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
America’s First Art School
By Linda Tancs
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia is the first art school and art museum in the United States. Its Historic Landmark Building, considered one of the finest surviving examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in America, houses exhibition space as well as classroom space for the school, which is primarily located at the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building. Between those two buildings is Lenfest Plaza, a year-round gathering space featuring a three-part serpentine bench, mosaic pavers, plantings and rotating works of emerging and established artists.
Red River Art
By Linda Tancs
Formerly known as the Red River Art Center, the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, is the largest and only accredited art museum in the state. Housed in a renovated, turn-of-the-century warehouse downtown, it features special exhibitions of 20th- and 21st-century art as well as a permanent collection containing approximately 4,000 works of national, international, regional fine art and ethnographic objects. In addition to its collections, the facility offers art classes as well as studio and exhibition space for learning, discussion and display of creative work.
A Cowboy Hall of Fame
By Linda Tancs
Featuring permanent and traveling western cultural exhibits, the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora preserves and upholds the historic and modern western lifestyle. You’ll learn about the experiences of the state’s Native Americans, homesteaders, ranchers and world-class rodeo cowboys through theater, galleries, interpretive areas, artifacts and memorabilia. A centerpiece of the facility is the Hall of Honorees, paying tribute to the men, women, events and livestock that made extraordinary contributions to North Dakota’s western heritage and culture.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
Front Stoops in Baltimore
By Linda Tancs
The Canton Historic District in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the largest historic districts in Baltimore at over 100 blocks. It’s known for, among other things, its 19th and early 20th-century row houses. In fact, Baltimore has more row houses than any other U.S. city. These narrow dwellings are characterized by their front “stoops” (steps) instead of porches. Many of these steps are composed of marble from a local quarry, which in turn supplied the marble to build structures in Washington, D.C., like the Washington Monument.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
A Chapel of Ease in New York City
By Linda Tancs
Built in 1766, St. Paul’s Chapel, located at Broadway and Fulton Street, is part of the Parish of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City. It was known as a “chapel-of-ease” for those who did not want to walk a few blocks south along unpaved streets to Trinity Church. Its famous worshippers include George Washington, who made his way there after taking the oath of office to become the first president of the United States. His pew remains in the church.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
A Sporting Attitude in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Yogi Berra is an icon in American baseball history. Celebrated as much for his career statistics as for his malapropisms, his dedication to education, sports and community informs the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center. Located on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey, the 8,200-square-foot facility features permanent and rotating exhibitions telling the unique story of Yogi and explores history, culture, science and society within the larger context of baseball and sports.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
The Home That a Soft Drink Built
By Linda Tancs
Walter Bellingrath was one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southeast. He used his vast wealth from that endeavor to build a grand estate in Theodore, Alabama. The result is Bellingrath Gardens & Home, a 65-acre public garden and historic home of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath located on the Fowl River near Mobile. The 15-room home (dubbed by the architect as “English Renaissance”) was built using bricks dating to 1853 and ironwork from the 1870s salvaged from historic structures in Mobile and remains completely furnished with antiques collected by Mrs. Bellingrath. Allow at least two hours to tour the expansive gardens, a centerpiece of which is the Great Lawn. Guided tours of the home are available daily.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
Planting Fields on Long Island
By Linda Tancs
Located in Oyster Bay, New York, Planting Fields is one of only a few surviving estates on Long Island. It includes Coe Hall, a 65-room Tudor Revival mansion purchased in 1913 by English immigrant William Robertson Coe and Mai Rogers Coe, heiress and daughter of Standard Oil partner Henry Huttleston Rogers. Guided tours provide visits to select rooms on the first and second floors; self-guided tours are also available, with docents available for questions throughout the manor. Equally as stunning are the gardens designed by the Olmsted Brothers Firm (sons of the famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York’s Central Park). Maintaining its original 409 acres, the garden complex includes an Italian garden, cloister garden and circular pool, rose garden and perennial garden together with two greenhouses.
Savannah’s First School
By Linda Tancs
Located in the Historic Landmark District, Massie School was the first free public school in Savannah, Georgia. Opened in 1856, it continues an educational function today as Massie Heritage Center. The kid-friendly exhibits include a photo history of people who attended, visited or taught at Massie School. There’s also an authentic 19th-century classroom where students can engage in authentic grade-level appropriate reading, writing, arithmetic and geography lessons and practice penmanship with quill pens. The facility is named for Peter Massie, a Scottish immigrant to Georgia in the late 1700s, who bequeathed a portion of his fortune to the city for the establishment of a free school for the poor.
*************
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.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
The History of Tennis
By Linda Tancs
The International Tennis Hall of Fame preserves and promotes the history of tennis and celebrates its champions. The museum displays over 2,000 items from its vast collection, including items associated with each hall of famer. The facility also features The Hall of Fame Tennis Club, which is open to the public daily for court time, lessons and clinics. One of the most interesting exhibits at the museum is the hologram of tennis great Roger Federer, giving visitors the experience of a one-on-one encounter. The museum is on the second floor of the historic Newport Casino Building in Newport, Rhode Island.

