Attractions

Since 1858, Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Maine has been guiding ships into Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay. At first glance, it hardly seems likely that its light could reach far enough to provide any help to mariners; from the front walkway, only the tip of the lighthouse is visible above the lightkeeper’s cottage. Even from back side of the cottage, the squat, round tower has very little presence. Only upon following the trail down the cliffside to view the lighthouse from below does its elevation become apparent.

From the front, only the tip of the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is visible above the lightkeeper's cottage

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse stands only 32 feet high, but its light is 56 feet above sea level, thanks to the bluff on which it sits. Originally outfitted with a fifth-order Fresnel lens, in 1902 the light was upgraded to a fourth-order lens and a red chimney was placed over the lamp inside the lens to produce a colored that Read More »

As we traveled out West, my husband kept mentioning wanting to see “the Badlands”.  I honestly couldn’t understand why any place in the world would ever been named in such a way, unless it was truly a horrid place, and if so, why we would want to go there?

But while in South Dakota, as we approached the area, the terrain changed, becoming dry and rocky, while at the same time colorful and intensely beautiful. The first glimpse of rock reminded me of a motorcycle ride we took across the desert outside of Las Vegas.  However, it wasn’t quite as hot, and once we got there I realize it wasn’t like any place I had ever seen before.

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My husband has been wanting to take a road trip with the family fo’evah. Yup, that’s how we hard core New Yorkers say it. Another thing about us hard core New Yorkers: we don’t take road trips…to far away lands…like the Rocky Mountains and beyond.  Nope.  We fly.

But, when you are a member of a family of five, it seems that road trips become the way to go, no matter where you are from.  So we ventured out on our trip, and saw several great places,  and the one place I was eager to see was Yellowstone National Park. I have always heard it’s a wonderful place to visit, especially with kids and that it is beautiful. And when we arrived there I could see that all of that was true.

We did several things while in Yellowstone.  We skipped pebbles on the lake, we camped, we saw caribou and buffalo, we even went for hikes.  But it was the scenery in Yellowstone that really made the trip wonderful. First let me just say, that to get from the East entrance of the park to the West entrance it took us about 2 hours.  It is, of course, huge.

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In north-central Arizona, around the 11th century, the Sunset Crater erupted, leaving a layer of volcanic ash over everything, which led to increased agricultural viability, believe it or not.

Sunset Crater

The soil’s ability to grow better and retain water better led to an influx of settlers in this area.  These people came to be known as the Ancient Pueblo People, and they built dwellings made out of flat red stones pasted together with mortar.

Wupatki Ruins in Arizona

Everyone lived in one big building made up of many, many rooms.  The Wupatki settlement is believed to the largest and the tallest of the area from that time period.

Wupatki Ruins

Also on site is a geological blowhole, where air is blown out at large pressures from caves below ground.

Ancient ruins, a blowhole and a volcanic crater, all within range of each other.  This sounds like a must see kind of place!

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut

Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine contains more than 120 miles of hiking trails that range from very easy to strenuous workouts. Most average about one mile in length, however many intersect and forming a complex network, so it is possible to combine multiple trails to cover large areas of the park.

View of "The Bubbles," as seen from the trailhead

At 3.3 miles in length, Jordan Pond Shore Trail is one of the longer (and more popular), as it offers the best views of “The Bubbles” a pair of glacially sculpted mounds located directly across the pond from the trailhead. This trail has a little bit of everything; portions run along a well graded, level path, while other portions require scrambling over granite boulders or walking along a sometimes wobbly elevated rough plank boardwalk.

Parts of the trail are nicely improved while other parts require scrambling over giant granite boulders

The pond water is so clean that submerged granite boulders near the shore are clearly visible. Because the 150-foot deep reservoir is a source of drinking water for nearby Bar Harbor, swimming is prohibited, Kayaking and canoeing, however, are allowed, and Jordan Pond is one of the more beautiful places in Acadia National Park to paddle.

Swampy or fragile areas are traversed by a wooden boardwalk

Perhaps the best part of hiking at this particular location is the opportunity to dine at Jordan Pond House, where you can enjoy afternoon tea & popovers (a light, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth puff-pastry), a tradition since the 1800’s. Though the only accommodations available inside Acadia National Park are campgrounds, it is located just outside of the town of Bar Harbor, Maine, where a wide variety of lodging is available.

Photos courtesy of Barbara Weibel

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut

Of the numerous well-preserved Native American ruins found in north central Arizona, the ancient cliff dwelling found at Montezuma Castle National Monument is the most spectacular. Built into a recess in a white limestone cliff about 70 feet above the ground, this 20 room, 5-story structure was occupied as early as 1200 a.d., until the inhabitants mysteriously departed from the Verde Valley more than two hundred years later.

The 900 year old cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle National Monument. Photo by Barbara Weibel at HoleInTheDonut.com

Believing the prehistoric cliff house to be Aztec in origin, the first settlers to the area – a ragged collection of miners and soldiers who arrived in the 1860’s – named it after the Aztec emperor, Montezuma. We now know that this unique dwelling was constructed by the Sinagua Indian peoples using locally available limestone rocks stacked and held together with clay, much like laying bricks on a modern house. Once the construction of the outer walls was completed, an adobe plaster was used to coat and seal the exterior. The Sinagua cultivated a variety of crops in the valley that spread out beneath their cliff house, using water that flowed year-round through Beaver Creek to irrigate the crops. No one knows for sure why the Sinagua abandoned their home, although some experts speculate that a severe drought dried up the creek, forcing the tribe to pack up and leave.

A close up look at the structure, courtesy of the National Park Service

After being abandoned, the dwelling survived for hundreds of years in the hot, dry climate found in this part of Arizona and only began to deteriorate when it became a popular tourist destination. Early visitors were allowed to climb a series of ladders up the side of the limestone cliffs and access the interior of the structure, resulting in extensive damage. Thankfully, the park service stopped allowing access in 1951. Visitors are now limited to viewing the ruins from the valley floor, where a self-guided, 1/3-mile loop trail leads past the cliff dwelling, through a grove of old-growth sycamores, and along Beaver Creek, one of only a few perennial streams in Arizona.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is open 364 days a year (closed Christmas Day), from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. June through August and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during other months. In addition to the self-guiding trail, an on-site museum includes exhibits and artifacts depicting the lifestyle, history and culture of the Sinaguan Indians who built Montezuma Castle. Adults pay a $5 entrance fee and children under 16 are free. Although no accommodations are available at the site, hotels and motels are located in nearby Camp Verde (5 miles), and in Cottonwood (19 miles).

by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper

Inside Maui’s Haleakala National Park is a beautiful treasure known as the Seven Sacred Pools. Referring to the area as seven pools may not be quite accurate, as there are more than that, but the allure of the “sacred” has been hooking tourists since Maui began promoting it as such in the 1940s. Technically, the lush area is the Ohe’o Gulch along the Kipahulu coastal area of the park.

After traveling the gorgeous and winding Road to Hana to get there (an adventure which I’ll chronicle in a later blog post), paying a small parking fee to enter the park, and gratefully enjoying their restrooms–which were remarkably clean, considering–we were happy to feel a warm ocean breeze on our faces as we headed down the marked Pipiwai Trail.

The Trail to the Pools

Hikers on the Pipiwai Trail to the pools are privy to a variety of Hawaii’s most beautiful plants and trees, including an enormous Banyan tree, until finally the path opens up to the gulch, where various levels of rock create waterfalls and pools as water weaves its way to the ocean.

Maui's Seven Sacred Pools

It’s loud (these are waterfalls, after all) and it can be quite cold (we’re talking about rocks), but we climbed down for the best view and waded in the pools all the same, enjoying the enchanting surroundings of nature.

In years past, tourists–even some friends of mine–have been allowed to jump from the various falls. However, the Haleakala National Park rangers have put a stop to it for safety reasons (i.e., sharp rocks and shallow water equal bad accidents). So, don’t get any ideas.

While it wasn’t exactly sacred–don’t let these cleverly shot pictures fool you, there were people everywhere–it’s truly one of the most beautiful sites in all of Maui.

We drove. We hiked. We saw. And it was worth the effort.

Photos by Nathan Rice

by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper

If you ask me, sleeping outside is for the birds. However, it’s cheaper than a Hilton and my children love it.

Camping Site at San Elijo State Beach

After a few nightmarish camping excursions when my kids were little (note to self: don’t take a crawling baby camping in the dirt), I reluctantly agreed to pitch a tent with my family at the San Elijo State Beach. For this, you must make reservations in advance, and they are sometimes difficult to get.

If your kids are old enough to carry their own towels, know their limits in the ocean and not wander off–but are still young enough to like frolicking in cold waves–you’ll love this beach. I have friends who swear by it.

However, there are a few drawbacks you need to understand in advance before reserving yourself a campsite:

The Stairs of San Elijo State Beach

1. You’ll be camping on a cliff. I wouldn’t lie to you, friends, if you want the beachfront property, you’ll be walking down several flights of wooden stairs every time you want some waves–and back up them every time you forget something in the tent. Every single time.

2. Not every spot has an ocean view. If you want a direct ocean view, you need to camp along the edge of the cliff, where a chain link fence keeps campers safe without completely spoiling the view. You might not be very happy if you are camping for the view and get stuck in the back or behind the road.

3. It’s windy at night. It can be the middle of July and the temperature will still drop at night when the wind kicks up over the cliff. If you are from Minnesota, you might not care. If you are from Los Angeles, you will be cold.

4. They’ve got Wi-Fi. If you can’t leave your internet at home, AT&T provides it for you at the San Elijo State Beach.  If you don’t want your workaholic spouse checking his e-mail thrice a day, this is not the campground for you.

5. You’re camping next to the rails. This means you’ll be waking up in the night. A lot. Don’t think for one minute that the trains will care that you are tired, because they are thoughtless, loud and ugly beasts at two a.m.

The Wildlife of San Elijo Beach

Of course, my family was hit with a double whammy on our camping excursion. As if the trains weren’t enough to handle, a drunk wandered around the campground for most of the night yelling obscenities.

It was a night so terrible, my husband and I were eventually thrown past frustration into delirious giggles. Only a confused rooster could have made the monumentally bad night any worse for us.

And then, right as we began to estimate how long it might take us to pack up in the dark and scurry to a motel, our little girl woke up. She crawled out of her sleeping bag, across the tent, and onto our air mattress.

“This,” she said sleepily but with great conviction, “is the best vacation of my whole life.”

And that, my friends, is why–despite the steps, the wind, the trains and the drunk–we will eventually camp again at San Elijo.

Photos courtesy of Mark Goodkin (Flickr.com)

View from Little Round Top

by Linda (minnemom) of Travels with Children

The Civil War played an important part in United States history, and many of the battlefields are now monuments to that period of history.  Gettysburg National Military Park is one of those locations.

Run by the National Park Service, the park itself is a large area surrounding the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  An audio driving tour is available to explain the battle sites such as Little Round Top and the Peach Orchard, and it also explains the various monuments that are found throughout the battlefield area.

The Visitor Center was relocated into a new building last fall.  It contains a museum of exhibits and information about the Civil War in general and Gettysburg in particular; a short film about the Civil War shown in a theater, and the “Cyclorama,” a 360-degree painting with lights and sound that provides a perspective of the battle’s chronology.

Gettysburg Visitor Center Museum

Also in the Visitor Center is a cafe, a gift shop, and visitor information about the National Park Service site and other Gettysburg points of interest.

If you’re traveling to Gettysburg with kids, be sure to pick up a Junior Ranger guidebook at the National Park Service desk in the Visitor Center.  Having this in hand will make the museum activities and driving tour more interesting for school-aged kids.  Also, know that there are some loud sounds with the Cyclorama which scared my preschoolers.  If you know this ahead of time, you may be able to prepare them for it.

Photos by minnemom.

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut

At first glance, the Florida Everglades may look like nothing more than endless sawgrass prairies and Cypress swamps, but it is one of the world’s most fascinating ecosystems, containing plant and animal species not found anywhere else on the planet. To truly experience the Everglades you must get off the main roads and into the 1.5 million-acre wilderness.

Egret in Cypress swamp. Photo courtesy of Everglades National Park.

The ten best tours of the Everglades range from free programs conducted by Rangers at Everglades National Park to fee-based tours provided by licensed commercial operators:

1. Full Moon Bike Tours: Join Park Rangers at the Shark Valley district for a three-hour tour by the light of the moon. The 15-mile bike ride stops at an observation tower, where participants listen to the symphony of the Everglades at night. Free*.
2. Canoe Trips: Park Rangers lead four-hour morning canoe trips at the Flamingo Visitor Center. Canoes, paddles, and life vests are provided. Free*.


Alligtors are found throughout the park

3. Nike Missile Site Tour: Did you know that there is an historic Nike Missile Base within Everglades National Park? Every Saturday and Sunday, Rangers at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center conduct 1.5 hour tours to this Cold War era military base where U.S. Army soldiers defended the nation from Soviet and Cuban missile attacks. Free*.
4. Starlight Walks: Experience the Anhinga Trail by starlight with Park Rangers. Night herons, pig frogs, fireflies and gator eyes create a completely different atmosphere on the trail at night. Flashlights recommended. At the Royal Palms Visitors Center. Free*
5. Off the Beaten Path: At the Ernest Coe Visitor Center, venture off trail with park Rangers into the Everglades that few will ever experience. Wear lace-up shoes, socks, and long pants that can get wet or muddy. Free*.


Sawgrass prairies dominate much of the 1.5 million acres in the Everglades

6. Boat Tours: Discover the Ten Thousand Islands of the Gulf Coast on a park-sponsored, 90 minute tours that is narrated by a naturalist. This tour, which is offered every hour from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Fee required.
7. Tram Tours: Guided two-hour narrated tram tours are offered by Shark Valley Tram Tours, a private operator licensed to operate inside the park. Narrated by naturists, the open-air trams follow a fifteen-mile loop into the “River of Grass,” stopping at a 45-foot high observation deck that provides 20-mile vistas from the top. Fee required.
   

   The rarely spotted bobcat is also a native of the Everglades

8. Airboat Rides: Feel the wind rush through your hair as you fly over a river of grass into the heart of the Everglades. Airboat tours are available through private operations along the Tamiami Trail, around Everglades City, and between Homestead and the Ernest Coe Visitor Center. Fee required.
9. Houseboat Rentals: For longer stays rent a houseboat from a private operator. This is a great opportunity to see wildlife in quiet backwaters, while having all the comforts of home at your fingertips. Fee required.
10. Swamp Buggy Rides: The Seminole Indian Tribe offers tours aboard swamp buggies, customized motorized vehicles specially designed to provide visitors with an elevated view of the frontier while comfortably riding through the wetlands and cypress heads. Fee required.

Billie Swamp Buggies keep riders high and dry as they navigate the Everglades

*Free Ranger programs require paid admission into Everglades National Park ($10 per car or $5 per cyclist at the main entrance near Homestead and Florida City; both good for seven consecutive days). Everglades National Park is open seven days a week. West coast visitors to the park find accommodations in Naples, while those entering the park from the east coast choose hotels in Homestead or Florida City.

Photos not otherwide credited courtesy of Barbara Weibel