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Coming Soon To Delaware: A National Park?
Besides working on health care reform and extending the housing credit, members of Congress are working on another pressing issue. Those from Delaware’s congressional district are looking to get the ball rolling on the creation of the state’s first national park. We’re all for more national parks, but we’ve been through Delaware, and park isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, we hear the Delaware Water Gap is pretty nice and it’s already a National Recreation Area—too bad it's not in Delaware.
Senator Thomas Carper is the one pushing hard for the First State National Historical Park, and he wants $5 million to preserve land near New Castle and to probably build a cool gift shop. Things at the park would focus on the state’s early settlers from Europe as well as other stuff perfect for an elementary school field trip. Besides the attractions in New Castle, there will also be sites outside of town like the Old Swedes Church in Wilmington.
Tags: Missouri Travel / Memorials / Architecture Travel / National Parks / → All Tags
St. Louis' Gateway Arch Looking To Have Some Work Done Before Turning Fifty
Now that Southwest Airlines has announced that they are all about St. Louis, the city is eager to get to work on their most famous attraction. After all, with an influx of new visitors thanks to cheap flights, the city needs to show off its offerings. Late last week the National Park Service released an almost 300 page set of plans dealing with the future of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial—that’s the Gateway Arch for those less familiar with its full name.
The park service is looking to preserve and maintain the grand lawn area beneath the Arch and wants to add some snazzy new stuff to the north and south ends of the area. The entire memorial is almost 100 acres large, so they have a lot of room to play with. One of the biggest updates would be to expand the park across the Mississippi River. That would provide East St. Louis with a little Arch love, and would allow the Arch to be better connected to the downtown area. Certain blocks downtown could be cleared to allow for new walkways for pedestrians to check things out.
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Heading To A National Park? Leave Your Bear-Bait Minivan Behind
On your next road trip to one of the country’s national parks you may want to consider taking the Prius rather than the minivan. Scientists have revealed their findings from a recent study, and apparently bears love minivans and SUVs.
In an article published in this month’s Journal of Mammalogy we learn that black bears within Yosemite National Park prefer to steal some human snacks from the insides of larger cars. Researchers looked at data between 2001 and 2007 to see if there were any connections between over 900 car break-ins caused by black bears at the park. Almost half of the vehicles that were broken into were either minivans or SUVs.
Tags: National Parks / Ken Burns / Documentaries / Television Travel / → All Tags
Twelve Hours Of National Parks History On TV Coming At You This Month
We’ve been waiting on Ken Burns' latest project for more than a year now, and it’s finally time to make the popcorn and turn on the television. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is slated to air later this month on your local PBS station. The film took nearly a decade to create, and we’re ready to witness some breathtaking imagery as well as learn a little something. We might actually want to take a few notes so we don’t miss anything good—it could come in handy for trivia night at the local bar.
The documentary begins with the birth of the national park and traces its evolution over the years through modern times. Burns uses first person accounts, old photographs, and over 40 interviews to illustrate where the country’s greatest treasure has been and where it plans to head in the future. There are plenty of contemporary anecdotes juxtaposed with the historical accounts throughout the film, so it won’t be just a lecture on what has been.
Tags: Statue of Liberty / Monument Travel / New York City / Travel News / National Parks / → All Tags
Lady Liberty Wants You To Come Over After Dark
It seems like just yesterday that the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor re-opened her crown to the public. And ever since that day, which really was back in June, Lady Liberty has had a head full of tourist, with tickets for the 354 steps to the top selling out well in advance.
Seeing as how that went so well, the city is kicking it up a notch in celebration of National Public Lands Day on September 26. On the evenings of September 24 (for Ellis Island) and September 25 (for the Statue of Liberty), you'll be able to visit the landmarks after dark. Spooky? Not so much; you'll take the tour boats over to island as normal, and are free to wander around so long as don't expect to go up in Lady Liberty or get lost on Ellis.
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Wacky Tobaccy Infiltrates Yosemite National Park
Free weekends at the country’s national parks may be over for the summer season, but there’s still plenty of excitement to be found—especially at Yosemite National Park. There is a lot of new plant life to discover, especially if you are looking to find some of the illegal variety. However, you better hurry up!
Last week, park rangers destroyed almost 5,000 marijuana plants within the park, and these little green buds had a value of nearly $19 million. Not only are the plants obviously illegal, but the growers are leaving all kinds of crap in the parks as well. Rangers got rid of 400 pounds of fertilizer, 3,000 feet of irrigation hose, and 200 pounds of trash. We’re just glad the rangers got to it before Yogi and friends did.
Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / National Parks / Arizona Travel / Grand Canyon / → All Tags
The Obamas Show Us How A National Parks Vacation Is Done
With vacation destinations like Miami Beach or Las Vegas, one wonder if American families are still game to take in natural sights at the once-popular National Parks. Well, there's at least one family that kicked off their summer vacation with little good old road tripping out west, and that's the Obamas. Before they head to Martha's Vineyard for some well-deserved down time, the first family spent this last weekend admiring the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park.
Alright, so it wasn't exactly a road trip in the traditional sense, since the family took the Marine One helicopter from the White House to Air Force One to reach the west, but they did hop from one park to another in one weekend, and Obama even brought along his half-sister and her family.
Tags: National Parks / Active Travel / Summer Travel / Barack Obama / Presidential Travel / → All Tags
The First Family Packs Their Bags For An Old-Fashioned Western Road Trip
It won't be too old-fashioned however, as we’re thinking that they won’t be taking the family station wagon to get to the National parks they're visiting next weekend. President Obama and his crew will be hitting up some of the country’s natural gems including the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. The trip hopes to highlight the national park system and encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy the great outdoors.
The visit coincides with the park service’s fee free weekend, so the Obamas are clearly trying to save a couple of bucks. For regular park visitors this isn’t the best timing. The parks are probably going to be packed, especially at the Grand Canyon, where the normal entrance fee is $25 per carload. Add in a little security detail in preparation of the President’s arrival, and there’s going to be a big traffic mess.
Obama will be bringing his town hall style meetings with him, and will probably be chatting up the masses about his ideas regarding health care. He’ll also be swinging through Phoenix to speak at the VFW convention. Maybe after he’s done speaking, he’ll get a spot in line at one of our favorite pizza spots.
Related Stories: [Photo: Ken Lunc]
· First Family to Visit National Parks [CBS News]
· Three For Free: Summer Weekends at 100 National Parks [Jaunted]
· Presidential Travel coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Volcanoes / National Parks / Science Travel / → All Tags
Things At Yellowstone Aren't As Calm As Once Thought
This month’s copy of National Geographic has some great reading for those headed out to Yellowstone National Park this summer. However, it’s the kind of information that you may not want to hear if you’re a worrywart. Apparently the volcano supervolcano that created one of the country’s best national parks isn’t as sleepy as researchers once thought.
Although researchers aren’t trying to terrify us, there is some evidence that the volcano has been inching upwards in recent years. It’s doming, it’s growing, and researchers refer to it as a caldera at unrest, which sounds a little unsettling to us. Especially when you consider some of the suspected supervolcano eruptions that have taken place in the planet’s history. About 2.1 million years ago an eruption at Yellowstone left a hole in the ground as large as Rhode Island.
For now, researchers seem to agree on one thing: they aren’t sure what will happen and when. An eruption could wipe out much of the human race and next week we could be plunged into a volcanic winter for 100,000 years, or never at all. All we know is we better go see Old Faithful before it's upstaged by something a little more extreme.
Related Stories: [Photo of Mud Volcano at Yellowstone: enyacologne]
· When Yellowstone Explodes [National Geographic]
· Tonga's Underwater Volcano Might Affect the Fiji Beach Scene [Jaunted]
· Science Travel coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Fishing / National Parks / Active Travel / Wyoming Travel / → All Tags
The Ultimate Weekend Fly Fishing Trip In Wyoming
It won’t be long until Jackson Hole is covered in snow, and Dick Cheney is clogging up the town’s main arteries with his entourage. To take advantage of the warm weather and summer scenery, we suggest indulging in a fly fishing trip to the Equality State—ya, that’s actually Wyoming’s official nickname.
It’s prime trout season on the Snake River through October, and the fish are daring you to try and catch them. The Teton Mountain Lodge and Spa has created a Cast Away Fly Fishing Package to allow for the ultimate lazy and active vacation combination. During the day you’ll be learning to fly fish thanks to private lessons. At night you’ll be snoozing away in the comfort of luxury accommodations.
Package rates start at $2,166, which is a little expensive, especially in the current economy. However, you are getting a four-night stay, breakfast every morning, weeklong passes to the national parks, and dinner for two at the lodge’s fancy pants restaurant. You’ll owe a nice dinner to your sweetheart if she tags along; let’s just hope she enjoys “New Western Mountain” cuisine.
Related Stories: [Photo: timailius]
·Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa [Official Site]
·Fresh Air Travel: Cheyenne is America's Cleanest City [Jaunted]
·National Parks coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Volcanoes / National Parks / Big Island / Hawaii Travel / → All Tags
Hawaii's Mount Kilauea Volcano Feeling The Lava Love
If you’ve been paying attention to all the hype, you’d know that now is a great time to visit Hawaii. The state is hurting since a lot of tourist money has dried up, but that’s good news for budget-conscious travelers who've always dreamt of getting lei'd. With a little patience, scoring a great hotel and airfare deal is totally possible. If for some reason you need more urging to visit the Aloha State, consider that you might just get to see Kilauea getting a little feisty.
Over on the Big Island, things have been a little more active than usual for the last week or so at the Halemaumau crater, and the glow of lava can easily been seen overnight from the viewpoint at the Jaggar Museum. Scientists are pretty hot and heavy about what could happen next, but they’re unsure if lava will ever erupt in a fountain out of the crater.
The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has limited access to the summit vent, just in case things get a little too exciting a little too quickly. Right now, it’s estimated that molten lava is only about 300 feet below the crater flow—which, in relative terms, is extremely close. Although there’s always something cooking deep inside the earth, it’s been since October 2008 since Madam Pele has been this active. If you go at active times like this, there's no need to enter the dangerous zone in order to see volcanic action; so get there while the lava getting's good.
Related Stories: [Photo from 2008: NDomer73]
·Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park [Official Site]
·Scientists Eye Glowing Volcano Crater In Hawaii [AP, via Google]
·Halemaumau Lava Lake Bubbling Up? [KHNL]
·Jaunted In Hawaii coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: National Parks / Recession Travel / Travel News / California Travel / → All Tags
California Can't Pay For Its Parks, Meaning You Can't Visit Them
Were you planning on some recession vacationing this summer in California's vast network of state parks? Too bad:
Desperate for revenues, Schwarzenegger has taken the unprecedented step of proposing the closure of 220 of the 279 state parks and beaches – from Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay to the deserts of Anza-Borrego – to save about $213 million over the next two years. Administration officials said the list of targets came down to which parks generate more revenues from fees and concessions than they cost to operate.
