Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Silver Darlings in Norfolk
By Linda Tancs
Great Yarmouth, also known as Yarmouth, is a seaside town in England with a long maritime history. By the 19th century, it was the largest herring port in the world. Known as “silver darlings” for their bright, silver color, the fish was exported as far as Russia, India and Africa. You can learn more about the fishing industry at the Time & Tide Museum, a former smokehouse. And don’t miss this month’s Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival at historic South Quay. The event features tall ships, shanty music and pirates along with a costumed actor portraying naval commander Horatio Nelson, who spent time there before the Battle of Copenhagen and on his return to England after the Battle of the Nile.
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Popcorn Days
By Linda Tancs
In Ridgway, Illinois, the annual Popcorn Days celebration takes place during the second weekend in September. Part of the Gallatin County Fair, it’s a celebration of the Blevins Popcorn Co. plant that packaged Pops-Rite popcorn. In its heyday, Ridgway was identified as “Popcorn Capital of the World.” The highlight of the festivities is the parade on Saturday. You’ll also find live entertainment, vendors, amusement rides, games and, of course, free popcorn.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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Dark Island
By Linda Tancs
Straddling the border between the U.S. and Canada, the Thousand Islands are a group of more than 1,800 islands in the St. Lawrence River. It’s a place with elaborate island mansions, like Singer Castle on Dark Island, so named because the number of evergreens on the island gave it a “dark” look. The castle is named for Frederick Bourne, who was the fifth president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and it remained in the family’s possession from its establishment in the early 1900s until the 1960s. A 45-minute guided tour of the 28-room castle includes the Great Hall, library, dining room, breakfast room, terrace, drawing room, loggia, wicker room, bedrooms, and guest rooms. The opening hours are seasonal, from April to October.
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Land of Flowers
By Linda Tancs
Part of the semi-desert Succulent Karoo biome, Namaqualand is an arid area of South Africa that becomes a carpet of wildflowers after the winter rains end in August. Roughly between mid-August and mid-September, it’s home to the richest bulb flora of any arid region in the world, with more than 1,000 of its estimated 3,500 plant species found nowhere else on Earth. The Skilpad and Korhaan walking trails offer great views of this spectacular, one-of-a-kind display. You might want to stay awhile at one of the temporary flower camps, like Skilpad Rest Camp or one of the various camping options along the coast.
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Where New Jersey Became a State
By Linda Tancs
New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site, Indian King Tavern Museum in downtown Haddonfield is where New Jersey completed its transition from colony to state. The year was 1777, and the newly formed New Jersey Legislature met in this public house and tavern to discuss matters of state, including changing the colony’s official designation. The tavern’s original owner named it “Indian King” in deference to Lenape Native Americans who had cared for the arriving European settlers. Open to the public, the site regularly hosts school tours and lectures.
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A Perfect Circle in Portugal
By Linda Tancs
Situated opposite the Portuguese town of Vila Franca do Campo in São Miguel, the biggest island in the Azores, the islet of Vila Franca results from the crater of an ancient submerged volcano. Classified as a nature reserve, it boasts a nearly perfect circular lake inside the crater walls. It’s an important flyover zone for seabirds like Cory’s shearwater and common tern. It’s also a popular destination for swimming and cliff diving. Couple your visit with a dolphin and whale watching tour.
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A Wonder Castle in Prince Edward Island
By Linda Tancs
Best known for her best-selling classic novel Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery spent much of her childhood at a farmhouse in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island that would eventually become The Anne of Green Gables Museum. Built in 1872, the farmstead was dearly referred to by Montgomery as “the wonder castle of my childhood.” The home features the Enchanted Bookcase from her classic novel as well as the Blue Chest from the book Story Girl. Personal artifacts abound, including hand-developed photographs and a patchwork quilt she worked on as a child. The home is located in Park Corner.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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The Liberty Ship Memorial
By Linda Tancs
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II to ferry supplies to Allies. A major site of this shipbuilding activity is the area now known as Bug Light Park in Portland, Maine. You’ll find a memorial to the liberty ships there, along with Bug Light, an elegant lighthouse so-named for its small size. The park is located at the eastern end of the Greenbelt Walkway, an off-road pathway that provides expansive views of Portland Harbor.
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Land of Cheeses
By Linda Tancs
Reputedly there are 100,000 cows in Asturias, Spain. They produce around 50 varieties of cheese, leading some to call the region the “land of cheeses.” Everyone has their preference, but most would probably agree that the star of the show is Cabrales, the region’s blue cheese. Four possess a Designation of Origin (a distinctive sign intended to protect a product originating in a specific geographical area): Cabrales, Gamonéu, Casín and Afuega’l pitu. And Beyos boasts a Protected Geographical Indication. You can visit cheese caves or, for a more immersive experience, dive into the cheese route, a gastronomical adventure spanning from Cangas de Onís to Tielve. Along the way is Arenas, where the Cabrales cheese competition is held on the last Sunday in August.
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The Cross in the Woods
By Linda Tancs
Located in Indian River, Michigan, the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods is arguably the state’s best-known religious monument. Featuring a sculpture of Christ on a cross, the bronze monument was cast in Norway. Twenty-eight feet tall from head to toe with outstretched arms spanning 21 feet, it weighs 7 tons. What you might not know about the site is that it also boasts the largest collection of dolls dressed in traditional habits of men and women religious communities in the United States. The collection of 525 dolls and 20 mannequins represent diocesan clergy and more than 217 religious orders of priests, sisters and brothers of North and South America.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 