Views at NYC’s new High Line Park

by Annie Scott on


The High Line has been open for a couple of months now, but in case you haven’t made it to NYC (or the west side) yet, we took some photos of the truly beautiful new park in the sky.

As we noted in “New York’s High Line Park stories,” the first section to be opened (and the one we photographed) was/is the section from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, stretching through the Meatpacking District and Chelsea. From scenic views to creative and eye-catching architecture, you’ll definitely want to see the new city park in person.

Our stroll from the bottom to the top of the park included astonishing views of the city and the Hudson River, walking by cute couples, cute children, people relaxing on built-in lounging chairs, people having a picnic, gelato stands, and lots and lots of greenery — it’s like they’ve built a meadow up there on the old railroad tracks. We did our darndest to sort out the best of the photos, but High Line Park is long and hard to capture; you’d best come see it for yourself.

For information about free events and guided tours, click here.
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Cahokia Mounds – Native American marvel

by Jeremy Kressmann on

We tend to associate ancient civilization with places like the Pyramids in Egypt and the ruins of Italy and Greece. But we happen to have some impressive and scenic ruins of ancient culture right here in the United States. Not far from St. Louis lies Cahokia Mounds, a massive ancient monument that at the peak of its power rivaled the medieval cities of Europe.

Not only is Cahokia Mounds one of only eight cultural World Heritage Sites in the United States, it’s also among the more astonishing untold stories of the history of North America. From around the year 650 until 1400, Cahokia was the crown jewel of the Mississipian culture, a religious and cultural center that was largest city north of Mexico.

Within the 2200 acre grounds lie the remains of over 100 earthen mounds, the largest of which, Monk’s Mound, rises over 100 feet high and covers 14 acres. In a part of the country that tends to be mostly flat, Cahokia’s highest mound makes for an imposing geographic reference, dominating the nearby landscape. During your visit to Cahokia, take the opportunity to wander the giant earthen mounds spread across the site and visit the fantastic museum that tells the story of the mysterious Mississippian people.

Cahokia represents a significant part of our country’s indigenous history that lies before us in plain view, waiting to be discovered. Just like the Native American words that give many of our states and cities their names, it’s a history that is at once blatantly obvious yet easily obscured. It’s only when we begin to dig beneath the surface and uncover the true stories of places like Cahokia that we can start to understand the history of this great place we now call the USA.

New website helps visitors explore the waterfalls of the Olympic Peninsula

by Katie Hammel on

The heavily-forested Olympic Peninsula, a slice of land that juts out into the Pacific in the far northwest of Washington state, is home to 24 major waterfalls. In an effort to make it easier for visitors to find and explore the different falls, Grays Harbor Tourism, Jefferson County Tourism Coordinating Council, and Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau have joined forces to launch a new website, OlympicPeninsulaWaterfallTrail.com.

While the waterfalls and the hiking and biking paths that surround many of the them have been around for years, the website and its handy guide map are new.

The 24 falls and their surroundings vary widely. There are the beautiful Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park , the tiered falls of Gatton Creek near Lake Quinault, and the Wynoochee Falls that form a pristine swimming hole, among others. There are cascades that thunder and others that barely trickle. You can hike, bike or drive to most, while a few are only accessible by boat. Some gush all year-round and others ebb and flow with the seasons. Some are easy to get to and others should only be visited by the more physically fit.

The website helps classify these various falls and makes visiting them easy. It’ll show you pictures of each waterfall, explain how to get there, and warn you of any hazards you’ll face along the way.

Photo of the Day (8.16.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

With Summer comes the road trip. That inevitable urge to get out on the open road in search of adventure and fun. And let’s not forget, the chance you might come upon a quirky roadside attraction or sign? It’s this perfectly posed roadside T-Rex that got us looking at Flickr user Peter Rivera’s shot today. Peter captured this strange beast near Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Did you check out our roadside attractions day on Gadling? If not, make sure to take a look.

Have any of your own travel photos to share with the world? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick yours as our Photo of the Day.

Fake airline offering non-existent jobs to desperate seekers

by Scott Carmichael on

In this poor economy there are two things with no shortage – people looking for a job, and people looking to take advantage of people looking for a job.

Sadly, when the two meet, someone is going to get scammed, and usually this means someone who is down on luck, gets hurt even more.

Such is the case of “Bull Airways”. This completely fake airline posted job listings looking for flight attendants, offering $17 per hour, with a $1/year raise. El Paso local Patricia Solis jumped on the ad, and had a meeting with the airline CEO at the fountain of a local mall (that should have been the first alarm bell).

She filled in a W-2, handing him all her personal information, and was told she’d hear back from him. She was indeed contacted, and offered the job, based out of Seattle.

By now, she obviously knew something was wrong. The local ABC affiliate tracked down David Sanchez, the so-called CEO of this airline, and discovered that the whole thing was a scam. The FAA had no records of the airline, and Mr. Sanchez initially claimed he was a Canadian businessman trying to start a US airline, but after a bit of prodding, he admitted to the fraud. It isn’t entirely clear whether he was just pulling an identity theft scam, or if he had more sinister plans in mind.

What strange things have been found on planes?