Searching for Old Florida

by Adrienne Wilson on

Indian River County may not have the pampering or five star luxury in all of Florida, but the
discoveries here are a little more punchy and a lot more
exotic. Christopher Elliot and Kari Haugeto of Tripso
explore the Marsh Landing restaurant where Ben Bishop, General Manager, is eager to have them taste the turtle
soup.  Tiny samplings of alligator, catfish and frog legs had already been placed in front of them before
Bishop came dashing out with the soup, but these are the tastes that make up ‘Old Florida.’ 

Not everyone will be anxious to experience exotic reptiles and will probably want to stick to new Florida in that
case, but there’s still much more to consider.  Like the Indian River Groves where fresh grown Navel oranges, Ruby
Red grapefruit and Honeybell Tangelos can be found for miles.  The citrus here is said to be some of the sweetest
and juiciest in the world.  With all the reptiles aside I think juicy oranges is definitely worth a stop
if you’re already on your way into other popular Florida destinations.  Indian River County is located two hours
southeast of Orlando.

Mammoth Found in LA

by Erik Olsen on

Wow, really amazing. Some construction workers in LA have
unearthed
some Mammoth tusks that are said to be 400,000 and 1.4 million years old.

Most poeple are probably aware of the La Brea tar pits in LA, so the idea of
Mammoth tusks found there is no surprise, but there have not been discoveries in the area for a long time. The tusks
area actually believed to be an ancestor of the Columbian mammoths discovered at La Brea Tar Pits, which are believed
to be about 30,000 years old.

Really damn interesting.

Rick Steves Has a Site

by Erik Olsen on

You probably already knew that…assuming you know who Rick Steves
is, of course. Well, have you checked out Rick Steves site lately? Probably
not. But you might be surprised how much stuff he has here. He has links that describe his famous tours, to his radio
and TV stuff and to much of his writing. Steves writes a column for USA Today and often pontificates on matters both
cultural and political in Europe. He’s also a good guy. I actually got to
interview him a while back for a story I did for MSNBC and he was
really friendly and thoughtful.

Whether you like him or not, you have to admit he’s done a brilliant job building himself as a brand…a brand related
to all things travel.

Strange Place Names

by Erik Olsen on

Ever heard of Monkey’s Eyebrow? Reklaw and Sacul? What abouut Whorehouse Meadows or a town called Batman?

These are just a few of the strange place names that are examined in
this piece from PRI’s The World. Texas, it
turns out, has some of the strangest names around. Here’s a list from the article:

Cut and Shoot, TX

Oatmeal, TX

Birthright, TX

Cash, TX

Circle Back, TX

Coffee City, TX (with no Starbucks!)

Dime Box, TX

Flat, TX

Grit, TX

Gun Barrel City, TX

Happy, TX

Noodle, TX

Telephone, TX

Uncertain, TX

Utopia, TX

Crazy Texans.

America’s Most Endangered Historic Places

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here’s something to pay attention to if you were in a dark closet on Pluto or had absolutely no
clue, the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
puts out this list every year of some of America’s most endangered historic spots.  Of course the best thing to do
is take action if we don’t want the little pieces of the past to crumble away into the modern world, but if taking
action requires too much energy then take a vacation.  That’s right.  This may be the only chance you’ll get
to see some of the cool sites like, Nine Mile
Canyon in Utah. 

Often referred to as, “the world’s longest art gallery,”  the canyon has more than 10,000 images carved into
it’s walls by Native Americans.  It has been on the endangered list for sometime as certain folks who lack
interest in the doodles on the walls would rather make it an industrial zone.  This is only one of America’s great
bits of history on the brink of extinction. You can find about other sites and how to get involved at the
National Trust for Historic Preservation.