The Group Travel Leader February 2021

VIBRANT VIRGINIA BEACH

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MUSEUMS GO BIG

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G R E AT L A K E S M E T R O S

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NEW MEXICO

c i h c n r e t s thwe

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limitless

inspiration.

Known as North Carolina’s Southern Outer Banks, the Crystal Coast has inspired world renowned authors such as Nicholas Sparks and Kristy Harvey. Let us inspire you with help planning events, selecting outstanding accommodations and making your experience our top priority. We’ll make sure everything is perfect so you can focus on making memories, enjoying our beautiful beaches, unique activities and natural beauty.

Call us at 1-888-891-0021 or email groups@CrystalCoastNC.org

North Carolina’s

southern outer banks

BookTheCoast.com

EXPLORE GALLUP, NEW MEXICO Native culture, Western heritage, and Route 66 converge at an altitude of 6,467 ft.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

Day 1 Fill up on breakfast at your home for the week – the historic El Rancho Hotel before

Day 3 Gallup is conveniently located to act as a hub and spoke to more than ten national

starting the first day around town. Gallup is home to more than 100 trading posts sharing

monuments, parks, and cultural attractions. Head out of town for the day and

art and jewelry from nearby Navajo and Zuni artists. Step inside Tanner’s Indian Arts and

start with a tour of El Morro National Monument. Explore the sandstone bluff and

City Electric Shoe Shop and see where more than 80% of the world’s authentic Native

waterhole that acted as shade and drinking source for travelers during the 1500s

American art comes from. For lunch, Don Diego’s Restaurant and Lounge will showcase

before cooling of yourself at Ancient Way Café for lunch next door. Next, stop at

the local New Mexican fare of the area. Continue relishing in the art, history, and culture of Gallup by visiting the El Morro Theatre, downtown murals and galleries and the collection of WPA art in the public library.

Day 2 Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime by seeing Gallup from above. Watch the sun rise over the beautiful red sandstone canyons and rock spires from the basket of a

New Mexico’s “Land of Fire and Ice” at the Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave. End the day with stunning views at El Malpais National Monument and take the short car ride back to Gallup for dinner.

Day 4 Before checking out of the El Rancho and heading home, opt for a sunrise hike at Red Rock Park to take in last-minute views of Gallup. Have one last bite of New

hot air balloon. This bird’s eye view ensures a unique look at the natural beauty of the

Mexican cuisine at Panz Alegra Restaurant before a drive to the Albuquerque

region. Clean up at the hotel and refuel with Gallup Coffee Company. In the afternoon,

airport and return home.

head to Zuni Pueblo, the largest New Mexican Pueblo, for an archaeology tour. Stay for dinner at Chu Chu’s in Zuni Pueblo before heading back home for the night.

GallupRealTrue.com

CONTENTS

GROUP TH E

TRAVEL LEADER

CHARTING THE EVOLUTION OF GROUP TR AVEL

COLU M NS

N EWS

6 Editor’s Marks

8 Family Matters

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ON T H E COV E R

Drying chile peppers are a ubiquitous sight in communities throughout New Mexico.

Photo by Jann Huizenga

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Blockbuster Exhibits

VOL 30 | ISSUE 2

OnSite in Myrtle Beach

MUSEUMS

MAC T. LACY CHARLES A. PRESLEY BRIAN JEWELL HERBERT SPARROW DONIA SIMMONS

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GREAT L AK ES SPEC I AL S ECTIO N

AMERICA’S CRO SSROA DS

Good times on the Great Lakes

Discover Western heritage and outdoor adventure in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

K E LLY T Y N E R 888.253.0455

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The Art of New Mexico

ISSUE

30

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Founder and Publisher Partner VP & Executive Editor Senior Writer Creative Director

KELLY TYNER KYLE ANDERSON ASHLEY RICKS MELISSA RILEY CHRISTINE CLOUGH

kelly@grouptravelleader.com

VP, Sales & Marketing Director of Advertising Sales Graphic Design & Circulation Accounting Manager Copy Editor

The GROUP TRAVEL LEADER is published ten times a year by THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Inc., 301 East High St., Lexington, Kentucky 40507, and is distributed free of charge to qualified group leaders who plan travel for groups of all ages and sizes. THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER serves as the official magazine of GROUP TRAVEL FAMILY, the organization for traveling groups. All other travel suppliers, including tour operators, destinations, attractions, transportation companies, hotels, restaurants and other travel-related companies may subscribe to THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER by sending a check for $59 for one year to: THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Circulation Department, 301 East High St., Lexington, KY 40507. Phone (859) 2530455 or (859) 253-0503. Copyright THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of editorial or graphic content in any manner without the written consent of the publisher is prohibited.

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Celebrate the gifts of land and sea with epic Virginia Beach adventures the entire group can enjoy safely. With 400 square miles of wide open space, revel in hands-on experiences and unique access to a group tour that’s as safe as it is memorable.

VISITVIRGINIABEACH.COM/GROUPTOUR

}

EDITOR’S MARKS

I

BY BRIAN JEWELL

t’s hard to hate somebody after you’ve shared a meal together.

This summer will mark my 18th year as a travel journalist. As I’ve said to numerous people lately, I have spent 17 amazing years in the tourism industry — and one awful one. But during this recent season of involuntary slowdown, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on those good years. And one of the elements I’m most grateful for has been the opportunity to break bread with hundreds of people.

Eating has always been my favorite part of travel. And more often than not, the people I’ve eaten with were as delightful as the food I’ve enjoyed.

For much of my early career, I would travel one or two times a month. On most of those trips, I would spend a week crisscrossing a state, seeing the sights and meeting with tourism representatives in communities along the way. Many of those meetings happened over meals.

It wasn’t uncommon for me to have a breakfast with someone in one city, lunch with someone else in another city and dinner with another person in a third. Oftentimes, I had not met these people before I sat down to eat with them. I used to joke with journalism students that being a travel writer was like going on three first dates a day.

Over time, the rhythms of my travel schedule changed. I spend a lot more time at tourism conferences and other industry events now. But even these gatherings offer a lot of opportunities to eat with strangers.

None of those meals has been predictable.

Sometimes, I bond instantly with my dining

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companions. Those occasions can serve as catalysts for long-lasting friendships. Other times, the connections do not come as easily. But even when conversation took more effort, I have always found the investment worthwhile.

Looking back on those thousands of meals, I’m struck by the diversity of my dinner dates. Few of my companions fit neatly into my demographic. When I first started, most were much older than me.

These days, some are much younger. Most were raised in different places than I. Many came from different ethnic or religious backgrounds. And I’m quite certain that a sizable portion didn’t share my political views. But that’s OK: In tourism, we know better than to talk politics at dinner.

As we approach the one-year mark of the pandemic, I’m missing those opportunities to eat with strangers. Quarantine and isolation have removed many of the personal interactions that help us build bonds of affection with people different from ourselves. And it has become all too easy to hate the people on the other side of our computer and TV screens because we no longer get to interact with them — or people who think like them — in person.

I’m still optimistic that we’re closer to the end of the pandemic than the beginning. I’m hopeful that big gains in public health during the first part of the year will lead to a big rebound for travel in the second.

When that happens, I’m going to relish having dinners with people I’ve never met. The more of that we can all do, the better off we’ll all be.

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Ready for some entertainment? Oklahoma delivers one-of-a-kind attractions. Explore Tulsa’s Church Studio, where legends like Leon Russell and Tom Petty shaped Southern-style rock. At the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee, explore a huge collection of guitars and gold records from artists like Meryl Haggard and Reba McEntire. Dine on crunchy catfish and two-step to live music at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red in Tishomingo. Then relish a glass of vino at Girls Gone Wine, Hochatown’s legendary winery. For an unforgettable itinerary, Oklahoma is your gateway to excitement.

Find adventures and itineraries at TravelOK.com/Group.

FAMILY M AT T E R S

I N V E S T I N G T O DAY I N THE GROUPS OF THE FUTURE “Most people who have a following of SALEM, Ohio — One travel organizatravelers have done so as a labor of love tion is counting on a big return to group and not as a business,” Presley said. travel once COVID-19 runs its course. The Though these group travel planners Group Travel Family, the nation’s leading might think of themselves as islands, organization serving group travel planners, they represent a tidal wave of tourism. has spent the past nine months building its According to Ferguson, the newly added membership numbers.

“We are bullish on the future of group travel groups represent $300 million of travel annually. And they go largely unnotravel and made it a focus to widen our ticed by most travel industry experts. outreach to new group travel planners,” Because they are simply community said Jennifer Ferguson, general manager of The Group Travel Family. That effort and family-focused individuals and not JENNIFER FERGUSON has paid off to the tune of over 4,400 new full-fledged businesses, these travel planners are difficult to track using traditional travel planners. “We estimate there are industry methods. Presley explained that between 50,000 and 75,000 qualified peowhen volunteer leaders tell their followers ple in North America who lead travel for groups, clubs, organizations and friends/ about a planned long weekend trip, 30 family,” she said. people sign on. The result is a tourism The addition has built the total group expenditure of about $25,000. travel planner database to over 25,000 at “Take that by 50,000 volunteer group travel planners doing that three or four The Group Travel Family. When COVIDtimes a year and you get into billions of 19 took its toll on travel, The Group Travel dollars generated to destinations, hotels, Family decided to look to the future and airlines, cruise ships and the entire travel invest in finding new travel groups. industry,” said Ferguson.

“We have a great staff, and everyone “We have had a great time showing peofocused on identifying new travel groups ple how to have better trips, bigger groups that we could help develop into superCHARLIE PRESLEY and happier group leaders,” Presley said. groups,” said Charlie Presley of The Group “COVID-19 will make group travel stronTravel Family. ger because people like traveling together.”

Many of the travel groups that have been discovered are If you know someone who leads group travel, ask them unaware of their importance to the travel industry and report they to call The Group Travel Family at 800-628-0992 or to visit had no idea about an organization like The Group Travel Family to give them the tools necessary in development and growth. grouptravelfamily.com.

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IT’S TIME TO RESIST

COVID FATIGUE SALEM, Ohio — We don’t need to ask how 2020 went: COVID-19 ravaged the travel industry and all associated. The question now is, what does 2021 hold in store?

Most projections call for a steady rebound in group travel as people begin to feel more comfortable in traveling with friends, family and members of their clubs and organizations.

We at The Group Travel Family are in daily contact with travel groups and can attest to a building demand to begin travel again. It seems to be a pretty even split of people who are willing to accept travel with some safe practices and people who want to travel but are unwilling to accept the added risk. That is understandable.

Group travel is an important contributor to a healthful lifestyle. It facilitates human interaction and is good for mental and physical health. We must now guard against COVID fatigue.

COVID fatigue is the unspoken result of the societal shutdown and a real health hazard. Those of us pushing forward to regain freedom of travel have a responsibility to lead the way. As group travel leaders, we have always served our members in providing this necessary social interaction. People trust the group leader destination selection and enjoy the value of human interaction. With that in mind, group leaders must lead.

Now is the time to shake off COVID-19 fatigue and lead your members back to a healthful lifestyle. Plan that next trip — even a day outing will start the ball rolling.

Don’t worry about a lighter-than-normal busload. When that first trip returns and the word spreads throughout your community, others will follow. After all, they don’t call you the group leader for nothing.

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MYRTLE BEACH FAM

FAM participants enjoyed Brookgreen Gardens’ Nights of a Thousand Candles, which combines outdoor sculpture and millions of sparkling holiday lights.

Brookgreen Gardens was a magical night.”

— LORI HUET THOMAS TOURS & TRAVEL Brookgreen Gardens

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ON SITE IN MYRTLE BEACH TR AV E L PL AN N E RS DIS COV E R TH E B E AUT Y O F CH R ISTMAS O N TH E G R AN D STR AN D

THERE MAY BE NO BETTER PLACE TO GET INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT THAN MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA.

That’s what 10 tour operator and travel planner readers of The Group Travel Leader discovered during a four-day familiarization trip to the area in December. Hosted by the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, this trip introduced participants to signature attractions and special holiday events in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and nearby communities.

During the trip, participants got to see some of the Myrtle Beach area’s most popular attractions, such as Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing and Duplin Winery. They enjoyed tours and meals at numerous oceanfront resorts, as well as a scenic cruise aboard the Barefoot Queen. And during the evenings, they experienced the area’s holiday magic on full display at the Alabama Theatre, the Carolina Opry and Brookgreen Gardens’ Nights of a Thousand Candles.

Follow along on this itinerary to begin planning your group’s Christmastime trip to Myrtle Beach.

SkyWheel Myrtle Beach

Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood

Relaxing on the Barefoot Queen riverboat ALL PHOTOS BY BRIAN JEWELL

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Everything was great — I loved the Carolina Opry Show, the hospitality at Wicked Tuna and the conga line on the dinner cruise!”

— JENNY KEETON VILLAGE TRAVEL

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Exploring Brookgreen Gardens at night

An interactive light tunnel at Brookgreen Gardens’ Nights of a Thousand Candles

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• ARRIVAL IN MYRTLE BEACH • DINNER AT WICKED TUNA • BROOKGREEN GARDENS

Guests traveled from throughout the East and Midwest to arrive in the Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of South Carolina coast that encompasses Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and smaller waterfront communities. After checking into their accommodations at North Myrtle Beach’s Avista Resort, which would be home for the next four nights, the group gathered in the lobby and boarded a motorcoach to begin exploring the area.

The first afternoon’s journey took them to Murrells Inlet at the southern end of the Grand Strand for a visit to Wicked Tuna. This waterfront restaurant sits on the local MarshWalk, where diners can watch fishing boats come in with the day’s catch. The group enjoyed a wonderful welcome dinner featuring craft cocktails, fresh seafood and a scenic sunset.

After dinner, the group proceeded to the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens to experience the signature holiday event Nights of a Thousand Candles. The 9,100-acre Brookgreen Gardens was founded in 1931 by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington on a former rice plantation. The garden features 250-year-old oak trees, beautiful landscaping and more than 2,000 works of art and sculpture outdoors and in indoor galleries. During the holiday Nights of a Thousand Candles, more than 2,800 hand-lit flames illuminate the garden walkways, and over 1 million electric lights make the Live Oak Allee and other areas a sparkling holiday spectacle.

The waterfront view from Wicket Tuna in Murrells Inlet

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TANGER OUTLETS TRACK FAMILY FUN PARKS BEACH COVE RESORT LUNCH AT SEA WATCH RESORT DUPLIN WINERY BAREFOOT LANDING COCKTAILS AT HOOK & BARREL DINNER AT ORIGINAL BENJAMIN’S CALABASH SEAFOOD • CAROLINA OPRY

A friendly race at The Track

A catered breakfast in the Tanger Outlets food court

The second day of the FAM began with a trip to one of two Tanger Outlet malls in the Myrtle Beach area. Attendees enjoyed a catered breakfast before the mall opened, as well as a “mini marketplace,” in which they had short appointments with representatives from various Myrtle Beach lodging, dining and attraction companies. After the marketplace, the group enjoyed shopping at the mall, followed by a trip to the Track Family Fun Park and tours of two beachfront resorts. After lunch, the FAM proceeded to Duplin Winery, one of the largest wine tasting rooms in the state, and made a stop at Barefoot Landing, a popular shopping and dining destination on the Intracoastal Waterway. Next was a sampling of gourmet appetizers and signature cocktails, and Hook and Barrel, a high-end restaurant focused on local produce and seafood. The fun continued over dinner at the Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood, followed by a performance of “The Christmas Show of the South” at the Carolina Opry.

BREAKFAST AT TANGER OUTLETS The group arrived at Tanger Outlets before stores opened and enjoyed a hot breakfast in the mall’s on-site food court.

Throughout the room, representatives of Myrtle Beach area hotels, restaurants and attractions had set up exhibit booths, and the travel planner guests spent time visiting each booth to learn about group tour opportunities offered by each of the companies.

After this mini-marketplace session, attendees enjoyed a short power-shopping session at the outlets, and some returned later the next day for more retail therapy.

TRACK FAMILY FUN PARK The next stop for the FAM group was the Track Family Fun Park. Known for its two helix-shaped, elevated go-kart tracks, this is a popular destination for student and youth groups, as well as families traveling in Myrtle Beach. The group enjoyed playing the dozens of video and midway games at the center’s arcade and competed in a fast-paced go-kart race in new electric vehicles.

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Arcade games at The Track

Pastries at Croissants Bakery

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A tasting at Duplin Winery

Unlimited crab legs at Original Benjamin’s

Preparing for a go-kart ride at The Track

Croissants Bakery

“The Christmas Show of the South” at the Carolina Opry

An elegant lunch at Sea Watch Resort

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RESORT TOURS Accommodations are an important part of any trip to the beach, and this morning featured stops at two sister properties in the Myrtle Beach area. The Beach Cove Resort features a range of oceanfront suites and condos, along with three outdoor pools and a 350-foot-long lazy river. Next, the group traveled the short distance to the Sea Watch Resort, which features luxury studios and condominiums, along with 19 water features. After the tour, the group enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the resort’s dining room, complete with festive holiday decorations.

DUPLIN WINERY After lunch, the group traveled to the Duplin Winery at the Barefoot Landing shopping and dining complex. Founded in North Carolina in 1975, this winery specializes in sweet muscadine wines and operates an impressive 15,000-square-foot tasting room and retail shop in Myrtle Beach. The group enjoyed a sampling of 11 wines, including three varieties that Duplin produces especially for the Christmas season. Groups can also tour the on-site bottling area and enjoy live music on the Duplin patio.

ORIGINAL BENJAMIN’S CALABASH SEAFOOD An afternoon of sampling Myrtle Beach delicacies came to a fitting end at Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood, one of the area’s most famous restaurants. With space for 1,000 guests and a buffet that includes more than 170 items, the restaurant specializes in Calabash-style seafood, which is lightly breaded and fried. Along with dinner, group members got to explore the restaurant’s massive collection of model ships, as well as the holiday exhibition of gingerbread houses created by locals.

‘THE CHRISTMAS SHOW OF THE SOUTH’ AT THE CAROLINA OPRY Many groups come to Myrtle Beach in December for the holiday shows at local theaters, and “The Christmas Show of the South” at the Carolina Opry is one of the best. Opened more than 35 years ago, the Carolina Opry is dedicated to showcasing local talent from around the Grand Strand area. The group enjoyed dozens of Christmas songs performed by the cast and house band of the Carolina Opry, as well as creative comedy and beautiful holiday decorations.

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BREAKFAST AT ISLAND Day • VISTA RESORT

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DAYTON HOUSE RESORT BROADWAY AT THE BEACH RIPLEY’S AQUARIUM SKYWHEEL MYRTLE BEACH BAREFOOT QUEEN DINNER CRUISE ALABAMA THEATRE

FAM guests began their third day in Myrtle Beach with breakfast at the beautiful Island Vista Resort, followed by a tour of another property, the Dayton House Resort. Then participants got some free time to explore Broadway at the Beach, a shopping and entertainment district with more than 100 stores, restaurants and attractions. They reconvened at Ripley’s Aquarium, one of the area’s anchor attractions, for lunch and a tour. Next came a visit to SkyWheel, a 200-foot-high Ferris wheel that offers unparalleled views of the coast. After returning to earth, the group traveled to the marina at Barefoot Landing to board the Barefoot Queen, a riverboat that offers scenic cruises up and down the gorgeous Intracoastal Waterway. Following dinner on board, the group departed for “The South’s Grandest Christmas Show” at the Alabama Theatre.

RESORT TOURS The group started the morning at the Island Vista Resort, a beautiful luxury property right on the waterfront. After a tour and a delicious breakfast, they made the short trip to the Dayton House Resort, a property ideally situated for student groups and others seeking value-priced accommodations for their Myrtle Beach trips.

BROADWAY AT THE BEACH Billing itself as the most popular tourist destination in the Myrtle Beach area, Broadway at the Beach is a large-scale shopping, dining and entertainment complex spread out along the banks of a 23-acre man-made lake. The group took time to explore some of the area’s 70 retail shops, as well as attractions such as WonderWorks, and to admire its 46-foot-tall Christmas tree. Broadway at the Beach is now working on an expansion that will bring an outdoor entertainment area called the Hangout.

The pool deck at Island Vista Resort

“The South’s Grandest Christmas Show” at the Alabama Theatre

You did a great job showing us all we got to see — the shows, nice hotels and great food. My group likes the shows, good food and the beach.”

— SUE SOWEDERS GLENBURN TRAVELERS

Wonderworks at Broadway at the Beach

RIPLEY’S AQUARIUM Anchoring one end of Broadway at the Beach, Ripley’s Aquarium is a popular stop for groups touring Myrtle Beach at any time of year. The group gathered there for a boxed lunch and a tour of the 85,000-square-foot aquarium, which features hundreds of stingrays, sea turtles, exotic fish, barracudas, sharks, jellies, eels and other aquatic creatures. In addition to the animals, the group enjoyed the Festival of Trees, a holiday exhibit of 50 Christmas trees, each decorated in honor of a specific state.

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SKYWHEEL MYRTLE BEACH After seeing ocean creatures up-close, the group next got an entirely different experience: observing the sea and sand from nearly 200 feet in the air aboard the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel. This huge Ferris wheel features fully enclosed, climate-controlled gondolas that offer a smooth ride and sweeping views of the South Carolina coast.

BAREFOOT QUEEN DINNER CRUISE The beautiful scenic experiences continued after the SkyWheel with a private cruise aboard the Barefoot Queen, a 70-foot riverboat that will begin offering sightseeing and meal cruises on the Intracoastal Waterway this year. The group enjoyed food, drinks, music and dancing on board. The crew also took time to showcase the stunning private homes built on both sides of the waterway, some of which belong to celebrities and other notable Myrtle Beach residents.

A jellyfish exhibit at Ripley’s Aquarium

‘THE SOUTH’S GRANDEST CHRISTMAS SHOW’ AT THE ALABAMA THEATRE The day ended in grand style at the Alabama Theatre, where “The South’s Grandest Christmas Show” has become a favorite tradition of groups and families traveling to Myrtle Beach during the holidays. The Broadway-style musical revue features elaborate staging and special effects, along with a talented cast of singers, dancers and musicians performing a variety of Christmas songs, new and old.

Taking in the view from the SkyWheel

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Sunset on the Intracoastal Waterway

• FAREWELL BREAKFAST AT AVISTA RESORT • DEPARTURE FOR HOME

The final day of the FAM ended with a leisurely breakfast in the Just Off Main restaurant at the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach. Travel planners chatted with the resort’s sales representatives and members of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to begin brainstorming the return trips they would make with their groups in 2021.

MYRTLE BEACH AREA CVB SANDY HAINES 800-488-8998

Boarding the Barefoot Queen

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SANDY.HAINES@VISITMYRTLEBEACH.COM

VISITMYRTLEBEACH.COM

WITH THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER

WITH THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER

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M6ake Waves2

in Myrtle Beach

Myrtle80Bea0.4chGroups.com 88.8998

With 60 miles of beautiful coastline, two state parks, and exciting venues offering diverse experiences, you’ll find no better place to bring your group together than in Myrtle Beach. Let our award-winning CVB staff help you plan your next event to meet today’s new safety standards.

Contact Sandy Haines at Sandy.Haines@VisitMyrtleBeach.com.

“The Young Sabot Maker”

by Henry Ossawa Tanner, coming to the Denver Museum of Art

k c a b e m o C

COLLECTIONS A background animation cell from Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke” will be exhibited at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

COURTESY ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES

A Miyazaki still at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

COURTESY ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES

A Mary Cassatt painting from the Denver Art Museum’s upcoming exhibition COURTESY DENVER ART MUSEUM

A Van Gogh painting from the Dallas Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition

A Niki de Saint Phalle installation coming to New York’s MOMA PS1 COURTESY MOMA PS1

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Van Gogh’s “Olive Grove” “The Olive Trees”

by Vincent van Gogh

MUSEUMS

COURTESY DMA

ISSUE

COURTESY DMA

A M E R I C A’ S M U S E U M S H AV E B I G P L A N S F O R T R A V E L’ S R E C O V E R Y B Y PA U L A AV E N G L A D Y C H

A

fter the widespread disruption of 2020, many of the country’s top museums now have blockbuster exhibitions scheduled to help bring visitors back. From Los Angeles to New York, here are some of the top upcoming exhibitions groups won’t want to miss.

In 2021, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will collaborate on the first-ever exhibition dedicated to Vincent van Gogh’s olive grove series, which he painted while at the asylum of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence between June and December 1889. The paintings and drawings in the series are from both public and private collections around the world. This is the first time they have been reunited in an exhibition. The exhibition also highlights new discoveries about the artist’s techniques, materials and palette that emerged from a collaborative conservation and scientific research project that included all 15 paintings in the series.

“This exciting partnership with the Van Gogh Museum leverages the joint strengths of our two institutions — in curating and research — to present a fresh look at a much-beloved artist,” said Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director.

“Through world-class exhibitions such as this one, as well as the scholarship behind them, the DMA continues to uncover new insights on even the most time-honored artists for our communities and the art world more broadly.”

The collection of paintings and drawings in the exhibition reveals Van Gogh’s passionate investigation of the expressive powers of color and line and his choice of the olive groves as an evocative subject. It also explores Van Gogh’s tendency to produce groups of paintings on one subject that captured his interest.

D M A .O R G

AC A D E M Y M U S E U M .O R G

DA LL A S M U S EU M O F A RT O C TO B E R 17, 2021- FE B RUA RY 6, 202 2

COURTESY DENVER ART MUSEUM

ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES, LOS A N G E LES O PE N I N G S E P TE M B E R 30

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which will open to the public September 30, will feature a temporary exhibit of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. The exhibit highlights 300 objects from all of Miyazaki’s animated feature films, including “My Neighbor Totoro” and the Academy Award-winning “Spirited Away.”

“Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most important filmmakers of our time and has left his mark across filmmaking, not just animation,” said Raul Guzman, assistant curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. “As the first museum retrospective dedicated to Miyazaki in North America, the exhibition represents every production step in his filmmaking: storyboards, image boards, layouts, backgrounds, character sketches, just to name a few. We’re so happy to have collaborated with Studio Ghibli in bringing objects, many of which have never before left Japan, to the United States for the first time.”

The exhibit is designed to take visitors on a journey through Miyazaki’s works through the eyes of Mei, a 4-year-old character from “My Neighbor Totoro.” Each gallery details how Miyazaki created his memorable characters and how his films were made, including his long-term collaboration with the late Isao Takahata, with whom he founded Studio Ghibli.

The exhibition also touches on his earlier works as an animator, including “Heidi, Girl of the Alps” and his first feature film, “Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro.” Another gallery details how Miyazaki created his fantastical worlds, and the “Transformations” gallery explores the metamorphoses his characters and settings make in his films. “The Magical Forest” gallery shows how mystical trees in many of his films represent a connection to another world.

‘Van Gogh and the Olive Groves’

COURTESY DMA

‘Hayao Miyazaki’

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Immersive art at Newfields’ “The Lume Indianapolis”

‘Niki de Saint Phalle ’

M U S EU M O F M O D E R N A RT P S1, Q U E E N S, N E W YO R K M A RC H 11-AU G U ST

The Museum of Modern Art at PS1 in Queens will feature the first New York exhibition of the work of Niki de Saint Phalle, a visionary feminist and activist artist who began producing artworks related to women’s rights, climate change and HIV/AIDS in a variety of mediums in the 1960s. She is best known for her large-scale sculptures, architectural projects and sculpture gardens, but she also produced books, prints, films, theater sets, clothing, jewelry and her own perfume.

The artist was often at the forefront of addressing pressing social and political issues of her time. Her illustrated book “AIDS: You Can’t Catch It Holding Hands” was an attempt to destigmatize the disease.

The New York exhibition will take a closer look at Saint Phalle’s large-scale outdoor sculptures, including the Tarot Garden, a large architectural 20

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park outside Rome that she began constructing in the late 1970s and continued to develop alongside key collaborators until her death in 2002.

The Tarot Garden opened to the public in 1998.

The sculptures are based on the Major Arcana of the tarot deck. The exhibition will include photos and drawings of the Tarot Garden as well as models that Saint Phalle created for its various structures.

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‘W histler to Cassatt: American Painters in France’

D E N V E R A RT M U S EU M N OV E M B E R 14, 2021- FE B RUA RY 13, 202 2

The Denver Museum of Art’s “Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France” will feature more than 100 paintings from 1855 to 1913 that explore how American artists were influenced by the French style during that period. John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt and James Abbott McNeill Whistler were among the first Americans to travel to Paris and other cities in Europe to study at the most famous art salons of the time.

The exhibition also details how American paint-

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Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures in the upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art PS1

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A John Singer Sargent painting from the Denver Art Museum’s upcoming “Whistler to Cassatt” exhibition

ers received instruction from private ateliers, at the École des Beaux-Arts and at artist colonies in Normandy and Brittany and how that instruction influenced their own artistic styles. The exhibition reveals that the artists who spent time in Paris painted in many different styles, including classicism, realism, tonalism, impressionism and hybrids of each. Each painting was the result of hours of labor-intensive preparation. The resulting work was a clear visual composition based on a literary narrative. Many works at the time focused on popular domestic themes and historical subjects.

“The Resurrection of Lazarus” (1896) and “The Young Sabot Maker” (1895) by Henry Ossawa Tanner, a Black American artist who trained at the Academie Julian, are on display, JUNE as are the works of Walter Gay, Henry Mosler and Frank Biggs, the first three American artists to have works acquired by the French state after the works were shown at the annual Salon.

the-art, high-definition projectors and a classical musical score.

Instead of slowly walking by Van Gogh’s paintings and reading placards about when and where he painted them, visitors to the exhibition will be able to walk through the artist’s greatest works, including “Sunflowers” and “The Starry Night.” The exhibit takes up 30,000 square feet on the fourth floor of the museum and is the largest continuous exhibition space in Newfields’ 137-year history.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to partner with Grande Experiences to become the first museum in the country to fully embrace the future of digital exhibitions,” said Charles Venable, director and CEO at Newfields. “My experience on other continents demonstrated how the combination of cutting-edge digital projection technology and great works of art can motivate new audiences to engage with art exhibitions. Welcoming diverse audiences is a major goal of Newfields, and we believe ‘The Lume Indianapolis’ will attract infrequent art museum visitors because they will be able to fully immerse themselves in an artist’s work in less formal ways than in a traditional gallery. ‘The Lume Indianapolis’ is more than an exhibition, it is an experience.”

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5-13, 2021 FDR PARK - PHILADELPHIA, PA

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‘The Lume Indianapolis’ I N D IA N A PO LI S M U S EU M O F A RT AT N E WFI E LDS J U N E 2021

Fans of Vincent van Gogh will not want to miss “The Lume Indianapolis” at Newfields’ Indianapolis Museum of Art. The multisensory exhibition, created by Australian-based Grande Experiences, will transform Van Gogh’s breathtaking post-impressionistic paintings into 3D, floor-to-ceiling digital works of art using nearly 150 state-of-

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Group reservations available now!

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The area around Gallup in western New Mexico is home to more than 1,000 Native American artists.

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A PERFECT PALETTE EMBRACE THE COLORS OF NEW MEXICO

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BY BRIAN JEWELL

here are few places as colorful as New Mexico.

From the brilliant turquoise and silver of Native American jewelry in Santa Fe to the deep green of Hatch chilies in Las Cruces, the pale pink of Albuquerque’s Sandia Mountains and the vibrant murals of downtown Gallup, the Land of Enchantment has more than enough imagery to live up to its billing. Those colors represent a rich blend of native culture, Western history and extraordinary landscapes that pack a tour itinerary with amazing experiences.

Here are four memorable destinations to discover on your group’s next trip through New Mexico.

AU T H E N T IC A RT I N SA N TA F E Santa Fe has been attracting artists and art lovers alike for well over a century. Groups that visit this New Mexico city in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains will find plenty of opportunities to soak in the area’s art heritage, as well as its history and indigenous culture.

“The first place to visit is the Santa Fe Plaza,” said Joanne Hudson, public relations manager for Tourism Santa Fe. “In that area, you’re going to find the Palace of the Governors, which is the oldest continuously used public building in the country. That’s also where the Native American artists set up pretty much every day of the year. You’ll find artists from the surrounding pueblos, who come in and sell what they or their families have made. You’re buying directly from the artist or someone in their family. It’s an artist market, as well as living history.”

Groups that spend time at the plaza will find lots of silver and turquoise jewelry, which is a signature product of the area. Vendors also offer beaded jewelry and other beadwork, as well as woodcarvings, pottery and woven baskets.

The plaza is surrounded by many local boutiques, art galleries and restaurants, so it makes a great place to give travelers free time.

Just a few blocks away, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, detailing the life and

COURTESY CITY OF GALLUP

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L I F T OF F I N A L BUQU E RQU E About 60 miles south of Santa Fe, Albuquerque is known for its spectacular scenery and distinctive outdoor activities.

“We’re the hot air balloon capital of the world, and that’s always really popular on people’s itineraries,” said Kristin McGrath, vice president of sales, service and sports for Visit Albuquerque. “As long as conditions are right, it’s a yearround activity. We have a number of balloon companies that love working with groups. Some balloons can take up to 12 people at a time, and if a group is larger than that, they’ll send several balloons up from the launch field. It’s always fun to go up in a balloon and see your friends in another balloon.”

Though ballooning is available at any time of year, many groups plan their visits to coincide with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October. This nine-day event features more than 500 hot air balloons from around the world. Groups can visit to watch them take off in the morning, interact with pilots throughout the day or take in the beauty of the balloon glow after dark.

Exploring Santa Fe’s House of Columbus Zoo Eternal Return

Santa Fe pottery

PHOTOS COURTESY TOURISM SANTA FE

Another way to see the area’s scenery from above is to take a ride on the Sandia Peak Tramway, which transports passengers into the beautiful Sandia Mountains just outside the city.

“The vistas are beautiful,” McGrath said. “It’s a great place to see the city. And you’re facing west, so it’s an awesome place to watch the sunset.”

The ride takes about 15 minutes in fully enclosed gondolas. Once they reach the mountain peak, visitors can take photos, hike on several trails or indulge in a memorable meal at Ten 3, a restaurant named for the peak’s elevation of 10,300 feet above sea level.

Groups visiting Albuquerque should also plan to spend some time at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

“New Mexico has 19 pueblos, and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is the gateway, an introduction to all of them,” McGrath said. “It’s more than a museum. There are rotating exhibits, but my favorite thing is the programming. We love taking groups to experience some of the dance performances. The week of Balloon Fiesta, there is programming every day that highlights the different pueblo traditions.”

Finally, groups can relive some of the glory days of Route 66 in the Knob Hill neighborhood, which features period architecture, neon lights and other hallmarks of the Mother Road’s illustrious history in Albuquerque.

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work of this legendary Western artist, is another popular stop for art lovers.

“The museum is great because it really shows you her life and how she became the artist she was known for,” Hudson said. “It really connects how New Mexico influenced her.

They show her contribution to American modernism and the progression of American art as well.”

For a different kind of art experience, Hudson suggested that groups visit the House of Eternal Return, an avantgarde art installation created by the local collective known as Meow Wolf.

“It’s a fun interactive space inside a full-scale Victorian house,” she said. “It’s almost as if you are walking into a piece of art, and it’s 3D and experiential. You’re part of the art, and you get to explore it.”

Groups shouldn’t leave Santa Fe without spending time on Canyon Road, which features about 100 art galleries in a half-mile stretch. Many of those galleries have outdoor sculpture gardens in addition to traditional indoor space.

Specialized art guides offer gallery tours for groups.

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White Sands National Park

H IS TORY A N D C U LT U R E I N G A L LU P An Albuquerque balloon flight COURTESY VISIT ALBUQUERQUE

Folk dancing in Albuquerque’s Old Town

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Handmade turquoise jewelry in Gallup

Driving two hours west from Albuquerque will bring visitors to Gallup, a town of about 21,000 people near the Arizona border. Blending Native American culture, Western heritage, a rich artistic tapestry and Route 66 tradition, Gallup is a mile-high destination that will add distinctive experiences to a group adventure in New Mexico.

The Gallup area is home to sizable Navajo and Zuni populations, including more than 1,000 artists from these and other nations. Over 70% of the world’s authentic Native American art comes from this region, and groups can find their own pieces to take home at more than 100 trading posts, galleries and other art vendors in and around Gallup.

There’s more art to discover in the streets of downtown.

The area has 14 public murals that depict scenes from Native American life, westward expansion, Hispanic heritage, Route 66, the area’s mining history and more. Nearby, We the People Park features a 110-foot-long steel sculpture that represents free speech, pluralism, democracy and coexistence with the environment.

Finally, Route 66 fans will want to take in historic Gallup sites on the Mother Road. One prime example is the El Rancho Hotel, which sat along Route 66 and played host to celebrities such as John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan and Kirk Douglas. The actors stayed at the hotel while filming movies in the area during the ’40s and ’50s.

Today, groups can enjoy a meal or an overnight at the hotel, as well as a tour of the lobby, which is decorated with memorabilia from the golden age of Hollywood and Route 66.

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Chiles drying in Albuquerque COURTESY VISIT ALBUQUERQUE

Albuquerque gallery

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El Rancho Hotel, a Gallup Route 66 landmark

GE T T I NG C H I L E I N L A S C RUC E S At the southern end of New Mexico, about 45 miles north of El Paso, Texas, and the Mexican border, the Las Cruces area offers a distinctive New Mexico experience: feasting on green chile.

“We’re known for our cuisine,” said Rochelle MillerHernandez, executive director of Visit Las Cruces. “We’re in the heart of the Mesilla Valley chile region, where the Hatch green chile pepper is grown. It has actually been trademarked. It’s a very flavorful crop of chile that has grown in popularity throughout the United States, and people order it from all over the world. They say the soil in the area gives it a really distinct taste.”

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Rio Grande Winery in Las Cruces

Travelers can experience Hatch green chile at just about any restaurant in town, enjoying it in traditional dishes such as enchiladas or in novel applications like green chile pistachios, green chile margaritas and green chile ice cream sundaes. And there’s more to learn about the Hatch green chile and other chile varieties at New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute. Groups can tour the lab there and see the Chile Garden, where scientists grow and study more than 150 kinds of peppers.

In addition to peppers, Las Cruces is known for its wine.

Groups can tour several wineries in the area — including La Viña, one of the oldest wineries in the United States.

“They have traced their grapes back as far as the 1500s,” Miller-Hernandez said. “They come from vines that were brought over from Spain to Mexico.”

In addition to highlighting regional food and drink, Las Cruces also serves as a great jumping-off point for exploring other nearby attractions. Historic Mesilla, a village contiguous to Las Cruces, is known for its scenic plaza and calendar of cultural festivals. And most groups in Las Cruces also make the trek 50 miles north to White Sands National Park.

“It’s an amazing, living park with sparkling white sand

New Mexican cuisine at a Mesilla restaurant

PHOTOS COURTESY VISIT LAS CRUCES

dunes that are constantly moving,” Miller-Hernandez said.

“You can have a tour with a ranger on a coach or get out and walk and go sand sledding. You can get out on top of a peak and look out, and it seems like the dunes go on forever.”

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U N F I LT E R E D T R U T H

LOUISVILLE LAUNCHES B L A C K H E R I TA G E COLLECTION

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BY RACHEL CARTER

eople know Louisville, Kentucky, for its bourbon and its Thoroughbreds, but they may not know about the Black community’s rich contributions to both. They may not know that Louisville’s official drink, the Old-Fashioned, was created by a Black bartender. They may not know that the first-ever Kentucky Derby was won by a Black jockey. They may not know that the historically Black neighborhood of Russell was once known as Louisville’s Harlem.

Louisville has an entire hidden history of African American contributions to the community and to the culture, history that Louisville Tourism hopes to showcase to visitors.

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which was launched in January 2018, includes stops in Louisville at the Muhammad Ali Center and the Louisville Downtown Civil Rights Trail. Shortly after its launch, Louisville Tourism officials began exploring options to create its own Black heritage program.

Louisville Tourism realized the African American traveler was a market the organization had not targeted, but “we knew we had a good foundation, especially with the Muhammad Ali piece,” said Saundra Robertson, tourism sales manager.

Louisville Tourism and its partners spent the past several months developing experiences at six attractions to tell six different stories of Black community, culture and contribution. The agency will launch a new initiative, Bourbon City’s Black Heritage Unfiltered Truth Collection, at the African American Travel Conference, March 30-April 1, in Louisville.

“We just really wanted to have some experiences that highlight this history that has never been told before,” Robertson said.

Here are six Unfiltered Truth experiences groups can look forward to when they visit Louisville.

An exhibit on Black jockeys at the Kentucky Derby Museum is part of the new Bourbon City’s Black Heritage Unfiltered Truth Collection in Louisville.

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Locust Grove, a Louisville historic site COURTESY LOUISVILLE TOURISM

Roots 101 African American Museum

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EVAN WILLIAMS: THE IDEAL BARTENDER EXPERIENCE

KENTUCKY CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE

Tom Bullock was a Louisville native and a famed pre-Prohibition bartender. He is credited with creating the Old-Fashioned and was also the first African American author to publish a cocktail manual. At the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, groups will go downstairs to the secret Speakeasy — password required to enter — where they’ll be greeted by an actor portraying Bullock. During a 45-minute experience, Bullock will demonstrate how to make an Old-Fashioned as well as another specialty cocktail. While leading the tastings, Bullock will talk about his life and legacy, including how, in 1917, he published “The Ideal Bartender” himself because no one would publish it for him.

Guests will leave with a signature Evan Williams cocktail glass and a coaster.

One of Louisville’s most important stories of achievement is Walnut Street, which was the heart of the Russell neighborhood known as Louisville’s Harlem. In the mid-1900s, the prosperous thoroughfare was bustling with Black-owned movie theaters, restaurants and nightclubs. For the program’s main experience, local sculptor Ed Hamilton will share stories of growing up in the neighborhood; his mother and father owned a barbershop on Walnut Street, and a chair from his parents’ shop is on display at the center. Videos, archival footage and photographs will highlight the music scene on Walnut Street; Derby season on Walnut Street, and urban renewal, which ultimately led to the demise of Walnut Street. Groups will also learn about Mary Ann Fisher, who was a background singer for Ray Charles.

FRAZIER HISTORY MUSEUM

LOCUST GROVE

At the Frazier History Museum, groups will learn about African Americans’ contributions to Louisville’s bourbon industry, from the earliest days of still workers at Brown-Forman to today’s pioneering Black Master Distillers. The setting is meant to be similar to that of a distillery; an actor portraying a grounds foreman greets the visitors as though they’re going to be working there.

“African Americans were in the shadows, but you can’t distill the bourbon without doing all the work beforehand, so he leads them through the worker experience,” Robertson said. In addition to bourbon tastings, the experience educates visitors about modern Black-owned distilleries, like Brough Brothers in Louisville; Fresh Bourbon in Lexington, Kentucky; and Uncle Nearest, just outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Locust Grove is an 18th-century farm about six miles from downtown Louisville. Today, the city owns the remaining 55 acres of William Croghan’s original estate, as well as the family’s 1792 Georgian mansion, and operates the property as a historic interpretive site, offering tours of the house and grounds. For its new Unfiltered Truth experience, Locust Grove will share stories from the perspective of enslaved people who lived and worked on the estate, including those who built the house and the 30 to 45 enslaved workers who tended the farm. A laundress reenactor will greet groups and walk them through the house, recounting details about the daily lives and duties of enslaved individuals and sharing some of their experiences. A distillery-assistant reenactor will then take guests outside to learn about activities on the farm and to visit the distillery and kitchen outbuildings.

ROOTS 101 AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM The Roots 101 African American Museum is set to open this spring, and along with exhibits, artifacts and art, the museum will offer a special Unfiltered Truth Collection experience. During the Sankofa Experience, an actor portraying a West African king will greet the group and lead them from the shores of West Africa to the slave markets of America, telling the story of how a king became a slave. At the “Big Momma’s House” exhibit, another actor playing Big Momma will sit in her rocking chair and tell visitors how African American history has been handed down orally through a rich tradition of stories and song. Other exhibits will explore Black music in Louisville and the rest of Kentucky, African American art and African Americans in horse racing.

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KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM The Kentucky Derby Museum is located at Churchill Downs racetrack, where the Kentucky Derby has run for the past 146 years. That’s where Oliver Lewis, a Black jockey, won the first ever Derby on May 17, 1875, riding high on the back of Aristides. “Proud of My Calling” is the museum’s new immersive presentation and tour that will feature actors recounting what it was like to be a jockey at Churchill Downs. One of the actors will portray Isaac Burns Murphy, a black American jockey who was the first jockey to be elected to the National Racing Hall of Fame.

Groups may also opt to take the museum’s 90-minute African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing Tour, which is separate from the Unfiltered Truth experience. Both, however, end at the museum’s exhibit about Black jockeys.

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DISCOVER BOURBON CITY’S BLACK HERITAGE

Beginning March of 2021, groups can take a step back in time and explore Louisville’s Black heritage with the Unfiltered Truth Collection. These six new immersive experiences feature perspectives and histories that you may not have heard before. From stories of Louisville’s historic Black neighborhoods to Bourbon and horse racing, these are ideal for any group.

Learn more at GoToLouisville.com/Unfiltered-Truth-Collection

s e k a L t a Gre

SPEC I A L SEC T ION

Inland Icons THESE GREAT LAKES CITIES HIGHLIGHT AMERICA’S FRESHWATER PLAYGROUNDS

Door County’s Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

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BY JILL GLEESON

hey are the largest freshwater lakes on the planet by area, five bodies of water that, all told, hold 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water. Lakes Michigan, Erie, Huron, Superior and Ontario are some of Earth’s greatest natural marvels. So it’s no surprise that around the aptly named Great Lakes have sprouted settlements, big and small, bustling and bucolic.

These destinations are more than base camps from which to explore these water wonders. Each boasts its own specific charms, many of which can be tailored to group travelers. From enriching arts and culture to champion green spaces, from diverting nightlife to plenty of picturesque shoreline, they offer groups guaranteed good times along the Great Lakes.

Door Cou nt y, Wi scon si n

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Sticking out like a jaunty, hitchhiking thumb into Lake Michigan, Door County is all about water. “Big water,” as Jon Jarosh, director of communications and public relations, Destination Door County, calls it.

“For a vast majority of our county, when people look out at the water, they can’t see land,” he said. “There are parts where you can see the other side, especially on the bay side, but the farther north you go, that fades away due to the curvature of the earth. So you get a big water feel, which sets the table for the beautiful scenery that we’ve got here.”

That scenery, which includes 300 miles of coastline, is enhanced by five state parks. Groups won’t want to miss Peninsula State Park, which features Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. Dating back to 1868, it offers special docent-led tours to visitors May through October. Speaking of May, that’s the projected opening month for the park’s new, accessible lookout tower that will give all travelers a breathtaking view of the lake. Summer 2021 will also see the seasonal reopening of the

COURTESY DESTINATION DOOR COUNTY

Door County cherries COURTESY DESTINATION DOOR COUNTY

“I’ve never been to a city where people are so welcoming, where they are just

Nightfall on the Flats in Cleveland

so happy to have you in the city.”

— GORDON TAYLOR, DESTINATION CLEVELAND

Cleveland’s waterfront Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

BY AERIAL AGENTS, COURTESY POSITIVELY CLEVELAND

Groups can tour a beautiful lavender farm on Washington Island, part of Wisconsin’s scenic Door County on Lake Michigan.

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Northern Sky Theater, which presents original musical comedies in the park’s amphitheater.

For groups wanting to get on the water, the Washington Island Ferry transports even motorcoaches from the northern tip of the peninsula to the island. Once there, groups can tour the lovely Fragrant Isle lavender farm. Back on the mainland, Door County, the fourth-largest producer of tart cherries in the country, offers cherry picking from mid-July to mid-August. Or groups can dine on cherry French toast, a local favorite, at the White Gull Inn. D O O R C O U N T Y.C O M

Clevela nd , Oh io

Cleveland rocks, and not just because this comfortable, charming city that unspools along Lake Erie is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cleveland also offers groups everything from first-rate performing and visual art venues to a nightlife district chock full of restaurants, bars and clubs, all without the traffic and sky-high prices typical of cities.

And then there is Cleveland’s renowned hospitality.

“There are really friendly people here,” said Gordon Taylor, Destination Cleveland’s vice president of convention sales and services.

“I’ve never been to a city where people are so welcoming, where they are just so happy to have you in the city.”

Groups will want to begin any tour of the city at the lakefront, along which sit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center. Technology, mathematics and science lovers will get a kick out of the Science Center, and next door, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame features galleries that detail the history of rock and the legends who influenced it. And, as Taylor noted, “the Rock Hall does tours for groups with private guides, where they can even get interactive and pick up the guitar, play on the drums, things like that.”

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Farther afield, the University Circle neighborhood hosts world-class art institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, known for works by luminaries like van Gogh, Picasso and Monet. When the sun sets, groups will want to make their way to the Flats district, filled with fun entertainment venues like the Music Box Supper Club. Or groups can get a behind-the-scenes tour and then see a show at Playhouse Square, which offers five theaters in one location.

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Ma ck i n a c Isla nd , M ich i g a n

The first thing group leaders should know about Mackinac Island is that it’s not pronounced “mack-in-AC,” but “MACK-in-awe.” The second thing is that almost all vehicles, including motorcoaches, aren’t allowed there.

“There are horses instead of cars transporting people around, transporting packages from point A to point B,” said Tim Hygh, executive director of Mackinac Island Tourism. “There are people on bicycles, people walking — it’s just a totally different vibe. We like to say the minute you step foot on the island your blood pressure should go down a few points because you’re not going to hear the din of automobiles.

You’ll hear people talking and children laughing. It’s an idyllic setting.”

Tucked away on Lake Huron, between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsula, Mackinac Island is accessible only by boat and plane. Two ferry companies — Shepler’s Ferry and Star Line Ferry — service the island, dropping passengers off on Main Street. From there, groups can wander the sweet little lakeside downtown, filled with independent shops and eateries. For those who can’t wait to get back on the water, Hygh recommends a 90-minute sunset cruise with Sip N’ Sail, which also offers private group charters.

Also popular with groups are Mackinac Island Carriage Tours’ narrated rides around the island, which stop at sites including Fort Mackinac. A Revolutionary War-era citadel, it features living-history reenactors as well as a tearoom with a stunning view of the harbor. Or groups can enjoy a meal at the celebrated Grand Hotel. Built in 1887, it’s a Queen Anne-style jewel boasting the largest front porch in the country.

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Small but mighty, Duluth, Minnesota, just might be the perfect getaway for groups that love the outdoors but don’t want to miss out on arts and culture.

“We’re right on the head of Lake Superior, and we have so many outdoor options,” said Maarja Hewitt, media communications manager, Visit Duluth. “We have 129 city parks, hundreds of miles of trails to mountain bike and hike and, in the winter, to Nordic ski and to fat bike on. And then we have great theater, museums, galleries and an awesome cuisine scene, so we also have all of the amenities that a city has to offer.”

They include a thriving waterfront district: Duluth’s Canal Park offers groups the chance to experience the city’s best restaurants, breweries and shops within sight of the city’s iconic Aerial Lift Bridge, under which sail massive freighters going to and coming from Duluth Superior Harbor.

Farther north on the lake, Glensheen Mansion invites groups to step back in time to 1908, when the perfectly preserved home was built. Or

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Navy Pier and Chicago’s Lake Michigan shoreline COURTESY CHOOSE CHICAGO

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium

COURTESY CHOOSE CHICAGO

they can stick by the harbor and visit the Great Lakes Aquarium, which offers special rates or even overnight stays to groups.

Other options include taking a cruise on Superior with the Vista Fleet or hopping aboard the North Shore Scenic Railroad for a 90-minute roundtrip ride. Both offer private charters, but no matter what other adventure leaders choose for their groups, Hewitt recommends a visit to St. Louis County Depot, which houses eight nonprofit ventures, including the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

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Ch ic a go

The largest American city on the Great Lakes, glitzy, glorious Chicago sits prettily alongside Lake Michigan. Boasting a population of nearly 3 million, it provides group travelers all the delights of a big, bustling urban center, including world-class museums and green spaces. Many of them are located a stone’s throw from the water, along Lake Shore Drive, one of Chicago’s major thoroughfares.

Groups can thus hop aboard the motorcoach and follow it from one great attraction after another.

Leaders might want to begin their group’s tour of lakefront goodies in the Museum Campus area, home to the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. All provide special offerings to groups, from reduced ticket prices to bespoke tours, and are considered part of the sprawling, sublime 319-acre Grant Park, which encompasses other can’t-miss attractions like

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CHIPPEWA FALLS WISCONSIN HERE WHEN YOU’RE READY.

Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion COURTESY VISIT DULUTH

Sunset over Mackinac Island

Waterfront dining on Mackinac Island

COURTESY MACKINAC ISLAND TOURISM

COURTESY MACKINAC ISLAND TOURISM

“There are horses instead of cars transporting people around ... There are people on bicycles, people walking — it’s just a totally different vibe.”

— TIM HYGH, MACKINAC ISLAND TOURISM

the graceful Buckingham Fountain. Farther north along Lake Shore, the 50-plus-acre Navy Pier is a tourist’s delight with shops, restaurants, cruise companies, the Centennial Wheel and more.

But there is more than one waterfront in Chicago, noted Naomi Hattori, acting vice president of global development for Choose Chicago.

“Chicago is well known for its architecture, and one of the best ways to experience our buildings and their stories is through an architecture river cruise,” she said. “There are four boat companies whose tours vary in length from 75 to 90 minutes. I usually like to suggest the tour in the late afternoon or early evening as it lets your group rest their legs from your busy itinerary while taking in the beautiful sights.”

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THE COAST IS CLEAR VIRGINIA BEACH IS READY WHEN YOUR GROUP IS

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BY ROBIN ROENKER

ome to multiple beaches and a famous three-mile-long boardwalk, Virginia Beach, Virginia, boasts plenty of opportunities to safely enjoy surfside sun and fun.

“Our beaches are three football fields wide, so there’s plenty of room to spread out,” said Jim Coggin, tourism sales manager for VisitVirginiaBeach.

But the lively and inviting city, which sits at the meeting point of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, is no run-of-the-mill beach town. In Virginia Beach, groups can experience science, history, arts and outdoor adventure, plus bucket list food experiences that showcase the richness of Atlantic Coast life.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY VIRGINIA BEACH CVB

SEASIDE SCIENCE

Virginia Aquarium

Whale watching in Virginia Beach

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No visit to Virginia Beach would be complete without a stop at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. Visitors can explore coastal habitats from around the world, through hands-on exhibits and up-close views of the aquarium’s harbor seals, sharks, rays, Komodo dragons and more.

Groups looking for a unique team-building experience may want to try the Adventure Park at Virginia Aquarium, where 17 treetop challenge courses and 27 zip lines offer a recipe for outdoor fun. For nature lovers, the aquarium also offers whale watching excursions from November through March and dolphin-watching cruises throughout the spring and summer.

The 2.5-hour whale watching cruise in search of juvenile humpback whales in the Atlantic is “magnificent,” Coggin said. “While you’re out there, the captain will talk about other winter wildlife visible in the area as well.”

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HISTORIC HAPPENINGS

Virginia Beach boasts 28 miles of public coastline, much of it on Chesapeake Bay.

NOTABLE NATURE Natural beauty abounds in Virginia Beach, where guests can enjoy more than 200 miles of hiking and biking trails throughout the city. At the city’s False Cape State Park, one of the last remaining undeveloped areas along the Atlantic coast and a favorite of birdwatchers, visitors can enjoy guided kayak trips and interpretive wildlife-viewing programs. Not open to public vehicular traffic, the park is accessible only by foot, bicycle, tram or boat via the nearby Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The city’s Rudee Inlet is a water lover’s paradise that is teeming with options from fishing charters to jet skiing and parasailing. Several boat companies launch sightseeing tours from the inlet. Thrill-seeking groups might find the Rudee Rocket to be their speed: Zooming through the waves with 2,000 horsepower, the 70-foot yellow speedboats offer a memorable way to view the Virginia Beach shoreline and, if luck holds, even a pod of dolphins at play.

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Virginia Beach is also a haven for history. The city’s First Landing State Park — home to 20 miles of interpretive hiking trails through unique natural habitats, including bald cypress swamps, lagoons and maritime forests — also marks the spot where English colonists first landed in America in 1607, before moving inland and settling Jamestown.

The city’s famed Cape Henry Lighthouse, the fourth oldest in America, dates from 1792. Its construction was commissioned by George Washington and overseen by Alexander Hamilton. “There are 191 steps to the top for a great view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay,” Coggin said. The original lighthouse stands alongside a “newer” one built in 1881, which is still in use today.

Fans of either military or aviation history will want to make time to visit the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, home to one of the largest collections of World War I and World War II military aircraft in the world. “All of the planes in the museum are airworthy,” said Coggin. “In this museum, you can actually walk through and see where the oil is dripped.” The museum is suitable for groups and is able to host catered functions and even arrange guest speakers, such as former fighter pilots or Rosie the Riveter-type historic interpreters.

For something altogether unique, groups could consider a stop at the international headquarters of Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE), which is open to tours seven days a week.

Considered the Father of Holistic Medicine, Cayce is credited with giving more than 14,000 psychic readings covering some 10,000 topics, including holistic health and wellness, reincarnation and ESP. Cayce opened his Virginia Beach facility in 1928 as the Cayce Hospital of Enlightenment. Now home to the ARE Health Center and Spa, the building is listed on the Virginia Beach Historic Register. The ARE complex also includes one of the largest metaphysical libraries in the world, as well as a bookshop, a cafe and a meditation garden.

Cape Henry Lighthouse

Military Aviation Museum

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BEVERAGES AND BITES

Town Center of Virginia Beach

ABOUNDING ARTS For groups looking for a night of culture, the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts typically hosts a rich, rotating repertoire of performing artists, from classical music and ballet to family-friendly Broadway musicals.

When the pandemic ends, the venue will again be able to host group events in its 1,308-seat performance hall, as well as its lobbies and smaller meeting rooms.

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach presents rotating exhibitions of works by artists that, in the museum’s own words, “were either radical in their day or are finding new approaches to depicting objects and ideas now.”

Virginia Beach also features a wide array of outdoor, public art, including bright murals that fill the city’s oceanfront and ViBE creative districts, home to a rich community of local artisans. Visitors can enjoy a one-mile, self-guided walking tour to enjoy each of the ViBE murals up close and take a break here and there at one of the many coffee shops, bakeries, artist shops and restaurants.

Live music is easy to find along the city’s oceanfront, particularly on Atlantic Avenue, where the city’s Live!

On Atlantic street entertainment program includes live, free concerts throughout the summer.

Parks and public area throughout the city are dotted with three-dimensional art as well, including the Instagram-friendly bronze sculpture The Kiss, found in Virginia Beach’s Central Park, and The Canoes, a stainless-steel piece that features 10 canoes in honor of the region’s rich waterway history, found near Lesner Bridge.

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When hunger sets in, there’s no shortage of fine-dining options in Virginia Beach. But for a bucket-list experience, stop at one of the city’s many oyster bars for a taste of the area’s famed Lynnhaven oysters, known for their large size and saltiness.

“Groups can also do a Chesapeake Bay blue crab feast at one of several area restaurants,” said Coggin. “They actually do it the authentic way. They throw a newspaper down on the table, and the crabs are in bushel baskets, and they dump the crabs on the table. It’s really kind of fun to watch people enjoy the experience who maybe have never had crab before.”

And when it comes to social hour, Virginia Beach delivers thanks its bustling array of bars and distilleries.

Best bets include the Tarnished Truth Distilling Company — a bourbon distillery inside the 1920s-era Cavalier Hotel — and the Mermaid Winery, an urban winery, wine bar and restaurant. For craft beer lovers, the Virginia Beach Beer Trail offers a “microbrewed adventure” that spotlights the city’s many local breweries, including Back Bay Brewing Company, the Home Republic Brewing Company and the Wasserhund Brewing Company.

Groups looking to add a game night to their itinerary can plan a stop at the city’s brand-new Apex Entertainment complex, home to laser tag, axe throwing, bowling, mini golf, an escape room, an arcade and more.

“They also have a full-service restaurant, so groups can go there for a meal and then have some fun,” Coggin said.

VISITVIRGINIABEACH.COM

Lynnhaven oysters

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Oklahoma’s Chisholm Trail Heritage Center pays homage to cowboys who drove cattle on the trail

CROSSROADS

COURTESY CHISHOLM TRAIL HERITAGE CENTER

FRONTIER LANDMARKS WESTWARD EXPANSION NAVIGATED AMERICA’S CROSSROADS

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B y P a u l a Av e n Gl a d y c h

rom cowboys and Civil War soldiers to Native Americans and pioneers, America’s Crossroads states have many claims to fame when it comes to Western heritage. When traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, groups should make a point of stopping at these Old West gems.

CHISHOLM TRAIL HERITAGE CENTER AND GARIS GALLERY OF THE AMERICAN WEST Du nca n, Ok la homa

The Chisholm Trail Heritage Center celebrates the history, art and culture of the Chisholm Trail, a trail used by cowboys to move Texas longhorns from the southern tip of Texas up through Oklahoma to Kansas to meet the railroad. Cattle drives became important after the Civil War from 1870 to 1890. There were cattle drives before that, but after 1870 the trail was booming, said Scott Metelko, executive director at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center.

Groups that visit the center can learn about this important part

of Western history from knowledgeable docents who tell them about how the cowboys lived and worked on the trail; how they learned to navigate, even in the dark; and how they learned to rope cattle.

Visitors experience the sights, smells and sounds of a real cattle drive in the T.H. McCasland Jr. Experience Theater; and sit around a campfire with Jesse Chisholm himself to learn more about the history of the trail in the Campfire Theater.

“Over the course of the time the Chisholm Trail was used, a 20-year window, millions of cattle came through,” said Metelko.

“There are still ruts visible that are feet-deep depressions in the ground.”

Groups visiting the center can organize a lunch in the museum’s multipurpose room while they learn more about the Western heritage of the area. The Garis Gallery of the American West has permanent and temporary art exhibitions that celebrate works from famous Western artists such as Frederic Remington, Charles Russell and George Catlin. Its most famous work, a large bronze sculpture by Paul Moore titled “On the Chisholm Trail” commemorates the cattle drives.

ONTHECHISHOLMTRAIL.COM

ARKANSAS | KANSAS | MISSOURI | OKLAHOMA

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G R O U P T R AV E L L E A D E R . C O M COURTESY NPS

FORT SMITH NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith

For t Sm ith, A rka nsas

Fort Smith, built in 1817 at the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, was established to bring peace to the Osage and Cherokee nations. That first fort was abandoned in 1824, but visitors can walk up to Belle Point and view the foundation. The National Historic Site encompasses 16 acres and includes the former barracks building that was turned into a courthouse and jails in the late 1800s.

Group travelers can organize a guided tour of the site with a volunteer or park ranger.

The city’s visitors center is in a former Old West bordello and is a favorite stop for motorcoach groups, said Russ Jester, marcom and event services manager for the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The fort’s most famous resident was Judge Isaac Charles Parker, known as the hanging judge of the American West. Parker was named

by President Ulysses S. Grant to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, where he presided over more than 13,000 cases from 1875 to his death in 1896.

He appointed many Deputy U.S. Marshals, whose job it was to track down and prosecute outlaws in the area. During his more than 20-year tenure, Parker sentenced 160 men and women to the gallows. Of those, 79 were executed at the Fort Smith gallows. Visitors can get a close-up look at what the gallows would have looked like when they were built in 1873 at the historic site’s gallows reconstruction.

Visiting groups can tour Judge Parker’s courtroom, which took over a former Fort Smith barracks building, and the two jail cells that were built in the former mess halls in the basement of the building.

Fort Smith is the gateway to the Old West, and a section of the Trail of Tears wends its way through the property to the trail’s water route on the Arkansas River where the Native Americans got into the river and made their way to Oklahoma.

NPS.GOV/FOSM

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Fort Smith Trolley

COURTESY FIRST AMERICANS MUSEUM PHOTOS COURTESY FORT SMITH CVB

TRAIL OF TEARS STATE PARK Jackson, Missou ri

Established in 1957, Trail of Tears State Park in Jackson, Missouri, documents one of the saddest chapters in American history, when nine of 13 Cherokee Indian groups crossed the Mississippi River in Jackson during the winter of 1838 and 1839 on their forced relocation from North Carolina and Georgia to Oklahoma.

At the visitors center, groups learn more about the forced relocation of the Cherokee and the thousands of Native Americans who died along the way. They also learn more about the natural history of the park. Tours begin with a 20-minute video that tells the story of the Cherokees’ removal from the South, then proceed outside to a section of the Trail of Tears. The park has 19 miles of hiking trails and is a great place to get outside and explore nature by bicycle or on horseback.

A memorial on the site commemorates the lives of the many Cherokee who perished along the Trail of Tears. The memorial is on the gravesite of Nancy Bushyhead Hildebrand, a Cherokee woman who died after crossing the Mississippi River near Jackson. She is said to be from a prominent family in the Cherokee nation, one that had many chiefs, said Denise Dowling, park superintendent. Groups can visit the park overlook that looks out over the river and get a sense of what a terrible journey it must have been for the Native Americans to cross it during the cold winter months.

MOSTATEPARKS.COM/PARK/ TRAIL-TEARS-STATE-PARK

OLD COWTOWN MUSEUM Wich ita , Ka nsas

Visitors take a step back in time to the 1860s and 1870s at the Old Cowtown Museum, which opened to the public in 1952 on the banks of the Arkansas River. Most of

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the buildings on the historic site were built from 1865 to 1880. They were brought to the property from Wichita and Sedgwick County as a way of preserving that history for future generations. The outdoor museum was designed to look like a typical Old West town and includes commercial and residential buildings.

Groups can take a guided tour with a costumed interpreter or explore the town at their own pace. The site covers 23 acres and has everything from the first home built in Wichita to a blacksmith shop, a dressmaker, a cowboy camp and a working 1880 farm.

The 1880 DeVore Farm is a five-acre farm where costumed volunteers tend the garden, feed the chickens, prepare food appropriate to the time, sew clothing, and plant, tend, and harvest corn and wheat.

Each building on the property is set up with period artifacts, making it fun to explore. The museum houses 12,000 period pieces in its collection.

Groups can set up special programming as part of their visit. Participants can take a special tour of a shop to see how it operated back in the day and can even take home a special souvenir from their visit. The site also hosts special events throughout the year, from Civil War reenactments to Cowboy Days.

OLDCOWTOWN.ORG

Wichita’s Old Cowtown Museum

COURTESY OLD COWTOWN MUSEUM

Missouri’s Trail of Tears State Park COURTESY MISSOURI STATE PARKS

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CROSSROADS Kansas’ Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve has more than 11,000 acres of protected grassland.

COURTESY KANSAS TOURISM

SUN AND SKY AMERICA’S CROSSROADS DRAW GROUPS OUTSIDE B y P a u l a Av e n Gl a d y c h

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merica’s Crossroads states have much to offer in the way of scenic vistas and outdoor attractions.

From mountains and rolling hills to the last swath of tallgrass prairie in the country, group travelers have a plethora of historical and awe-inspiring outdoor destinations to explore in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Here are just a handful of must-sees along the way.

MOUNT MAGAZINE STATE PARK Pa ris, A rka nsas

At 2,753 feet, Mount Magazine is Arkansas’ highest peak.

People from all around the world come to the state park to experience the wonderful view of the Petit Jean River Valley and Blue Mountain Lake from the top, as well as enjoy the great outdoors through hiking, biking, rock climbing, backpacking, horseback

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riding and even hang gliding.

“It is gorgeous,” said Jill Rohrback of the Arkansas Tourism Department. “Two thousand seven hundred fifty feet may not sound that high, but the drop is so significant to the surrounding countryside that it is beautiful.”

Group travelers can make the historic Lodge at Mount Magazine their base as they explore everything the area has to offer, including eight wineries at the base of the mountain and Cove Lake Recreation Area, a 160-acre lake for swimming, fishing, boat rentals and all types of water sports. The lodge has 60 rooms and 13 cabins. A visitors center explores the flora and fauna of the area.

Group travelers should make a point of visiting Wiederkehr Wine Cellars, one of the oldest and largest wineries in the middle states, located on the southern slopes of St. Mary’s Mountain, or the Post Familie Vineyards in Altus, Arkansas. Both were founded in 1880.

Groups can tour the vineyards, taste some wine and have a meal.

ARKANSASSTATEPARKS.COM/PARKS/ MOUNT-MAGAZINE-STATE-PARK

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Taking in the view from Arkansas’ Mount Magazine

FLINT HILLS NATIONAL SCENIC BYWAY Ka nsas

Many people don’t realize that Kansas isn’t all flat. It is home to beautiful rolling hills and some of the last untouched tallgrass prairie in the country. The Flint Hills Scenic Byway stretches 47.2 miles across the Flint Hills between Council Grove and Cassoday in east-central Kansas.

The Scenic Byway starts in Council Grove, which has more than 20 historical sites, most of which relate to the Santa Fe Trail and people moving west as the frontier expanded. Native American heritage is also an important part of the area’s history. The Kaw Mission and the Last Chance Store Museums are on the trail and tell the story of the native people who lived in the area and the pioneers who traveled the Santa Fe Trail.

The Flint Hills Trail State Park features 89 miles of rail-trail that, when completed, will traverse 117 miles from Osawatomie to Herington, Kansas, through the Flint Hills. The trail was designated a National Recreation Trail in October Post Family Vineyards near 2020 because it follows the general route of the Santa Fe Mount Magazine State Park National Historic Trail and is a piece of the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail. Visitors to the area can hike, bike or ride horses along the former railroad bed, which has been resurfaced and improved in many places.

Another must-see on the scenic byway is the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, which is home to 11,000 acres of untouched tallgrass prairie. Visitors can take a bus COURTESY AR DPHT

COURTESY AR DPHT

tour and visit historic buildings in the area, go on a hike or take the cellphone tour. A scenic overlook allows them to see the tallgrass prairie in all its glory and even catch a glimpse of bison that roam the area.

TRAVELKS.COM/KSBYWAYS/FLINT-HILLS

Flint Hills National Scenic Byway

SMALLIN CIVIL WAR CAVE Oza rk, Missou ri

The Smallin Civil War Cave is a privately owned cave in the Ozarks. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the cave has both a Civil War and a Native American history.

“It’s an amazing cave, and one of the reasons groups like it so well is it is easy,” said Wanetta Bright, who owns the cave with her husband, Kevin. People who have trouble climbing stairs or twisting or bending love that it is a fairly wide path through the cave with a concrete walkway and handrails and gentle inclines. Individuals with scooters or wheelchairs can also make the trek.

The cave is about a 25-minute drive from Springfield, Missouri, and a 35-minute drive from Branson, Missouri, off Highway 65.

“The cave is probably one of the oldest sites of human habitation in this part of the country because there is water and shelter; a 10-story, wide entrance; and a stream that flows through most of the time,” said Bright.

A research group from Missouri State University conducted a field study of the cave a

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COURTESY KANSAS TOURISM G R O U P T R AV E L L E A D E R . C O M

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few years ago. They found arrowheads dating from the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, as well as Civil War artifacts left behind by the Union Army soldiers that were encamped along the Finley River tributary that feeds into the cave. The camp burned down in 1863.

Group travelers can schedule a guided, one-hour tour of the cave, which is about a half-mile walk. For those who are a little more adventurous, the Smallin Civil War Cave also offers nighttime lantern tours on Saturday evenings from September to the first weekend of November. Visitors sit around a campfire listening to stories about the Civil War in Missouri. Before the tour, they are fed a dinner of ham, beans, potatoes and corn bread. Because the cave entrance is so wide, the cave stays fairly well lit during the day, so the lantern tours are only given once it is completely dark outside, said Bright.

SMALLINCAVE.COM

HONEY SPRINGS BATTLEFIELD Checota h, Ok la homa

Pools and rock formations at Smallin Civil War Cave

COURTESY SMALLIN CIVIL WAR CAVE

The battle of Honey Springs was the largest Civil War battle to take place in Oklahoma and Indian Territory and was one of the most culturally diverse conflicts of the Civil War. Adam

The entrance to Smallin Civil War Cave in Missouri

A visitors center exhibit at Honey Springs Battlefield in Oklahoma

Lynn, director of the Honey Springs Battlefield and Visitors Center, said that what stands out the most about the battle was that it pitted 9,000 Confederate troops against 3,000 Union troops and yet the Union COURTESY OK HISTORICAL SOCIETY won because it had more cannons and better placement on the field.

Five Native American tribes fought there, some on the Confederate side and some on the Union side, along with former slaves who escaped to free states like Kansas. The former slaves fought for the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, the first African American regiment in the Union Army and veterans of numerous other Civil War conflicts.

The battlefield itself is spread over five miles. A modern paved road leads to six walking trails. Along each trail are interpretive signs detailing what happened during the battle. There are more than 50 interpretive signs on the site.

“In addition to having a rich history and, obviously, standing where the battle took place, you can see the beautiful scenery as well,” said Lynn. The battlefield is in a part of Oklahoma that has rolling hills and beautiful trees.”

The battlefield site has been open to the public since the late 1990s, but it has only been in the past few years that money became available to build a first-class visitors center there and redo the interpretive signs.

When the center is complete, it will have permanent exhibits about the battle featuring artifacts dug up on-site, as well as a 4D theater that tells the stories of the many different peoples who fought there and the impact the war had on the five Native American tribes that participated.

OKHISTORY.ORG/SITES/HONEYSPRINGS

COURTESY SMALLIN CIVIL WAR CAVE

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REDISCOVER ATLANTIC CITY

The Story Continues Excitement awaits in Atlantic City, including miles of sandy beaches, our world-famous Boardwalk and the thrilling Steel Pier. Enjoy tax-free shopping, award-winning dining, live entertainment and other great attractions.

Here you can experience the ultimate getaway and create a lifetime of memories.

Atlantic City Expert Heather Colache is available at 609-318-6097 or hcolache@meetac.com to make sure you enjoy Atlantic City as it was meant to be experienced.

Meet AC received funding through a grant from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.

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