Byways Rivers & Lakes 2016

Featuring North America’s Leading Travel Destinations

Rivers & Lakes Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Experience Mystic Seaport, America’s Largest Maritime Museum The Rio Grande River Peaceful Lake Mead

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Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center (410) 293-8687 (410) 293-3365 (fax) www.usnabsd.com/for-visitors Visitor Center Hours January-February: 9 am - 4 pm

March-December 9 am - 5 pm Photo ID required ages 18 and over

Byways Magazine

©Copyright 2016 by Byways, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be duplicated in any form without express written permission of the publisher.

For more than 33 years, Byways has been covering the leading destinations along the highways and byways of North America. Some of the most well-known, and least known, destinations to discover in the United States and Canada.

Byways is published in three versions. They is the Turn-Key edition on the web for viewing on Computers, Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad). There is an Apple App Store edition. There is also a Byways Magazine Channel in Apple News.

For advertising rates, editorial deadlines, or to place advertising insertions, contact: Byways Magazine 502-785-4875 http://bywaysmagazine.com

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PREVIEW

By Steve Kirchner, Editor & Publisher

oin us for Byways annual Rivers foot chasms of the Rio Grande Gorge, a wild and remote and Lakes themed issue. We start area. Class II to Class V rapids exist in nine different segour journey in Connecticut, where ments encompassing the Upper Rio Grande Gorge and we visit a famous seaport town on the Lower Rio Grande Gorge.

In Texas, the Rio Grande allows travel by raft and Mystic River. Mystic Seaport is kayak from Big Bend National Park into a wondrous America’s largest maritime museum. environment full of exotic birds, plants and animals But it’s a living, breathing museum, unlike most of the southwestern rivers in the U.S. which brings maritime history and tradition to life.

Our next stop is Lake Mead in Nevada, formed by the In the past, Louisville held the honor of being the cenwondrous Hoover Dam. This peaceful lake, the largest ter of the bourbon universe.

Today the city is reclaiming that prominence with the reservoir in the United States, is nestled among two, openings of numerous distilleries, all in the downtown beautiful mountain ranges, the River Mountains and the Muddy Mountains. area or just minutes away, that These create a gorgeous provide a unique and intrigubackdrop for this beautiful ing addition to any visitor and body of water.

Approved group itinerary. The downactivities for the Lake Mead town business district is locatNational Recreation area ed immediately south of the include camping, hiking, Ohio River and southeast of swimming, boating and the Falls of the Ohio. horseback riding.

Make sure to include a stop Lake Mead, which is at one of the group-friendly administered by the stops along the Urban National Park Service, Bourbon Trail for a unique receives the majority of its “bourbon” dining experience. water from snow melt in the The Trail includes nearly 35 Colorado, Wyoming, and bars and restaurants that The Rio Grande River Utah Rocky Mountains. know and appreciate bourThe Bureau of bon.

Reclamation has conducted tours through the Hoover When you’re traveling along the Urban Bourbon Trail, you’re in for cocktails classic and modern, live music, Dam and power plant since 1937. Today, close to and the bourbon-inspired creativity of Louisville’s best 1,000,000 visitors annually take the tour and millions more drive across the dam. bartenders and chefs.

In What’s Happening, we visit the Ark Encounter, Next, we head out west to discover one of the other most important rivers in the United States. Stretching Northern Kentucky’s newest attraction.

On 800 acres off I-75 south of Cincinnati, the builders from Colorado to New Mexico and Texas before reachof the Creation Museum have constructed a one-of-aing the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande River provides kind historically themed attraction, with a huge full-size our southern border with Mexico.

Noah’s Ark as the centerpiece.

During the late 1830s and early 1840s, the Rio Grande Opened in July, the $100 million first phase of the park river marked the disputed border between Mexico and features an immense 510-foot long, 80-foot high woodthe Republic of Texas. Mexico marked the border at the en Ark, which is now the largest free-standing timber Nueces River. The disagreement provided part of the rationale for the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846, after frame structure in the world.

Additional future phases for the attraction include a Texas had been admitted as a new state.

Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first century Middle At the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the Mexican side, Eastern village, a journey in history from Abraham to the was the large commercial port of Bagdad. During the parting of the Red Sea, a walk-through aviary, and more.

American Civil War, this was the only legitimate port of We hope you enjoy this issue of Byways. the Confederacy.

In Northern New Mexico the river passes through 800Byways • 4

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Volume 33, Issue No. 4 2016

Features

On the cover. The Ohio River and downtown Louisville are featured on the cover as we explore the River City’s Urban Bourbon Experience. For more on Byways Rivers & Lakes destinations, turn to page 8.

Rivers & Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Mystic Seaport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 “Sea-Change” at Mystic Seaport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Experence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Rio Grande River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Peaceful Lake Mead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Departments

Byways Instant Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Byways Preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Traveling the Highways & Byways with Bill Graves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Free Byways Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

What’s Happening

The Ark Encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Coming in future issues of Byways ..... Great American Roads, Leading North American Tour Destinations, Great American Railroads, Mountains & Valleys, and much more!

Next Up: Great American Roads.

Travel to Mendocino and California’s Pacific Coast Highway.

Right. 10 Mile River entering the Pacific under 10 Mile Bridge, 10 miles north of Fort Bragg CA. Photo courtesy Mary Charlebois.

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Rivers & Lakes

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East coast of Lake Michigan looking west from Big Sable Point Lighthouse. Photo courtesy 3bylunch .

North American Rivers tudes and frequencies of flooding. river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually The top 10 rivers by discharge in the United States are: freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake • Mississippi River, flowing to the Gulf of Mexico. or another river.

• Ohio River, discharging into the Mississippi River.

Rivers can generally be classified as either alluvial, • Saint Lawrence River at the U.S.-Canada boundary, bedrock, or some mix of the two. Alluvial rivers have flowing into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. channels and floodplains that are self-formed in uncon• Columbia River, discharging into the Pacific Ocean. solidated or weakly consolidated sediments. They erode • Yukon River, flowing to the Bering Sea. their banks and deposit material on bars and their floodplains. Bedrock rivers form when the river downcuts through the modern sediments and into the underlying bedrock.

Flooding is a natural part of a river’s cycle. The majority of the erosion of river channels and the erosion and deposition on the associated floodplains occur during the flood stage. In many developed areas, human activity has changed the form of river CSL Niagara on the St. Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay in the channels, altering magniThousand Islands. Photo courtesy Ad Meskens.

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The Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. Photo courtesy David Hinkson.

• Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, discharging into the Gulf of Mexico.

• Niagara River, flowing into Lake Ontario.

• Detroit River, discharging into Lake Erie.

• St. Clair River, flowing into Lake St. Clair.

• Missouri River, flowing into the Mississippi River.

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wide, 120 ft deep, open-water Straits of Mackinac.

These lakes also have the longest lake coastline in the world at 3,260 miles.

For those who consider Lake Michigan-Huron to be separate lakes, Lake Superior would be the largest at 31,700 square miles.

The largest island in a lake is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, with a surface area of 1,068 square miles.

The largest lake completely within the boundaries of a single city is Lake Wanapitei in the city of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Lake Bernard, Ontario, claims to be the largest lake in the world with no islands.

North American Lakes he majority of lakes on Earth are fresh water, and most lie in the Northern Hemisphere at higher latitudes. Canada has an estimated 31,752 lakes larger than 1.2 square miles and estimated 2 million total lakes.

Most lakes have at least one natural outflow in the form of a river or stream, which maintain a lake's average level by allowing the drainage of excess water. Some lakes do not have a natural outflow and lose water solely by evaporation or underground seepage or both.

The world’s largest lake by surface area is Lake Michigan-Huron. Its surface area is 45,300 square miles.

The combined waters of Lake Michigan Lake Bernard, Ontario. and Lake Huron are joined through the 5-mile Photo courtesy Wilfried Eska.

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Mystic Seaport’s signature photo. Located on the Mystic River in Connecticut, more than a quarter of a million people visit each year. Photo courtesy Mystic Seaport.

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Mystic Seaport, America’s Largest Maritime Museum

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The Village at Mystic Seaport today.

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he largest maritime museum in the United States, Mystic Seaport is located on the Mystic River in Connecticut.

It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seafaring village.

Located within 19 charming acres on the banks of Connecticut’s legendary Mystic River, it is a quintessential New England experience. Mystic Seaport offers visitors of all ages a unique link to our seafaring past and endless, year-round opportunities to immerse themselves in new worlds of hands-on history.

It consists of more than 60 original historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre site and meticulously restored.

The museum was established in 1929 as the “Marine Historical Association”. Its first fame came with the acquisition in 1941 of the Charles W. Morgan, the only surviving wooden sailing whaler. The seaport was one of the first living history museums in the United States, with a collection of buildings and craftsmen to show how work was done. The seaport now receives a quarter of a million visitors each year.

The Preservation Shipyard is an important part of the museum. Here traditional tools and techniques are used to preserve the museum’s collection of historic vessels.

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Scale model of the entire Mystic River area c.1870.

The Joseph Conrad at Mystic Seaport.

Photos courtesy Mystic Seaport.

A replica of the slave ship La Amistad was constructed in the shipyard and launched in 2000. La Amistad departed from New Haven, Connecticut on 21 June 2007 on a 14,000-mile transatlantic voyage to Great Britain, Lisbon, West Africa, and the Caribbean, marking the Atlantic trade and slave route to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in Great Britain.

The 19th-century seafaring village contains nearly all the types of general and specialized trades associated with building and operating a sailing fleet. They include a chandlery, sail loft, rope walk, cooperage, shipping agent’s office, printing office, bank, and others. Also included is The Spouter Tavern, open seasonally and serving “travelers’ fare”. Each building is used both to show the original activity and to display multiple examples of objects sold or constructed; for instance, the nautical instrument shop displays sextants, nautical timepieces, and the like. Demonstrations at the cooperage show how casks are assembled.

Additional buildings house more exhibits. One is a 1⁄128th scale model of the entire Mystic River area c.1870, complete down to the outhouse behind every residence, a model 40 feet long. Another contains a collection of carved ship figureheads. Also among the museum’s buildings is a planetarium that gives visitors a lesson in celestial navigation using the stars, planets and Byways • 15

Mystic Seaport’s Sabino on the Mystic River. Photos courtesy Mystic Seaport.

heavenly bodies of the season.

Mystic Seaport’s music program is unusual as it prominently features sea shanties in their original contexts as work songs. Regular sessions find shanty singers keeping museum visitors in line as they haul sails or turn

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a capstan. The Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival, held annually in June since 1979, is among the oldest and largest in the United States.

At Mystic Seaport you can view historic tall ships and boats such as the Charles W. Morgan, the world’s last

On-board classroom at Mystic Seaport.

surviving wooden whaleship; the Joseph Conrad, a fullrigged 1882 training ship; and the L.A. Dunton, the lastsurviving example of early 20th-century New England fishing vessels.

A state-of-the-art Collections Research Center houses more than two million examples of maritime art, artifacts, tools, buildings, imprints and other documents, including photographs, 1,000 ships registers, 600 audiotaped oral history interviews, 200 videotaped interviews and 1.5 million feet of historic and contemporary maritime-related footage.

Mystic also features the world’s largest collections of boat and maritime photography, including more than 500 different vessels and more than one million historic maritime images.

It also offers unique educational programs for everyone from preschoolers to graduate students, including overnight programs aboard the Joseph Conrad, courses in 19th-century trades, sail training, undergraduate Maritime Studies programs and fellowships.

A Children’s Museum offers kids seven and under a chance to experience the life of a sailor, including swabbing the deck, moving cargo, cooking in the galley, dressing in sailors’ garb and lying in sailors’ bunks.

Mystic Seaport offers a unique visitor experience for groups and individuals of all ages.

To learn more, visit http://www.mysticseaport.org The Charles W. Morgan.

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“Sea-Change” at Mystic Seaport

ystic Seaport has embarked on a major project to transform the north end of the museum to greatly enhance the quality of exhibition space and offer a more robust year-round experience for visitors. The project is an important initiative as Mystic Seaport seeks to continue its leadership in the maritime heritage field.

Scheduled to open December 10, 2016, Mystic Seaport’s newest exhibition “Sea-Change” will present a range of intriguing and surprising objects from the museum’s diverse collections. Each piece is a survivor of the past that speaks to a notable transformation -- of material, of technology, of the sea itself, and of the broader American culture over the past 200 years.

The distinctive McGraw Gallery Quadrangle, which was completed in 2015, meshes existing buildings and grounds with new architectural achievements. Named for the late Donald C. McGraw, Jr., a longtime Mystic Seaport supporter and passionate advocate for the collection and preservation of maritime artifacts, the 18 • Byways

The new Thompson Exhibition Building at Mystic Seaport. Photos courtesy Mystic Seaport.

Quadrangle seeks to unify the components of the north end of the museum by focusing on their common role as formal exhibition galleries. The Quadrangle’s cornerstone, the new Thompson Exhibition Building, will house exemplary exhibition facilities, the latest technologies, and flexible spaces to engage with visitors and serve their diverse interests.

Remarkable artifacts will be a combination of those on display for the first time along with visitor favorites, being presented in a new and exciting setting which will reveal the exciting stories behind each item. Combined, they will give a glimpse into people’s lives in different places and time throughout the world. The stories of transformation they tell continue to impact our lives and our relationship with the sea.

In keeping with the bold design, clean lines, and natural materials of the new exhibition building, the exhibit will use large, free-standing structures to frame each central artifact. The resulting effect will be visually stunning and invite visitors to observe, discuss, ponder, and return

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again and again.

The project is a $15 million commitment to achieve those goals with the combination of new construction and significant upgrades to existing buildings and spaces.

Thompson Exhibition Building This flexible, 5,000 square-foot space features soaring ceilings and a flexible space to accommodate objects of varying size and installations of all types, from watercraft to priceless works of fine art, and gallery-based educational programs. A riverfront gathering room graces the west side of the building and can be reconfigured for conferences, additional gallery space, or educational programs, adding to the new building’s versatility.

It is also important that the building reflects contemporary design to differentiate it from its historic surroundings. As new construction, the structure has to clearly articulate that newness and respect the authenticity of the historic building in other parts of the grounds.

The Thompson Exhibition Building incorporates a wraparound deck that will allow visitors to enjoy the riverside setting and serve as a covered overlook to the Quadrangle green. Other components include a prominent museum entrance, a sweeping reception lobby, ticketing center, and visitor amenities.

“Sea-Change” will incorporate interactive components, and a full range of public programs will complete the gallery experience.

For more information: http://www.mysticseaport.org

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United States Naval Academy

Undergraduate College of the U.S. Navy

Guided Walking Tours include the Naval Academy Chapel, Crypt of John Paul Jones, Statue of Tecumseh and the history and traditions of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD. HISTORICAL, EDUCATIONAL, JEWISH CHAPEL AND MILITARY REUNION TOURS

Naval Academy Gift Shop Restrooms, Exhibits, Film

U.S. Naval Academy Campus.

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Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center Fall in Mystic Seaport.

Photo courtesy Mystic Seaport.

(410) 293-8687 (410) 293-3365 (fax) www.usnabsd.com/for-visitors Visitor Center Hours January-February: 9 am - 4 pm March-December 9 am - 5 pm Photo ID required, ages 18 and over

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Traveling the Highways & Byways with Bill Graves Always Sunny Palm Springs

Snowbirds flock to the desert town of Palm Springs, California, for the sun, and stay for the fun, festivals and livinghistory air museum.

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pipes that, if spread out in a straight line, would reach from here to Chicago. Recycled water is used on many golf courses and landscaping projects. Water for farming around Indio comes from the Colorado River.

Beautiful weather and movie stars combined to put Palm Springs on the map. It’s a two-hour freeway drive to get here from Hollywood or Beverly Hills. Bob Hope was perhaps the most famous winter resident. Although he and his wife are both gone now, their daughter still stays here.

The adjoining cities of Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs are unique in that many of their streets are named for residents who were Hollywood celebrities, or in the case of Gerald Ford, a U.S. president. Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore are a few of them. The streets are all “Drives,” except the one named for Gene Autry, the singing cowboy from two generations ago.

His street is the Gene Autry Trail.

I was on North Gene Autry Trail when I visited the Palm Springs Air Museum. It backs up against the municipal airport, giving the planes in the museum access to the runways. This is one of the world’s largest collections of flyable World War II aircraft, and there are no ropes surrounding the planes to keep us from peeking into cockpits. A Boeing B17 Flying Fortress is open, so we walk through it.

During my visit, a single-engine Navy trainer, a T28 Trojan, was

unrise puts a warm glow on this winter playground. Still, heavy clouds hang over the San Jacinto Mountains to the west. Otherwise, the sky over the Coachella Valley shows this to be another perfect day -- as is almost every day here in the Southern California desert.

Snow is falling in those mountains at 8,516 feet, the high end of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. That’s the beauty of winter in this place: If you want to be in the snow, you just take a 15-minute tram ride. But most folks are here to get out of it. They come to luxuriate in the warm sun at the pool or on the golf links.

I have been watching this storm for a couple of days.

Between swirling graphics on the Weather Channel and updates on my iPad, I half expected to wake up to rain.

But that’s another accommodation of this desert valley, rain clouds have a tough time getting over those mountains with anything wet left in them.

This valley is made up of nine cities, known as Greater Palm Springs, from nostalgic Palm Springs on the west end to Coachella on the east end. Close to Coachella is Indio, the city of festivals, known for the Stagecoach Country Music Festival and the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. The Greater Palm Springs area is the premier snowbird The World War II vintage Navy F4U Corsair 301, destination in California. both in art form and the actual aircraft, are on As you would expect, the region display at the Palm Springs Air Museum. has more swimming pools and acreage devoted to golf courses than anywhere in California. So where does the water come from to support 100 golf courses and an uncounted number of pools in this desert community of nearly half a million people?

Most of it is underneath them in a huge aquifer, a groundwater basin that contains 1.7 billion cubic feet of water. They pump it from 1,200 feet beneath the surface and distribute it around the valley in a network of 22 • Byways

pushed out of its display space. A pilot and a passenger climbed in, taxied out to the runway and took off -- pretty neat for a plane that was new in the 1950s. They made a couple of low passes. That piston engine creates a unique sound. If you are older than 50, you would probably recognize it.

Welcome to America’s Outback.

About the author: After seeing much of the world as a career naval officer, Bill Graves decided, after he retired, to take a closer look at the United States. He has been roaming the country for 20 years, much of it in a motor home with his dog Rusty. He lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California and is the author of On the Back Roads, Discovering Small Towns.

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Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Experience

Downtown Louisville on the Ohio River.

Photo courtesy GoToLouisville.com and Marty Pearl.

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Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. Photos courtesy GoToLouisville.com.

n authentic Kentucky experience should include some bourbon. After all, Kentucky is the birthplace of the drink which holds the distinction of being America’s only native spirit, and still produces 95% of the world’s supply. At one time, Louisville held the honor of being the center of the bourbon universe.

Today the city is reclaiming that prominence with the openings of numerous distilleries, all in the downtown area or just minutes away, that provide a unique and intriguing addition to any group itinerary. The downtown business district is located immediately south of the Ohio River and southeast of the Falls of the Ohio, Peerless Distillery has been family-owned since its inception in the 1880s. The distillery was closed during Prohibition, but was reopened in 2015 and is reintroducing its label to an entire new generation of bourbon connoisseurs.

Opened in 2013, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience was the first distillery to open on downtown’s historic Whiskey Row since Prohibition. This artisanal distillery celebrates the life and contributions of Kentucky’s first commercial distillery.

The tour takes you back in time to see Evan Williams’ original distillery, in addition to the Louisville wharf in the late 18th Century, and a recreation of Whiskey Row along Main Street from the 1890s through the present.

You’ll learn how Heaven Hill’s modern Bernheim 26 • Byways

Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse.

Barrows of bourbon at Kentucky Peerless Distilling in Louisville.

Distillery operates and discover how it is different from tilled spirit of the city and state, Copper and Kings makes distilling in Evan Williams’ era. Then, you’ll get to see a brandy in a similar way that bourbon is produced, in combination of the two, a state-of-the-art, modern, oper- Louisville-made copper pot stills. Bring your group for a ating distillery utilizing the same types of pot stills as the rooftop tasting and a breathtaking view of Louisville. early bourbon-making days. At the conclusion of the Traditional Tour, you will partake in a variety of educa- Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Trail Make sure to include a stop at one of the group-friendtional Bourbon tastings.

The #1 bourbon in the world is highlighted at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse.

This is the only place you will find Jim Old Seelbach Bar on the Urban Beam Urban Stillhouse Select, a bourbon Bourbon Trail. distilled and bottled exclusively for the Urban Stillhouse. Opened last year, the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse visitor center delivers the Jim Beam® distillery experience in the heart of Louisville. It includes a small working distillery, a bottling line, a tasting experience and merchandise for sale.

Located just five miles from downtown is the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience. Originally the Stitzel-Weller Distillery was opened on Derby Day in 1935, then reopened in 2014. This is one of the true cathedrals of the American whiskey industry.

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Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse. Photos courtesy GoToLouisville.com.

ly stops along the Urban Bourbon Trail for a unique “bourbon” dining experience. The Trail includes nearly 35 bars and restaurants that know and appreciate bourbon.

Stamp collecting has never been so much fun. When you’re traveling along the Urban Bourbon Trail, you’re in for cocktails classic and modern, live music, and the bourbon-inspired creativity of Louisville’s best bartenders and chefs. Each stop is well stocked with anywhere from 50 to 150 varieties of Kentucky’s signature spirit.

There are two ways to travel the Urban Bourbon Trail, with a printed booklet style passport or an electronic version. You can pick up your free passport at the Louisville Visitors Center (4th and Jefferson Streets in downtown Louisville) or at any of the participating stops (just ask your server). You can also download an electronic passport using the iPhone or Android app.

No matter which method you choose, you’ll be guided through the history of Louisville’s bourbon heritage and the world’s most celebrated bourbon bars. Just drink in the atmosphere, or enjoy a bite to eat. Be sure to ask your bartender or server to validate your passport (or app) before you leave. Remember you don’t have to drink bourbon to get your passport stamped (though that’s a bit of the point!), you just need to make a purchase at each location.

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Pick Six. Perhaps you’ve made this bet before in horse racing (Kentucky’s other favorite pastime), well, rest assured a “Pick Six” on the Urban Bourbon Trail is a SURE bet.

Just collect a stamp from six of the many stops along the Urban Bourbon Trail and you’ll earn the rank of official Bourbon Country Citizen.

You’ll also be awarded a special Urban Bourbon

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience

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Trailblazer t-shirt and official Citizen of Bourbon Convention & Visitors Bureau. http://www.gotolouisville.com/index.aspx Country certificate, so you can proudly display your passion for bourbon to the world.

Group tour operators: The program is free to participate (other than your purhttp://www.gotolouisville.com/travel-professionals chases), and there’s no time limit for completion.

Stop by the Visitors Center where you’ll receive your prize. If you can’t make it to the Visitors Center before you leave town you’ll find instructions in the back of the The Old Fashioned -- Louisville’s official cocktail passport for redemption via mail.

Legend has Louisville’s Pendennis Club (a private For additional information, contact the Louisville club in town) as the creator or re-inventor of the Old Fashioned in 1881. Though other historic references point to bourbon cocktails being made in the “the old fashioned way,” the Pendennis recipe was the first to name the drink and has been on the menu ever since.

The drink was named the “Official Cocktail of Louisville” in 2015. Louisville is only the second city known to proclaim an official libation. The first was in 2008 when the Louisiana House of Representatives named the Sazerac New Orleans’ drink of choice.

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association, its member distilleries and the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau ask that you please enjoy Kentucky Bourbon responsibly.

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The Rio Grande River

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The headwaters of the Rio Grande River along the Silver Thread Scenic Byway near Lake City, Colorado. Photo courtesy Denise Chambers/Miles and Colorado Tourism Office.

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he Rio Grande River is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. The wild and scenic Rio Grande rises from south-central Colorado and flows more than 1800 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.

It is known as the Rio Bravo River in Mexico. Since 1848, its path along the Texas border has served as the natural border between the United States and Mexico.

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The Rio Grande rises in the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado. The river is formed by several streams at the base of Canby Mountain in the San Juan Mountains, just east of the Continental Divide. From there, it flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into New Mexico, passing through Española, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

The Rio Grande rises in high mountains and flows for

View of the Rio Grande from Overlook Park, White Rock, New Mexico. Photo courtesy Andreas F. Borchert.

much of its length at high elevation. El Paso is 3,762 feet above sea level. In New Mexico, the river flows through the Rio Grande rift from one sediment-filled basin to another, cutting canyons between the basins and supporting a fragile bosque ecosystem on its flood plain.

From El Paso eastward, the river flows through desert.

Only in the subtropical lower Rio Grande Valley does extensive irrigated agriculture exist. The river ends in a small, sandy delta at the Gulf of Mexico.

Navigation on the river was active during much of the 19th century, with over 200 different steamboats operating between the river’s mouth close to Brownsville, and Rio Grande City, Texas.

Many steamboats from the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers were requisitioned by the US government and moved to the Rio Grande during the Mexican War in 1846. They provided transport for the U.S. Army, under General Zachary Taylor, to invade Monterrey, Mexico.

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The Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park, on the Mexico–U.S. border in Texas. Photo courtesy Glysiak.

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View a “touch and go” on the Rio Grande River during Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Photo courtesy Ron Behrmann and Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Army engineers recommended that with small improveDuring the late 1830s and early 1840s, the river ments, the river could easily be made navigable as far marked the disputed border between Mexico and the north as El Paso.

Republic of Texas. Mexico marked the border at the The Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge, a Nueces River. The disagreement provided part of the large swing bridge, dates back to 1910 and is still in use rationale for the US invasion of Mexico in 1846, after today by automobiles and railroad trains, connecting Texas had been admitted as a new state.

Brownsville with Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It has not been opened since the early 1900s, though, when the last of the big steamboats disappeared.

At the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the Mexican side, was the large commercial port of Bagdad. During the American Civil War, this was the only legitimate port of the Confederacy.

European warships anchored offshore to maintain the port’s neutrality, and managed to do Birds in flight over the Rio Grande in winter near Sandia so successfully throughout that Mountain. Photo courtesy www.Morimotophotography.com conflict, despite occasional and Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau. stare-downs with blockading ships from the U.S. Navy.

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The Rio Grande in west El Paso near the New Mexico state line.

In Northern New Mexico the river passes through 800- area. Class II to Class V rapids exist in nine different segfoot chasms of the Rio Grande Gorge, a wild and remote ments encompassing the Upper Rio Grande Gorge and Lower Rio Grande Gorge.

In 1997, the U.S. designated the Rio Grande as one of the American Heritage Rivers. Two portions of the Rio Grande are designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, one in northern New Mexico and the other in Texas, at Big Bend National Park.

You can raft the warm whitewater of beautiful desert canyons below Big Bend National Park, including San Francisco, Reagan and Panther Canyons.

The Rio Grande allows travel by raft and kayak from Big Bend National Park into a wondrous environment full of exotic birds, plants and animals unlike most of the southwestern rivers in the U.S. Since the mid 20th century, heavy water consumption of farms and cities along with many large diversion dams on the river has left only 20% of its natural discharge to flow to the Gulf.

Near the river’s mouth, the heavily irrigated lower Rio Grande Valley is an important agricultural region.

The major international border crossings along the river are at Ciudad Juárez and El Paso; Presidio, and Ojinaga; Laredo, and Nuevo Laredo; McAllen and Reynosa; and Brownsville and Matamoros.

The Rio Grande has played, and will continue to play, an important role in the relations between the United States and Mexico. It is a river whose impact goes far beyond borders.

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Bighorn sheep graze at Hemenway Park in Boulder City, Nevada, with Lake Mead in the background. Photo courtesy Travel Nevada and Chris Moran.

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Peaceful Lake Mead

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Desert Princess in front of the Paint Pots on Lake Mead.

Photo courtesy Lake Mead Cruises & Aramark.

Lake Mead as seen from Hoover Dam. Photo courtesy Kumar Appaiah.

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L

ake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States and is most famous as the man-made lake formed by Hoover Dam. This peaceful lake is nestled among two beautiful mountain ranges, the River Mountains and the Muddy Mountains.

These create a gorgeous backdrop for this beautiful body of water. Approved activities for the Lake Mead National Recreation area include camping, hiking, swimming, boating and horseback riding.

Lake Mead, which is administered by the National Park Service, receives the majority of its water from snow melt in the Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah Rocky Mountains. Inflows to the lake are largely moderated by the upstream Glen Canyon Dam, which is required to release 8.23 million acre feet of water each year into Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is required to release 9 million acre feet of water each year, with the difference made up by tributaries that join the Colorado below Glen Canyon or flow into Lake Mead.

Before the filling of Lake Powell (a reservoir of similar size to Lake Mead) behind Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado River flowed largely unregulated into Lake Mead, making Mead more vulnerable to drought.

Lake Mead provides many types of recreation.

Boating is the most popular. Additional activities include fishing, water skiing, swimming, and sunbathing.

Four marinas are located on Lake Mead, which include Las Vegas Boat Harbor and Lake Mead Marina (Hemenway Harbor, NV) operated by the Gripentogs, and Callville Bay (Callville Bay, NV) and Temple Bar (Arizona), both operated by Forever Resorts.

The area also has many coves with rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. Several small to medium-sized islands occur in the lake area depending on the water level. In addition, the Alan Bible Visitor Center hosts the Alan Bible Botanical Garden, a small garden of cactus and other plants native to the Mojave Desert.

For information, visit www.bouldercity.com/lakemead.html Hoover Dam The Bureau of Reclamation has conducted tours through the Hoover Dam and power plant since 1937.

Today, close to 1,000,000 visitors annually take the tour and millions more drive across the dam. Hoover Dam is a testimony to a country’s ability to construct monolithic projects in the midst of adverse conditions. Built during the Depression, thousands of men and their families came to Black Canyon to tame the Colorado River.

It took less than five years, in a harsh and barren land, to build the largest dam of its time. Now, years later, Hoover Dam still stands as a world-renowned structure.

The Dam is a National Historic Landmark and has been rated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders.

For information on directions, tours and ticket pricing, visit www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam.

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The heavily travelled U.S. 93 ran along the dam’s crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened. Photo courtesy Ubergirl.

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Sunset at Lake Mead near Boulder City, Nevada. Photo courtesy Darrin Bush and Las Vegas News Bureau.

Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead. The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The dam’s generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. The heavily travelled U.S. 93 ran along the dam’s crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.

Nine main access points to the lake are available. On the west are three roads from the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Access from the northwest from Interstate 15 is through the Valley of Fire State Park and the Moapa River Indian Reservation to the Overton Arm of the lake.

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Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum Located inside the historic Boulder Dam Hotel, the museum’s interactive displays and exhibits describe the great social and economic forces surrounding the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Depression that drove thousands of unemployed citizens from their homes into the isolation of the Nevada desert where the Boulder Canyon Project was one of the few places in the United States where men could find work.

Photographs, artifacts, oral histories, and the sounds of Hoover Dam construction ringing off the walls of Black Canyon provide a sense of the complexity, danger, and immense scale of the construction project, as well as a

picture of ordinary life in an extraordinary time and place. Listen as these pioneers tell about their lives in Boulder City and down at the Hoover Dam construction site in the desperate years of the early 1930s. For more information, visit www.bcmha.org/index.html.

Lake Mead Cruises Lake Mead Cruises welcomes guests for a relaxing tour aboard the famed Desert Princess, just minutes from the glitter and glamor of the Las Vegas Strip. Built especially to cruise the clean, blue waters of picturesque Lake Mead and tour the Hoover Dam, the authentic, three-level, Mississippi-style paddlewheeler offers an unrivaled

sightseeing experience.

Whether you choose a brunch tour, mid-day tour or evening dinner tour, you’ll enjoy the wind in your hair, the sun on your face, or the absolute comfort of the climate-controlled enclosed decks, surrounded by breathtaking scenery.

Additional information on cruising Lake Mead is available at: www.lakemeadcruises.com.

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Kentucky’s Ark Encounter

The 510-foot Ark is the centerpiece of a planned 800-acre religious theme park in Northern Kentucky. Photo courtesy Ark Encounter.

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g n i n e p p a H s ’ t a Wh

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The massive wooden Ark rises 10 stories.

Byways photo.

deo i V r o f Click

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he green rolling hills of Northern Kentucky is the location of America’s newest theme park -- the Ark Encounter. On 800 beautiful acres off I-75 south of Cincinnati, OH, the builders of the successful Creation Museum have constructed a one-of-a-kind historically themed attraction, with a huge full-size Noah’s Ark as the centerpiece.

Opened in July, the $100 million first phase of the park features an immense 510-foot long, 80-foot high wooden Ark, which is now the largest free-standing timberframe structure in the world.

The Ark is based on dimensions recorded in the Bible (Genesis 6) and was designed in accordance with sound established nautical engineering practices of the biblical era.

In addition to getting help from Amish workers using their impressive woodworking skills, construction workers, both Amish and nonAmish, used a variety of modern-day techniques and tools to build this enormous ship.

The Ark is the newest and most visible project of Answers in Genesis, a ministry outreach group, based in the same building as the popular Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.

Its major mission is upholding the authority of the Bible from the first verse.

Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, is the visionary behind both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter.

Through the construction of a massive full-

One of many exhibits, this one showing Noah at work in his workshop. Byways photo.

scale Noah’s Ark, the Ark Encounter presents America and other nations with a reminder of the Bible’s account of the Ark and the faithfulness of Noah.

The Ark Encounter also includes daily live mammal shows, live bird shows, an extensive interactive children’s area, live entertainment, and themed restaurant, creative food outposts, and shopping.

For those followers of Answers in Genesis, it’s smooth sailing upon entering the Ark. It’s one of the most impressive structures found anywhere, and the quality of

Grain stored on the Ark. Byways photo.

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workmanship is superb.

Upon entering the Ark, it’s an easy walk to all four floors currently open to the public, with first-class exhibits telling the story of Noah and the Ark.

Controversy The Ark Encounter tells the story of the Ark based on the Bible.

Science, however, tells a different story, and these inconsistencies are obvious at the Ark Encounter.

Answers in Genesis believes the earth is 6,000 years old. As a result, it’s natural that Noah would have had access to the dinosaurs, and only logical they would have been aboard the Ark. At its opening, the cages featuring dinosaurs were one of the most popular exhibits on the Ark. But science tells a much different story. Science says the earth is much older, billions of years. And science 50 • Byways

Caged dinosaurs aboard the Ark. Byways photo.

says the dinosaurs were extinct 65 million years ago.

Both can’t be right. And Ken Ham and Answers in

Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, is the visionary behind both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. Byways photo.

Future expansion of the 800 acre property. Photo courtesy Ark Encounter.

Genesis make no apologies that their mission is to sup- Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first century Middle port the Bible. And the Ark Encounter is now their pri- Eastern village, a journey in history from Abraham to the parting of the Red Sea, a walk-through aviary, and more. mary weapon in that endeavor.

The Ark Encounter, within a one-day drive of almost For some brought up in a world of science and technology, a visit to the Ark could be an unsettled experi- two-thirds of America’s population, is positioned to ence. But that is the goal of Answers in Genesis, to become a destination that will capture the world’s attenchallenge and change the world of science as we know tion, with an estimated yearly attendance of up to 2.2 million visitors. it.

Discover more at ArkEncounter.com Future Expansion Additional future phases for the attraction include a

Wooden beams support the interior of the Ark. Byways photo.

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Byways is published bi-monthly by Byways, Inc. and distributed electronically throughout North America.

Byways is emailed to more than 4000 tour operators /Travel Trade through the Internet. Subscriptions are complimentary. An iPad & iPhone version is available for consumers in iTunes in the App Store. An Android browser version is available at www.issuu.com/byways.

Byways’ distribution includes motorcoach companies, tour operators, selected travel agents, bank travel managers, school band and athletic planners, meeting planners and the travel trade. For advertising rates, editorial deadlines, or to place advertising insertions, contact: Byways Magazine at 502-785-4875. ©Copyright 2016 by Byways, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be duplicated in any form without express written permission of the publisher.

Editor and Publisher Stephen M. Kirchner

Advertising Director 502-785-4875

Internet bywaysmagazine.com byways@motorcoach.com Byways on Facebook Byways on Twitter

Advertisers Index

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Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Lynchburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Mystic Seaport, Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau, Kentucky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Randolph County, West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Explore St. Louis, Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Silverado Casino/Franklin Hotel, South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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