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
Scenic Outlooks in Illinois
By Linda Tancs
Galena is a small town in northwest Illinois known for its Victorian architecture and a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally named for the mineral that was mined in the area, it features fabulous architecture and trendy shops along with a charming Main Street overlooking the Galena River. A scenic trail along the river is just minutes from downtown and heads to the Mississippi River, where bluffs comprising Casper Bluff offer hiking trails, bird watching, sightseeing, Native American archaeology and much more. Another scenic property is Horseshoe Mound (the eastern gateway to the city) where, on a clear day, you can view Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.
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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.
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Alabama’s Golf Trail
By Linda Tancs
Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is a collection of 468 holes of championship golf on 11 sites across Alabama. Arguably one of the most ambitious golf projects attempted anywhere, it’s named for the legendary golf course architect behind the project, Robert Trent Jones Sr. One of the most unique aspects of the trail is that tee markers are pegged to ability level rather than age or gender. Each course is also built to suit the natural topography of the land rather than taking away from it. A boon to Alabama tourism, the trail features eight exceptional resorts that appeal to both leisure and business travelers.
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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.
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A Poet’s Homestead
By Linda Tancs
Located on a hillside overlooking the Westfield River Valley, the William Cullen Bryant Homestead is on the site of the original community of Cummington, Massachusetts, founded in 1762. One of America’s foremost 19th-century poets, Bryant’s boyhood home is a National Historic Landmark. In addition to an iconic red barn, the estate features a two-story-farmhouse-turned-three-story Victorian cottage full of colonial and Victorian heirlooms as well as memorabilia from his European and Asian travels. He captured the literary world at the age of 13 with his first major poem, no doubt influenced by the idyllic landscape of pastures, fields and woodlands that surrounded him. Enjoy the grounds year round; guided tours of the house are offered from June through October on selected days.
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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.
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A Presidential Retreat in Pennsylvania
By Linda Tancs
Wheatland, or the James Buchanan House, is a brick, Federal-style house once owned by James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States. He bought the home in 1848 and ran his 1856 presidential campaign from the mansion. He lived there until his death in 1868. Both floors of the home are open to tours that run on the hour. The grounds also include two surviving outbuildings (a privy and a smoke and ice house) as well as tree and conifer specimens. Located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the home is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the Pennsylvania State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
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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.
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A Journey Through Time in Oregon
By Linda Tancs
Aptly named, Oregon’s Journey Through Time Scenic Byway captures the state’s heritage in the woods, in the mines, on the ranches and on the railroad. The 286-mile trek begins at Biggs (along the Columbia River) and reaches to the John Day River (the longest free-flowing river in Oregon) and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and its geologic past before ending at Baker City. The region sports, among other things, ghost towns. Shaniko, for example, was the wool shipping center of the world in the 1880s. Besides weathered structures of a historic hotel, a jail and a schoolhouse, you’ll find a vibrant community that sponsors a vintage music festival, a bluegrass jamboree and historic Shaniko Days. A bit less spirited is the abandoned town of Whitney, once a busy center for area logging, mining and cattle operations. From there you’ll reach Sumpter, where an original narrow gauge steam train runs from Memorial Day through September.
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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.
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Regards to Broadway
By Linda Tancs
Statistics show that Broadway is one of the top reasons that tourists come to New York City. Until recently, though, there has never been a museum to honor it. That all changed with the opening of the Museum of Broadway, an educational and immersive experience. The facility highlights the history of the Broadway theaters through projection mapped videos, the timeline of Broadway through immersive environments and theater production through a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Broadway show. Located on West 45th Street in the heart of (where else) the Theater District, the experience is self-guided and appropriate for all ages.
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A Rock in a River
By Linda Tancs
On the Missouri side of the Mississippi River is a small, rocky limestone island known as Tower Rock. Located in Perry County, the iconic landmark is part of Tower Rock Natural Area, comprising about 32 acres of upland oak-pine and mixed hardwoods. The geologic formation stands sentinel in the middle of the river and is accessible by boat. Under drought conditions, the Mississippi River Chester Gauge may drop low enough to make it possible to walk out to the rock, a happy circumstance during last year’s lingering drought.
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The Birthplace of Dallas
By Linda Tancs
Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It’s sometimes referred to as the “birthplace of Dallas” given its history as the site of the city’s founding by John Neely Bryan in the 1840s. Named for civic leader George Bannerman Dealey, it might be better known as the place where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Three decades after the Kennedy assassination, Dealey Plaza became a National Historic Landmark District. The Sixth Floor Museum, located within the former Texas School Book Depository building in the plaza, chronicles the life and legacy of the president.
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A Little Cottage in the Berkshires
By Linda Tancs
A home with 44 rooms might not sound like much of a “cottage,” but that’s the way the owners of Naumkeag liked to think of it. It once was the family home of Joseph Choate, a prominent New York attorney and U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, and his family. Located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the 48-acre bucolic estate boasts 8 acres of formal gardens for your strolling pleasure. Depending on when you visit, part of the house may be open. The estate’s name is derived from the Algonkian word for “fish,” owing to its roots as a fishing settlement.
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A Place for Notables in Trenton
By Linda Tancs
Trenton’s Riverview Cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the Delaware River. Founded in 1858, it’s filled with several prominent New Jerseyans of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including governors, senators and Civil War veterans. Famous families are also represented, like the Roebling clan. John Roebling designed New York’s Brooklyn Bridge; his nephew Washington went down with the Titanic in 1912. The cemetery is listed on both the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places.
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