Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for washington d.c.
A Potomac River Valley Retreat
By Linda Tancs
For nearly 185 miles the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, a National Historical Park, runs adjacent to the mighty Potomac River, winding its way between western Maryland and Georgetown. Used to transport goods and people prior to the advent of the railroad, its lock gates were an adaptation of a design by Leonardo DaVinci dating to the late 1400’s. Today the C&O Canal is a peaceful refuge, offering activities like a mule-drawn canal boat ride from the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center, private boat tours, hiking and biking opportunities, camping, nature walks and ranger programs.
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Roots to Revival
By Linda Tancs
Roughly the size of Indiana, Hungary is a culturally rich country with distinctive traditions in music, dance, costume, crafts and gastronomy. All of those facets will be on display now through 7 July at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. between the Smithsonian museums. Don’t miss the opportunity to purchase some prized handiworks at the Marketplace tent. This year’s festival will also feature endangered languages and cultural heritage as well as African American dress and body art.
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100 Years of Blooms
By Linda Tancs
The National Cherry Blossom Festival, the nation’s greatest springtime celebration, is celebrating 100 years of blooms this year. The festivities, having begun on 20 March and continuing to 27 April, mark the centennial of Tokyo’s donation of 3,000 cherry blossom trees to Washington, DC. Based on comparative records of past bud development, the National Park Service forecasts peak blooms until 31 March this year. The average peak bloom date, defined as the day on which 70 percent of the blossoms of the Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open, is 4 April. A highlight of the season is the cherry blossom festival parade, a long-standing Washington tradition featuring lavish floats, giant helium balloons, marching bands, and other family entertainment. Admission is free along the parade route, Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th streets, NW.
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Dead Men Walking
By Linda Tancs
The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., a must-see for CSI and FBI fans, might be considered a frightful place on an ordinary day by those unaccustomed to its collection of artifacts like an electric chair helmet, face harness head cage, Venetian finger screws, and an ice mallet. Add Halloween to the mix and you get an eerie sense of dead men walking. As the museum describes it, the adult-only Halloween event includes low lighting, fog, intermittent, sudden and frightful noises and movements, water soluble blood, and other decor that may stain clothing or be deemed scary and morbid. Costumes are welcome but masks are prohibited. The museum is located at 575 7th St. NW.
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D.C. Car Show Welcomes Snooki
By Linda Tancs
At the Washington D.C. Auto Show at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, fast cars merge with pop culture. See Jersey Shore star Snooki today from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The show, running until 6 February, features the usual range of production and concept vehicles. Even more interesting is The Advanced Technology SuperHighway, a 65,000 square foot showcase of the latest innovations in safety and sustainability. The event, displaying more green cars than any other domestic, tier-one auto show, illustrates advancements in electric, diesel, natural gas, advanced petroleum, biofuels, ethanol, hydrogen and safety technologies. The organizers want you to get out, see cars and have fun. No doubt you’ll learn something, too.
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One Man is an Island
By Linda Tancs
In one of English poet John Donne’s meditations, he famously wrote that no man is an island. Well, almost. Just outside the hustle and bustle of the Beltway rest nearly 90 acres of wildlife reserve accessible from the George Washington Memorial Parkway known as the Theodore Roosevelt Island. A fitting tribute to the conservationist ethos of the 26th U.S. President, the area is flush with forest, tidal marsh and wooded swamp, presided over by a life-sized presidential bronze. Teddy would no doubt approve.
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A Capitol Idea
By Linda Tancs
Have you visited Washington, D.C. lately? Our nation’s Capitol building has a new visitor center, featuring a 13-minute film about Congress and the construction of their architecturally distinctive place of business. On Wednesdays at noon, historians and educators give free chats about the building. To date, over 2.3 million visitors have graced the visitor’s entrance since the opening of the new center. That’s twice as many tourists as they’d seen in the year prior to the opening of the new digs. If you build it, they will come, the saying goes. Indeed they have.
DISCLOSURE OF NO MATERIAL CONNECTION
The author has not received any compensation for writing this content and has no material connection to the brands, topics, products and/or services that are mentioned herein.
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Eggs are Rolling on Easter Monday
By Linda Tancs
The custom of rolling hard-boiled eggs down a hill can be traced back to Victorian times and, if the crowds appearing at the White House are any indicator, the practice remains in full vigor. In fact, it’s a South Lawn tradition presided over each year on Easter Monday by the First Lady. The object of the event is to see which egg can be coaxed along the farthest without breaking. It reminds me of Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday. Funny how the Easter season brings long-held customs related to running with food. Got a favorite egg-rolling anecdote? Share it here.
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Celebrating Abe’s Birthday
By Linda Tancs
It was almost 200 years ago today. Kentucky had a new lad, hooray. That would be Abe Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, born two centuries ago tomorrow in Kentucky. Remembered as the Great Emancipator, he issued the famous proclamation abolishing slavery in the U.S. A milestone birthday such as this will not go unnoticed. Among the various celebrations around the country, let’s focus our attention on the festivities in our nation’s capital. Beginning at 8 a.m., there will be a birthday tribute and wreath-laying cremony at the Lincoln Memorial with crooner Michael Feinstein singing the National Anthem, accompanied by the U.S. Marine Corps Band. On the National Mall the party will continue with a concert and entertainment with 19th century popular and patriotic music performed by military bands. Throughout the week, the original Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln will be on display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives. Come be a part of history.
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A Capitol Christmas
By Linda Tancs
The silhouette of the Big Sky got a little wider when Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest was selected to provide this year’s tree to Washington, D.C. to grace the U.S. Capitol’s west lawn. The locals selected a subalpine fir measuring 73 feet (when cut). They also provided about 70 other trees for various congressional agencies and offices. Don’t confuse this tree with the White House’s annual National Tree, which is no less grand. The Capitol’s tree was lit on 2 December, bedecked with ornaments crafted by children in Montana. It’s yours to behold until the new year.
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