Harry D. Butler
A current article on this newspaper associated the College of Alabama’s analysis regarding holidays. I hope you perused that fascinating work.
It started this fashion: “The countless summer time surfers, Elvis within the films, the Go-Gos, Jack Johnson and Jimmy Buffett would most likely agree with this premise: Seaside individuals stay the sunniest lives.
“However it seems to be the street forward that brings probably the most pleasure, in response to a research by a pair of College of Alabama researchers. Sure, seashores have been named most frequently as desired locations, within the research of 1,040 vacationers from round the USA, however it’s journey itself, the escape from routine, that creates pleasure.”
This, my household and I agree with. Journey, escape from the routine — as my father usually stated, “Go someplace you haven’t been and study one thing new.”
By way of the years, we’ve seen a lot of the jap United States, in journeys starting from the white sands of Pensacola Seaside and Daytona Seaside and our nation’s oldest metropolis, St. Augustine, all in Florida; to the campground and waters of Virginia Seaside, Virginia; to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.; to Acadia Nationwide Park and the Cadillac Mountain in Maine; to New York Metropolis and plenty of different locations.
Touring on roads off the dashing interstates is what now we have discovered to be probably the most enjoyable, and plenty of occasions probably the most economical. And in youthful days, taking our tents — later, a camper — to vacationer-filled campgrounds was a good way to satisfy individuals from throughout the USA.
“The traveler can climb mountains, sail cruise ships or hike parks,” wrote Jay Waters, a UA teacher in promoting and public relations, who created the research with Jameson Hayes, an affiliate professor and director of UA’s Public Opinion Lab.
Sure! Waters and Hayes accomplished an excellent research. There are a lot of Etowah County folks who completely agree with the outcomes of their work. Their exploits are vividly displayed on Fb and different web websites.
Query: Are you aware concerning the Tear Drop Memorial in Bayonne, New Jersey? These I’ve requested say “no.” True, it isn’t so well-known because the rebuilt Twin Towers of decrease Manhattan in New York. The eldest of our clan, on a visit to the Jersey Shore, urged we go to; I’m so glad she did. It was an superior go to to this historic place.
To the Battle Towards World Terrorism, additionally known as the Tear Drop Memorial, stands on the finish of the previous Navy Ocean Terminal in Bayonne. It’s the very first thing you see as you method New York by ship from the Atlantic, effectively earlier than the Statue of Liberty comes into view. It’s precisely throughout the Hudson River from the Twin Towers
In response to Wikipedia, the sculpture includes a 100-foot, bronze-clad tower cut up with a jagged opening within the center, by which hangs a 40-foot-tall nickel-surfaced teardrop.
As reported, the UA researchers discovered that “it is journey itself, the escape from routine, that creates pleasure.” While you journey this nation’s highways and byways, you’ll agree that a whole lot of different folks really feel the identical.
Crawling the undergrounds of Mammoth Cave is an unbelievable expertise, not in contrast to seeing and touching California’s Big Sequoia timber, the tallest tree on the planet, reaching greater than 379 ft, with a base of 23 ft and residing as much as 2,200 years. (Notice: you should purchase a seedling for $9.)
Branson, Missouri, residence to dozens of star-studded music reveals and the Bigfoot Museum; Santa Fe, New Mexico’s Loretto Chapel and its mysterious staircase; the Grand Canyon; boat-riding on Lake Mead behind the Hoover Dam — these have been different nice locations for our travels throughout the previous six many years. We’re hopeful for a lot of extra locations to go to.
My editor is keen on travels to Savannah, Georgia; others have additionally cherished visits to Charleston, South Carolina; and a few associates have simply returned from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to observe the hordes of untamed horses.
However let me counsel Alabama as an important getaway. To inform that story will take pages to adequately describe. That work is in progress.
The place have you ever been, my reader, and the place do you intend to go in your subsequent trip?
Earlier than leaving, I have to inform you that one in every of our greatest holidays have been the times spent at Camp Sumatanga, a 1,700-acre, United Methodist Church-owned facility, open to the general public, that stretches alongside the valley in St. Clair County, nestled in opposition to Chandler Mountain close to Gallant. The mountain climbing and fishing, plus the lengthy climb upward to Creel’s Chapel, have been adventures to all the time keep in mind.
Now, the place is my street map?
Harry D. Butler, a former broadcaster, is a motivational speaker and writer of “Alabama’s First Radio Stations, 1920-1960.”