America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations 2007

by Kelly Amabile on

Preserving what’s best about America’s small cities and towns is vital to ensuring a nice balance between past and present in the places we live. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is doing their part to praise “unique and lovingly preserved communities” that are setting good examples in the areas of preservation and heritage tourism. Since 2000, the Trust has selected a dozen US cities each year that do an especially good job of preserving their town’s special spirit of place. The Trust’s list of alternative vacation destinations now boasts 96 places around the country that showcase special dedication to historic preservation.

The 2007 list includes places like Chestertown, MD, Morgantown, WV, Providence, RI, Little Rock, AR and Mineral Point, WI. And this year the Trust also recognized New Orleans in a special way for its commitment to preservation-based revitalization in the midst of the city’s rebuilding challenges.

May is Preservation Month — what is your community doing to preserve it’s culture and history for future generations? In the same way that narrow cobble-stoned Mediterranean villages have endured the test of time, it would be nice to see some authentic “small town America” spots still surviving decades from now.

City Surf’s Audio Walking Tours for the “Un-Tourist”

by Willy Volk on

According to City Surf, “Guidebooks show you which neighborhoods are cool to visit, we show what’s cool IN those neighborhoods.” Indeed, City Surf has created audible walking tours of some hip Toronto hang-outs, including Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, Yorkville, and The Annex.

To use the tours, you download one of the 30-40 minute tours, load it into your iPod, and hit the streets. Rather than having your nose buried in a guidebook, you slip on your earbuds and listen to what makes the area unique. Spaced out, listening to your iPod, you’ll look just like a local.

The only downside is that the tours run $9.99 CAD (about $9 US) per download. A little steep? Maybe. But the music-filled sample tracks City Surf has posted sound like they’re brimming with great insider tips that’ll let you experience the city the way the locals do. I’ve never gone on an audible walking tour of a neighborhood. I imagine I’d have to do it twice: once to learn the tips; and a second time to feel like I’ve really immersed myself in the place.

Not heading to Toronto? Montreal and Vancouver tours are in the works.

[Thanks, Ali!]

Nagorno-Karabakh: A War Zone worth Visiting?

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s not so often that one hears about travel to Nagorno-Karabakh. After all, this was hell on earth during the 1990s when regional conflict ripped it apart as Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for control of this parcel of land–a predominantly Armenian enclave located in Azerbaijan.

I’d like to say that everything has been resolved and that peace has settled in the disputed region, but this is simply not true. Armenia technically won the war, but there are constant rumblings from neighboring Azerbaijan that the issue is far from dead.

Currently, there is peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. Is this a temporary peace between wars? Who knows? But if you want to visit, now would be a good time.

Yasha Levine, writing for The Exile did so last summer and sheds some interesting insights on the conflict and the present mindset dominating the region. Most importantly, he also reveals a stunning landscape that I had always envisioned as extraordinarily desolate. I’ll leave you with a nice quote describing what he came across and if you get out of it what I got out of it, Nagorno-Karabakh just might be bumped up your list of future travel plans.

“Nagorno-Karabakh was worth fighting for. The place is like a condensed version of the best scenery of Northern California and the Sierra Nevadas put together: 6,000 ft mountains, rolling golden-sunburned pastures, sandstone hills, steep limestone cliffs, and mountain streams.”

Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs

by Jamie Rhein on

Since I was born in Kentucky and still have family ties there, I perk up when the Kentucky Derby comes around. And, it’s come around. Every year at this time this race reminds me that the days of going to a race track are at hand. Since the Derby is in just a few hours, let’s head to Churchill Downs.

Churchhill Downs, although not the first racetrack in Kentucky, is probably the most famous. The first race track was built in Lexington in 1789. It wasn’t until 1875 when Churchill Downs came to be that the Kentucky Derby got its start. The growth of the race wasn’t particularly smooth with some years being a real financial bust. These days with the $25 general admission price tag, I imagine losing money is almost impossible.

One interesting feature about Churchill Downs is that there is a quarantine area for horses from other countries. Here’s a video that lets you take a peak. The guys who shot it tried to get some horse footage, but the horses are in shadows.

Another video shows Dominican, a horse that recently had a workhout getting his bath. Another shows the horse, Stormello working out on the track.

According to this commercial, Churchill Downs has been updated and it certainly gives an idea of what racing season is like in Louisville this time of year. The Derby isn’t the only day to head to the races. Check the Churchill Downs Web site for other race days and times.

Detour Worth Making: Houston’s The Orange Show

by Willy Volk on

Created by visionary mailman Jefferson Davis McKissack, Houston’s The Orange Show is a folk-art environment; a monumental work of handmade architecture; and a sanctuary for the eccentric, all rolled into one.

The maze-like, 3000-square-foot behemoth includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, and a museum. Having taken several decades to construct, the sprawling art-opolis is made almost entirely from objects McKissack found while delivering mail: bits of concrete, brick, steel, gears, tiles, wagon wheels, mannequins, tractor seats, and statuettes. In addition to an outdoor museum, The Orange Show also promotes community-wide muraling and art therapy initiatives, and promotes other free-thinking area artists and their work (think: the Beer Can House and the Flower Man).

McKissack created The Orange Show in honor of his favorite fruit — um, the orange — and today, his organization focuses on making art tangible and accessible. One of its early makin’-it-accessible endeavors was the Fruitmobile, an art car that led to the annual Art Car Parade, which is scheduled for the weekend of May 11-13. If you’re in the area, check out the parade. If not, then check out the excellent documentary about The Orange Show (warning: link launches Windows Media Player).