TravelWorld International: Explore & Discover Issue, November 2013

NOVEMBER 2013

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NEW ORLEANS HOTELS COLLECTION

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Explore & Discover 6 VERMONT: GREEN MOUNTAIN GETAWAY

14 GREENLAND: LAND OF THE

MIDNIGHT SUN

BY CAROLE HERDEGEN

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY

BY BENNETT W. ROOT, JR.

BEARS 22 POLAR IN MY WINDOW

BY SHARON SPENCE LIEB

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ADVENTURE: 28 AMAZON CHEAPSKATE CRUISE / BIG-TIME VALUE

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TOURING HIGHLANDS HAMMOCK, AN ECOLOGICAL RIDE

BY CINDY LADAGE

Staff Writer/ Photographer: Bennett W. Root, Jr. Contributing Writers : Sharon Spence Lieb Carole Herdegen Christine Germyn Cindy Ladage Rebecca Rhoades Chris McBeath Marc Becker

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NEW ORLEANS HOTEL COLLECTION: NEW ORLEANS FESTIVALS

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42 - Destination Information Reflections from the Editor, Exciting!! Engaging!! Fulfilling!!

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The exhiliration and pleasure that come from the travel experience, photographs of new, unusual and beautiful places, journals and stories that communicate these adventures, provide an exciting atmosphere to all. Then I become completely engaged in the process that will bring this same exctiement to you, the reader. And the ultimate fullfillment is the finished product, a completed art form that I love!

Joy Bushmeyer - Editor

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Green Mountain Getaway

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or far too long, our days had seemed a cacophony of annoying calls, urgent messages and tedious meetings, punctuated with traffic jams and latenight fast food. It was clearly time—past time—to turn out the office lights and get away from the rhythms of big city living. We called an old school friend living outside Boston and soon enough we had ourselves booked for a week of R and R in a remodeled barn just east of the Green Mountains in southern Vermont. We flew into Albany, left our cell phones on “Airplane Mode,” rented a car and an hour later crossed the New York-Vermont border into a blissfully quiet, late-summer afternoon in God’s country.

Vermont is deliciously rural, characterized by small towns and simple, country living.

Cartier and Champlain explored this area (Vert Mont, French for Green Mountain) two hundred years before the American Revolution. The British arrived in the early 1700’s and after the French and Indian War, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys organized to protect the interests of early Vermont settlers. They then won fame by taking Fort Ticonderoga from the British during the first days of the Revolution. Today, Vermont’s 600,000 people (the second

Kicking Back in Southern Vermont

Story & Photography

by Bennett W. Root, Jr.

smallest state by population, half the population of Maine or New Hampshire) support a substantial tourism industry, dairy farming and some industrial fabrication. Summer here is short, but with warm days and cool nights among conifers and northern hardwoods, this was an ideal escape for two city folk treading water in the twenty-first century.

Our Boston friends suggested we book as a vacation rental one of the converted and remodeled barns that now populate Vermont. There were many from which to choose, most refurbished with all the conveniences travelers expect, but retaining the feel of country living. We were fortunate to secure a week at the Baby Barn, an architect-designed conversion that on the busiest days for visiting friends, easily accommodated six adults, five kids and a giant sheep dog. Nestled in the hills just east of Green Mountain National Forest between Londonderry and South Londonderry, this beautiful property blended a huge stone fireplace and pegged, wooden joints with massive, mullioned windows, a modern kitchen and internet access. We provisioned at the local market, bounced over a dirt access road for the last half mile or so and “dropped anchor” for a delightful “long week” a million miles away from clients, calls, and well, the accustomed cacophony.

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ermont’s summer weather was both less consistent and less predictable than the routine of southern California to which we had grown accustomed. The majority of our vacation days were warm and sunny, likely in the high 80’s or low 90’s with enough humidity to remind me of Midwest summers as a kid, waiting for school to restart.

These days were perfect for day trips—we took several—hiking or just lollygagging in the meadows or spending a meditative moment sitting by the rapids of a rushing stream, of which there were several within a short distance. Mornings and evenings were cool, great for sleeping, with ethereal dawn mists that melted away before breakfast.

Then there were rainy days that gave us time to read and even gave us a little quiet time for contemplative journal writing or a jigsaw puzzle. One of those rainy afternoons brought an electric show in thick, dark clouds, but left behind a crystalline afternoon perfect to take in the architecture of a square steepled country church, with its white, wood siding washed by the thunderstorm, sparkling against a cloudless, summer sky. The summer rains refreshed us, too, and washed some of the gunk from our cluttered minds.

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art of Vermont’s patrimony are its covered bridges. There are over 100 “authentic” bridges in Vermont, those built with wooden structural members using various forms of trusses (as opposed, say, to stringer construction). Trusses are essentially triangular forms engineered to manage stresses, for example the weight of a horse and carriage crossing a span over a river. Architect Ithiel Town’s patented Town Lattice Truss is seen on many Vermont covered bridges, as is engineer Theodore Burr’s, Burr Arch.

Earlier king post and queen post truss construction can also be seen. The cover on the bridges was effective to protect the bridges from the destructive effects of rain and sun; uncovered wooden bridges had a useful life of only ten to fifteen years. Many of Vermont’s covered bridges are well over 100 years old and many are still used to facilitate traffic and commerce.

To start our exploration of these bridges, we planned a route through several classic New England towns. One of the prettiest was Grafton, site of the Kidder Hill Bridge, a modified king post truss bridge with a 67 foot span across the Saxtons River dating from 1870. As we crossed the bridge, an expansive meadow opened to our left and a short hiking trail opened to our right, allowing us to walk in the cool air of the river’s rapids. Just right for a summer day trip.

On the south branch of the Saxtons River, we stopped briefly at the Grafton Cheese Factory Bridge, a recently constructed (1967) foot bridge featuring stringer truss design. Here we could enjoy engineering and a snack—aromatic and nuanced artisanal Vermont cheeses.

We drove about thirty miles northeast to Springfield, Vermont, now a town of 10,000 just west of the Connecticut River. A century ago, Yankee ingenuity thrived here with precision manufacturing of tools, gears and telescopes. That economic engine has since departed, replaced in part, by some light electronics assembly businesses. After a pleasant lunch in a neighborhood restaurant on Main Street, we drove to see the 1870 Baltimore Covered Bridge, a 37 foot span that originally crossed the Great Brook north of Springfield. The bridge has been restored and shows off an early version of the Town Lattice Truss style of construction we would see again as we discovered other covered bridges in Southern Vermont from Rockingham to Bennington.

Adjacent to the Baltimore Covered Bridge was the Eureka Schoolhouse, the oldest one-room school house in Vermont. The “Eureka” appellation came from the first school master who was heard to utter the phrase upon his arrival in Springfield after an arduous trek through the then dense forest of the frontier. As restored (1968), the schoolhouse seems rather commodious, but it served to remind visitors of the challenges of frontier living and education in the early days of a growing nation.

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hort day trips from our Baby Barn base allowed us to vary our experience, blending a little discovery with a lot of sitting and “vegging.” Locally made maple syrup at the Taylor Farm, locally grown fruits at the Dutton Farm Stand, and dinner at Solo made from locally farmed ingredients (outstanding!!!) were all nearby and allowed us to adjust our rhythms and living to a more relaxed pace. It was heavenly.

On days it rained, we did “inside discovery.” Just north of us at Weston we took cover from the elements at the Vermont Country Store. Indeed, here we found a candy store in life and in metaphor.

Owned by the Orton family, Vermont storekeepers for generations, we found dozens of “classic and hard-to-find” products that allowed a fun, romantic and nostalgic look-back at times “remembered.” I recalled visits to an old hardware store with my Dad. A version of my old Schwinn racer was on display. A spot to sit and play checkers and read the local paper took me back to an Americana of the Saturday Evening Post. Lots of locally made fudge, millinery, utensils, and, well, “stuff.” We happily whiled away enough time for the rains to pass, and after a lunch at the Bryant House, sitting next to a classic soda fountain and adjacent to an antique cash register without point-of-sale paraphernalia, we took our leave. And got stuck in a local traffic jam—two 1930’s Fords trying to navigate a one-lane turn.

As the afternoon sun dried the morning’s rain, we stopped at a potter’s studio. I have long been taken by the glass blower and ceramicist’s art—shapes, colors, textures, designs—and Vermont’s byways are dotted with artists who find the pace consistent with their creativity. One such place on the way home was David Lasser’s ceramics studio, where visitors could watch the pottery being crafted, enjoying the etymology of design: from clay, to wheel, to glaze, to kiln. Very organic. Very satisfying.

The time came, of course, to make our way home. We decided to leave a bit early, and take the small roads. Route 7a is one such route. It, too, has a peaceful, romantic nostalgia, perfect for a morning drive. Outside of Shaftsbury, we stopped at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum. We talked with Carole Thompson, the driving force behind this restoration and preservation project.

The museum is an elegantly simple small house where Frost lived and worked. It is set somewhat sumptuously on acres of meadows and woods, with a small barn and a stone wall along the walkways.

Inside are Frost letters, woodcuts, illustrations and memorabilia.

Outside, one can absorb the feelings that make the poems such a moving experience. This stop was a fitting way to end our trip.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

Robert Frost

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GREENLAND, Lan

CRUISING THE SETTLEMEN

nd of the Midnight Sun

by Carole Herdegen

NTS AROUND DISCO BAY

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aving been a world traveler for many years, there are places on earth that I have always wanted to visit, but were too difficult to reach or too politically unstable. Greenland has always been at the top of my list, but the lack of connecting roads between the Inuit settlements made this destination more complicated. For the past five years, however, the polar ice ship, M/S FRAM has been cruising the Greenlandic waters and an opportunity arose for me to fly to Kangerlussuaq, a town just north of the Arctic Circle to visit these Inuit settlements by ship. Transportation between the settlements for local Greenlanders is by a ferry service to some of larger communities on the coastline during the warmer months, while in wintertime travel is by dogsled.

If you have ever flown to Europe on the polar route you may have noticed the polar ice cap which covers 80% of the sur-

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face of Greenland and is the second largest ice sheet in the world. The country is twice the size of Texas, but has a total population of only 56,600, mostly Inuit people. I was fascinated to understand why explorers, 4,500 years ago, would be attracted to this desolate place.

One thing I know for sure is Greenland is not indicative of its name. Instead of being a green island, the country is icy and cold for three-quarters of the year. There are many theories about how the island, along with nearby Iceland, came to be named the complete opposite of their names. That is, Iceland is primarily green. The secret lies with the Vikings. The Vikings were a race of Scandinavians who settled in many areas of Northern Europe.

Although they are commonly portrayed as brutal warriors who pillaged, raided and raped their way through

much of Europe they also had a thriving culture as traders and explorers. One Viking in particular, Erik the Red, was very good at raiding and pillaging. It is believed that he discovered Greenland between 950 and 1003 AD after being exiled from Iceland. He was able to settle in Greenland and survive there for several years until his exile finally ended. He enjoyed living on this island wanted to permanently settle there. For that, he needed to convince others to come with him. Of course, when you tell someone that they will be accompanying you to a place that is barren, cold and inhospitable you may have problems convincing even a Viking. Erik (according to popular legend) called the island Greenland and painted it as being a wonderful place to settle, not mentioning it was completely dissimilar to Iceland.

One of the most amazing sights in the world to experience is the midnight sun north of the Arctic Circle in summertime.

Midnight sun means the sun does not set and remains above the horizon for 24 hours during the summer months.

To test this point, I was determined to stay up all night, with my sunglasses on, to see if there was a time when the sun actually dropped down. I worked on this theory for two nights in the upper lounge but unfortunately, dozed off at the critical time. Therefore, I must assume the midnight sun is a real occurrence in the lands above the Arctic Circle.

Greenland is a world of its own. Icebergs and the ice cap are probably the most famous aspects of the Greenlandic landscape. As my cruise ship continued its journey around the Disco Bay area of Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle, there were genuine Kodak moments when colossal icebergs, in shades of white and blue, floated past on the deep blue sea.

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Photo by Kim Hansen

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he ice cap can be seen high over hills surrounding many of the tiny Inuit villages. It is incomprehensible that this massive sheet of ice is about 2 miles thick, frozen and immovable; however, as one witnesses the roaring and creaking noises, it is in fact a land under constant change.

One day, buses took us from the town of Kangerlussuaq to the edge of the ice, which might be up to 100,000 years old. It was awe-inspiring. An “out-ofthis-world experience” is to walk on this permanent historical monument from the last ice age.

Shortly after returning home last summer, newspapers carried images of Greenland, based on observations by satellites monitored by NASA. The views showed that because of an unusual Arctic heat wave that took place, the massive Greenland Ice Sheet had melted and sent large amounts of ice into the North Atlantic. It’s the reality of climate change in this polar region.

But Greenland is known for much more than this polar ice sheet. It has green mountains with beautiful wild flowers, long fjords, steep cliffs, hot springs and skies so clear and air so fresh that it is easy to see why it is not only people who enjoy living here.

Animals thrive at sea and on land including: whales, seals, reindeer, musk oxen and polar bears, to name but a few of the impressive main characters.

To understand the native Inuits who inhabit the country, you must learn about the culture of these resilient people. They have survived for centuries through the incredibly tough Arctic conditions.

What kind of food do they eat? What are their homes like and how are they educated?

The Inuit culture has survived for more than 5000 years. The people migrated from the west; northern Canada and Alaska. What you see and learn about on a trip to Greenland is the evolution of these resilient Inuit people of the north, and what today’s life is like in their settlements, some of which were only established a few decades ago.

The philosophy of these settlements is to live at one with nature. And naturally, meat is a key element of the Greenlandic menu. The survival of each settlement depends on what the men can bring home from hunting and fishing. The men of the village work in teams to secure enough seal, whale, reindeer and muskoxen to last through the winter season whenthere are fewer opportunities to get the staples of life.

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n a beautiful summer day, we landed at the settlement of Qeqertarsuaq. Two boats landed at the dock at the same time; our tender from the ship and a small fishing boat. Fishermen were busy offloading the catch of the day; a small Minke whale and a seal. The team had already started cutting the meat into smaller pieces and hauling it to an open shed not far from the docks. Within minutes the people came from every direction to purchase the whale and seal meat. I was told by one of villagers that “It’s good and very inexpensive”.

I asked a woman who had just purchased a piece of meat to tell me about the different ways to cook the seal.

Her answer was similar to that of Forrest Gump from the movie; just about as many ways as he explained for cooking shrimp.

Every settlement has an elementary school whether it is similar to a one-room school house or one with several classrooms. Teachers are provided by Denmark; however, there is now a growing number of Danish-educated Greenlanders that are filling the educational needs of the community. For higher education, families send their children to the capital, Nuuk for high school and then on to Copenhagen for university and teacher colleges.

MORE ABOUT HURTIGRUTEN AND THE POLAR CRUISE SHIP M/S FRAM In 2007, the Norwegian shipping company, Hurtigruten launched the first high tech polar expedition cruise ship, the M/S FRAM. This company has been cruising the Norwegian coastline for over 100 years and has been a leader in exploring the polar regions. Hurtigruten has taken adventure travelers to some of the world’s most remote regions including Greenland, the Arctic’s Spitsbergen and Antarctica. And now the new M/S FRAM with its reinforced and strengthened hull, the ship is in a category of Ice Class 1B which is much stronger than the older expedition ships. It can easily navigate through 2 feet-thick sea ice. For the 2012 summer season, the M/S FRAM was positioned in Greenland. And it is where I started my journey in the north.

For reservations and more information on Hurtigruten and cruises on the M/S FRAM: Tel: (212) 319-1300 or (800) 323-7436 Website: www.hurtigruten.us.

About Carole Herdegen, Travel Editor of Elegant Living Magazine (www.elegantlivingmagazine.com) Drawing upon her 25 years of photography and adventure travel writing, Carole stimulates the appetite for travel to not only the faraway and exotic lands but to places that are the hot topics in today’s news.

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Welcome to Louisiana for the 11th Annual NATJA Conference and Marketplace.

Be sure to explore Louisiana’s rich and authentic culture while you are here— our music, food and history are unlike anywhere else in the world.

We want you to experience firsthand everything the state has to offer. ©2013 Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism

Polar Bears In My Window

By Sharon Spence Lieb

Photo by em j bishop

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hurchill, in Manitoba, Canada, is known as The Polar Bear Capital of the World. On my flight aboard Calm Air, I relax with the onboard magazine, Up Here. One story grabs my attention: “Polar bears are the largest, strongest and most blood-thirsty of Arctic predators,” writes Dean Cluff, wildlife biologist for the Northwest Territories government. “They only know how to hunt and kill to earn their next meal.” I’m on my way to join Churchill Nature Tours’ Polar Bear Adventure. Of course, they’ll take good care of me, but am I really ready to encounter blood-thirsty beasts? I hop off the plane into the frigid air, wondering if I’ll need my return ticket. Polar Bear Lore: Fiction Versus Fact.

Before climbing aboard a polar rover and heading into the tundra, our group tours Churchill’s fascinating Eskimo Museum. Dedicated to advancing knowledge of Northern culture, with a focus on the Canadian Inuit, the beautiful exhibits include stone, bone and ivory sculptures, as well as archaeological and wildlife specimens.

A black-fanged 12-foot-long polar bear is the most incredible specimen, standing guard at the museum inside a glass box.

The museum gift shop offers Inuit art and jewelry, and scholarly, historic and children’s books. I buy a charming children’s book titled The Polar Bear’s Son, by Lydia Dabcovich about an Inuit

woman raising an orphaned polar bear cub. Village children play with friendly, fluffy Kunikdjuaq, who grows up beloved by all.

This helpful bear even hunts and fishes for his human mother.

When the adult villagers decide the grown bear is too dangerous and must be killed, his alarmed mother sends him away. Days later, she calls his name, and the bear returns, bringing salmon and seal.

Kunikdjuaq and his human mom live happily ever after. A romantic notion, of course.

That evening, local photographer and guide Mike Macri shares his dramatic human vs. bear story. “One day I’m walking along Hudson Bay’s shoreline,” Mike says. “A huge polar bear rises up from a rock behind me. I grab my gun and turn to face him. Six feet from my face, I’m terrified, yet thrilled. I’m prepared to shoot him if I have to. I don’t want to. After what feels like forever, he snorts in my face, then lumbers away. What a relief. Then I check my gun: it was jammed. That bear easily could have killed me with one paw swipe.

Why didn’t he? I’ll never know.” Are we ready for our own polar bear encounters?

The next morning, 25-degree temperatures insist that I layer on long underwear, wool pants, sweaters, fleece vest, a snow parka, hat and gloves. Our group climbs aboard a polar rover emblazoned with Great White Bear Tours. Our Churchill Nature Tours guide, Patrick

Photo by Dan Heap Rousseau, gives us safety tips on meeting the Lords of the Arctic.

“Polar bears are super aggressive,” Patrick warns. “Males can weigh 1,320 pounds and stand 10 feet tall. If you want to return home with your hands and head, I suggest you keep them inside the bus windows.” We laugh, but he’s serious. No one has ever been hurt, and Patrick’s diligence and experience are why.

Patrick has led Churchill Nature Tours for 16 years and his impressive resume includes 34 years as a wildlife biologist for Parks Canada. His specialties include resource management of black bears, beaver, bison, hydrology and arctic ecology. He also has a gentle sense of humor and eagle eyes, constantly scanning the horizon for bears, foxes, and owls.

Driver Bill McPherson fires up the engine and the heat, and we hunker into plush seats. How many polar bears will we see today?

The boreal forest of black spruce, jack pine and poplar trees gives way to windswept trees and brownish willows against a gunmetal sky. Along unmarked tundra trails, we rollercoaster in and out of muddy potholes, through icy ponds. Every snow-covered rock seems to be a sleeping polar bear. Huge bear paw prints meander into the distance. Thank God we’re not hiking this desolate tundra world.

“Bears at 11 o’ clock,” Patrick calls out. “Two young males, sparring.”

Cameras click as twenty feet from our polar rover, two yellowish polar bears stand on their hind legs, swatting each other’s shoulders and heads. Tough boxers. “Are they fighting?” I ask. “They’re exercising,” he replies, “getting in shape for a long winter of hunting seals on the ice. If they don’t build up their stamina, they can’t hunt, and they’d starve to death. This behavior is critical for their survival.”

Photo by em j bishop

Patrick shares more polar bear facts. “Their paws are the size of a dinner plate and their heads are 14 to 16 inches wide. They can unhinge their powerful teeth and crack a seal’s skull with one crunch. Their claws can haul a 200-pound seal from the water. And they can pick up a scent from 20 miles away. That’s why they come so close, smelling our lunch.

And us.”

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photo by em j bishop

Photo by Mike Beauregard

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mother bear appears, adorable cubs in tow. She stops and sniffs the air as a strange male bear walks along the horizon. As he approaches her family, she freezes, staring intently as if to say, “Stay far from my kids or you’ll be forever sorry.” He veers away, without challenging her.

Safely inside our polar rover, we take incredible photos from the open windows and the back deck. Polar bears stand under the grate, smelling our feet. “Don’t stick your hands through the grate,” warns Patrick, “if you enjoy having ten fingers.”

During two exhilarating days, we’re guests at a very special polar bear party. Over three dozen bears make an appearance.

Some jaw each other’s teeth, others snooze in the willows. One looks like a giant stuffed toy, on his back, huge paws in the air.

My first polar bear sighting was at age eight. A large male paced inside a tiny concrete cubicle at the National Zoo. I felt sorry that his life was limited to floating in a tiny pool, eating, sleeping and entertaining us kids. Now I understand he was a rescued orphan cub, and his life at the zoo was infinitely better

than being defenseless, starving in the wild.

So here I am in Churchill, 50 years later, thrilled that a massive hungry polar bear is right outside my window. I can’t hug him or pet his ivory fur. Yet I can’t give up my girlish infatuation either. I stick my vulnerable head out the bus window and blurt: “I love you.

With all my heart.” But this ferocious Lord of the Arctic is hungry.

Sniffing my warm flesh, his expression says, “I couldn’t care less.

Why don’t you give me your head? For a snack.” Rejected, I sulk into my bus seat, as Patrick saunters down the aisle. “So, Sharon, now you’ve got a hot date with a polar bear?” he grins. “Nah. Not my type.” We laugh.

“Sharon, you know what’s so great about this place?” our driver Bill says. “Every fall in Churchill, we get to watch these incredible bears get ready for winter. In December, when Hudson Bay ices over, we watch their bums waddling north onto the ice. With a big bear smile on the other end.”

Now that’s my idea of a happy ending.

Sharon Spence Lieb won top travel writing awards in 2013 from North American Travel Journalists Association, and Cancun, Mexico.

Google her to read 10 pages of life changing adventures.

On YouTube, enjoy Sharon’s hilarious music video on polar bears, “Hey Mr. Polar Bear.”

See more at: http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/wander-tales/north-america-tales/polar-bears-in-my-window/#sthash.iGj1zkkj.dpuf Email story ideas: sharonspence@cs.com

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Photo by em j bishop

Photo by em j bishop

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Touring Highlands Hammock, an Ecological

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Ride!

By Cindy Ladage

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ast February on a visit to Florida, Jane Elliott and her daughter Beth wanted to see the real Florida, the palms, cypress trees and wildlife rather than the glitz and glamour. The two St. Louis area women set out to see the 9,000 plus acre Highlands Hammock, one of Florida’s oldest parks, which opened to the public in 1931. They planned their visit to include a stop at the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) Museum which ties into the history of this wilderness retreat.

Jane, who suffers from arthritis, wanted to view the historic park in a short time by way of an easy ride so she signed up early in the day to take part in a ranger-guided tram tour. The tram guided tours are nothing new, a photograph on the park website shows Carol Beck, the first state park naturalist, offering a guided tram tour in the early 1950s. The benefit of the tram tours is that for those who cannot, or choose not to walk, still have an easily accessible way to see what the park has to offer.

Jane and Beth’s first stop was the CCC Museum. Open from 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., the Museum offered insight into the CCC that began at the onset of the Great Depression. Young men from 17-25 and impoverished families worked on projects managed by the Army.

Enrollees earned 30 dollars a month, keeping five and sending twenty-five home to their families.

This nationwide program resonated with Jane. “There are several buildings that the CCC completed at state parks in Illinois,” Jane said.

The CCC was part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. The Florida Conservation Corps Museum pays tributes to the Corps. An anonymous CCC alumnus stated, “We are the young men of the 1930’s who made up the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942. We mended the scarred land, the eroded fields, the depleted woodlands and the muddled waters of our creeks and rivers. We replanted the forests from Maine to California and built fire trails to protect both the old and new forests. We cleared out diseased deadwood to protect healthy trees and we fought forest fires and floods. We built lodges and campsites in our national parks so people could enjoy our beautiful country. We built roads and trails in parks, many of which are still in existence today…”

The collapse of the Florida land boom, followed by two major hurricanes during the late 1920’s pretty much devastated Florida’s economy. The CCC was a welcome economic incentive to the area. One of the first CCC camps was established at Sebring in April of 1933. An abandoned nightclub was used as the camp headquarters and Florida became the first state to implement the CCC. Highlands Hammock State Park began because of citizen interest in preservation of the hammocks, which by definition is a stand of trees. Financial assistance for the project came from the Margaret Shippen Roebling family. The Roebling family was involved with construction and manufacturing engineering. After acquiring the property, park trails were created along with the basic facilities in 1930. Four years later, the CCC camp started work on a botanical garden project adjacent to Highlands Hammock Park. In 1935, the Florida park system was established and Highlands Hammock became one of the first parks. The gardens merged as part of the park in 1941 after the CCC camp closed its doors because WWII loomed on the horizon.

Jane said, “Information at the park shared that during those years, the CCC planted thousands of plants, constructed roadways, dams, bridges and buildings. We enjoyed the opportunity to view that work on the park during the tram ride. The park staff offered stops where we were able to see some of the natural flora and fauna.

We enjoyed the turtles and seeing baby alligators that are usually seen only at a great distance.”

One of the most popular stops along the tour is the Cypress Swamp Trail boardwalk which is also called the catwalk. The walk spans the Charlie Bowlegs Creek and swamp floodplain and is one of the places that Beth and Jane were able to see the alligators and bird life. “We didn’t see any wild boars,” Beth said, “but we saw just about everything else.”

For more information about Florida’s CCC Museum, call 863-386-6094. Highlands Hammock State Park is located off US 27 on SR 634 (also known as Hammock Road), four miles west of Sebring. Highlands Hammock offers a full-facility campground, as well as a youth/ group tent campground. A full-service restaurant is located on the park grounds. For schedule and catering information, call (863) 385-7025.

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Amazon Adventure

Cheapskate Cruise

Delivers

Big Time Value

By Chris McBeath

It all started on a whim – a romantic notion of my lazing in a hammock on some fabled riverboat as the Peruvian Amazon drifted by. The reality turned out to be more than I bargained for. After all, when chickens and bananas dictate ports of call, you know this particular cruise through the jungle is one of a different genre.

For travelers with adventure in their heart, however, it doesn`t get much better than hitching a ride with a cargo boat on one of the Amazon’s many tributaries. For most communities, tramp freighters are the life-line to getting goods to market, so stops to load up and transfer everything from cattle to shiny new Suzuki motorcycles are frequent. It makes the four-day trip up the Rio Marañón, from Tarapoto to Iquitos, a slow moving affair.

Still, if you’re armed with a hammock, a bowl and a spoon, you`ll be set to experience one of the cheapest, all-inclusive cruises around. But be warned. Accommodation is intimately communal. Meals are whatever the tiny kitchen dishes up out of pots large enough for a stewed possum or two. And facilities include humidity-killer cold showers (remember, this is the steamy jungle) of murky river water.

Getting There

Catching one of these vessels is a quest unto itself. The key is to get to Yurigamaus, a scruffy little port town that scarcely hints to its former glory days during the rubber boom on Avenida Arica. It’s once legendary moniker La Perla del Huallaga, “the pearl of the Huallaga River” has been long forgotten.

First you need to fly to Tarapoto, a necessary – and the only accessible - transfer point for moving on to Yurigamaus.

Located in the Andean foothills in the heart of the north eastern Peruvian jungle, Tarapoto is not the most salubrious place. By day it bustles with noisy motorized rickshaws, MotorKars, rambling along dirt roads to seemingly nowhere. By night, the downtown core (the meeting point of two earth-packed streets) takes on a shiftier air that feels it should be in a prequel to a Francis Ford Coppola movie. Little wonder. This “nowhere” place is actually a flourishing drug entrepot and the commercial center for the highlands’ agricultural largesse including some of the world’s best cacao for high-grade chocolate as well as coca for cocaine.

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The colectivo cab service between the two outposts is a thriving business. Cars leave only when full and are the only option to cross over the Cordillera Escalera mountains in relative safety. It’s a two-hour 120km drive that edges along extreme cliffs and through thickets of virgin jungle.

En route you`re likely to encounter different authorities in oversized boots and shouldering semi-automatic rifles.

Some check your driver`s credentials; some check yours; and others expect an impromptu `toll` of a few soles. Although $1 can hardly be considered protection money, the exchange is a racket connected to the drug trade that hides out in the surrounding hillsides. You shrug your shoulders.

You fumble for change. You smile. You pay. And you are waved on.

Class Distinction

Once in Yurigamaus, any MotorKar will take you to the muddy, rutted shore where numerous boats lie in various stages of (dis)repair and cargo loads. With a fleet of seven boats, Transportes Eduardo is your best bet for hospitality and overall water-worthiness. It’s a cash-only, walk-on, first-come, first-served deal. You check in with the captain alongside the rest of the livestock with various touts, helpers and hawkers all eyeing the potential of making a soles or

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two. Never fear, it’s all part of the friendly melee. Note: Reservations are taken only for private cabins which a few and far between. They range from two-bunk sweatboxes to two-star rooms with private, rather rudimentary bathrooms.

Cruise is somewhat of a misnomer because on these flatbed vessels, passengers are considered cargo alongside cattle, corn and sacks of potatoes, only as human-cargo you get to negotiate your passage. Locals gravitate to the cheaper (60 PEN/approx. US$24) middle deck where the heat of the engine room wafts up and mingles its greasy aromatics with those of the kitchen. Tourists and more affluent travelers head for the upper deck (100 PEN/approx. US$40) where breezes and views are pretty much guaranteed. Arrive early and you have your pick of air-space. But don`t get too smug because the vessel doesn`t get underway until all three decks are pretty much crammed to capacity which invariably means delayed departures. Chances are that you and your hammock will be reduced to a five-degree swing before the loading`s done. Tip: If travel connections have you arrive the day before sailing, Eduardo allows you to stay board at no extra charge.

Up Close and Personal

Surprisingly, traveling in such close quarters means that privacy is very much respected save for youngsters with a curiosity for all things foreign. Your hammock space quickly becomes sacrosanct so catching up with a good book and snoozing through the afternoon is an easy bliss -- especially if there’s a rooster on board that’s heralded a 5am dawn!

Bumping buttocks with your neighbour makes for instant friendships even if Spanish isn’t in your repertoire. Most passengers are locals on passage-only tickets. They distinguish themselves with well-worn hammocks, numerous plastic bags stuffed to bursting, and vast contingencies of food and bottled water.

Which brings me to the ship-board cuisine. At the ring of a bell or a hammering on the metal bulkhead that makes the whole deck shiver, the kitchen opens for business. Three times a day the line-ups shuffle in between hammocks on the middle deck to the kitchen window. Breakfast is usually a grey liquid with a floating oat or two, barely flavoured with a vanilla bean, and served with two large buttered buns. Even Oliver would be challenged to ask for more. Lunch and dinner, however, offer carbo-generous servings of rice, lima beans, potatoes, plantain and either pieces of bony fish or scrawny chicken bought from thatched hut villages along the way. Sometimes there are shreds of cabbage or a carrot. Note: Food is cooked in river water. Most passengers are fine but have medicine at the ready to combat any potential tummy upsets.

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More intriguing food is never too far away. At every stop, throngs of vendors swarm aboard with local fare peddling everything from fresh fish to live turtles. Mouthwatering mangoes. Citrus limes. Pucallpas. Lucumas. And an array of home-cooked offerings such as corn-on-the-cob and stir-fry stews.

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A Timeless Adventure

Watching the organized chaos of goods being loaded and unloaded is the real entertainment. The corralling of obstinate cattle and scatterbrained pigs. The stacking of endless sacks of rice and potatoes. Eggs piled as precariously as the leaning Tower of Pisa. And stalk upon stalk of bananas, some delivered via pequepeques (small dugouts with outboard motors) that come alongside mid-river as both vessels drift in the current.

Many stops are impromptu, signalled with flipping tin sheets in the sun to telegraph they have cargo to add.

Because Peruvian time embodies a certain nonchalance, this mode of travel is not for time-wary passengers. Frequent stops and unknown cargo mean visits vary from a few minutes to over an hour. And breakdowns or running aground on a sandbar are not uncommon, especially at low water season.

In the constantly shifting river, channels and islands appear and disappear daily and since electronic depth readers are too easily sheared off by passing debris, captains use experience and know-how to navigate the waters -- with a little help of a plumb line dropped overboard to measure the depth of the silty bottom.

Go with the Flow

Everyone is subject to the river’s vagrancies, and different boats deliver different experiences depending on crew, cargo, and time of year. But with the right attitude, few expectations, and no pressing need to be anywhere in particular, this is a cruise for one’s bucket list.

Floating through the Amazon’s misty mornings is surreal. Catching the flash of pink dolphins playing in the brown waters a delight. And watching the passing silhouettes of the jungle beneath a star-filled sky is magical. All told, my romantic notion wasn’t that far off considering my cheapskate budget.

If you Go

• LAN and TACA airlines offer daily flights

between Lima and Tarapoto/Lima to Iquitos • Transportes Eduardo: 065/35-1270;

transpeduardo@hotmail.com (no website)

Reservations only taken for cabins • Survival basics: a towel, soap and toiletries;

4-6 liters of water; snacks; hammock; bowl/spoon;

reading material; tie-ups/padlock advisable.

Most items may be purchased in Yurigamaus

market or from visiting vendors on board

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H O T NE EL W C OO RL LL EE AC NT S I O N

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New Orleans Festivals The global fame of New Orleans’ biggest festivals is obvious.

Mardi Gras is practically the first thing anyone associates with the city and Jazz Fest and Halloween are all nationally, if not internationally renowned.

The scope of the festival circuit on the Big Easy, though, is one that complements and enhances everyday life for locals and visitors alike, and beyond the huge celebrations of these iconic parties, there’s a wealth of more niche occasions that have their own very special charms, and are well worth being in town for.

This city, perhaps more than any other in the US, is dedicated of course to the pleasures of food and drink, and the pursuit of epicurean delights is highlighted in the ever-growing New Orleans Food and Wine Experience (NOWFE).

Now in its 20th year, the festival (www.nowfe.com) brings together the best of the city’s incredible chefs, restaurateurs, wine buffs, cocktail makers and all round gourmands. The big blow out happens at the Grand Tasting, which fills the Superdome with more food and drink than you could ever sample, even if it was every day for a week.

There are also a number of hosted dinners. Some of the best from 2013 took place at La Louisiane, the stylish dining room at the chic Hotel Mazarin, 7 on Fulton, which welcomes fine diners at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel and Roux on Orleans, which is the flagship dining room at the always popular (and incredibly well located) Bourbon Orleans Hotel. All the dinners paired superb wines with special, chef-selected menus.

The Bourbon Orleans also plays host each June to the glamorous, oestrogen-fuelled frivolity of Festigals (www.festigals. org), a female-focussed celebration of New Orleans life that mixes cocktails and canapés with inspirational speakers and empowering seminars. The climax of the festival is the Bourbon Orleans’ famed ‘Saints and Sinners Drag Queen Brunch’, a raucous and entertaining end to the event.

Essence Fest (www.essence.com) happens in early July each year, a music festival that attracts some of the biggest names in the business. Essence celebrates soul, RnB and Hip Hop, and takes over the city for a few days. One of the more esoteric events of the festival is the Best Dressed Madame, an elegant and glitzy ceremony that takes place at May Baily’s Bar, attached to the Dauphine Orleans Hotel.

H O T NE EL W C OO RL L L EE AC NT S I O N 38

It may not have originated in New Orleans, but the Crescent City has taken the famed Running of the Bulls from Pamplona and made it its very own.

Instead of bulls, roller derby girls chase the red and white clad competitors with soft bats, and give the slower ones a playful whack if they can catch them.

In celebration of this Spanish tradition, one of the best kick-off events is the Governor Galvez Spanish Wine Dinner, which also takes place at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel.

Running of a different kind, though still one where the runners are dressed in red is the uniquely-New Orleanian Red Dress Run. Taking place each August, the fun run of 3-4 miles is a somewhat boozy affair that last year comprised of around 4,000 runners and 250 kegs of beer. The only stipulation for runners – male and female – is that they wear a red dress. Over $200,000 is raised for local charities, and sponsors include the prestigious properties of the New Orleans Hotel Collection (NOHC).

The NOHC are also major sponsors of one of the fastest-growing cultural events in the South – namely the New Orleans Fringe Festival. Each November, over 150 performers, comedians, actors and acrobats descend on the city. Their shows take place in official theatre venues, converted coffee shops, in parks and just about anywhere you can stage a play.

Finally, a very niche event that could only happen in New Orleans is Packenham’s Last Supper, which is a fine dining extravaganza with a re-enactment of the ceremonies that may have preceded the 1812 Battle of New Orleans. The generals and soldiery mingle with guests in the evocative surroundings of La Louisiane at the Mazarin Hotel, and toast to victory, educating diners with tales from the battlefield as the courses come out.

It pays to search beyond the obvious when planning a visit to New Orleans. Scratch below the surface, and you’ll find a wealth of weird and wonderful annual events, with something for everyone no matter their interests.

Marc Becker The hotels of the New Orleans Hotel Collection are proud to be associated with the events mentioned.

Readers are kindly directed to www.neworleanshotelcollection.com/200 the site offers better than online travel agency rates.

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Andrew McCarthy

Ken Budd

Peter I. Rose

Unable to commit to his fiancée of nearly four years—and with no clear understanding of what’s holding him back— McCarthy finds himself at a crossroads, plagued by doubts that have clung to him for a lifetime.

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A remarkable memoir about losing your father, accepting your fate, and finding your destiny by volunteering around the world for numerous worthy causes: Hurricane Katrina disaster relief in New Orleans, helping special needs children in China, studying climate change in Ecuador, lending a hand—and a heart—at a Palestinian refugee camp in the Middle East, to name but a few.

“With Few Reservations, Travels at Home and Abroad” is a collection of forty-eight engaging commentaries written by the sociologist, photographer and prize-winning travel journalist Peter Rose. It offers intriguing portraits of places and people from Cape Cod to Cape Horn.

Available at amazon.com

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Paris Revisited: The Guide for the Return Traveler

Baseball Bits

Waltzing Australia

Gary Lee Kraut

Dan Schlossberg

Cynthia Clampitt

The Best Stories, Facts, and Trivia from the Dugout to the Outfield

“Paris Revisited: The Guide for the Return Traveler” is a true insider’s guide intended for those who enjoy fine informative travel writing, whether returning to Paris, looking to get it right the first time, or savoring Francophile fantasies from home.

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Available at baseballbits.com

“Waltzing Australia” is the award-winning travel narrative which recounts th Cynthia Clampitt’s six-month, 20,000-mile journey around and across the land Down Under, offers a vivid portrayal of Australia, its history and legends, its wonders, its people, and its enduring beauty.

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*

DESTINATION INFORMATION SHREVEPORT - BOSSIER

ALYESKA RESORT

THE NEW ORLEANS HOTEL COLLECTION

It’s that unique combination of two great American heritages that set Shreveport-Bossier apart. It’s a little Texas, a little cajun. You’ll find the combination reflected in our mouth-watering dining, where flavorful Texas steak may be combined with spicy crawfish. Or you might find it in our music, with nightclubs and concerts for jazz, country, bluegrass, folk, zydeco, and everything in between. There’s no place like it in America, a world of color and sound, taste and entertainment, elegant Southern charm and a relaxed attitude that suggests you kick off your boots and stay awhile.

Alyeska Resort is Alaska’s premier year-round destination featuring the 304-room Hotel Alyeska. Located just 40 miles from Anchorage and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Alyeska Resort is the perfect base camp for visitors whether they are seeking powder-filled slopes or a mountain retreat between stops at national parks and sports-fishing lodges. The resort is within close proximity of three national parks and the Kenai Peninsula, and is home to the northernmost coastal temperate rainforest, part of the Chugach Mountain Range.

Discover an exceptional collection of upscale hotels, restaurants, bars and lounges that capture the essence of New Orleans charm and hospitality. The New Orleans Hotel Collection is set apart by its distinctive style, personalized service and superb location ideal for meetings and weddings large or small as well as business and leisure travelers alike.

UNITED STATES ALABAMA

Palm Springs 760-778-8415 www.VisitPalmSprings.com

Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau 205-458-8000 www.BirminghamAL.org Huntsville / Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau 256-551-2235 www.Huntsville.org

ALASKA

Alyeska Resort 907-754-2592 www.AlyeskaResort.com

ARIZONA Phoenix

602-452-6250 www.VisitPhoenix.com

ARKANSAS

Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau 479-783-8888 www.FortSmith.org

CALIFORNIA

Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau 562-495-8345 www.VisitLongBeach.com Monterey 831-657-6415 www.SeeMonterey.com Oxnard Convention & Visitors Bureau 805-385-7545 www.VisitOxnard.com

Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau 626-395-0211 www.VisitPasadena.com San Diego Zoo 619-685-3291 www.SanDiegoZoo.org

Tri-Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau 925-846-8910 www.TriValleyCVB.com West Hollywood 310-289-2525 www.VisitWestHollywood.com

COLORADO

Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce 970-945-5002 www.GlenwoodChamber.com

FLORIDA

Franklin County Tourist Development Council 850-653-8678 www.SaltyFlorida.com

IDAHO Idaho

208-334-2470 www.VisitIdaho.org

LOUISIANA

Alexandria / Pineville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau 318-442-9546 www.TheHeartOfLouisiana.com Baton Rouge

225-382-3578 www.VisitBatonRouge.com New Orleans Hotel Collection 504-527-0407 www.NewOrleansHotelCollection.com Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau 888-45-VISIT www.Shreveport-Bossier.org

MICHIGAN

Greater Lansing Michigan Convention & Visitors Bureau 517-377-1423 www.Lansing.org

MINNESOTA

Meet Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Bureau 612-767-8038 www.Minneapolis.org

MISSOURI

Explore Branson 417-243-2137 www.ExploreBranson.com Maryland Heights Convention & Visitors Bureau 314-548-6051 www.More2Do.org

VISIT WEST HOLLYWOOD

PINEHURST, SOUTHERN PINES, ABERDEEN

MONTEREY

West Hollywood is set in the heart of Los Angeles.

It’s where rock & roll meets fashion, art merges with lifestyle and everyone is free to to be different.

Today, West Hollywood is a top travel destination among the entertainment industry, the jet set and LGBT community. The scene is densely packed into 1.9 miles of walkability including: a vast culinary landscape, The Sunset Strip’s notorious lifestyle, designer flagships lining The Avenues district, celebrity hot spots, global annual events, premier spas and fitness, entertainment and much more. West Hollywood is a place that’s proud to stand out. It’s time - come experience why West Hollywood is the city that’s truly LIVING FORWARD.

From Donald Ross’ creation of Pinehurst No. 2 to Payne Stewart’s legendary putt to win the 1999 US Open Championship, the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area has a storied legacy of golf unlike any other place in the country.

Here, you’ll find North Carolina’s best golf courses, incredible outdoor adventures, world-class dining and shopping, beautiful equestrian facilities, and more. But it’s not just the perfect family vacation destination. With a variety of hotels, resort-style accommodations and meeting spaces, it’s also an ideal location for corporate events and group golf outings. Great rates and vacation packages are just a click away. So start planning your trip to the Home of American Golf today.

Monterey offers iconic California experiences.

Experience the top road trip in the United States as you wind along the breathtaking Big Sur coastline on Highway One. Book a Monterey hotel on the beach, then explore the shops and attractions of iconic Cannery Row. Sip handcrafted wines at tucked-away tasting rooms where the winemaker might just be the person pouring. Take a surfing lesson and catch a glimpse of a barefoot beach wedding as you ride your board to shore. Play 18 holes at legendary golf courses, or just hang out at the 19th hole and watch the pros practice. Monterey County has something special for everyone.

NEW YORK

Dutchess County Tourism 845-463-5446 www.DutchessTourism.com

Missy Farren & Associates Marketing & Public Relations 212-528-1691 www.MFALTD.com Niagara Tourism & Convention Corporation 716-282-8992 www.Niagara-USA.com

RHODE ISLAND Go Newport

401-845-9117 www.GoNewport.com

South County Rhode Island Tourism Council

401-489-4422 www.SouthCountyRI.com

TENNESSEE

Cherohala Skyway National Scenic Byway 423-442-9147 www.MonroeCounty.com

WASHINGTON

San Juan Islands Washington Visitors Bureau 360-378-6822 www.VisitSanJuans.com Travel Tacoma

253-284-3265 www.TravelTacoma.com

WASHINGTON DC

Development Counsellors International 212-725-0707 www.DC-Intl.com

NEVADA

TEXAS

WEST VIRGINIA

NORTH CAROLINA

UTAH

CANADA

Pinehurst Southern Pines Aberdeen Area Convention & Visitors Bureau 910-692-3330 www.HomeOfGolf.com

VIRGINIA

City of Henderson The Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce 702-267-2171 www.CityofHenderson.com 830-608-2803 www.NBCham.org Cedar City-Brian Head Tourism Bureau 435-586-5127 www.ScenicSouthernUtah.com

Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau 304-799-4636 www.PocahontasCountyWV.com

Québec City Tourism 418-641-6654 www.QuebecRegion.com

INDIA

The Travel Planners 905-230-2701 www.TTPKerala.com

Norfolk Convention & Visitors Bureau 757-664-6620 OHIO www.VisitNorfolkToday.com MEXICO Tuscarawas County Convention

& Visitors Bureau Virginia Beach Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board 212-633-2047 330-602-2420 757-385-6645 www.VisitPuertoVallarta.com www.TravelTUSC.com www.VisitVirginiaBeach.com

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Where Luck Comes Your Way Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana

Welcome

NATJA MeMBerS

Bet on an amazing time at Shreveport-Bossier’s six casinos/racetrack. These 24-hour Vegas style casinos offer upscale dining, spas, luxurious hotels and other plush amenities that gamers expect. After you’ve hit it big, check out area attractions such as the Louisiana Boardwalk, Sci-port: Louisiana’s Science Center or Robinson Film Center.

Book your hotel today.

LouisianasOtherSide @sbctb

1-888-45-VISIT

www.shreveport-bossier.org Visit our daily arts and culture blog, www.20x49.com