Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel writing
A Most Unusual Lighthouse
By Linda Tancs
One of the last lighthouses built in New England, New London Ledge Lighthouse in Connecticut isn’t what you’d expect. Far from the usual conical variety, it was built in 1909 in the Second Empire style, featuring red brick, a mansard roof and granite detailing. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house-like structure was intended to mimic the grand style of homes on the coast, at the insistence of their wealthy owners. Located at the mouth of New London Harbor, it can be reached via boat tours offered by Custom House Maritime Museum.
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At the Mouth of the Delaware Bay
By Linda Tancs
Delaware’s Cape Henlopen State Park sits at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. With over 6 miles of coastal habitat, it offers dunes, maritime forests and wetlands. Strategically, its point (where the bay meets the Atlantic Ocean) led to the creation of Fort Miles during World War II. Military history buffs will love the artillery collection at the site, which includes one of the deck guns from USS Missouri. The Point Overlook is a great place to view birds, seals and dolphins, particularly those that congregate around the East End and Harbor of Refuge lighthouses.
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The Mighty Wheel of Man
By Linda Tancs
Sometimes called The Lady Isabella, the Isle of Man’s Laxey Wheel is a feat of Victorian engineering. It’s the world’s largest working waterwheel and pumped floodwater out of the Laxey mines for 70 years. Today it produces enviable views across the Laxey valley. The wheel is just a short walk away from the terminus of the mine railway, a restored railway running along the surface section of the tramway which once carried lead and zinc ores from deep inside the mine. Both sites are open seasonally but for different periods; coordinate your visit so you get the best of both worlds.
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The Supermodel of British Beaches
By Linda Tancs
The first place in Britain to be named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Gower is a small peninsula in South Wales. It lives up to the adage that good things come in small packages, considering that one of its assets, Rhossili Bay Beach, has been anointed the “Supermodel of British Beaches.” Moreover, it ranks in the top 10 of the world’s best beaches. Not bad for a 3-mile expanse of shoreline, a good deal of which is exposed at low tide. That’s when it’s possible to walk across the bay to Llangennith or even cross onto Worm’s Head, a sea-serpent-shaped island lurking at the end of the bay. The sole holiday cottage on the bay is the Old Rectory, boasting a prime location facing the beach. The nearest town is Swansea, which is served by London Paddington and connected to Rhossili by bus.
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Honoring Writers in Edinburgh
By Linda Tancs
Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson are three of Scotland’s most celebrated writers. You can explore their lives at Edinburgh’s Writers’ Museum. The gems you’ll find include Burns’ writing desk and a plaster cast of his skull, one of only three ever made. Scott’s childhood rocking horse is there, along with the printing press on which his Waverley Novels were first produced, once among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe. Stevenson’s reputation as a storyteller is commemorated by a ring given to him by a Samoan chief, engraved with the name “Tusitala,” meaning “teller of tales.” The exhibits include a wide collection of portraits and works as well. This free museum is easy to locate just off the Lawnmarket, the top part of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, in Lady Stair’s Close.
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Museum of the North
By Linda Tancs
Located on the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska, the Museum of the North is the state’s only research and teaching museum. Featuring an astounding 2.5 million artifacts and specimens, the museum’s exhibits are the best introduction to Alaska’s diverse wildlife, people and landscapes. Highlights include a 2,000-year spectrum of Alaska art, the state’s largest public display of gold and a 50,000-year-old mummified steppe bison. The facility is open year-round, but this time of year you’ll enjoy the midnight sun and warmer weather.
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The Little Smokies
By Linda Tancs
Indiana’s Brown County encompasses nearly 16,000 acres of rugged hills, ridges and ravines. Its similarity to the Great Smoky Mountains earned it the moniker “the little Smokies.” That’s just one reason to visit Brown County State Park, the largest park in the state. The vistas are so incredible that park officials even sponsored a “7 Vista Challenge.” Some of the most popular views are found at Hesitation Point, the fire tower (the highest point in the county at 1,058 feet above sea level) and Hohen Point, where unglaciated sandstone dominates the terrain.
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Moose-Spotting in Sweden
By Linda Tancs
Summer is a great time for moose-spotting in Sweden. And we’re not talking about zoos or farms. You can spot them in their native habitat in a forest in Skinnskatteberg, just two hours from Stockholm. That’s where you’ll pick up a 5-hour moose safari beginning in the early evening, where you may also see fox, deer, owls, wolves or lynxes. The journey begins on foot with a walk through a taiga forest abundant in moss and berry bushes for an orientation of the ecosystem, followed by a minivan safari ride. Although the largest number of moose is spotted in May, June and July offer the best lighting conditions for photography.
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Laughing Waters
By Linda Tancs
Karst topography is the result of the dissolving action of water on bedrock and is characterized by caves, sinkholes, springs and natural bridges. It’s the prime attraction at Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka State Park. According to Ozark legend, the park’s unusual name derives from a Native American phrase meaning “laughing waters.” Located on the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks, it boasts the state’s 12th-largest spring, discharging more than 48 million gallons of water daily into the stream that flows into the Lake of the Ozarks. Other karst features include the 70-foot-wide natural bridge and 500-foot-long sinkhole. Luckily, the majority of these sights are preserved and viewable from trails and boardwalks within the park’s Karst Natural Area.
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Old Man of the Mountain
By Linda Tancs
Spanning Flume Gorge in the south and Echo Lake at the north end, New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park was home to the legendary Old Man of the Mountain, a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain that appeared to be a human face when viewed from the north. It collapsed in 2003, so you’ll have to settle for an old man’s foot instead. You’ll find it at The Basin, a granite pothole 20 feet in diameter at the base of a waterfall. Below The Basin is a rock formation called Old Man’s Foot. Located in the heart of the White Mountain National Forest, the park is named for Franconia Notch, a spectacular mountain pass dominated by Cannon Mountain. You can take the aerial tramway to its summit where, on a clear day, mountains of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Canada and New York come into view. Be sure to reserve your seat on the tram because it sells out frequently.
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