Intelligent Travel

Cinematic Road Trip: Arkansas

For the past few weeks John Ur has been heading on a course due south through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. This week he takes a sharp left turn and heads into Arkansas before turning another ninety degrees and heading back north through the remainder of the Midwestern states.

Let me be frank: The film industry in Arkansas is not exactly booming. The state’s largest city and capital, Little Rock, does not hold many famous landmarks except its capitol building. However, because of its resemblance to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC, the Arkansas capitol has served as the stunt double for its more famous counterpart in several films, most notably in the television movie Under Siege (1986), when a group of suicide bombers attacked. John Grisham, one of Arkansas' most famous sons, has had several of his stories converted into movies, and his first hit book, The Firm, was directed by Sydney Pollack with scenes shot in West Memphis, Arkansas (as well as Memphis, Tennessee and Washington DC).

But the state also has a few stars-of-screen natives, including Joey Lauren Adams, Wes Bentley, Mary Steenburgen and Billy Bob Thornton. Early in his career, Thornton was able to pull off an Orson Welles trifecta – to write, direct and star in a film (see Welles in Citizen Kane) using Arkansas as his setting. Thornton wrote Sling Blade, a story of a mentally handicapped man who was released from a psychiatric hospital after serving 25 years for the murder of his mother and her lover at the age of 12. This man, Karl Childers (played by Thornton), became an iconic character in popular culture – his gruff bass voice and rudimentary language oft-repeated in satire for comedic effect: Mmhmm, I reckon. Alright then. I used a Kaiser blade. Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser blade.

Global Eye: Alberta

"My Shadow on the River"

Photographer: Sarah M. Ligon of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Getting the Shot: I took this photo on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on Leap Year Day 2008 using my Leica C-LUX 1 point-and-shoot camera. Although the scene looks like it could be in one of Alberta's more remote regions, it is actually in the heart of downtown Edmonton, a city of more than a million people. A fluke of geography, the river's steep banks made it impossible for developers to build along the river, and so the whole river valley was turned into an elaborate park system, nearly 16 miles (25 kilometers) long. This particular spot is on a popular off-leash dog park.

The Details:  I'm a Southern girl, originally from Arkansas, and this was my first winter in Canada. Needless to say, after months of dark days and -40-degree temperatures, I came down with a bit of cabin fever. But on this particular day, the sun was radiant, and so I stole the opportunity to head out-of-doors. I shot for hours along the river, taking advantage of the long sunsets we have in the North this time of the year, and it really raised my spirits. In particular, I was tickled to discover the strange split-beam house perched on the bluff. I saw so many houses like this one when I lived in Bavaria last year, but I never expected to find one in Edmonton. It was a pleasant reminder of my happy time in another beautiful corner of the world.

Now that spring has officially sprung here in D.C., we're fully aware our pleasant afternoons of mid-70s and 80s will soon make way for the sticky heat of our infamously sweltering summers. In an act of repression and denial, we offer this quiet scene of winter reflection.

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Utah's Prehistoric Rock Art Threatened

Just a few miles from the town of Price in central Utah lies Nine Mile Canyon, home to the greatest concentration of rock art in the United States, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Though there are few facilities, adventurous visitors can drive the 78-mile Nine Mile Canyon Back Country Byway to see the roughly 10,000 petroglyphs and pictographs carved by the Ute and Fremont Indians.

But the images, created at least one thousand years ago, have been endangered in the last several years by dust kicked up by industrial traffic related to the development of natural gas nearby. Recently, a proposal to add 800 more natural gas wells to the project would increase the traffic fourfold and was met with concern by the National Trust, the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, and other groups. The area has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, and the trust created this YouTube video to spread the word about the rock art's plight:

While pursuing natural gas (the cleanest-burning fossil fuel) is a worthy cause, it shouldn't come at the expense of a priceless collection of rock art. Canyon advocates hope that an alternate route can be agreed upon so that the integrity of this beautiful natural monument will be maintained.

Have you visited Nine Mile Canyon? What do you think?

Beyond the City Limits

Mid-April, I decided to visit my hometown of Seattle. Seeing as the Emerald City is in the peak of its rainy season at that time (believe it or not, the rain does stop eventually), my mom wondered why I'd ever want to visit for a week of gray drizzle. Well, I found round-trip airfare for $178 (which I ended up paying for in the end, when my MD-80 flight was canceled and I spent an extra six hours in BWI—I'm not bitter), and I knew visiting in April would allow me to see my favorite parts of the Pacific Northwest sans camera-toting tourists. Fortunately, I ended up bringing with me about 36 hours of sunshine, so my mom and I ventured out of the city.

Our first stop: Whidbey Island. About 30 miles north of Seattle is the ferry from Mukilteo (its small port has no more than a lighthouse, small market, and Ivar's restaurant—their smoked salmon chowder is to die for) to Whidbey Island.  There's not much on Whidbey, either, but that's the beauty of it. We stopped by Greenbank Farm, a 1930s berry farm on the south-central part of the island. In 1972 Greenbank was considered the largest grower of loganberries, a cross between a raspberry and blackberry, for which the farm is now famous (stop by in July for their Loganberry Festival). Unfortunately, we arrived before the farm actually opened for the day, so instead of testing some delicious loganberry products, we were instead greeted by some of the farm's furry friends (pictured left).

We continued north through Deception Pass, a 4,134-acre marine and camping park with great views and wildlife-watching opportunities. Stop your car before Deception Pass Bridge and take a walk along one of the short trails, or check out the view from the lookout on the other side (for more information, the visitor center is located about one mile south of the bridge). After leaving Whidbey Island, we continued east on Route 20 and north on 237, on a mission to make it to Edison, Washington, for lunch.

Promise and Peril: Baja, Mexico

In the Destination Watch column in our May/June issue, "Promise and Peril," Traveler's Geotourism editor Jonathan Tourtellot's tells us that travelers should put a value on authenticity, and make "intelligent choices" when you visit a place. "When you seek authenticity, and pay for it, you're not only sending a message, you're helping protect a local asset," he writes. He mentions IT editor Janelle Nanos's recent trip to Cabo San Lucas as an example of a place on the cusp of tourism overload. Nanos offers her full story here.

Yachts crowd the harbor in downtown Cabo San Lucas

Settling into my flight home from Cabo San Lucas, I struck up a conversation with my sunburnt seatmate. Our trips, we both agreed, were tremendous, but we quickly realized they were also very different. He'd spent much of his time sipping margaritas at his all-inclusive resort, and spoke of tallying up a $500 tab at the bars following an afternoon booze cruise. I too swilled a few margaritas, but I also wandered up to the artist community of Todos Santos, explored Pacific coast beaches, and stumbled upon a local semi-pro soccer game. He’d gone to relax and get away. I went to experience the place, but had to wander outside its tourist precincts to find a true sense of local culture.

It’s been a long time since Cabo San Lucas resembled the Baja of Steinbeck’s novels. Now it’s most commonly referred to as the “next Cancun.” Timeshare hucksters shill “beautiful” condos that have yet to be built, and driving the corridor from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo is like watching time-lapse photography of construction.  Grabbing my ocean kayak from JT Water Sports, on the tip of Playa el Médano, I gawked at the eight-million-dollar Hacienda condos rising from the shoreline like monstrous sand castles. None of the hotels and bars that lined the beach were there 15 years ago.

Tour Guide: Hike and Feel Good About It

Mount Rainier National Park

If there's anything I miss the most about living on the West Coast, it's the mountains. Sure, D.C.'s got the nearby Appalachians (I visit Shenandoah National Park as often as possible in summer), but there's nothing like looking out your Pacific Northwest window and seeing snow-capped peaks in every direction (Seattle is blessed with the Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east).

The American Hiking Society has a solution for folks like me who live in a city where the mountains aren't quite at your doorstep. The AHS offers weeklong Volunteer Vacations in 25 states (and even the Virgin Islands) from February through November every year, for hiking gurus, beginners, and everyone in between who are capable of doing trail maintenance. Best of all, their website allows you to search for the volunteer tour that might work best for you. Just select your state, difficulty level, what kind of accommodation you prefer (even the avid backpacker likes a comfortable cabin every once in a while), and age range (from family friendly to 21+).

Guidebooks with a Different Look

Enter the "travel" section of any bookstore and you're welcomed by a plethora of guidebooks. Insight Guides, Rough Guides, TimeOut Guides, and the distinctive orange (Fodor's), yellow (National Geographic Traveler), and blue (Lonely Planet) guides make the travel aisles pleasing to the eye.

And despite the recent press about guidebook authority, everyone's got their favorite. But in essence, each is filled with the same type of information – where to stay, where to eat, and what museums to visit. There are, however, many lesser-known guides that offer a different view of the destination. Here's a few that have been on my traveling radar lately.

Design company Ideo has just released a new series of guidebooks, which claim to be field guides "for the curious." Aptly named EyesOpen, the book is organized into four sections (observer, diner, shopper, and mingler), and throughout gives tips and anecdotes on city life. For example, in the "observer" section of the New York book, the Fulton Ferry Landing Pier is highlighted not for its "hotbed of activity" (skateboarders, wedding photo shoots) but for its grand views of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. The "diner" section highlights Magnolia Bakery ("the only bakery we know of that has a bouncer"), 4-Course Vegan, and Bamn! (which serves deep-fried peanut butter sandwiches).

Unlike most guidebooks, EyesOpen doesn't give practical tips. But we like the idea of a guidebook that provides a deeper sense of place. So far, Ideo has only released guidebooks for New York and London. The books ($22.95) are published by Chronicle Books and are available on Amazon.com.

Up Next: Blackstone Valley

Slater Mill, the little yellow mill that could

In 1793, the American Industrial Revolution was sparked in a yellow wooden textile mill perched on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. More than two centuries later, the oft-overlooked Blackstone Valley is finally coming into its own, chosen recently as the winner of the 2008 World Travel and Tourism Council’s prestigious destination award. Sure, Robert Billington, the region’s chief champion of sustainable tourism, knows industry isn’t exactly hip. So what? This is true authentic travel.

How is the Blackstone Valley relevant today?

Because we [in the U.S.] don’t make things here anymore. Most Americans don’t understand how food is produced or how a product is made. And you can bring people to a place where things began. You name it, we made it. We had the power of the day—wonderfully sustainable, renewable energy, and it was the river.

When you come to New England to learn where the beginnings of America are, we’re part of that story. If you haven’t come to Blackstone Valley, where industry began, then you really haven’t seen America. This was the Silicon Valley of its day.

Tours of a Lifetime: On Sale!

Looking for a deal on a tour? How soon can you leave? Senior editor Norie Quintos, the magazine’s resident tour expert, says, “Now is a good time to find bargains on summer tours because some outfitters still have openings for their May and June departures, which typically are not as popular as departures later in the summer.” We queried outfitters from our Tours of a Lifetime list to see what discounts they had to offer, and here is the best of the lot. And check out Norie's other tips on how to stretch your dollar when booking tours.

CLASSIC TOURS

• Micato Safaris—"An extravagant safari with an emphasis on activities for tots and teens," says Traveler's contributing editor Margaret Loftus—has crafted a special offer exclusively for Traveler readers who book the "Family to Family Safari, Kenya and Tanzania" [download brochure] featured in our current Tours of a Lifetime issue. When travelers book the safari before May 30, each child on safari will receive Micato Safaris' children's safari backpack, complete with safari-themed games, wildlife viewing checklists, and African kids' toys. Especially cool, we think, is the fact that kids also have the chance to become pen pals with children living in Kenya before they travel—meaning they can share stories, customs, drawings, and plans for their upcoming adventure. To book the offer, mention code MSNG508. Travel must be completed by December 31, 2009.
• Check out G.A.P. Adventures's specials page for discounts up to 20 percent off a dozen of their global offerings.
• Maris Freighter & Specialty Cruises lists monthly news and special discounts on their website's "News & Specials" link on the left column of the screen. Click on "June 2008," to find the "Along the Americas' Coasts" voyage to South America, which is highlighted in the current issue of Traveler. "This is the cruise for passengers who have the time—and temperament—to sail long voyages," writes Loftus.

Check out Deals on Active and Cultural Tours after the jump.

Tour Guide: These Streets Are Made For Running

What do Charleston, S.C., San Diego, and New York have in common? They are all cities with these new-fangled things called jogging tours.

Ladies and gentlemen, a new and improved way of sightseeing: City Running Tours. They're more time-efficient than leisurely walking tours, and they're a heck of a lot more eco-friendly than bus tours. And the best thing? They aren't necessarily tailored for running fanatics. The tours (led by an expert jogger/tour guide) span anywhere from six to 13 miles, but there are frequent photo-op stops, giving you and your legs time to regroup and snap a shot.

Positively Portland

Oh, that we should all get this kind of a send-off on our travels...

Traveler's assistant art director, Stefan Caiafa, recently ordered a CD from CD Baby, an online music store based in Portland, Oregon, that buys music directly from musicians, digitizes it, and sells the CDs from their warehouse. The musicians get paid more per album than with the big-name labels, and you get the satisfaction of listening to unique music and supporting independent musicians at the same time. Anyway, CD Baby just sent Stefan an email confirming his order, along with this heartwarming message:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Friday, April 25th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...

Stefan wonders: Do you think they put something in the water in Portland?

P.S. from Stefan: The CD I ordered, Young@Heart's Mostly Live, is equally heartwarming, and possibly means that whatever exists in the waters of Portland also runs in the waters of the East Coast. At the very least, it seems that the spunky septuagenarians and octogenarians who sing on the CD regularly parade through the streets of Northampton, Massachusetts, spreading positivity. If you aren't in Northampton, however, try catching the excellent Young@Heart documentary recently released nationwide.

Photo by Paul Tamburro via Flickr

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Passport DC

Whenever I need a surefire way to impress an out-of-town visitor, I head to D.C.'s Massachusetts Avenue for a stroll along Embassy Row. The fascinating architecture makes for lovely eye candy, plus, it's a great glimpse of global culture in our nation's capital. Most of the year the sites serve uninformed passersby merely as stand-offish spectacles to gape at from the sidewalk. But in May, the diplomatic community props open its doors for the two-week-long Passport DC. This year, 60 embassies (and the European Commission Delegation) are participating, from Angola to Venezuela, as well as 24 cultural institutions.

Passport DC kicked off last weekend and will last through May 17, culminating with an Around the World Open House—showcasing authentic culture at 24 embassies from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas—and the National Asian Heritage Festival. In the middle, the International Children's Festival takes place Saturday, May 10, with tyke-friendly activities showcasing 16 countries, from Lebanon to Brazil. Best of all, the majority of the events and open houses are free of charge (yes, Europe can still be affordable!), though the ticketed events present intriguing offerings (Czech bagpiping, French cinema) and  generally draw more intimate crowds.

Backstage at the Café Orlin

Friend of IT Julia Obermiller, a beauty intern and blogger for CosmoGirl in New York, moonlights at the Café Orlin on St. Marks Place in the East Village.  Do you think New Yorkers are unfriendly, we asked this young transplant from genteel Virginia?  Julia finds the opposite is true:

Working in a New York City restaurant is like so many other things in life: If you find the right fit, you'll love it. I managed to find a small café in the East Village that seems to fit me to a tee. It's casual, comfortable and brings new meaning to the industry's word "regulars," as it's not unusual for customers to come in twice a day for our beloved hummus or flourless chocolate cake. In one of the world's most bustling cities, it's comforting to find a place full of familiar faces at any given time. The café has been around since 1981 – it's older than I am – and the kind of character that accompanies such history is impossible to fake. People tend to think of New York City as such a cold, unfeeling place; I'm constantly asked by outsiders how I'm faring. "Aren't the people rude? Don't you get lonely?" And my answer is always "No!" These people I see everyday, both the patrons and my coworkers, have become exactly that – the people I see everyday, the people who know about me, about my life.

In a review by New York magazine, the employees of Café Orlin are summed up as "tall, skinny...wait staff," but we actually come in all shapes and sizes from places all over the world. I've found a place to work, a restaurant at that, which embodies everything I love most about Manhattan – diversity, creativity, and authenticity.

She neglected to mention that the New York review also described the wait staff as "cute," which is true in Julia's case.

Photo: Susan NYC via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

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London Bloggers Divulge Local Secrets

Locals like to guard their hometown's hidden gems from the masses with fiery industry, especially in a colossal tourist destination like London. But lucky for travelers, the Guardian recently convinced ten of the city's most in-the-know bloggers to reveal one each of their best secrets, from a cafe with a gangster's past to a haven for "jive enthusiasts."

These sights have officially been bookmarked for our next jaunt across the pond:

• A series of mosaics that chronicle Alfred Hitchcock's life, both personal and cinematic, installed at Leytonstone tube station, via London Underground tube blog
• Homemade gelato (need we say more?!?) at Hackney City Farm, via London is Free
• Rivoli Ballroom, one of London's two remaining ballrooms—complete with red velvet-padded walls, chandeliers, and Chinese lanterns—and site of a hush-hush White Stripes concert last summer, via Gridskipper

Read more over at the Guardian, and tell us in the comments section which lesser-known London sights you think merit a visit.

Photo: The Birds Mosaic at Leytonstone London Underground, by Annie Mole

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Authentic Queens: Flushing

Our month of Big Apple coverage may be over, but our love continues for New York City. So we got some local tips on how to find authenticity in Queens—not an easy feat in an area often called the “most diverse place on Earth.” And who better to guide us than Jack Eichenbaum, a Queens tour guide and urban geographer? IT editor Janelle blogged about Jack in October, so we caught back up with him recently for a few of his neighborhood picks.

To Jack, the best way to tackle Queens is by venturing through one of its countless ethnic neighborhoods, noshing at exotic restaurants and, of course, joining one of his fascinating walking tours (but more on that later). Jack’s stomping ground, Flushing, is the borough’s oldest community (founded circa 1645) and has transformed into a mostly Asian neighborhood over the past 20 years or so.

A few of Jack's Flushing (and beyond) highlights:

• For an excellent Asian meal, Jack suggests Perfect Team Restaurant for fresh dim sum or Kum Gang San for great Korean food. Both restaurants will likely run you less than $25 for dinner (with enough food for three people), are “pretty swank,” and the menus “go on for five or six pages.” At Perfect Team, follow Jack’s lead and try their scallops in pepper sauce or the pepper-and-salt Vancouver crab (Dungeness crab). At Kum Gang San, you can’t go wrong with either the traditional Korean barbecue or Jack’s favorite, the seafood pancake.

• Built in 1694 by John Browne, the Old Quaker Meeting House is the oldest house of worship in the state of New York and has hosted the likes of George Washington and William Penn. The building itself is distinguished as New York’s only surviving piece of 17th-century ecclesiastical architecture. “When you go in, you feel it’s a very special place,” Jack says.   

Cinco de Mayo in Any Language

Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you're not too busy sipping your margarita, take time to enjoy IT Contributing Writer Cathy Healy's latest story about how sometimes, even celebrations can get lost in translation.

I've heard that San Jose boasts the biggest and best Cinco de Mayo celebration in northern California, but I've yet to experience the two-hour parade and throbbing musical acts blasting from two stages. Last year, even though I was only 30 minutes away, I lived in a different universe, with 12 international fellows at Stanford.

“Hey, let’s do something for Cinco de Mayo!” I said in late April, thinking of the annual excuse for an outdoor party in my Dupont Circle neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where the sidewalk cafes are typically packed with celebrants. “Cinco de Mayo’s a sort of Mexican heritage party,” I explained. “It’s really great! You drink margarita slushes, and eat nachos with jalapeños, and listen to mariachi music…”

The fellows glanced up from their laptops.

“When is it?” asked Hernan from Colombia. HUH?!

“I’m a Brazilian. Why would I want to celebrate Mexico’s independence?” asked Fabiana.

“Will the banks be closed?" asked Netika from India. Several of the fellows had gotten messed up on the Columbus Day holiday.

“Cinco de Mayo isn’t an official holiday,” I said. “It’s just something fun that everyone does, like St. Patrick’s Day.” No response. No one knew about that 'everyone’s-Irish' excuse for drinking beer since we’d all left for spring break on March 16.

Edgardo from the Philippines interjected: “Oh, I get it—Cinco de Mayo is when the Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead.”

"C’mon!" I said. "The Day of the Dead is always the day after Halloween!” I gave up.

Thus it came to pass that on Saturday, the fifth of May, four of us drove north to tour Napa wineries instead. After a couple of sippings, Ken from the U.K., a devout beer-drinker who’d become a McFlurry junkie at Stanford, persuaded us to forget the Silverado trail and hunt down a McDonald’s. They weren't quite the frozen margaritas I'd had in mind, but they did help beat the heat.

And on Sunday, the sixth of May, Hernan discovered Cinco de Mayo in San Jose. Turns out, he was right to ask in the first place, as the festival was in full swing.

“It was really great!” he told us the next day.

Read more: Check out Cathy's latest adventures in Amsterdam and Wyoming.

Photo: Janelle Nanos

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