1000 Lakes
When you hear the phrase Land of 1000 Lakes, what comes to mind? Well if it is the great state of Minnesota, you may have already known that this is the nickname of this wonderful part of the American experience. Minnesota is nestled up near the Canadian boarder and represents one of the great undiscovered secrets for sightseeing and vacation fun in this country.When you decide to book Minnesota as your vacation of choice, you are showing some shrewd knowledge of Americana that not many have taken the time to learn about. Because Minnesota is one of the most beautiful states in the union both for beautifully tailored modern city scenes and for breath taking outdoor adventure as well.
The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are nestled into the Minnesota landscape quietly producing one of the most diverse and sophisticated city experiences in all of America. While you might not have been looking, Minneapolis and St. Paul have quietly developed some pretty serious claims to fame including
* The classic situation comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show had its fictional location occurring in Minneapolis. The scenes of snow falling and the way people cope with such a climate became a subplot for that show.
* The wonderful radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion originated and is still often broadcast from St. Paul, Minnesota. This wonderful, one of a kind show often gives loving lampoon the quirks of the Scandinavian and Lutheran cultures that are well ensconced in Minnesota life.
* Minnesota is the only state to ever elect a professional wrestler, Jessie Ventura as governor. And he did a pretty good job.
* The exciting rock musician Prince is a product of the Minneapolis music culture.
There is a lot to see and enjoy in the rustic Minnesota landscape and in these modern cities that make up the urban centers of this wonderful state. You might be temped to save your trip to Minnesota for the summer time. But you may want to actually change that plan as Minnesota can provide some experiences in the dead of winter that are not to be missed.
Ice fishing is a Minnesota specialty and one you may want to book a guide to enjoy first hand. There is nothing like sitting in a heated shack out in the middle of a frozen over lake and fishing through a hole to bring up a big catch for making a memory that you will be telling people about for years to come.
Then when you head into town, be sure to be in Minnesota when Minneapolis holds their annual Ice Festival. The entire city turns out to admire magnificent ice sculptures that the talented artists create right there in the middle of the city. But any statue they make will pale when you watch with wonder as the workman in Minnesota construct the mammoth Ice Palace that you can wander through just like a castle in old Europe. You will marvel as that Ice Palace actually can be heated and people can book rooms and stay over in it once the wizards that make this marvel happen do their stuff. And to think, if you come back in six months, that amazing structure will melt away like yesterdays ice cream cone.
You can see that overlooking Minnesota as a destination of choice for unique sightseeing and vacation excitement is not a mistake you want to make. We have only scratched the surface of the great fun you can have on your trip to the great white north. So make your plans to get up there and enjoy this very unique place with their rich Scandinavian Lutheran culture. And who knows, maybe you will learn how to carve out a small sculpture from the ice in your refrigerator before you leave.
Published with
A World Without California?
There was a fun song that came out in the nineteen sixties that had the refrain I dont care what you say I wont stay in a world without love. Is it even possible to imagine what a world would be like if we didnt have such a place as wonderful as California? I know imagining America without a California alone is almost impossible to do.California is so rich with sights and great places to visit that one has to plan not one but many trips there to truly take in all it has to offer. Why a visit to Los Angeles alone can fill a week and you would still leave behind so much to do and see. Here in the home of our great movie industry, the idea of hanging out near the major studios to catch a glimpse of a movie star is pretty hard to resist. And you can pass your time waiting by going to Graumans Chinese Theater to put your own feet in the famous imprints on the walk of fame. There you can see if your shoe size lines up with such greats as Marilyn Monroe, Marlin Brando, Dustin Hoffman or even Lassie.
While in LA dont forget that this is the area of the country where you can check in at the original Disneyland. Yes while the Florida and other locations that have been built since then are wonderful, dont miss the chance to sing Its a Small World After All with the anamatronic figures that will delight you and your children in those historic rides in Disneyland.
Anywhere you go up and down the California coast, one thing will continue to draw your eye is the amazing California coast. The sight of those waves making huge breakers on the rocks and beaches has been the object of art for many painters over the years. If you live in a land-locked state or even if you have enjoyed the coast lines in the gulf states and the eastern seaboard, the California surf will be yet another viewpoint of the majesty of Gods creation in the oceans that grace our fair country.
It might take another whole trip to enjoy the exotic locations all around the city of San Francisco. But give it that time because this is a town you want to take in on foot or by traveling on their famous and historic street cars. For a small city, San Francisco will charm you so thoroughly that you would swear you were in one of the quant and charming villages of Europe, Spain or Greece. The sight of those breath taking hills that the residents have to drive each day will probably bring back some great movie you saw that was filmed there. And its easy to get goose bumps standing on the corner of Haight and Ashbury and reflect on the birth of the Hippy Movement in the early sixties right on that spot.
There is just so much to do up and down this big and diverse state that you will want to have a car at your disposal just to tour the paradise like conditions that residents enjoy there every day. A tour of the wine country in northern California is another experience that has become famous for charming visitors of all ages. You can even retrace the voyage of the characters in the movie Sideways which won an Academy Award and further added to the lore and fame of this wonderful part of California.
California may not steal your heart away from your home town and state. But one this is for sure. Your trip to California will leave you with dozens of exciting memories and it will leave you with something even more lasting. You will come home with a determination that you have to get back to California and continue to enjoy the many treats this great American state has to offer.
Published with
Prepare to Gasp
There may be no force in nature as powerful, as engaging, as frightening or as beautiful as the sight of a volcano in full eruption. When you see such a thing in video, you really do get a perspective on how explosive nature can be and that we are just creatures on this earth and small creatures at that. In America, there are only a few active volcanoes that could ever visit upon us the kind of destruction that we have seen in documentaries of the great eruptions of history. And in recent memory, the volcano that has stopped our nation in its tracks with its explosive power was the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980.That historic eruption is one of those history stopping events that you can remember exactly where you were when you became aware that a major volcanic eruption was going on right here on the mainland of the United States. We watched with wonder as the volcano created rivers of steaming gas, magma and boiling rivers for miles in its wake and leveled acre after acre of trees in a wave of destruction that reminded people more of an atomic bomb than of an act of nature.
Now as the devastation has somewhat become a civilized place and as the Mount St. Helens has returned to its brooding state, this can be one of the most inspiring sightseeing trips you can take your family on in any of the fifty states. Prepare to gasp and stand in awe as you drive up the prepared pathway to the devastation area. You will see that the Parks Service has worked hard to preserve the site exactly as nature left it when the mountain exploded so many years ago.
The way the site of this incredible volcanic eruption has been handled since the event will pass along to you a deep sense of reverence for nature and her powerful forces which were at work that day. The park rangers and custodians are very careful to explain that every effort is being made not to disturb the natural setting of the devastated landscape. The idea is that this is part of the natural molding process that our earth goes through and we need to not disturb it in any way to the lands around the volcano can recover and re-grow in a natural, evolutionary way. So you can still see the thousands of trees blown down facing away from the mountain showing the power of the blast and how it literally laid everything flat in the path of the destruction.
The beautiful visitors stations at different levels of the mountain side are carefully set up to give you maximum view of what can only be described as a breathtaking landscape that looks as much like the surface of an alien planet as it does part of planet earth. You can even take walks along paths that go a short distance into the now desert like conditions of the mountains. But you must be careful not to pick up a rock or disturb the landscape in any way in keeping with the philosophy of the naturalists who do not want to see this area distracted from the natural recovery that nature has in mind.
To complete your full appreciation of the shocking power and violence of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the visitors center has some outstanding videos you can watch that were taken before, during and after the powerful blast. You will find yourself wanting to whistle with amazement as you see entire lakes displaced, whole forests reduced to rubble and then see the entire top of a mountain blown entirely away from an underground force as powerful as our most impressive bombs. To go from those films out to see the crater of the mountain live from the perch of the visitors center and even see plumbs of smoke still seeping out from the volcano center gives you the shivers because you know and the scientists know that this is still a powerful volcano and that it will erupt again.
Published with
The World in One Country
Some have said that if you want to enjoy all of the pleasures and excitement of visiting every foreign port all around the world, just vacation in America because we have it all. And to be sure, you can literally experience almost any part of the world right here in the heart of the United States of America.It makes sense that the cultures of dozens if not hundreds of countries have been recreated beautifully in the borders of The United States. After all, this country was comprised almost entirely of immigrants from every country across the globe. And as each new immigrant group made their home here in America, they found their countrymen so they could live near each other, if for no other reason than to hear their nature tongues spoken. And within those communities, the cultures of the old country were beautifully reproduced to make those immigrants get over a little of their homesickness for the familiar and for home.
The beautiful thing about life in America is that the different ethnic groups are not stingy about keeping others from other cultures from learning of their customs, tasting their foods, enjoying their music and really getting a good exposure to a culture that they would otherwise have to travel around the world to see. So in one country, often in one city and often within city blocks of one another, you can experience cultures as diverse and different from each other as night is from day.
In places that would seem unlikely, you can discover entire populations of Germans, the Polish, Bavarians and other ethnic groups from central Europe. And without much coaxing, they love to share their delightful foods, music and dance with you as well. So even if you are as English as tea or hail from far away Spain, Africa or the Middle East, you can take an evening, eat a bratwurst, enjoy a stout beer and for a little while, you too are just as German as anyone at that party.
The American melting pot surfaced a trait that seems to be common in most if not all of the ethnic populations around that world. And that is a very basic hospitality, openness to outsiders and excitement to share their cultural richness with anyone who wishes to join in. And the natural American trait of friendliness and hospitality to strangers assures that if you want to experience the world in one country, you can easily do that in this great country.
In many cities in our country, you can take an evening and seemingly leave this world behind and lounge in the exotic atmospheres of ancient china, Thailand, Persia or Tibet. The foods of these countries will delight your mouth and give your taste buds some exciting new adventures as well. And the ambiance and music that the natives who create these worlds for us transport us to their home lands just as magically as one of those special effects movies from Hollywood. So be sure to take the time to listen to the music, enjoy the dancing and really soak up the culture and atmosphere of the country of origin as you savor the delicacies of their foods as well.
When you go to traveling across America, be sure you take notice of areas of the country that have particularly strong communities from around the world. These local outposts of far away lands are usually excited to share with you their native customs. You may even walk out of that Pakistani area of Pittsburgh decked out in robes and a native headwear that you will enjoy lounging around in at home, remembering the many great experiences you had when you set out to enjoy the world in one country.
Published with