New Website Commemorates War Of 1812

by Sean McLachlan on


While events commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War are happening all over the country, the bicentennial of the War of 1812 has received less attention.

Now, a new website created by the New York State Museum provides information on the war and events and activities commemorating it. Much of the fighting took place along the New York-Canadian border, although battles were fought as far away as New Orleans and Washington, D.C., which got burned by a British invasion force. The image above, painted on the spot by George Munger, shows the White House as a gutted ruin.

The War of 1812 website offers a wealth of information on the conflict, including a timeline, biographies of key figures, and important documents. It’s also open for submissions if you have written something about the war or you have an ancestor who was affected by it. Of interest to travelers is the resources section, showing upcoming events such as reenactments.

Tonight Is The Great American Backyard Campout

by Kraig Becker on

The National Wildlife Federation has declared today, June 23, as the Great American Backyard Campout. To celebrate the event, which is designed to help reconnect young people with the outdoors, the organization is encouraging friends and families to spend the night sleeping out under the stars.

Thanks to the introduction of the Internet, video games, television and other technological distractions, fewer and fewer kids are actually going outside to play these days. The NWF says that only about 25 percent of American children now spend any significant time outdoors on a daily basis. Just two decades ago that number was actually 75 percent. The organization feels that by getting children to go outside we not only improve their health, but also help them build a solid respect for nature and wildlife.

This event also serves as a fundraiser for the NWF, which encourages campers to register their campout and ask friends and family to sponsor their backyard adventure. By doing so, they can earn official GABC T-shirts and be eligible to win a trip to New York or Los Angeles to be on a National Wildlife Federation television show. The organization promises that 80 cents out of every dollar earned goes directly to support their cause, which is to protect and preserve America’s diverse wildlife populations.

Tonight, thousands of people across the U.S. will take part in the Great American Backyard Campout. They’ll huddle around a campfire and tell tall tales while singing camping songs and making delicious s’mores. And when they’re ready to call it an evening, they’ll slip inside their tents, crawl in a comfy sleeping bag and drift off to sleep with the sounds of nature all about them. Perhaps in doing so, they will also begin to instill a bit of love for the outdoors in themselves and their children too.

Find out more about the Great American Backyard Campout by clicking here.

Photo Of The Day: Grand Teton

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Grand Teton National Park, captured here by Flickr user oilfighter, is breathlessly beautiful. A major destination in American mountaineering – and a deeply beautiful destination for less adventurous travelers – Grand Teton is surely on the short list of top U.S. National Parks.

Photographer oilfighter has developed a happy habit of snapping nature at particularly majestic moments. Check out his archive on Flickr to see evidence of his special talent.

Upload your best photographs to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr, and be sure to enable downloading. We pick our favorite images from the pool to be future Photos of the Day.

Fire At FAA And Weather Snarl New England Air Traffic

by Grant Martin on

A series of storms moving through New England this afternoon have created havoc for the nation’s busiest airports in New York City. In addition to the weather restrictions, a fire at the Federal Aviation Administration’s technical center in Atlantic City is further impacting traffic, canceling hundreds of flights throughout the region and stranding passengers.

Twitter user @911Buff posted the above photo on his feed this afternoon with a caption, “HUGE FLAMES AT THE FAA TECH CENTER. ONE FIREFIGHTER INJURED.” Another caption says, “HUGE SMOKE FROM THE 2ND ALARM FIRE AT THE FAA TECH CENTER. BUILDING EVACUATED.” Checking with the American Airlines SABRE booking system, canceled flights are displaying “ATC equipment outage” with no further detail. There is no word yet on the cause or current state of the fire.

Travelers passing through the region this weekend are encouraged to check their flight schedules and contact respective airlines for rebooking.

Explore The Night Skies In Voyageurs National Park

by Kraig Becker on

In its 2011 “A Call To Action” plan the National Park Service outlined a host of initiatives that it wished to pursue as the organization prepared to enter its second century. One of those was preserving the night skies so that visitors to the parks could continue to enjoy amazing views of the stars, the Milky Way and other celestial bodies. Dubbed the “Starry, Starry Night” plan, this initiative will actually be put into action this weekend in Voyageurs National Park.

Located in northern Minnesota, not far from the border between the U.S. and Canada, Voyageurs National Park is a remote and wild place. The park incorporates a series of interconnected waterways and dense Boreal forests that are home to moose, wolves, deer and even black bear. Located far from the lights of any town or city, visitors can get an unfettered view of the night sky, which is often clear and bright.

Tomorrow night members of Duluth’s Arrowhead Astronomical Society will gather inside the park where they will train their high-powered telescopes on the heavens. The event kicks off with a presentation inside the Rainy Lake Visitor Center where visitors are encouraged to gather at 8 p.m. Once that presentation is complete, the group will then head outside to observe the night sky starting at about a half-hour after sunset.

The event marks the start of the park’s Night Explorer Series, which includes a host of other stargazing activities throughout the summer. No fees or registration is required and a “Dark Ranger” will always be on hand to help facilitate the programs. The full schedule of those events can be found by clicking here.