Linda A. Tancs's Blog: The Long and Short of It, page 56

Enchanted Ice in Edmonton

By Linda Tancs

Named after Britain’s Queen Victoria, Victoria Park is a picnic and activity park forming part of the North Saskatchewan River Valley park and trail system in Edmonton, Canada. This time of year it’s best known for the Victoria Park IceWay, a skating trail wrapping through the majestic forests of the park. At night it’s illuminated with colorful lights, making the experience all that more magical. Public skating is from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and admission is free.

Israel’s Highest Waterfall

By Linda Tancs

Located in the center of Israel’s Golan Heights, Gamla Nature Reserve is a nature reserve and archaeological site. It’s where you’ll find the country’s highest waterfall (at around 167 feet) flowing year round. An easy path leads to a lookout terrace for the best views. Other features of the area are the eagle observatory and Bronze Age burial mounds. The reserve is about a 15-minute drive from the Sea of Galilee.

The Rhubarb Triangle

By Linda Tancs

Most of the rhubarb eaten in Britain is grown in Yorkshire. Specifically, the area is marked by three points of what’s called the Yorkshire (Rhubarb) Triangle, which are Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell. Native to Siberia, the plant thrives in West Yorkshire, a “frost pocket” with nitrogen-rich soil and cold, wet winters. After a growing season outdoors in the cold, the plants are brought into sheds where they’re plunged into darkness, a process called “forcing” that produces tall, strong, straight stems with smaller leaves. You can hear the crack and pop of the plant as it grows in forcing sheds, a phenomenon that has triggered its own tourism industry, including the Rhubarb Festival in Wakefield this weekend.

America’s Oldest Theatre

By Linda Tancs

Founded in 1808, Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia is America’s Oldest Theatre. Given its historic bearing, it’s also the Official State Theatre of Pennsylvania as well as a National Historic Landmark. As with any historical property, stories abound. During a backstage tour, you’ll hear many of them, like who took the first curtain call and how the venue started as an equestrian circus. Some of the world’s most famous performers have played there, including Marlon Brando, Paul Robeson, Audrey Hepburn, Helen Hayes, Groucho Marx and Sidney Poitier. If only the walls could talk, and in some cases they do, considering that centuries-old brick is exposed in some places. The theatre is conveniently located in the heart of Center City.

Amazon of Europe

By Linda Tancs

The world’s first five-country UNESCO biosphere reserve represents the shared nature of wildlife and ecological preservation among Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. The reserve covers the riverine and estuarine ecosystems of the Danube, Mura and Drava rivers, an area in Central Europe so rich in habitats that it’s been dubbed the “Amazon of Europe.” Forming one of the great wetlands, its range of rare habitats includes large floodplain forests, river islands, gravel and sand banks, side branches and oxbows, providing shelter for endangered species such as the little tern, black stork, beaver, otter and some vulnerable fish species.

The Little Apple

By Linda Tancs

Nestled in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills, Manhattan, Kansas, is probably best known as the home of Kansas State University. Given its name, it should come as no surprise that it’s nicknamed “The Little Apple” as a play on New York City. Like its eastern sister, you’ll find great dining, shopping and outdoor activities. Just outside the city is Konza Prairie scenic overlook, where reportedly you’ll find some of the most picturesque Kansas sunsets. Hike the trails and learn about the endangered tallgrass ecosystem.

Americana in the Valley

By Linda Tancs

The centerpiece of the Brandywine Valley, Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate formerly owned by renowned antiques collector and horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont. Located in Winterthur, Delaware, it reportedly has the most significant collection of American decorative arts in the world, boasting nearly 90,000 objects made or used in America since 1640. Along with the stunning mansion, Winterthur also features 1,000 acres of protected meadows, woodlands, ponds and waterways as well as a 60-acre garden designed by du Pont. To make the most of your visit, buy the Winterthur Experience Package, which admits you to the major entertaining spaces on a self-guided tour of the fifth floor of the house and includes access to the garden and walking trails.

California’s Oldest Zoo

By Linda Tancs

Founded in 1907, Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka is California’s oldest zoo. It bears the distinction of being nestled amidst the majestic old-growth redwoods in Sequoia Park, providing a magnificent backdrop for one of the smallest accredited zoos in the country. Because of its modest size, it doesn’t house the star attractions like elephants, giraffes or lions, but it does feature rare and endangered animals such as red pandas, bush dogs and Chacoan peccaries along with a barnyard experience for children with donkeys, alpacas, rabbits, goats, sheep and fowl. You can also experience the forest along the Redwood Sky Walk, the longest sky walk in the western United States, which is only accessible through the zoo. Reaching 100 feet above the forest floor, it comprises a network of suspended bridges that reach across and through old-growth and mature second-growth redwood trees.

A Legend in Princeton

By Linda Tancs

The boyhood home of Renaissance man Paul Robeson takes pride of place on Witherspoon Street in Princeton, New Jersey. Known appropriately enough as The Paul Robeson House of Princeton, the three-story, wood frame house is the place where the legendary actor, singer, activist, scholar, writer, law school graduate and athlete was born. The son of a former slave-turned-preacher, he remained in the home while his father served as pastor of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. The home’s executive board provides programs for individuals and organizations sharing Robeson’s commitment to advocacy and human rights.

Railroad Ties in Port Jervis

By Linda Tancs

Port Jervis, New York, is inextricably tied to the railroad industry. Its depot was built as a passenger station for the Erie Railroad and for years was the busiest passenger station on the railroad’s Delaware Branch because Port Jervis is along the Delaware River near the tripoint of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1907 and named after John Bloomfield Jervis (the engineer of the Delaware & Hudson Canal), the city’s transportation history is being commemorated with a new history center. Located at the city-owned historic Erie Railyard and turntable (the longest-operating turntable in the eastern U.S.), the Port Jervis Transportation History Center will host a collection of locomotives, boxcars and cabooses, preserving the city’s railroad heritage and its role as a crossroads of commerce.