Traveling the world one color at a time.
Need to escape? Looking to be whisked away? Itching for travel inspiration?
Look no further than the Four Corners in the United States. This marks the place where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado come together — the only place in the U.S. where this happens.
Need to escape? Looking to be whisked away? Itching for travel inspiration?
Look no further than the Great Reno Balloon Race, an annual event held in Nevada where more than one-hundred colorful hot air balloons fill the sky.
The town is fairly inconspicuous. It has an ice cream parlor and a public library on the street corner. There are a of couple coffee shops and parking is limited to the street curbs.
But once you start reading about Concord, Massachusetts, and all the wildly historic events that have occurred there, this quaint little towns turns into a living diorama. The oldest European-settlement beyond tidewater, Concord has a small park that marks where the first shots of the American Revolution were shot on April 19, 1775. The city is teeming with houses that have seen the footsteps of American icons, and throughout the city, visitors can find little reminders — a plaque here, a framed photo there — of what this quiet New England town has witnessed.
One of the highlights of the city is found about a mile northeast of Monument Square. This is the home of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Authors Ridge, a collection of crumbling graves in a well-manicured and circuitous graveyard. There are dozens of notable grave sites throughout the cemetery belonging to people who played a role in the Revolutionary War and the years that followed, but it’s on Authors Ridge that several notable writers and thinkers are buried including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. Walking past the graves is like a ghostly stroll through a dusty library. Visitors tip their heads toward each other and whisper about books they’ve read by these figureheads. Some have left pencils and coins in remembrance.
The grave stones are weathered and imperfect. They’re also a beautiful reminder that even the most significant voices may physically be silenced but their words live on.
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Look no further than the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where isolated hiking trails and overgrown forests are the norm.
Mardi Gras is consumed with food, parades, camaraderie and tradition, but it wouldn’t be Mardi Gras in Louisiana without the sequins and feathers, fur and beads, ribbons and flair. Though the official colors of this annual tradition are green, gold and purple, Mardi Gras costumes break all the rules.
To celebrate Mardi Gras, there are local community groups called krewes. Though there are many aspects of being part of the krewe, one of the big things they do during Mardi Gras is participate in formal balls, put on showy presentations and dress up in elaborate costumes, which often represent some sort of theme. These costumes can take a full year to create, and the average costume weighs more than 50 pounds once fully constructed. Those who choose to participate in the costume-oriented activities have to pay for the costumes themselves, and some of these impressive creations can cost several hundred (and even thousands of) dollars.
But Mardi Gras costumes are wow-worthy. There’s no getting around that. Just when you think you’ve seen it all — people dressed to represent the seven deadly sins, Hollywood signs, capes that drag 40 feet behind, chickens — you see yet another costume that seems to outdo all others.
When I was in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for Mardi Gras this year, I had two ideal opportunities to look at and appreciate the detail, time and effort that goes into Mardi Gras costumes. First, I visited the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu, which has the world’s largest collection of Mardi Gras costumes in the world. There are hundreds of costumes on display, and the exhibit is rotated every few months, so there are always new ones to see. Secondly, I had the opportunity to go backstage at the Royal Gala, which is the only event in Louisiana that allows the public to see the krewes’ royal courts in full costume.
Mardi Gras may be a welcome tradition for the taste buds and party-like vibe, but it’s also a feast for the eyes and a treat for the imagination.
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Need to escape? Looking to be whisked away? Itching for travel inspiration?
Look no further than Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica, a hard-to-reach destination that rewards visitors with a multi-colored river, powerful waterfalls and natural hot springs.
