Why Plymouth Rock Is New England’s Biggest Tourist Trap

by Paul Brady on


Have you ever been to a tourist trap? A scam of a site, something over-hyped and talked about until it can’t possibly be worth it? The sort of thing you walk up to, snap a photo of and curse as you walk back to your car?

I saw one just the other day. It was Plymouth Rock, the lump of granite that supposedly marks the spot where a ragged band of English religious refugees washed up on Massachusetts’ shores.

It was such an awful disappointment, and here’s why.

There’s just nothing to it. You know why they call it Plymouth Rock? Because that’s all it is. A rock, covered by a little pavilion, guarded by a small rail. The day I visited, a historian was standing nearby, not doing much of anything.

Tourists, including me, would walk up, take a look, take a photo… and then shrug. There it is, I thought, if that’s actually the rock. Questions of authenticity were not assuaged, at least for me, by the fact that 1620 has been stamped into the stone and the sandy footing on which it rests has been manicured like a Japanese rock garden.

It reminded me of other totems to which we travel, only to tick them off our list. Old Faithful is one, the Statue of Liberty is another. You’ve heard so much about them, had them drilled into your head as an essential piece of American lore, heard grandiose promises about the meaning they hold. And yet nobody seems to actually enjoy them. When you visit, you visit to click the camera shutter and to say, “Oh yeah, I went there on vacation and saw it. Great time!” when you’re at a backyard barbecue with those neighbors you don’t really like. That’ll show ’em.

Was it totally the worst thing ever to go see Plymouth Rock? Of course not. I’m sort of humble-bragging about it with this post! But there was so little happening aside from the rock itself-a few ice cream shops, a couple of t-shirt stands-there seemed little reason to visit Plymouth but to see the disappointing rock.

I could be wrong about that last bit. But I didn’t leave time to explore Plymouth. I was just there to see its Rock.

New study finds national parks at risk

by Kraig Becker on

The National Parks Conservation Association released a comprehensive report yesterday that paints a grim picture for the future of the national parks in the U.S. The report, which is entitled “The State of America’s National Parks,” examines a number of economic and environmental threats to the parks and is the result of more than a decade of research. The non-profit NPCA also calls on the Obama Administration to address those threats while developing a comprehensive plan for the future, ahead of the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service.

The report, which can be read in it’s entirety here, identifies a number of challenges to the future of America’s national parks. The threats, which are both old and new, include pollution, invasive species, climate change, and continued funding shortfalls, amongst others. The NPCA goes on to say that many of these threats are already having a real and dramatic impact on the parks. During their research they found that 63% of the parks surveyed had issues with air quality to some degree or another. Others were found to have poor water quality as well, while a staggering 95% of the parks assessed had lost at least one plant or animal species over the course of the past ten years.

According to the NPCA, the largest threats to the parks, and their natural resources, stem from two sources – human activity and climate change. In the case of the former, the development of lands surrounding the park is changing the natural habitats of wildlife and contaminating both the air and the water. It may be the latter that has the most lasting effect however, as the report cites threats to everything from the redwoods of Sequoia National Park in California to the coastlines of Katmai in Alaska, as being dramatically impacted by the changing climate.It isn’t all doom and gloom however, as the report also spotlights success stories in several parks as well. For instance, a comprehensive effort to remove non-native species, including horses, rats, and pigs, from the Channel Islands has helped the native fox species there to bounce back in numbers. Similarly, a “vessel management plan” in Glacier Bay National Park has been very successful in protecting the marine mammals that live there as well. The NPCA says that these examples show that when “National Park Service staff have sufficient financial support, up-to-date scientific information, and adequate training,” they can do positive things.

In order to protect these vital natural resources, the NPCA is calling upon the Obama Administration to create a plan for the long term management of the parks. That plan, they contend, must address the threats to the parks and create a system for monitoring the quality of the air and water found within their boundaries. The organization is also asking the President to issue an Executive Order that will commit federal resources to preparing the parks for their second one hundred years and beyond. The NPCA believes that can only be achieved by fully funding the Park Service to equip them with all the tools necessary to address these threats properly.

Considering the attendance numbers over the past few years, it is evident that Americans recognize and appreciate the value of their national parks. Hopefully this report will send the wake-up call that is necessary to ensure that those amazing natural spaces will be around in another hundred years so that new generations of Americans can enjoy them too.

[Photo credit: National Parks Conservation Association]

Win free travel on Social Media Day

by Chris Owen on

The second annual Social Media Day is tomorrow. A worldwide celebration of the revolution of media becoming social, meetings are scheduled around the world. It’s all about sharing, engaging and interacting and some hotels and resorts are offering deals, amenities, free nights, and even trip giveaways through different social media interactions.

Here’s how it works. Check each one of the properties listed below. Each has a different offer, done a different way. Some require simply visiting the properties Facebook page and liking them, others require a tweet or that you pay attention to their Twitter feed for special offers throughout the day. Setting up a special list on Twitter (I have one called “deals”) then adding a Tweetdeck column or simply paying attention to email alerts can give you a heads up for what to do or say. There are usually a few surprises mixed in these things so take a look at six reasons to stay wired on this day:

1) Sandpearl Resort / www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFlorida
Facebook users who “like” Sandpearl and post a photo of themselves on property (tagging Sandpearl Resort in their photo), receive 25% off an Ice Cream pedicure at the Spa. (must be booked on Social Media Day, but can be redeemed on a future date)

2) San Juan Marriott / www.facebook.com/sanjuanmarriott / @sanjuanmarriott
Keep an eye on the San Juan Marriott’s Facebook page and Twitter feed for offers throughout the day. The resort will be posting and sharing special “Social Media Day Only” offers such as free upgrades, complimentary drinks and value-added amenities.

3) Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino / @arubamarriott
Follow @ArubaMarriott on Twitter and on June 30, tweet the message: “Tweet me with a trip to @ArubaMarriott #SMDay” for an entry in to a drawing for a 3 night/4 day stay for two.

4) Marriott Costa Rica Collection / www.facebook.com/marriottcostarica
Post a photo of something you find beautiful in Costa Rica (for example, a sunset, a tonka tree, a scarlet macaw, ziplining, etc.) Then get your friends to “like” your photo and the photo with the most likes at the end of the day (midnight, EST) will win a free night at choice of any of the four Costa Rica Resorts.

5) St. Kitts Marriott Resort / www.facebook.com/stkittsmarriott
On June 30, visit St. Kitts Marriott’s Facebook page where you can answer the question posted in their status: “Which one of your friends is the most glued to his/her social networks?” Submit your answer on the resort’s Facebook wall and tag your socially addicted friend to receive a voucher for a 40% discount off a spa treatment at the Emerald Mist Spa.

6) JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa / www.facebook.com/JWMarriottCancun
CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort / www.facebook.com/casamagnacancun
Facebook users who tag themselves in a specified property photo (which will be announced on the resorts’ Facebook pages) on Social Media Day, will be entered to win a three night stay at the resort. Winners will be drawn at random.

Flickr photo by jmenard48

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Jellyfish return to the nation’s coasts

by Jon Bowermaster on

They’re back!

And we’re not talking hurricanes, though that season is officially underway.

And, no, this is not about sharks, since Discovery’s dubious Shark Week doesn’t start until the end of July.
No, it’s time for the increasingly unpopular annual return of swarms of jellyfish to beaches around the world. Last year they made much of the western Mediterranean unswimmable. A couple of weekend’s ago – the official start of summer — thousands of nasty, golf-ball sized jellyfish washed ashore on a 10-mile stretch of Florida’s east coast, stinging a reported 1,800 swimmers. Red warning flags were posted on beaches from Cocoa Beach to Cape Canaveral.

In large part thanks to the overfishing of big predator fish and warmer ocean waters, jellies are showing up sooner, in bigger numbers and far beyond home territories. In Florida they clogged the shallows and took over the wet sand of the beach. Lifeguard stands stocked up with vinegar-and-water solutions to help try and diffuse the itching, burning and rashes, which I guess beats urinating on them, though its proven that Benadryl cream helps alleviate itching and swelling. Despite air temps in the 90s and water temperature of 79, wetsuits were very popular. Innocent kids picked them up and tossed them at each other, only to be stung. Tough guys waded into the shallows attempting to shrug them off but were quickly running towards the lifeguard stands and that vinegar solution. At least two jelly victims were hospitalized.The beachings are as bad for the jellies as for man; as soon as they hit the sand, they start to die. And there are so many of them huddled en masse in the shallows that they soon run out of food.

It’s not just the abundance of jellyfish in Florida’s that was surprising, it was the species. The critters washing ashore in the thousands were so-called “mauve stingers,” which haven’t washed up on Florida beaches for more than a decade (more common are the blue Portuguese man-of-war or cannonball varieties). Compact but fitted with long tentacles, these are exactly the same jellyfish that harassed Mediterranean beaches during the summer of 2010.

Scientists believe they were transported across the Atlantic in the Gulf Stream, which wraps around the coast of Florida, suggesting they will be a hindrance on many Gator state beaches this summer. Meanwhile across the pond, biologists who study the Irish Sea are blaming a similar boom in jellyfish there on the overfishing of herring, which has given jellyfish an “exponential boost” in population. The trend has been growing since 2005.

Though explanation for why these jellyfish on these beaches is still being studied, it’s clear that since humankind has taken 100 to 120 million tons of predators out of the sea in the past 20 years it’s left plenty of room for jellyfish populations to boom. Jellyfish thrive in disturbed marine ecosystems, from dead zones to seabeds that have been raked by trawling nets. And they are spreading around the world thanks to powerful currents and aided by stowing away on fleets of ships delivering goods around the globe.

In Florida, maybe the only person happier than the pharmacist selling all that Benadryl was a Cocoa Beach, Florida, coconut salesman who claimed the less time people spent actually in the water cooling off, the thirstier they were.

[flickr image via jepoirrier]

Mooning Amtrak annual event in California July 9

by Meg Nesterov on

If you’re traveling through California by train next month, keep your eyes peeled for some special scenery in Orange County. On Saturday, July 9, exhibitionists, daredevils, and the just plain childish will gather in Laguna Niguel, drop their pants, and moon the passing Amtrak trains from early morning to late night. According to the excellent travel site Wish You Were Here, the event started 32 years ago as a bar dare (as these things do) at the Mugs Away Saloon and now draws thousands each year to participate in some good old-fashioned mooning.

You don’t have to participate to join in the fun, but we think going to watch a mooning event without participating is even weirder than joining a crowd of strangers to show your bare buttocks to a train of people. The event keeps going past 8pm, when the night mooning begins, which the official site claims is “more authentic” but does require additional lighting.

Check out all the details for the 32nd annual Mooning Amtrak here.

For more fun with trains, check out today’s Manhattan User’s Guide (not just for New Yorkers) for railroad history links and info.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Chuck “Caveman” Coker.