“NEW YORK — The first visitors to Statue of Liberty’s crown in nearly eight years have made the arduous climb — and one couple marked the occasion by getting engaged.”
Cool photos.
Category: Places & Travel
Thomas Jefferson Memorial (Washington, D.C.)
A national memorial to Thomas Jefferson was authorized 75 years ago today. It was dedicated in 1943.
Thomas Jefferson-political philosopher, architect, musician, book collector, scientist, horticulturist, diplomat, inventor, and third President of the United States-looms large in any discussion of what Americans are as a people. Jefferson left to the future not only ideas but also a great body of practical achievements. President John F. Kennedy recognized Jefferson’s accomplishments when he told a gathering of American Nobel Prize winners that they were the greatest assemblage of talent in the White House since Jefferson had dinner there alone. With his strong beliefs in the rights of man and a government derived from the people, in freedom of religion and the separation between church and state, and in education available to all. Thomas Jefferson struck a chord for human liberty 200 years ago that resounds through the decades. But in the end, Jefferson’s own appraisal of his life, and the one that he wrote for use on his own tombstone, suffices: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”
Some fortunate wedding parties are able to have photos taken at the Jefferson Memorial among architect John Russell Pope’s beautiful columns and curves. (That’s Emily and Rob, official daughter and son-in-law of NewMexiKen.)
Baggage
A friend reports that shortly after take-off from Denver today the pilot came on the intercom to announce that an indicator light suggested a right baggage door might be unlatched. He said not to worry, they were going back to the airport, and they’d be making all left turns so they didn’t spew bags all over Colorado. (It was just a bad indicator.)
That reminded me of the announcement just before my last flight leaving Albuquerque. The pilot came on the intercom to say we were held up a few minutes waiting for some last minute baggage to be loaded. The funeral really couldn’t go on as scheduled without it, he said.
Camping advisory line of the day
“[A]ll food, garbage, and scented items such as toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, toiletries, and chapstick, must be stored in bear canisters, hung from park bear wires, or hung at least 12 feet high and 10 feet out from the nearest tree trunk.”
National Parks Traveler describing new restrictions at Olympic National Park.
Camping in some parks is like trying to get on an airplane. Damn bears. Damn terrorists.
Another air show video
But this time, from inside the air show; inside a Blue Angels jet in fact.
This appears to be over Annapolis and Chesapeake Bay.
How much would you pay to take this ride? I’d pay quite a bit.
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (Kentucky)
… was authorized on this date in 1940.
Throughout the ages, poets, songwriters, novelists, journal writers, historians and artists have captured the grandeur of the Cumberland Gap. James Smith, in his journal of 1792, penned what is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions of this national and historically significant landmark: “We started just as the sun began to gild the tops of the high mountains. We ascended Cumberland Mountain, from the top of which the bright luminary of day appeared to our view in all his rising glory; the mists dispersed and the floating clouds hasted away at his appearing. This is the famous Cumberland Gap…” Thanks to the vision of Congress, who in 1940 authorized Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, visitors today can still bask in its beauty and immerse themselves in its rich history.
The story of the first doorway to the west is commemorated at the national park, located where the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia meet. Carved by wind and water, Cumberland Gap forms a major break in the formidable Appalachian Mountain chain. First used by large game animals in their migratory journeys, followed by Native Americans, the Cumberland Gap was the first and best avenue for the settlement of the interior of this nation. From 1775 to 1810, the Gap’s heyday, between 200,000 and 300,000 men, women, and children from all walks of life, crossed the Gap into “Kentuckee.”
NewMexiKen and Dad visited Cumberland Gap on our 2006 trip — it’s an inspiring and beautiful site. The highway through the Gap was removed in 1996 (replaced by a tunnel). One can now walk the Wilderness Road through a forest much as the migrants moving west did from Daniel Boone on, including some of my very own ancestors.
Best Place
The 10 best places to live:
2. Auburn, Ala.
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Durham, N.C.
Each link above is to the U.S. News facts summary page. Or read a short narrative summary for each of the 10.
Thanks to Dwight for the link. He warns “Get ready to be overrun by people moving to Albuquerque. Build a wall around the city? Fire the Chamber of Commerce for doing too good of a job?”
Or see house prices rise again.
Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)
… was designated a national monument on this date in 1923. It became a national park in 1928.
Bryce Canyon, famous for its worldly unique geology, consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.”
Bryce is named for Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce.
Ten things you probably didn’t know about Mt. Rushmore
Wild is as wild does
“Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has persisted since prehistoric times…”
Helicopters from the state of Montana at times are flying as low as 20 feet or so above ground inside the park to push herds of bison ranging in size from 200-250 animals as much as a dozen miles into the park’s interior, according to Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash.
The Pioneer Woman in New York City
Talk to me
Ask the pilot discusses airline communication.
Millions of people, we know, are anxious fliers. This is the insurmountable result of human nature as much as anything else; all the statistics and straight talk in the world won’t overcome a certain, perfectly understandable reluctance toward racing through the air in giant metal tubes filled with explosive fuel. But clearly the airlines, as lazy and ineffective communicators, have made a difficult situation worse.
Perks begin at the door
They’ve consolidated Delta and Northwest counters at Albuquerque Sunport, perhaps everywhere. The result this morning was the longest check-in line I’ve ever encountered here, almost like a big city airport.
I stood in the line for a few minutes and then remembered — “Hey, I’m in first class.”
No line for me.
Most Endangered Places
Mount Taylor (which I can see from here) is included on the 2009 listing of America’s most endangered historic places. The list will be announced officially Tuesday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The New York Times tells us very briefly about the 11 places on this year’s list. There is a photo slideshow
Links to each the National Trust’s background for each:
Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Miami Marine Stadium, FL
Dorchester Academy, Midway, GA
Lāna’i City, HI
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, MA
Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, NH & Kittery, ME
Mount Taylor, Grants, NM
Human Services Center, Yankton, SD
Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, TX
The Manhattan Project’s Enola Gay Hangar, UT
Close Enough for Government Work
It turns out that in 1878, when they surveyed the boundaries of Utah-Colorado-New Mexico and Arizona, they adjusted the spot where the four territories met (unique in the U.S.) so that the location would be easier to get to.
It should have been at the confluence of 37ºN and 109ºW. That’s about 2½ miles east and slightly north of where the Four Corners Monument is located today near 36°59′56″N and 109°02′43″W.
The states and Congress ultimately recognized the error, but accepted it, and the Four Corners Monument marks the official boundary. You don’t have to go back to take photos all over again.
The present monument is on sovereign Navajo Nation land. The actual confluence of 37ºN and 109ºW is also on Indian land, the Ute Mountain Reservation.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado)
… was authorized as a national monument on this date in 1933. It became a national park in 1999.
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison’s unique and spectacular landscape was formed slowly by the action of water and rock scouring down through hard Proterozoic crystalline rock. No other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Road trips
15 things no airport terminal should be without
A good list from Ask the pilot. Here’s two I particularly liked:
11. Ample gate-side seating
If the plane at Gate 12 holds 250 people, there ought to be a minimum of 250 chairs in the boarding lounge — not 100, not 150. There is something extremely uncivilized about having to sit on the floor while waiting to board your flight. Do we sit on the floor when waiting for a table in a restaurant? Do we sit on the floor at the doctor’s office? (When Singapore’s award-winning Changi Airport was built, the gates were outfitted with no fewer than 420 chairs, matching the average number of seats on a 747.)
12. A quiet area
Every concourse needs a cordoned-off quiet zone with some comfy chairs and newspapers, insulated from the blare of public address announcements, cellphone yammering and CNN.
Ignominy is thy name
Jeez, even a bull elk can screw up big time.
You think he’d been drinking?
Lincolnalia
Encouraging line of the day
“It is tight. It is cramped. It is hot. It probably isn’t completely safe to have everyone go up, in any numbers, at any time. But the Park Service is full of slightly dangerous things you can do.”
Interior Secretary Salazar after climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. As senator he supported reopening the crown to the public. (I’ve been there. It is tight. It is cramped. It is hot. It is also glorious!)
What saved the passengers of Flight 1549?
Ask the pilot has a worthwhile summary and assessment. Click the link!
White Sands National Monument (New Mexico)
… was established by President Herbert Hoover on this date in 1933.
At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain ringed valley called the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening white sands of New Mexico.
Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world’s largest gypsum dune field. The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path.
Two quick followups about the airplane in the Hudson
Nothing much new here from James Fallows, but interesting reading all the same.
Namibia: Land of Awesome
NewMexiKen has a subscription to the magazine mental_floss (thank you Nora and Jason). Each issue they profile a country — the “50-Cent Tour” they call it. In the Jan-Feb issue the subject is Namibia. I looked for links to the article but found only this mental_floss Blog item instead.
The opening paragraph resonated quite well — I was having the same reaction to the magazine article the blogger did:
Elaborating on last week’s post on the nature of wanderlust, today I have a practical example to share. Here’s how wanderlust works. You’re minding your own business, and then something lands in front of you — say, this month’s issue of Mental_floss. You flip to the back of the mag and devour a great feature article on Namibia, and you start to feel a funny tickle in your brain. That sounds interesting, says the tickle, which leads you to the internet, where you start looking up Namibia on Wikipedia and a few hours later are looking it up on Kayak (the plane ticket comparison site). … Lonely Planet calls it “one of those dreamlike places that make you question whether something so visually orgasmic could actually exist.”