Grand Canyon tourist spot closed for six months

by Jeffrey White on

The Supai village, a popular tourist spot for visitors to the Grand Canyon, was hit hard by recent flooding.

Now, the Indian tribe overseeing the village and surrounding network of trails says the area will not open again this year.

The Havasupai tribe had wanted to open the area back up next month, but said the flooding — from nearby Havasu Falls — was more extensive than initially thought.

The Supai area is famous for not only its village but for a network of trails and camp grounds that lead thousands of tourists every year to spectacular — and hard to reach — waterfalls.

Read this Associated Press story for more.

Can’t visit the Supai area? Maybe check out some of these weird hotels instead?

U.S.S. Oriskany, McCain’s old stomping ground, now a diving destination in Florida

by Jamie Rhein on

Erik Olsen, former Gadling blogger extraordinaire (he topped 4,000 posts) has a recent article in the New York Times about the U.S.S. Oriskany, a battleship that was turned into an artificial reef off the coast of Florida near Pensacola.

This “great carrier reef,” Olsen reports, is one of the best places to dive in the United States and has put Pensacola in the money. Dive shops have done a booming business and the ship has generated a considerable sum for the county besides.

Along with divers, military buffs and those who served on the ship back when have come to see it.

John McCain, though, has yet to make an appearance. McCain’s plane took off from the ship’s deck almost 31 years ago on his last mission before he was shot down during the Vietnam conflict and found himself in the “Hanoi Hilton” aka, Hoa Lo Prison, most definitely not enjoying the city’s charm like I have.

As Olsen points out, there are some environmental concerns regarding sinking ships, however the Environmental Protection Agency helped to ensure the ship was cleaned up enough to be turned into an ocean life haven. Studies are being done to see what adverse environmental footprints are being made, if any. The fear is that PCBs are being released.

Regardless of the possible downside, barnacles, sea urchins and 38 fish species now call the Mighty O–the ship’s nickname, home. Also, it can’t be denied that sunken ships make great diving spots for folks who know what they are doing. Two people did die while diving at the Oriskany. One person died after getting the bends from diving down too far and coming up too fast, and the other one had a heart attack. The guy with the heart attack would have died regardless of what he was doing–even knitting.

Diving at the ship sounds fascinating–and I have a fear of drowning. Reading Olsen’s description gave me the inkling that learning to scuba dive needs to be bumped up on my things-to-learn list. Actually, I’m not sure scuba diving has been on my things-to-learn-list. I’ve penciled it in.

For a slide show of the ship, click here. Also, check out Olsen’s article. The guy can write. He can also scuba dive. This video was taken during his dive of the Mighty O. Plus, he can take pictures. The photo, as you might notice, is by him. Jeez, what can’t he do?

3 of the 5 dying cities are in Ohio: Could tourism help?

by Jamie Rhein on

Canton, Youngstown and Dayton are on the list of the five fastest dying cities. Dying sounds terribly grim. How about shrinking? I can’t imagine that no one will ever live in these places one day. They are all on highways for one thing. Still, as industries have become smaller and have all but disappeared in these cities, the economy is not holding people in large numbers or attracting more.

Each place does have decent offerings and worth a shout out. I’ve been to Canton and Dayton and driven through Youngstown. I went to Canton specifically for the Pro-Football Hall of Fame. A Japanese teacher who stayed with us a few years ago wanted to go there so we obliged. It’s a lovely drive through Ohio’s rural countryside. Our teacher friend was quite the football fan so this was a thrill for him. I enjoyed myself as well, and I am most certainly not into football. I don’t dislike it. I’m just not a fan.

I went to Dayton twice. Once to take in Wright brothers and Katharine Wright historic sites for an article I was writing, and the other time to do a restaurant review of Jay’s Seafood in the historic Oregon District. I found it to be a lovely small city and can’t imagine that entrepreneurial types won’t find solutions to the shrinkage problem. I have plans to head to Dorthy Lane Market in the near future.

Youngstown has been on the radar as a struggling city for awhile. The town has been doing some work to revitalize itself. Before BloggingOhio ended there were several Youngstown related posts, mostly by Chris Barzak, a writer, and now professor who lives in Youngstown that highlighted these efforts, as well as the interesting things to do there.

As people are looking for places to go closer to home for a quick get-a-way, maybe tourism could help–at least a tad.

Busch Garden Williamsburg give-a-ways: Season pass included!

by Jamie Rhein on

One wonderful detail about summer travel is that it can spill over into autumn and beyond–particularly if it comes in amusement park entertainment.

In the spirit of the summer is not over yet, and when it is, don’t stop the fun, Gadling has paired up with Busch Gardens Williamsburg for some give-away action. Williamsburg, Virginia, known for its colonial past, is steeped in American history.

Pairing a visit to Colonial Williamsburg with a visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (and Water Country USA) adds amusement park excitement and a step into Europe to an American history lesson.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg, with its European inspired theme, boasts rides such as: Escape from Pompeii–a water ride, Griffon, a roller coaster that has a 90 degrees, straight down drop, and The Curse of DarKastle, a haunted house. Rides are set in settings reminiscent of European countries. The photo is from Da Vinci’s Garden of Inventors.

Along with rides, there are animal attractions like Eagle’s Ridge, a sanctuary for injured eagles, and Jack Hanna’s Wild Reserve, a section where exotic and endangered animal exhibits highlight the importance of habitat preservation.

For people who aren’t particularly fond of rides–and those who are, there are shows to enjoy. Emerald Beat, an Irish step-dancing performance, is one of them.

Because Busch Gardens’ season extends past Halloween, certain events reflect the time of year as well. On two September weekends, Bud & BBQ “celebrates great food, great beer and great music.”

For Halloween, there’s Howl-O-Scream. It begins in September and runs through the last weekend in October.

So, dear Gadling readers, what can you win? There are four different prizes.

  • Prize 1 – Season Pass Voucher to Busch Gardens which also gets you into Water Country USA, the water park that is part of the Busch Gardens family– a $154.95 value and a Busch Garden’s T-shirt (T-shirt value, $10)
  • Prize 2- Season Pass and a Busch Gardens visor (visor value, $5)
  • Prize 3- Exxon Mobile Gas Card for $25 and a Busch Gardens T-shirt
  • Prize 4–Exxon Mobile Gas Card for $25 and a Busch Gardens visor

To enter, leave a comment below telling us why you need a longer summer vacation and what you’d do with the time.

  • The comment must be left before Friday, August 15, 2008 at 1 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • Winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.

See the complete rules here.

Good luck!!

Travel, summer, rock walls and rasberries bring bittersweet reflection

by Jamie Rhein on

I’ve always loved reading Ellen Goodman’s columns when I’ve come across them. Yesterday, was another. Her recent column’s theme is one that anyone can reflect upon to divine the relationship to ones own life.

Goodman, while on vacation in Maine, notices the rock walls built in the 19th-century and wonders about the people who made them. She wonders if they knew they were done with a wall when putting one last rock into place. The walls are now in various states of remains. Seeing them prompts Goodman’s reflections on permanence and transience.

The walls are a symbol for our own lives. While thinking about Randy Pausch, the professor who recently died of cancer, but before he did, he created the video and book, “The Last Lecture,” Goodman sees how people have an urge to create permanent markers in their lives. But, the permanence, as seen by the walls, will eventually give way to transience.

She offers up taking pictures of grandchildren as an example. As if snapping a picture of a six-year-old will somehow hold him or her in place.

Along crumbling walls, though, Goodman notices, are sweet berries to be relished. That’s where the bittersweet comes in. With loss, gain can be seen, often in the same moment. Goodman points to a recent birth in her family that has happened at the same time a beloved family member is dying.

So, what have I reflected on through Goodman’s reflections?

I’m thinking about how when we travel to places that we will never see again, as long as we remember them, they will forever stay that wonderful find, that glorious meal, and a sky that was a vibrant blue when we sat at the beach looking out to the horizon.

(In particular, I have a certain few days in Skopelos, Greece the summer after I graduated from college in mind.)