Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!The Northernmost Curiosity
By Linda Tancs
If you’ve been looking for a toilet bowl atop a totem pole, your search is over. You’ll find it in Point Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States. At the military base there is a colorful totem pole topped off with what is reputedly a toilet bowl commemorating the first flush toilet in Barrow. Just 1291 miles away is the North Pole.
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Drinks on US
By Linda Tancs
Did you know that the earliest known recipe for a cocktail in the U.S. comes from a response to a newspaper editorial in 1806? What was the original cocktail? How many patents have issued for barware? These and other libation-related curiosities will be answered at the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans at the Riverwalk Marketplace. What better time to visit than during World Cocktail Week, now through 13 May.
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The Octagon Hall
By Linda Tancs
Kentucky’s only eight-sided house, Octagon Hall in Franklin boasts a storied past, its nooks and crannies serving as hiding places for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. This one-of-a-kind home, built by plantation owner Andrew Jackson Caldwell in 1847, has a storied present as well. Regularly featured on shows like Ghost Hunters, Kentucky’s marvel is reputedly haunted. Lest you think that you can book a night there to experience its ghostly apparitions, that privilege is reserved for reputable investigative teams.
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Chim Chim Cher-ee
By Linda Tancs
Even chimney sweeps have a holiday to call their own. Around 400 years’ strong, the Sweeps Festival has morphed from a May Day procession to a festival weekend with merriment enough to evoke memories of ol’ Bert in Mary Poppins. Held in the town centre of Rochester, England, the event this weekend features music, dancing and entertainment coinciding with Morris celebrations of spring. Sounds supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, doesn’t it?
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Life on the Farm
By Linda Tancs
Is a farmer’s life for you? Here’s one way to find out: choose a Swedish farmstay. With over 300 participating farms, you can choose your length and type of accommodation, like a quaint B&B on an organic farm, for instance. Don’t worry, you needn’t milk the cows. There’s ample opportunity for horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing–or just enjoy the fertile farmlands of a district like Skåne.
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Saguenay Celebrates 175 Years
By Linda Tancs
Just 131 miles from Québec City (the only fortified city north of Mexico), Saguenay is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2013. The year-long fête features lots of music as well as science and agricultural exhibitions. Of course, you don’t need a special occasion to visit this region, blessed as it is by a colossal fjord, temperate weather and magnificent whales. View the fjord from the heights of L’Anse-de-Tabatière, the only viewpoint that’s accessible by car, and let your spirit soar.
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The Jesus Trail
By Linda Tancs
From Nazareth to Capernaum, Israel’s Jesus Trail is a 40-mile hike in the Galilee that strives to trace Jesus’s movement through the region. The multi-day trek incorporates Nazareth, Sepphoris, Cana, the Arbel Cliffs, Tabgha, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes, Tiberias and the Jordan River. Overnight accommodations along the route range from hotels to campsites. The breathtaking scenery and pleasing year round weather are sure to interest pilgrims and non-pilgrims alike.
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Highest Inclined Tower in the World
By Linda Tancs
Built for the 1976 summer Olympic games, Montréal’s Tour de Montréal is the highest inclined tower in the world at 541 feet in height and angled at 45 degrees. The three-star rated Michelin attraction boasts three observation decks with panoramic views of the city’s scenic points accessible via funicular.
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The Million Dollar Highway
By Linda Tancs
As far as scenic road trips go, you needn’t pack your bags for the Swiss mountain passes to get the grandest views. In fact, the “Switzerland of America” is right in western Colorado. Just head to US Highway 550 between Ouray and Silverton in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Known as the Million Dollar Highway, the former toll road sports the same hairpin turns (sans guard rails, of course) and tremendous vistas you would expect in alpine Europe. The challenging drive takes you through three mountain passes; the highest is Red Mountain Pass at over 11,000 feet. The origin of the highway’s name is disputed. Perhaps that’s just as well because the views are, in any event, priceless.
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California’s Cleanest Beaches
By Linda Tancs
The beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore in California are frequently cited as some of California’s cleanest beaches. But it’s the views that undoubtedly impress visitors the most. Some beaches are just a spit of sand like Limantour Beach, but you’ll find a bountiful array of seasonal inhabitants like ducks, seals, gray whales and shorebirds. And then there’s Kehoe Beach, a mix of dunes and cliffs made of sandstone and granite. Some beaches even have drive-up access, like Limantour, Drakes Beach and Great Beach. The lure of heavy surf is particularly strong at Great Beach, a misnomer considering that they’re all pretty great.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 