Linda A. Tancs's Blog: The Long and Short of It, page 19

A Giant Hydrant in Beaumont

By Linda Tancs

For centuries, Dalmatians have been the unofficial mascot for firefighters in the United States. Due to their expertise as carriage dogs, they were reliable accompaniments to fire carriages of the 1700s, clearing the way for the horses. Their vital role in firefighting is commemorated with a Dalmatian-spotted fire hydrant that stands 24 feet tall next to the Fire Museum of Texas in Beaumont. The structure was donated to the city in 1999 by The Walt Disney Company to celebrate the re-release of the animated movie “101 Dalmatians.” It weighs a whopping 4,500 pounds and it works, capable of spewing 1,500 gallons of water per minute.

The Island of Dreams

By Linda Tancs

Home to the second largest lagoon in the Tuamotu atolls, Fakarava is affectionately known as French Polynesia’s Island of Dreams. A UNESCO Marine Biosphere Reserve, it’s prized for its multicolored coral as well as for its school of sharks in the Tumakohua Pass. Not surprisingly, these assets present irresistible diving opportunities, the most popular activity on the island. Rotoava is the main village, and there are regular flights there from Tahiti.

An Outpost on the Texas Frontier

By Linda Tancs

Fort Martin Scott in Fredericksburg, Texas, was the first U.S. Army outpost built on the Texas Frontier. Used by the Army from 1848 to 1853, it also served as a camp for the Texas Rangers and as a fort for the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. The historic site contains one original garrison building, one late 1800s old farm shed and three reproduction garrison buildings. Although the buildings are closed to the public, the grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk for self-guided tours.

Nebraska’s Version of Stonehenge

By Linda Tancs

There’s only one Stonehenge in England. Not so in America, where the love of Britain’s prehistoric, megalithic structure finds expression across the country in media like foam, granite, concrete and other materials. In Alliance, Nebraska, the scale replica takes it up a notch to Carhenge. As you might have guessed, this tribute comprises automobiles (39 of them) arranged in the familiar circular pattern. Some are held upright in pits 5 feet deep, trunk end down, and arches have been formed by welding automobiles atop the supporting models. The site, located at 2151 County Road 59, is open year round from dawn until dusk.

A Blockbuster in Bend

By Linda Tancs

Bend, Oregon, boasts a budding tourism industry. Part of the credit goes to the last remaining Blockbuster video rental store. Nothing short of a miracle in an era of streaming, the lone franchise is as much a tourist destination for nostalgia seekers as it is a store. It’s even the subject of a documentary. You’ll find it on Revere Avenue.

Monkey Island

By Linda Tancs

Monkey Island Estate is a luxury hotel on a private island in the River Thames in Bray, England. Once the haunt of monarchs, aristocrats and artists, the estate may have taken its name from the 17th-century fresco that adorns the ceiling of the ground-floor Monkey Room. Another theory is that the name evolved from Monks Eyot (eyot being Old English for island) after the Augustinian monks who settled there in the 12th century. Among its 40 exquisite guest rooms is the Wedgwood Suite (so named and designed after the most recognizable name in British ceramics), which is Grade-1 listed.

Stones and Water

By Linda Tancs

Guatapé is an Andean resort town in northwest Colombia. Its name means “stones and water” in Quechua. The water includes a lake and nearby waterfalls. The most famous stone is La Piedra del Peñón (or El Peñon de Guatapé), a giant granite monolith that defines the skyline. You can climb the 740 steps to the top for enviable views of the lake, islets and mountains. Medellín–Guatapé buses can drop you off at ‘La Piedra.’

Art and Architecture in Portland

By Linda Tancs

The McLellan-Sweat Mansion is a historic house museum on High Street in Portland, Maine. It forms the rear component of the Portland Museum of Art complex, the state’s oldest and largest public art institution. The Federal-style, three-story mansion was completed in 1801 for Major Hugh McLellan, a wealthy merchant who owned Maine’s largest shipping fleet. The house was thereafter owned by Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat, a writer and philanthropist who bequeathed the home to a society now known as the Portland Museum of Art. Admission to the museum is free to the public every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m.

Arts and Crafts in Woodstock

By Linda Tancs

One of the most iconic landmarks in Woodstock, New York, is Byrdcliffe Arts Colony. It was founded in 1902 by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and his wife Jane Byrd McCall out of an ideal to form a “brotherhood of artists.” It’s the oldest operating Arts and Crafts colony in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The organization continues to be a thriving year-round home to an ever expanding community of artists. Private tours can be booked by appointment. You can also take a self-guided walking tour of the grounds or a guided tour of White Pines, the original home of Byrdcliffe’s founders.

An Italian Village in South Tyrol

By Linda Tancs

Bruneck (Brunico) is the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. It boasts a hilltop castle dating to the 13th century with restored rooms and a museum exploring mountain culture in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. The museum, MMM Ripa, is one of six mountain museums set up by mountaineer Reinhold Messner and is a permanent exhibition at the castle. The castle is a short walk from the Brunico train station; a museum ticket will grant you access to all six mountain museums within a one-year period from date of issue.