“I thought to myself that there are surely a lot of big things in America. The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are big. The Mississippi River and the Grand Canyon are big. The skies over the prairie are big. But there is nothing bigger than a man’s opinion of himself.” Amor Towles, The…
On October 1, 1971, a theme park in Orlando opened its doors to the public. That theme park was, of course, Walt Disney World. And it changed family travel as we know it today. In Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando, Richard E. Foglesong writes about the history of Florida’s most famous…
Exploring the wild, wonderful wilderness of West Virginia in Dolly Sods.
Why, yes, it is possible to surf on the Great Lakes, including Lake Michigan. But doing so means braving not-so-great weather. This week, as fall ushered in high winds and life-threatening conditions, Chicago Tribune captured the scene as surfers donned wet suits and headed out into the waves. According to Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak:…
Although officially off-limits since 1987, Hawaii’s famous Ha’ikū Stairs, have become a favorite landmark for thrill-seekers. But they have also become a liability for the City of Honolulu, which cannot provide the infrastructure or security to maintain the so-called “Stairway to Heaven.” CNN reports that on September 8, the Honolulu City Council voted unanimously in…
What’s on your ultimate list of places to visit in the United States? If you work for Lonely Planet, then your answer is likely The Grand Canyon or one of the USA’s famous national parks. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone ranked 1, 2, and 3 in LP’s ranking of the best places to visit…
Georgia’s Ocmulgee Mounds is home to one of the U.S. National Park Service’s (NPS) largest archaeological collections and dates back millennia. Now the landmark, currently classified as a national historical park, could become the USA’s newest national park, as well as the first one in the state of Georgia. Conde Nast Traveler reports on what…
The city of Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by a diverse group of 44 settlers (pobladores). They called the city El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (English: The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula). Today, the historical heart of Los Angeles…
The new Mermaid Museum in Berlin, Maryland, blends history, pop culture, and folklore and features a Feejee mermaid—”a half-monkey, half-fish taxidermy model promoted as authentic by 19th-century showman P.T. Barnum.” Read more
