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
Surrounded in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
Thanks to a geographic impossibility aided by imperfect cartography in the 1700s, the tiny Minnesota hamlet of Northwest Angle became an American town surrounded by Canada. Known by locals as the Angle, it’s separated from the rest of Minnesota by Lake of the Woods, which would boast the longest coastline of any Canadian lake were it located entirely in Canada. A fishing mecca, some resorts offer boat and ice transport services that operate within Minnesota; otherwise, you can get there via car through a border crossing. Since 1925, a joint U.S.–Canada boundary commission has maintained the boundary, which represents the northernmost part of the contiguous United States. Sorry, Maine!
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Life in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Among its many collections, the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton offers a glimpse of life in the state from the 17th century to the present. Of course, those 13,000 or so artifacts in the cultural collection include the state’s agricultural heritage (it is the Garden State, after all) as well as representations of textiles, trade tools, furniture, maritime heritage and other artifacts documenting craft, work, play, community and family life. Within walking distance of the State House (the third-oldest state house in continuous legislative use in the United States), the museum enjoys views of the Delaware River.
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A Tiny Piece of NYC History
By Linda Tancs
Outside a cigar shop in Greenwich Village at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street is a small marker symbolizing a big dispute in the history of New York City. That’s where you’ll find a triangular mosaic set in the pavement in the 1920s, a memento of one family’s defiance of an order allowing for the seizing of property in the area in the early 1900s to widen the street for the Seventh Avenue subway line. Known as the Hess Triangle, it represents the Hess family’s refusal to sell to the city the one remaining piece of property erroneously omitted from the seizure order, a plot of land barely larger than a footprint. The family ultimately sold the parcel to the cigar shop, where the marker continues to be tramped on by passersby to this day.
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Celebrating an American Fruit
By Linda Tancs
It may be unfamiliar to many, but the pawpaw is North America’s largest edible native fruit. Its custard-like consistency, often referred to as a cross between a mango and a banana, was favored by George Washington. No doubt he would’ve appreciated a pawpaw festival in his day. One of the largest in our times is the Ohio Pawpaw Festival. Now in its 21st year, the three-day event celebrates our native fruit with events like competitions for the best pawpaw, best pawpaw-related work of art, a cook-off and the pawpaw-eating contest. Taking place at Lake Snowden near Albany, this year’s event is September 13-15.
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Bluegrass Cuisine
By Linda Tancs
You don’t have to wait until Derby season for a dive into Kentucky cuisine. Enjoy a taste of the Bluegrass State now through October 31 on the Culinary Trail across nine state parks. Each park on the trail is offering a regional meal, including favorites like goetta and burgoo. Pick up your culinary passport at your first stop, and start tasting your way through the state. Then mail your completed passport back to the Department of Tourism for a free gift!
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The Top of Texas
By Linda Tancs
How can you view the top of Texas on foot? Take the Guadalupe Peak Trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, site of the four highest peaks in Texas. Not for the faint of heart, the day hike (8.5 miles round-trip) climbs 3,000 feet and travels through a conifer forest to reach the top of Guadalupe Peak. You’ll be rewarded with amazing views to the west and to the south.
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California’s Largest Lake
By Linda Tancs
The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake in southeastern California, bordered on the south by the Imperial Valley and on the west by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The state’s largest lake (at 34 miles long), both the Salton Sea State Recreation Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge are located on its shores. The lake region boasts the most diverse species of birds anywhere in the West, recording more than 375 species. The wildlife refuge is especially important for migrating and wintering waterfowl (like geese, avocets, black-necked stilts, pintails, teal and grebes) as well as endangered species including the year-round presence of the Yuma clapper rail.
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Painted Hills
By Linda Tancs
Red, yellow, gold and black. Those represent the color palette at Painted Hills in Oregon. As the name implies, the hills are interspersed with hues stratifying the soil, revealing millions of years of the earth’s history in an otherworldly vista. Located in central Oregon, it’s part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Five trails mark the eight-square-mile site. For breathtaking panoramic views, take the Carroll Rim Trail. Beautiful at any time of day, the hills are best lit for photography in the late afternoon. Changing light and moisture levels (as well as seasonal variations) will affect the tones and hues visible in the hills.
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Finders Keepers in Oregon
By Linda Tancs
Finders Keepers is a beloved event in Lincoln City, Oregon. The year-round event gives treasure seekers the chance to hunt for glass art (floats) along the town’s seven miles of public beach from Roads End in the north to Siletz Bay in the south. Strategically placed throughout the day, you should look above the high tide line and below the beach embankment. In celebration of the event’s 20th year, they’ve been hiding 20 limited edition glass floats on the beach on the 20th of every month since last October. You still have a shot at finding one this month and next. Regardless when you hunt, be sure to register your find for a certificate of authenticity and information about the artist who crafted your float.
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California’s Newest National Park
By Linda Tancs
Pinnacles National Park, California’s newest national park as of this writing (designated in 2013), is an old soul at heart. Its cliffs, crags and cave formations arise from volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago, sending volcanic matter 200 miles away to the park’s current location in the Salinas Valley. The towering, domed rock structures giving the park its name beckon rock climbers. Divided into an east and west side, climbing routes predominate on the west side of the park. Of course, there are plenty of other activities to enjoy, like bird watching for the park’s signature citizen, the California condor. Or maybe you’d like a hike that includes cave exploration. Camping is also available on the east side year round. You can’t drive through both sides of the park. The west side is accessible from Highway 101; the east entrance is off Highway 25.
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