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 Only Tea Plantation
By Linda Tancs
Located on picturesque Wadmalaw Island in the heart of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Charleston Tea Plantation is the home of America’s homegrown tea, American Classic Tea. A historical treasure, every Camellia Sinensis plant growing on the grounds of the plantation is a direct descendent of the 1888 crop grown by Dr. Charles Shepard, who founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina. He produced award-winning American tea until his death in 1915. Thereafter, his tea plants were transferred to a potato farm on Wadmalaw Island that later became the plantation beloved today. The plantation is open year round, and harvesting and production are in full swing now. In fact, the plants’ blooming season is at its peak. Enjoy the beauty of the fields with a trolley ride and have a cuppa. The grounds are located right off Maybank Highway.
Share this:
The History of Chesapeake Bay
By Linda Tancs
Once the site of a busy complex of seafood packing houses, docks, and workboats, the 18-acre waterfront campus of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum boasts 35 buildings, 10 of which house exhibitions that are open to the public. The only museum devoted to interpreting the entire maritime region of the bay, the facility traces the geological, social, and economic history of the Chesapeake Bay with the aid of a research library holding more than 10,000 volumes. Also, the museum’s collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft is the largest in existence at 85 boats. Eleven of the collection’s largest vessels are on floating display at the museum’s docks.
Share this:
6,000 Years of Life
By Linda Tancs
You’ll find 6,000 years of life in County Limerick, Ireland. Just 13 miles from Limerick city, in fact, is a prehistoric marvel, Lough Gur (Lake Gur). Surrounding this placid lake is a gem of archeological sites, boasting Ireland’s largest stone circle, Neolithic settlements, megalith tombs, crannogs and castles. The Heritage Centre provides a fascinating interpretation of the area’s riches, including an audio visual show and display panels on the geology, botany, zoology and archaeology of the area combined with local folklore.
Share this:
The Golden Age of American Gardens
By Linda Tancs
Draped by the northern Santa Cruz mountains in Woodside, California, Filoli is a country estate with enviable grounds beckoning the Golden Age of private estate gardens. Designed between 1917 and 1929 for prominent San Franciscans Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, its grounds are remarkably preserved as one of the few surviving and best examples of an English Renaissance style garden. Its many charms also include the Sunken Garden and clock tower, a 6.8-acre orchard and a trail system highlighting five different ecosystems. No less elegant, the gracious country house adorning the estate boasts 36,000 square feet, resplendent in an extensive collection of 17th and 18th century English antiques among its 43 rooms.
Share this:
A Different Kind of Library
By Linda Tancs
Multnomah Whisky Library in downtown Portland, Oregon, puts a new twist on getting into the spirit of things. A haven for aficionados of whisky and other distilled spirits, the locale boasts an exhaustive collection that’s always in flux, from nascent Irish distillers to 19th century Scottish gems from Speyside. Like any library, they have members, but visitors can obtain a “Hall Pass” to jump the nightly line.
Share this:
Where Louisville Begins
By Linda Tancs
Situated on 55 rolling acres just six miles upriver from downtown Louisville, Kentucky, Locust Grove is a 1790 Georgian mansion that welcomed a generation of American luminaries, such as U.S. presidents James Monroe and Andrew Jackson, John James Audubon, Cassius Marcellus Clay and explorers Lewis and Clark. A National Historic Landmark, the homestead was built by William and Lucy Clark Croghan. Lucy’s brother, General George Rogers Clark, was a Revolutionary War hero and founder of Louisville. Daily tours offer a step back in time to the early days of Louisville’s history.
Share this:
A Grand Mansion in the Illinois Valley
By Linda Tancs
The stately Hegeler Carus Mansion in La Salle, Illinois, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a National Historic Landmark. Virtually unaltered since its completion in the late 1800s, the mansion is made of solid brick covered with a type of stucco that has been smoothed and tooled to resemble massive stone blocks. Because zinc (which does not rust) was readily available from the nearby Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company, the metal is used throughout the mansion, including on its flat roof, gutters and downspouts. Designed by the architect of Chicago’s famous Water Tower, the residence features a horse shoe staircase and an elegant wrap-around porch that graces three sides of the home, a full story above ground. In addition to being the Hegeler family homestead, the grand estate also became home to Open Court Publishing Company, launched in 1887 by Edward Hegeler to provide a forum for the discussion of philosophy, science and religion and to make philosophical classics widely available by making them affordable.
Share this:
Preserving Hawaiian Heritage
By Linda Tancs
Formed in 1996 by preservationists Sam and Mary Cooke, the Mānoa Heritage Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a center for preservation of Hawaii’s natural and cultural heritage. The Center consists of four distinct areas: a native garden with a collection of 30 to 40 species, a Polynesian-introduced garden (also known as canoe plants), a heiau (the only intact ancient Hawaiian temple in the district of Waikiki) and a Tudor-style house built in 1911 and presently the private residence of Sam and Mary Cooke. The heiau and historic home are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, only guided tours of the heiau and garden are available, but the house is being readied to become a historic house museum.
Share this:
Doggone Good Travel Advice
By Linda Tancs
Want some doggone good travel advice? Then head over to BringFido.com, an information center for all things related to traveling with dogs. Their dog friendly city guides rank more than 10,000 cities worldwide for their popularity among dog owners and general “dog friendliness.” Once you’ve found the perfect locale, the site will also give you the scoop on the best places to stay, play and eat, including a forum for information sharing.
Share this:
Florida’s First Magic Kingdom
By Linda Tancs
Before The Mouse, there was the house—that is, the Tampa Bay Hotel, a lavishly grand hotel built by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant as a respite for wealthy Northerners. Affectionately referred to as Florida’s first “Magic Kingdom,” the 1891 Victorian-era getaway with soaring minarets (inspired by trips to the Middle East) is a National Historic Landmark now occupied by the University of Tampa. A section of the building is reserved as the Henry B. Plant Museum, featuring original opulent furnishings and artifacts from the hotel collected by Mr. and Mrs. Plant during their world travels as well as educational exhibits related to the late Victorian period, the beginning of Florida’s tourist industry and the early years of Tampa as a small village before Plant left his imprint.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 