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 Jewel on Millionaires’ Row
By Linda Tancs
Millionaires’ Row in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is a historic stretch of Victorian mansions and landmark churches built by lumber barons in the 1800s. Once the Lumber Capital of the World, Williamsport had more millionaires per person than any other city in the nation. The jewel in its crown is Rowley House, one of the best maintained mansions and arguably the finest example of Queen Anne-style architecture in the Commonwealth. One of its most breathtaking features are the Tiffany-style stained glass windows. Located on West Fourth Street, the house was built for E.A. Rowley, one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania.
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The Second Greatest Show on Earth
By Linda Tancs
When circus magnate P.T. Barnum saw the view from the summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, he proclaimed it “the second greatest show on Earth.” The view is still thrilling visitors who take the Mount Washington Cog Railway (known as the Cog) to the Northeast’s highest peak. The world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway, it uses a Marsh rack system and both steam and biodiesel-powered locomotives (depending on the season) to carry tourists to the top of the mountain for panoramic views of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Canada and the ocean. The roundtrip journey from Marshfield Base Station (on the west side of the mountain) is just under three hours.
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The Wild Goose Auto Tour
By Linda Tancs
Established in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife, Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge is known as a paradise for bird watchers, the site being designated a Globally Important Bird Area as well as a designated site along the Great Missouri Birding Trail. One of its features is the Wild Goose Auto Tour, a 10-mile auto tour route where you can experience wildlife year round. As summer approaches, snakes and turtles are often seen crossing the auto tour. This time of year is also popular for viewing nesting songbirds as well as great blue herons and other wading birds. The refuge is located in northwest Missouri near Mound City.
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A Pivotal Place in Tennessee
By Linda Tancs
The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, in Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin–Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. At its epicenter was Lotz House, where battle literally took place in the family’s front yard. Evidence of the conflict remain, with bloodstains and cannonball scars throughout the house. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, guided house tours take place throughout the day, as well as specialized tours like a ghost tour, a women’s history tour and a battlefield tour with a Civil War expert.
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New York’s Whispering Gallery
By Linda Tancs
A whispering gallery is usually a circular, hemispherical, elliptical or ellipsoidal enclosure, often beneath a dome or a vault, in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the gallery. One famous example is the one in New York City’s Grand Central terminal. Located outside the entrance to the Oyster Bar & Restaurant, the near-perfect arches there provide a corner-to-corner acoustic oddity. Just stand with a friend in opposite corners of the gallery, face the wall, and whisper. You’ll hear each other’s voice as if you were standing side by side, no matter how much noise surrounds you.
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Hawaii’s Cowboy Culture
By Linda Tancs
Located on Hawaii’s Big Island, Waimea (also known as Kamuela) is famous for its paniolo (cowboy) culture. You’ll find working ranches there like Parker Ranch, once the largest ranch in the United States. Visit the Paniolo Preservation Society, which chronicles cowboy culture from the first cattle gifted to the state in 1793 and the mentoring of early ranchers by Mexican vaqueros. The Society’s Heritage Center features a collection of beautifully crafted saddles, whips, bridles and spurs as well as a Hall of Fame honoring those who made paniolo culture legendary.
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The Wickedest Town in the West
By Linda Tancs
Jerome, Arizona, is a former mountain mining community. Located near the top of Cleopatra Hill between Prescott and Flagstaff, its rich copper ore deposits attracted miners, merchants, madams and more, earning it the nickname “The Wickedest Town in the West.” You can learn more about the town’s colorful history at Jerome State Historic Park. It features the Douglas Mansion (one of the grandest residences in the state), built by mining mogul James Douglas. Today, the house is a museum devoted to the Douglas family history and the history of Jerome.
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Seven Mile Beach
By Linda Tancs
Seven Mile Beach is the name of a barrier island on the Jersey Shore in Cape May County, New Jersey, divided between the boroughs of Avalon to the north and Stone Harbor to the south. Avalon has the distinction of being coined New Jersey’s version of the Hamptons (on the eastern end of Long Island in New York), the East Coast version of Beverly Hills. In fact, a newly-built home in Avalon was listed months ago for $25 million! If the real estate is too rich for your appetite, then enjoy the beaches, as visitors have been doing for more than a century.
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Mountain Vistas in Maryland
By Linda Tancs
Constructed in 1949 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Chesapeake & Ohio Railway steam locomotive no. 1309 was built to handle the railroad’s heaviest coal trains throughout Kentucky and West Virginia until it was retired in 1956. The largest operating steam locomotive of its type in the country, it’s now the star attraction at Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland. The historic train runs through the Allegheny Mountains on a scenic route between Cumberland and Frostburg, climbing grades up to 2.8% on a 16-mile trek.
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Up Close with Marine Life
By Linda Tancs
Coral World Ocean Park is an educational and conservation center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The venue is prized for its encounters, like opportunities to experience a diver’s view of the ocean floor and a coral reef without the special training. You can also swim with dolphins, juvenile sharks and sea lions and learn about conservation. Since the park’s opening in 1977 it has been dedicated to coral reef education, research and conservation. In fact, the facility’s underwater observatory was the first of its kind to be constructed in the Western Hemisphere.
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