Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for short reads
Stone Skimming in Scotland
By Linda Tancs
Are you an ace stone skimmer? There’s a competition just for you on Easdale Island in Argyll, Scotland. The annual World Stone Skimming Championships is open to anyone of any age and any level of skill. To qualify, the stone (no more than 3 inches in diameter and formed naturally of Easdale slate) must hit the water three times and sink within the designated lane as marked by the buoys. The event takes place this year on September 23.
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Glimpsing Pembrokeshire’s Past
By Linda Tancs
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in Wales is Britain’s only coastal national park, a place full of archaeological icons. One of its most famous attractions is Pentre Ifan, a stone structure marking the entrance into the heart of a burial chamber dating back to the Neolithic Period. Other stone ramparts dating from the Bronze Age encircle the hilltop of Foel Drygarne, dominated by three massive and well-preserved cairns. Excavation at the heart of the park has also revealed Iron Age settlements, like those found at Carew Castle. Covering 240 square miles of spectacular landscape around Wales’ southwestern shore, you’ll find visitor centers in Tenby, Newport and Oriel y Parc Gallery and Visitor Centre in St. Davids.
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Mountain Majesty in Wyoming
By Linda Tancs
It’s easy to get lost in the mountain majesty of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. You can view the rugged spires from glacier-fed Jenny Lake or on a float along the Snake River. More magnificent views await at Lunch Tree Hill, an overlook at Jackson Lake Lodge that was used as a picnic stop by John D. Rockefeller Jr. during a Yellowstone vacation. The Teton Mountain Range borders Jackson Hole to the west. Like the valley (which was named for fur trader David Jackson), French fur trappers named the mountains Les Trois Tetons (the three breasts), now known as the Grand, Middle and South Tetons. Grand Teton is the highest peak although Mount Moran (named for landscape artist Thomas Moran) is immortalized in popular sketches and watercolors.
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Confectionery Bliss in New York City
By Linda Tancs
Now appearing in New York City, the pop-up exhibition Candytopia is a bit of confectionery bliss in The Big Apple, featuring interactive art installations in over a dozen environments, from flying unicorn pigs to a marshmallow tsunami. Think of it as Pablo Picasso meets Willy Wonka, courtesy of Hollywood “candy queen” Jackie Sorkin and design expert Zac Hartog. Reservations are required; get your tickets before the show moves on after November 15.
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Caves and Cowboys in Missouri
By Linda Tancs
Where can you find rides and attractions, dining and shows, festivals, crafts and a show cave? That would be at Silver Dollar City, an 1880s-style theme park in Branson, Missouri, set upon the foundations of a genuine 1800s mining town. The popular Ozarks tourist attraction was built around Marvel Cave, a wet limestone cave boasting the largest entrance room in the United States. A cave tour is included with theme park admission. Today through October 27 the National Crafts & Cowboy Festival takes place, featuring visiting craftsmen and a salute to the American cowboy that includes wild mustangs, an old-fashioned barn dance, chuck wagon cooking and more. This year’s event coincides with the final run of the Wild West Show, inspired by the legendary Buffalo Bill.
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All About ABBA
By Linda Tancs
Swedish band ABBA took the pop world by storm in the 70s and 80s, arguably one of the greatest pop bands in musical history. The pride of Stockholm in particular, a museum there is dedicated to the group’s history. ABBA The Museum not only chronicles the band’s development through displays and memorabilia but also gives visitors the chance to feel like a musical icon. You can try on ABBA’s costumes (virtually) or sing, play, mix original music and become the fifth member of ABBA by performing on a large hologram stage together with bandmates Björn, Benny, Frida and Agnetha. iPad users can also choose different instruments from the studio and listen to how they sound on a recording when all the other instruments have been removed or listen to Frida and Agnetha’s voices without the surrounding music. In some cases, you can record your personal participation and download the results to your computer with your personal ticket number.
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Hudson River Valley Heritage
By Linda Tancs
The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area stretches from New York City to Albany, New York. One of the gems along that route is Wilderstein Historic Site in Rhinebeck. Sporting an exquisite Queen Anne mansion and Calvert Vaux-designed landscape, it’s widely regarded as one of the Hudson Valley’s most important examples of Victorian architecture. Home to three generations of the Suckley family, it was Thomas Suckley who named the site Wilderstein (wild man’s stone) in reference to a nearby Indian petroglyph. The regular season for guided tours of the elaborate mansion is May through October, featuring the 1888 interiors of the first floor of the mansion, the exterior architecture and the landscape. The grounds and trails, located on a wooded bluff overlooking the Hudson River, are open year round and offer spectacular views.
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On Route 62
By Linda Tancs
Offering a scenic alternative to the N2 highway, Route 62 is South Africa’s tourist route (much like Route 66 in the U.S., after which it was modeled). Meandering between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, the highway is reputedly the longest wine route in the world and includes views of red soil, stark cliff faces, mountain passes, green valleys, rivers, orchards and indigenous scrub. The area’s dams and wetlands are known to host the blue crane, South Africa’s national bird, an endangered species often spotted along the route. Some popular stops are Montagu (known for its mountain views), Oudtshoorn, the principal town of the Little Karoo, a semi-desert), Robertson (the heart of the route) and Worcester (the commercial center).
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The Forgotten World Highway
By Linda Tancs
Built on colonial bridle paths formed in the late 19th century, New Zealand’s Forgotten World Highway is its oldest heritage trail. Otherwise known as State Highway 43, the 93-mile route meanders over four mountain saddles, through a one-lane tunnel and over a river gorge in a way that many describe as a roller coaster experience. Located between Stratford and Taumarunui, a highlight along this scenic route is Whangamomona, a little village that declared itself a republic in 1989. You can get your passport stamped at the local hotel.
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Along the Atlantic Flyway
By Linda Tancs
Just outside Cambridge, Maryland, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway. And what better time to visit than this year, the Year of the Bird, which marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. Every month at the refuge marks its own milestones. In September, ospreys migrate to South and Central America, and songbird migration peaks as well in late September and early October. Waterfowl numbers also gradually increase, like egrets and herons (until cold weather pushes them south). Of particular note year round are the bald eagles; Blackwater is the center of the greatest density of breeding bald eagles on the east coast north of Florida. You can take in the sights via Wildlife Drive, four land trails and three water trails.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 