade. Over 275 artisans will line the boardwalk for the Neptune Art and Craft Show, combined with food vendors and lots of oceanside fun. Dive right in.
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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.
