Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Life and Liberty in Kansas City
By Linda Tancs
Designated by Congress as the United States’ official World War I Museum, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri opened to the public in 2006. The Museum presents a comprehensive interpretation of World War I (1914-1919). In poignant fashion, visitors cross a Western Front poppy field to enter the Museum. Each of the 9,000 poppies represents a thousand combatant deaths, or 9 million souls. In addition to gun and tank displays, the war is made palpable through the use of trenches with actual objects and relevant ambient sounds as well as a walk-through crater illustrating the devastating effects of a 17-inch howitzer shell on a French farmhouse. Combine these features with animated battle maps that draw the visitor into the planning and execution of the battles. A worthwhile visit–and active and career military are welcome free of charge.
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The Curious Class in Vegas
By Linda Tancs
Nearing a whopping $4 billion, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened in mid-December. A new luxe resort on The Strip, they aspire to cater to what they refer to as the “curious class.” Are you curious? Given the low fares to Vegas these days, you can afford to indulge it.
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Seaworthy in San Diego
By Linda Tancs
American author George William Curtis once said, “It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.” That could certainly be said of the Star of India, a wood-and-iron trader constructed in 1863 as the Euterpe. Now a museum piece at San Diego’s Maritime Museum, the masted beauty was made seaworthy again in 1976 after years of decay and holds the Guinness World Records distinction as the oldest active sailing ship. The downtown waterside museum also boasts a replica of a British frigate as well as a submarine, steam ferry and steam-powered yacht. All aboard!
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Dutch Treat
By Linda Tancs
Curacao is a Caribbean island in the Netherland Antilles. Independent from the Dutch politically, culturally the ties are as strong as ever. The official language is Dutch, but this country sandwiched between Aruba and Bonaire has a multicultural flair as well. They call it authenticity. With European and African roots, influences abound from the early slave trade, the Spanish and Portuguese migration and, of course, the Dutch occupation. Largely undiscovered and devoid of tourist traps, the island offers lazy beach days, unparalleled diving and world-class shopping among the sherbet-colored Dutch colonial buildings dotting the capital city of Willemstad. Bon Bini!
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Disney’s Wild Side
By Linda Tancs
Africa meets Orlando in Disney’s newest animal park, Wild Africa Trek. This is truly where the wild things are, complete with a savanna hosting teeming numbers of native African species like hippos, rhinos, crocs and giraffes. Three hours long, this expert-led adventure includes a clip onto a lifeline to the edge of a cliff to get amazingly close to the hippos and crocs. Imagine navigating through a bushwalk and breezing through the savanna in an open air vehicle. Admission is not included as part of the Animal Kingdom Park. The new park’s introductory rate was $129 and will vary seasonally. The price may be a bit steep, but still cheaper than the Serengeti.
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Winterlude
By Linda Tancs
If wintertime pursuits are your passion, then head to Canada’s capital city, Ottowa, for Winterlude through 21 February. Taking place downtown, most events are free and include skating, snow and ice sculpture, concerts, sleigh rides and tobogganing. Events are held at Jacques Cartier Park, Festival Plaza at Ottawa City Hall, and Confederation Park, but the highlight is most certainly Rideau Canal, which transforms into a giant skating rink, the Rideau Canal Skateway. A skater’s paradise, this canal linking the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario is the oldest continuously operating canal in North America.
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Fresh Horses
By Linda Tancs
Almost 100 years ago the near-Olympic sport of skijoring was born in the Engadine valley of Switzerland. Skijoring is the running of thoroughbreds without riders but rather with skiers attached. The Olympics’ loss is St. Moritz’ gain; it’s there each Sunday in February that the races take place over a 2,600-meter course ladened with thick ice. Known as White Turf, the race is a test of wills between man and beast. The skier with the highest points is crowned King of the Engadine.
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Phil’s Inner Circle
By Linda Tancs
Surrounded by his inner circle of men in black tails and top hats, Phil is a solitary creature who leaves his abode at Gobbler’s Knob in the Punxsutanwey region of Pennsylvania just once a year to reckon the start of spring. You see, Phil is a groundhog–and today is his day. Legend has it that if a groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring. Punxsutanwey Phil has been making predictions since the 1800s, but the celebration of Groundhog Day began with the Germans. Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers, they associated groundhogs with their observation of the Candlemas legend “for as the sun shines on Candlemas day, so far will the snow swirl in May….”
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A Revelation in Telluride
By Linda Tancs
Of all the opportunities to commune with nature among the slopes, arguably few match the majesty of Telluride in southwestern Colorado, where 115 trails dot over 2000 skiable acres dusted with over 300 inches of snow each year. Sitting in a box canyon, Telluride is surrounded by steep mountains and cliffs, offering a picturesque backdrop for television commercials as well as a place of respite for cognoscenti. Daring skiers can navigate one of the popular bowls, or ski runs, opened at Telluride Ski Resort—the Prospect Bowl, Black Iron Bowl or the Revelation Bowl. A group of skiers voted Telluride the #1 terrain park in the Rockies in 2008. Will you agree?
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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.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 