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
Bristling in Nevada
By Linda Tancs
Characterized by their growth in twisted fashion at high altitudes, bristlecone pines are one of the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The name bristlecone refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface. Nevada’s Great Basin National Park is noted for its ancient grove of bristlecone pines, a species only otherwise found in California and Utah. Although the largest grove of pines in the park is on Mt. Washington, the most accessible grove is located on the northeast side of Wheeler Peak, where a short, self-guided nature trail passes through a portion of it. The tree is legendary for its ability to thrive in impossible conditions, as is evidenced by the roots set among quartzite boulders. That no doubt accounts for the longevity of Prometheus, once recorded as the oldest tree in the world at between 4,700 to 5,000 years. The stump of that ancient bristlecone is in the park. You can count its rings at the visitor center.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Where History is Written in Stone
By Linda Tancs
In Georgia’s Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, history is written in stone. Literally. Tucked away in the gap between Thunderstruck Mountain and Buzzard Roost Ridge, Track Rock Gap is a petroglyph site created by Creek and Cherokee people beginning more than 1,000 years ago. Boasting more than 100 carvings on soapstone boulders, it’s one of the most significant rock art sites in the southeastern United States and the only such site located on public land in Georgia. The Forest Service offers a fact sheet with drawings of the rock art so that you can identify the figures. The best time to visit is early or late in the day when the light is at a low angle and the figures are more discernible.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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An Upgrade for the Pine Barrens
By Linda Tancs
New Jersey’s Pine Barrens is an expanse of coastal plain in the southern part of the state. It’s long been recognized as a state scenic byway and now has been federally designated a national scenic byway. The 130-mile route contains multiple wildlife refuges, reserves, forests, parks, rivers and streams as well as historic villages. It extends from Batsto and Tuckerton in the north to Dennisville and Port Elizabeth in the south. Just under an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, the byway features some of the most extensive, unbroken forests remaining in the northeastern United States. Motorists, cyclists and walkers will benefit from an interactive map developed by the Pinelands Commission.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Visionary Art in Baltimore
By Linda Tancs
Do you consider yourself an artist? Then again, maybe you are, and you just don’t know it. That’s the theme behind the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The facility is dedicated to exhibiting the works of self-taught artists. Unlike folk art, it’s geared toward showcasing spontaneous, intuitive art. Some of the permanent exhibitions include the museum’s exterior mosaic walls and an outdoor, wind-powered sculpture. The museum is located at the base of historic Federal Hill, adjacent to downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Danish Heritage in California
By Linda Tancs
If a trip to Denmark isn’t in the offing, then you can experience the next-best thing in Solvang, California. The city bills itself as “a little slice of Denmark in Southern California.” And for good reason. You’ll find five windmills as well as replicas of Copenhagen’s Hans Christian Andersen statue, the Little Mermaid and the Rundetårn (round tower). The reason for all this Danish goodness (including traditional treats like aebleskiver) derives from the city’s founding by Danish immigrants in 1911. You can learn more about the town’s heritage at Elverhøj Museum of History & Art, which is built in the style of a large farmhouse of 18th-century Denmark.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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The Weymouth Pines
By Linda Tancs
When Scottish Highlanders settled in the Sandhills region of North Carolina in the 1700s, the vast forest consisted of original growth longleaf pines that reached heights of 100 to 120 feet. It didn’t take long for merchants to extract the trees’ resin for products like tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin for the naval industry. That activity might’ve depleted the longleaf pine were it not for the purchase of a substantial tract of land east of Southern Pines by the grandfather of a well-known local author. He named the tract Weymouth because the pines reminded him of trees in Weymouth, England. That region later established the first natural area in the North Carolina state parks system, Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve. It boasts the oldest known living longleaf pine in the world, dating back to 1548.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Limestone High-Rise in Arizona
By Linda Tancs
When you think of a high-rise apartment, you’d naturally imagine lots of steel and glass. But in ancient times, they would’ve made do with much less. That’s evident at Montezuma Castle in Camp Verde, Arizona. The third national monument dedicated to preserving Native American culture, the so-called castle is a 20-room, high-rise apartment nestled into a towering limestone cliff. The Sinagua people began construction of the structure around 900 years ago and abandoned it about 600 years ago. It isn’t structurally stable enough to accommodate tourists but you can admire the ingenuity nonetheless.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Feast for the Eyes in Exeter
By Linda Tancs
Situated in the San Joaquin Valley near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Exeter is a small city in California with a burgeoning arts community. That’s because the city’s brick buildings downtown serve as outsize murals painted by professional artists from around the country. The art commemorates the history and cultural heritage of the region. You’ll find portraits of cattle ranching down Rocky Hill, the estate of a founder of the city, a scene depicting the agrarian lifestyle of the local Yokuts Indians and so much more. Take a self-guided tour or arrange for a docent-led experience with the chamber of commerce.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Gray’s Anatomy
By Linda Tancs
You never know where fossils of the Early Pliocene Epoch will turn up. That’s surely how workers in the eastern Tennessee town of Gray felt when they unearthed fossils in 2000 during a road construction project. The only known fossil site of its age in the Appalachian region, it preserves the remains of an ancient sinkhole pond that existed around 5 million years ago, revealing tapirs, rhinos, alligators, mastodons and more. And the dig is far from over. More than 25,000 fossils have been catalogued from the site, including several extinct species that are new to science. Learn more at Gray Fossil Site & Museum, which is built around this amazing discovery.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Passages in Arizona
By Linda Tancs
The Arizona Trail is an 800-mile scenic trail traversing the entire north-south length of the State of Arizona, connecting deserts, mountains, canyons and wilderness. Whether on foot, mountain bike or horseback, that’s a lot of ground to cover, so it’s a good thing the route is divided into passages to help you conquer it in pieces. There are 43 passages, categorized into southern, central and northern sections. You’ll even find volunteer trail stewards should you need assistance. You might be tempted to go during the summer months, but the desert heat is legendary. Likewise, winter months are fraught with heavy snow. The best times to visit are October/November and March/April. A good walk through the entire route will take six to eight weeks.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 