Tourism/Sightseeing
Books Prompt Travel . . . and Vice Versa
Aug 22nd
Several best-selling books in the past few years have led their fans to travel to the locations in which the plots are set. A whole industry seems to have sprung up offering tours and packages built around the settings of Elizabeth Gilbert‘s memoir Eat, Pray, Love – which will likely go into overdrive with the recent release of the movie based on the book. Popular excursions based on sites mentioned in Stieg Larsson‘s Millennium series of thrillers are selling out in Sweden. One community which has perhaps benefitted the most, proportionately, from fan interest in the locale of their favorite books is tiny Forks, Wash. Ever since the first book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series was published, the community at the edge of the continent which had suffered through severe economic decline as the logging and fishing industries sagged has enjoyed a welcome influx of tourist dollars.
Certainly, this is not a new phenomenom in the worlds of publishing and tourism. Readers of Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes for years have sought locations in London and throughout the U. K. mentioned in the books penned by J. K. Rowling and Arthur Conan Doyle. (I remember my girls being thrilled, several years ago, to be traveling through King’s Cross Station, from which the Hogwart’s Express departs for the wizarding school in the Potter series.) Surely, any writer who has the skill to describe a foreign place in intriguing and enticing prose (and populate it with enchanting characters in a thrilling plot) will likely set his readers to dreaming of visiting that spot. Indeed, for many of us, our first introductions to worlds outside our familiar circuits probably came through the pages of a book.
Conversely, the memories of and lessons learned by travelers have for centuries led them to share their experiences in books that have become literary classics — and in turn sent their readers off on explorations of their own. John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways early gave me a desire to hit the road and explore our country. Even more ambitious journeys such as those related in Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft and Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz Wisner can set one to dreaming and considering the possibilities of life-changing travels of one’s own.
Do you have a favorite travel book? Is there a book, fiction or nonfiction, which has spurred you to journey to see the sights it describes (or at least dream of doing so?)? Have you chosen to read a book based solely upon its setting? How have books affected your travel plans?
– Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor
Gem of the Cascades
Aug 15th
Yesterday we finished up our vacation with a visit to Crater Lake National Park. It was right along our route home from Redmond, Ore., where we’d spent the past week relaxing at Eagle Crest Resort, and, as fellow blogger John Wroblewski wrote last week, this weekend is a fee-free day in a number of the national parks, including Crater Lake. (Although at ten dollars for a seven-day pass per vehicle, the park entrance fees really should not be an excuse to keep anyone from visiting.) Most of all, I was eager to revisit a place where I’d spent an entire summer working — my best summer job experience.
We entered through the North Entrance and drove most of the 33-mile amazingly scenic Rim Drive that circles the lake. Although my husband is also a native Oregonian, he had never been to the park, so I enjoyed seeing his reaction to the incredible vistas from the many viewpoints along the way. The lake’s nickname, “Gem of the Cascades,” is thoroughly appropriate, a fact I first appreciated on viewing the lake from an airliner at 30,000 feet several years before I first stood on the rim of this volcanic caldera. It looked like nothing so much as a gorgeous, brilliant sapphire in a setting of snowcapped peaks. That stunning deep blue is truly unique and remarkable, unlike any color I’ve seen in the waters of the Pacific or Mediterranean.
It’s been 33 years since I spent that wonderful summer in the park, and very little of the setting has changed. One of the most important aspects of our national parks is that they seek to preserve some of the world’s most beautiful and unique ecosystems for future generations to enjoy. I did note that the Rim Village area, which contains the historic lodge and other visitor facilities, has been reconfigured to further minimize the human impact visually and otherwise from this area. A large parking lot that used to sit right along the rim has been replaced with a grassy meadow, and cabins and camp sites are now located several miles away from the caldera edge.
Our visit to my old friend was a great way to finish up our time off, and I’ll be sure it isn’t too long before I visit again. If you’re ever anywhere close to Crater Lake, don’t pass up the opportunity to experience this incredible place.
– Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor
Afternoon on the River
Aug 1st
Twice within this past week I have enjoyed a jetboat ride on the Rogue River out of Grants Pass, Ore., just a short trip up Interstate 5 from my home. We’ve had a lot of company recently, and these two-hour jaunts are a great way to share some of the local area with out-of-town guests, especially on 90-degree-plus days. Hellgate Excursions hosts some 85,000 visitors a season (May to September) on its prop-less, hydro-jet-powered boats that can skim, fully loaded with 60 passengers, over the rocky riverbed in just eight inches of water. With sudden stops and 360-degree turns executed by the highly entertaining pilots, one is guaranteed to get a little or a lot wet, depending on where in the boat you sit.
A typical 36-mile roundtrip takes one from the banks of the river in downtown Grants Pass to the beginning stretches of Hellgate Canyon, the start of the “wild and scenic” stretch of the waterway that was one of the eight original rivers designated in the 1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, signed into law by President Johnson. This particular part of the river has long been popular as a film location for movies and T.V. shows (Gunsmoke, Rooster Cogburn, The River Wild . . . even the jump-off-the-cliff scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), but what we found most fascinating on our trip this past Friday afternoon was the wildlife we encountered along the tamer banks of the river.
The driver/guides on the boats do a great job of pointing out all manner of critters they spy while concurrently piloting the boats over the riffles and rapids at up to 40 mph. There are great blue herons, geese, ducks, Western pond turtles, deer and beaver (usually, one only sees their lodges). There are lots of osprey nesting in the tall trees along both sides of the river, and one can easily hear the high-pitched calls of the young in the nests while the parents circle over the water looking for fish for dinner. Huge, ugly turkey vultures share the air currents waiting for something to scavenge, and we were told there were three nesting pairs of bald eagles along the stretch of river we would cover that day.
Only a few miles after we got underway, our guide spotted a single eagle, white head and tail feathers clearly visible, high up in a Douglas fir, and he dropped the boat into an idle and let out a piercing whistle. I’m not sure that the bird was responding to that or something else, but he launched himself off his perch and began circling lower and lower over the water until he made a quick dive towards the surface a short way downstream from the boat. He came up empty-handed (empty-taloned?), but it was nonetheless thrilling to see such a large, magnificent specimen of our national bird in action in the wild. Later on, we spied a pair of eagles which once again seemed to respond to our pilot’s whistle and circled directly over our heads only 20 feet above us — beautiful!
The most fascinating sight we encountered came when we were nearly back at the dock. A large osprey sat on the bank, perched atop a large 3- to 4-pound spring steelhead he had somehow managed to pluck from the water. Apparently tired from the effort of the catch and marshalling his strength before attempting to carry the fish back to his babies and nest high in the treetops, he eyed some unwelcome company not far away — and it wasn’t the humans in the boat. About 20 feet downstream was a hulking turkey vulture, eager for an easy dinner. As we watched, the scavenger hopped slowly towards the hunter, all hunched over and sneaky like some villain in a melodrama, his black, drooping wings like a cape draped about him. I would’ve loved to have watched the scene play out, but we needed to get back for the next tour, so after five minutes or so the guide started up the engines again and we lost sight of the foes. We were told that it was likely the osprey would lose the fish, as his mate didn’t dare leave her babies alone in the nest (eagles could swoop in and snatch them up without an adult standing guard), and the turkey vulture could expect reinforcements of others of his kind who would eventually wrest the prize from the exhausted bird.
It made for a great conclusion to our river trip. Each of the excursions I’ve taken on the Rogue has been unique and interesting, and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with the next group of friends who come to town. Headed my way? Let me show you what I’m talking about!
– Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor
Houston Musings
Jul 14th
In the July issue of Global Traveler, Sharon King Hoge wrote an excellent piece on Houston. It made me a bit homesick for the city. Although Houston was never technically my home, I spent a fair amount of time there when my sister and her family lived there a few years back.
Hoge mentioned that 71.7 percent of Houstonians drive to work. I was amazed at that number, as I never saw really bad traffic (except for construction zones). A big part of that reason is because the roads were built with many lanes and many connections. Houston even thought so far ahead as to make allowances for future on-ramps in some areas.
Hoge listed such Houston highlights as the Space Center Houston and the Sam Houston Pavilion. She also included the National Museum of Funeral History, a lesser-known but fascinating place. These are great choices, and I would add the Galleria, which is a huge complex housing a mall, two Westin hotels and an office tower.
Over the years, we saw sporting events at Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros baseball team), Reliant Stadium (home of the Texans football team) and the Toyota Center (home of the Rockets basketball team and the Aeros hockey club). Unfortunately, I never saw an event in the Reliant Astrodome, the first domed stadium in the world, which still stands in Houston.
I also fell in love with eating in Houston. I can honestly say I never had a bad meal in the hundreds of times I went out to eat. Like most places, Houston has great dining, but their casual restaurants really stand out. I had my best barbeque fish and chicken at Goode Company Barbeque. I had my best turkey sandwich at Kenny & Ziggy’s Deli. I had my best buffet pizza at CiCi’s. Finally, I had the best ballpark food ever at Minute Maid Park.
Now that my sister has moved back to Chicago, I only go there about once a year. My brother-in-law, nephew and I will usually go down for the series between the Chicago Cubs and the Astros. Actually, that brings up my only real complaint about Houston. The Cubs never seem to win when I am there!
It was great reading this article. It reminded me how much I love Houston.
– John Wroblewski, distribution specialist
