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
A Blast in Alabama
By Linda Tancs
A testament to America’s coming of industrial age, Alabama’s Sloss Furnaces is the only 20th century blast furnace in America being preserved and interpreted as a historic industrial site. Located in Birmingham, the facility contains two 400-ton blast furnaces and 40 other buildings although nothing remains of the original furnace complex. Nevertheless, the oldest building on the site dates from 1902 and houses the eight steam-driven “blowing-engines” used to provide air for combustion in the furnaces, vintage engines that drove (no pun intended) the Industrial Revolution. Sloss produced iron for nearly 90 years, rendering Birmingham a great industrial hub of the South that earned it the nickname The Magic City.
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The Legend of Twin Rocks
By Linda Tancs
Although identified plainly as “a garden in a valley on the ocean,” the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is anything but ordinary. A natural greenhouse, the 40-acre valley just miles north of Hilo on the Big Island features nearly 200 species of palms alone and over 2,000 species of tropical plants from around the world overall. Its location on the site of the ancient village Kahali’i at Onomea Bay gives rise to the legend of twin rocks. According to the tale, two young lovers were recruited to stand guard over the bay during the night to protect against enemy sails spotted by the local chieftain. When day broke, the lovers were gone and two attached rock formations stood in their place, forever standing sentinel at the head of the bay. These days the enemy sails are just cruise ships, and passengers will be glad to know that garden staff will meet you at the pier for a day’s visit.
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Loons in New Hampshire
By Linda Tancs
It’s high loon season. No, we’re not talking harried travelers; we’re talking waterbirds, like ducks and geese. Their closest relatives, however, are penguins and albatrosses. The common loon is the most widespread species. Marveled at for its yodels, hoots and hollers, the Granite State has about 280 pairs of loons to delight visitors at most lakes. Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire, is a particular favorite of locals and tourists. The seasonal boat cruise is a great way to learn about the natural history of the lake and its popular wildlife. You’ll also view locations where the movie On Golden Pond was filmed.
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Great American Stations
By Linda Tancs
One of America’s great rail stations marks its 80th birthday this year. The honoree is Newark Penn Station, an Art Deco landmark in Newark, New Jersey. Dedicated in 1935, the station is a linchpin of the northeast corridor, a nexus of travel between New York and New Jersey and, thanks to connecting service via NJ Transit to Newark Liberty International Airport, the rest of the world.
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The Winged Rock
By Linda Tancs
Resembling the mythic Bali Hai (shark-toothed Mount Mouarua in Moorea), New Mexico’s Shiprock is likewise fanciful in its own, geologic sort of way. The landform, known as Tse Bitai (“the winged rock”) in Navajo, is a volcanic neck owing its shape to the erosion of surrounding rocks from an eruption occurring over 30 million years ago. It’s located in the Four Corners region of the Navajo Nation.
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The Great Hunger
By Linda Tancs
Phytophthora infestans, the fungus that causes potato blight, invaded parts of Ireland in August, 1845. By the following year, the blight had devastated the harvest throughout the country. Heavily dependent on the crop, the resulting famine caused widespread death and poverty as well as emigration for those who could afford to do so. The Great Hunger, as it’s called, was one of the first national disasters to elicit international fundraising. The magnitude of this event is chronicled at The Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. The museum is one of many locales memorializing this tragedy in the United States. Other memorials exist in many locations throughout Ireland and also in cities around the world with large populations descended from immigrants affected by the famine.
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Baker’s Hot Attraction
By Linda Tancs
Known as the gateway to Death Valley, Baker is a tiny desert town in California with a big boast. It’s home to the world’s tallest thermometer, measuring 134 feet. The top temperature it can display is likewise 134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded at Death Valley in 1913. So what’s the highest temperature it has actually displayed? That would be 127 degrees, recorded in August, 1995.
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First Flight in America
By Linda Tancs
In 1793, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard set off from Philadelphia in a hot air balloon, landing less than an hour later in a field in Deptford, New Jersey. Witnessed by George Washington and other dignitaries, Blanchard entered the annals of history as America’s first aeronaut. So proud is the Gloucester County community of their connection to this event that they’ve emblazoned a hot air balloon logo on their municipal signs and stationery, together with the phrase “1st Flight in America” on the township’s water tower.
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Gator Aid
By Linda Tancs
Over a million alligators live in Florida, a fact not surprising to Floridians and their guests. The ubiquitous creature was even declared the official state reptile in 1987. Unwelcome on golf courses and in backyard pools, this ancient species (more than 150 million years old) enjoys a happier haven at Paynes Prairie State Park. Encompassing a 21,000 acre savanna in Micanopy (less than 10 miles from Gainesville), the park’s nature trails circling wetlands and marsh habitat provide close-up views of this once-threatened crocodilian. A National Natural Landmark, the park is the state’s first preserve, boasting not only scaly denizens but also wild horses and bison.
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Taking the High Road in Colorado
By Linda Tancs
Trail Ridge Road, spanning Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, is the highest continuous paved road in the United States at an elevation of 12,183 feet. It connects Estes Park on the east side to the town of Grand Lake on the park’s western slope. One of the state’s most famous scenic drives, the road crosses the Continental Divide at Milner Pass. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to see the Divide as it winds it way through the state. Due to heavy snowfall, the road is only open from May to October.
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