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
Supremely Scenic in New Hampshire
By Linda Tancs
Supremely scenic excursions await you aboard the Conway Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire. In fact, the Mountaineer is touted as the most scenic ride of all, offering 1950s-era streamlined passenger cars to Crawford Notch, a major pass through the White Mountains. Other trains to Conway and Sawyer River offer heritage rail excursions by employing early 20th-century railcars to recreate the experience of traveling from town to town. Regardless which trip you choose, the trains depart from the 1874 station in North Conway.
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Between the Forks
By Linda Tancs
Nestled between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island, New York, is Shelter Island. Approximately 27 square miles, it’s accessible only by ferry from either Greenport on the North Fork or North Haven on the South Fork. Known for its natural beauty, it boasts Mashomack Preserve, a coastal nature reserve featuring over 2,000 acres of woodlands, marshes and creeks. Enjoy a hike along the many trails, which are open daily from dawn to dusk.
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The Cranberry in Pennsylvania
By Linda Tancs
Known locally as “The Cranberry,” Tannersville Cranberry Bog Preserve in Pennsylvania is a remnant of the Ice Age, producing the southernmost boreal bog east of the Mississippi River and a unique ecosystem. It boasts some of North America’s most beautiful native orchids, including rose pogonia and the state-endangered heart-leaved twayblade. The Boardwalk Trail is open only with guided access, but other trails are open to self-guided visitors and feature a mature oak hardwood forest and wetland habitats.
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New York’s Research Forest
By Linda Tancs
Black Rock Forest is a 3,920-acre forest and biological field station in Cornwall, New York. Named for the black magnetite in the forest’s bedrock, the nature preserve is as much a gem for hikers as it is for researchers. The site boasts 26 miles of trails and 17 miles of forest roads which are open to the public year-round. From there you can experience the area’s rich biodiversity in trees, mammals, birds and reptiles owing to the forest’s location at the intersection of two ecological systems: the New York-New Jersey Highlands and the Hudson River Basin. On a clear day, you might even see Manhattan.
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The Switzerland of Alaska
By Linda Tancs
It’s easy to understand why Valdez, Alaska, is affectionately called “the Switzerland of Alaska.” Like its counterpart in Europe, it offers unparalleled scenery. Located at the head of a deep fjord in Prince William Sound, you’ll find glaciers, mountains, a temperate rainforest and scores of wildlife. One of the best places to learn about the area is at the Valdez Museum. The facility’s permanent exhibits explore the history of Valdez, the Copper River Valley and Prince William Sound from Native Alaskan occupation to the present day.
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The Prized Home of a Playwright
By Linda Tancs
Eugene O’Neill is America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright. At the height of his career, he chose to make Tao House his final home. Located in Danville, California, the house and grounds comprise the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site. This is where he wrote his most memorable plays: The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Due to its location in a private, gated community, the site is only accessible via a National Park Service shuttle from the nearby Museum of the San Ramon Valley.
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A Retreat in Carolina
By Linda Tancs
One of the few remaining unspoiled treasures, Daufuskie Island in South Carolina is a true getaway. Nestled between Savannah and Hilton Head, the island is still accessible only by boat. The most popular option is the Official Daufuskie Island Ferry from Bluffton (outside Hilton Head), a town known for having some of the Lowcountry’s best seafood. Once on the island be sure to visit the historic Bloody Point Lighthouse, so named for the Native American battles that took place there in the 1700s. The name “Daufuskie” is a combination of two Muscogee, Native American words: “daufu” meaning feather, and “fuskie” meaning tip or point, the shape of the island representing the tip of a feather. Although small, the island is not walkable. Rent a golf cart, or you might consider riding horseback in Daufuskie’s maritime forest and throughout the exclusive community of Haig Point.
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Walton’s Mountain
By Linda Tancs
The Waltons was a popular, long-running drama television series about a close-knit family in rural, Depression-era Virginia, based on the experiences of series creator and narrator Earl Hamner Jr. If you’ve ever wondered where the mountain scenery depicted in the show is really located, then head on over to Schuyler, Virginia. The hamlet was home to Earl Hamner Jr., and the family home there is now a Virginia Historic Landmark. The quiet village is located 25 miles south of Charlottesville in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountain range.
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The Great North American Eclipse
By Linda Tancs
Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
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A Gem of a Church in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
The practice of using vertical posts, or staves, to construct massive wooden buildings is what sets stave churches apart from the others. Stave churches were built in and around Scandinavia from the waning years of the Viking Age (the 11th and 12th centuries) to the early 16th century. One of the oldest- remaining stave churches in Norway is Hopperstad in Vik, built in 1130. You’ll find a full-scale replica of it in Moorhead, Minnesota, located along the boundary with Fargo, North Dakota. A symbol of Norwegian heritage so prevalent in the Red River Valley, the Moorhead Stave Church offers guided tours from April to December.
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