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
Jersey City’s Oldest Apple
By Linda Tancs
In the 17th century the Dutch village of Bergen occupied an area south of Journal Square in present-day Jersey City, New Jersey. Historically, the village’s location provided perfect ground to keep an eye on the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, particularly from a one-story, one-room deep farmhouse built of locally cut ashlar sandstone. That old Dutch homestead (subsequently enlarged) became known as the Apple Tree House, listed on both the state and national historic registers. Bounded by apple orchards and a cider press, legend has it that George Washington and Major General Marquis de Lafayette met under an apple tree on the front yard to discuss war strategy. Once owned by the Van Wagenen family, one of the area’s original settlers, Jersey City purchased the property in 1999 and has renovated it for use as a museum.
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Sweet Devouring in Mississippi
By Linda Tancs
Eudora Welty was a writer of international acclaim whose novels and short stories earned numerous literary awards, including the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for her novel “The Optimist’s Daughter.” She spent the vast majority of her life at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi, in a Tudor Revival-style house built by her parents in 1925. There she crafted many of her works of fiction, book reviews and essays. A National Historic Landmark since 2004, the Welty House welcomes thousands of visitors a year from all parts of Mississippi, every state in the nation and from an average of 23 foreign countries. One of the most intact literary homes in the country, her vast library underscores her description of reading as a “sweet devouring” and her devotion to the arts. Tours of the house and its gardens are by reservation only.
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America’s First Settlement
By Linda Tancs
Historic Jamestowne in Virginia is the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America. It all started in June 1606 when King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. They landed on Jamestown Island, where the settlers built a fort and the First General Assembly (the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere) convened to govern the Crown colony some years later. Thanks to archeological efforts, the lives of the first settlers and their relations with Native Americans like Pocahontas are displayed through exhibits and artifacts at the award-winning Archaearium museum.
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America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens
By Linda Tancs
Home to America’s oldest landscaped gardens, Middleton Place is a National Historic Landmark. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the gardens were planned by Henry Middleton, a planter and public official whose son Arthur became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Its 65 acres are ablaze year round with blooms: camellias in winter, azaleas in spring and a collection of kalmia, magnolias, crepe myrtles and roses in summer. A trained garden interpreter leads a discussion of the garden design, history and horticulture. Guided tours include the Middleton family home, where original portraits, furniture, silver, china and documents belonging to family members are on display.
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Jazz in Queens
By Linda Tancs
Jazz great Louis Armstrong was born in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans. He was rich and famous enough to live anywhere, yet, true to his roots, chose a modest house for himself and his wife for the remainder of their lives in Corona, Queens. No one else has lived there since. Now a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark, the Louis Armstrong House Museum is shown only through guided 40-minute historic house tours that start every hour on the hour. The tour offers glimpses into his life and legacy, including audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings and snippets of him practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal or talking with his friends. The museum is located in the northern part of Queens, New York City, close to LaGuardia Airport.
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The Pinchot Trail
By Linda Tancs
Gifford Pinchot was a founding father of forest conservation, a childhood interest that netted him an appointment by President Theodore Roosevelt as the first chief of the then-U.S. Division of Forestry. Pennsylvania’s Pinchot State Forest is named in his honor, a vast forest land of over 45,000 acres across Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna and Wayne counties. The Pinchot Trail is the only developed hiking trail on the Thornhurst Tract, the largest tract in the system located on the Pocono Plateau. The 26-mile trail features red and black spruce, tamaracks and bogs.
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A Superior Wilderness Experience
By Linda Tancs
Surrounded by Lake Superior and near the border with Canada, Michigan’s Isle Royale is one of the least visited U.S. national parks. That’s to be expected, considering its remote location. All the better for you. Enjoy a car-free experience where the only approved modes of transportation include hiking, boating, canoeing and kayaking. Known for its wolves and moose populations, Craggy Scoville Point is a great spot for viewing some of the roughly 200 rocky islets that form the Isle Royale archipelago. Accessible by ferry, seaplane or private watercraft, there are two boats that service the island from Michigan—the Ranger III from Houghton and the Isle Royale Queen IV from Copper Harbor. The island closes from November 1 – April 15 annually.
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Total Eclipse in the Park
By Linda Tancs
A total eclipse of the sun will sweep across the United States for three hours today beginning around noon. This is the first total solar eclipse to affect the continental U.S. since 1979, and 20 of Tennessee’s state parks fall in the “path of totality.” One of those is Frozen Head State Park, where you’ll get 34 seconds to view this singular event. Named for a 3,324-foot peak in the Cumberland Mountains (the top of which is often shrouded in ice or snow in the winter months), the park provides 50 miles of backpacking and day-hiking trails with extensive wildlife viewing opportunities. The state park system is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
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America’s Oldest Synagogue
By Linda Tancs
In colonial times, Newport, Rhode Island, welcomed its first Jewish residents as early as 1658. A century later, the population had grown substantially with the rise of the mercantile trade, giving rise to the need for a place of worship that was named Congregation Jeshuat Israel (Salvation of Israel). It was later renamed Touro Synagogue after Newport natives Abraham and Judah Touro, who both provided bequests to see to the perpetual care and maintenance of the Congregation’s properties. Designated a National Historic Site in 1946, the synagogue boasts a connection to George Washington, who adopted many of the views on religious liberties and the separation of church and state that were espoused by the congregation’s president during his address to Washington at Newport. In fact, Washington’s written response to the congregation is an annual celebrated event, lauded and commemorated as possibly having the greatest impact on America and American Jewry. The next annual reading of George Washington’s historic letter “To the Hebrew Congregation at Newport” will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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A Feast for the Eyes in Santa Fe
By Linda Tancs
This weekend marks the 96th annual Santa Fe Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Begun in 1922, the market is the largest and most prestigious juried Native American arts show in the world. It attracts over 100,000 visitors from around the world who buy art directly from roughly 900 artists from over 200 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. and Canada. Items include pottery, sculpture, textiles, paintings, wooden carvings, bead work, baskets, drums and bows and arrows. The event is preceded by Indian Market Week, a series of events in Native film, literature, music, fashion and visual art.
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