Category Archives: Leisure

Vintage Road Trips: 1966 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon Drives The Mississippi River Valley

From a Wall Street Journal Off Duty Travel article by By Matthew Kronsberg::

The Country Squire in the Stockholm, Wis. PHOTO ACKERMAN + GRUBER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALChoosing a landscape for a car is like choosing a wine for a meal. The Country Squire—which, I discovered, handled with all the nimbleness of a riverboat—felt like a natural pairing for the Mississippi River valley south of the Twin Cities. The curves would be gentle, and the views sweeping: high bluffs on one side of the car, water on the other. My family and I would pick up Highway 61 in St. Paul, hopscotching between it and Wisconsin’s fantastically scenic Great River Road, exploring the small waterfront towns along the way. We’d stop for the first night in Red Wing, Minn., and the next in Alma, Wis., 98 miles downriver. The car came with a 150-mile-a-day allowance, and a request that we not venture farther than 100 miles from Minneapolis, should anything happen.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-road-trip-with-retro-charmand-a-car-to-match-11565352147

To rent the Ford Country Squire: http://morriesheritage.com/cars/1966-ford-country-squire/?portfolioCats=1077%2C1078%2C1079%2C1081

Boomers Leisure: Vintage Electric Bikes “Designed In The Grand Tradition Of Open-Air Sportscars”

From a DesignBoom.com online review article:

Vintage Electric Bikes storydesigned in the grand tradition of open-air sportscars, the brand new vintage electric roadster presents riders with an impressively fast 36-mph throttle bike that offers top-shelf performance with eye-catching styling. vintage electric founder and lead designer andrew davidge says, ‘the new vintage electric roadster is our take on applying the thrill of a canyon-carving convertible sportscar to our respective ev bike segment. we set out to combine best-in-industry performance with a grand aesthetic inspired by the simple, yet powerful, european and american sportscars form the 1950s and 1960s eras.’

To read more click on following link: https://www.designboom.com/design/vintage-electric-roadster-throttle-bike-08-07-2019/?utm_source=designboom+news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=vintage+electric+introduces

Top Hikes In Washington: Discovery Park In Seattle Is An “Urban Gem” Located On The Puget Sound

From a Curbed.com online article:

Located in the corner of northwest corner of Magnolia, Discovery Park is an urban gem. The former Army Post has forest, meadow, a beach, a lighthouse, and old officer housing. And you can get there via the 19, 24, and 33 Metro buses.

Discovery Park Seattle Map

The classic choice is the 2.8-mile Loop Trail which takes you through the woods and meadows to the park’s literal and figurative highpoint: a bluff overlooking Puget Sound that offers a great view of the downtown skyline. If you’re looking for more you can drop down to the beach and lighthouse before hiking back up to the Loop Trail.

To read more click on following link: https://seattle.curbed.com/maps/best-seattle-day-hikes-trails

Theme Park Nostalgia: Disneyland’s “Victorian Era Magic” Haunted Mansion Turns 50

From a Curbed.com online article:

Disneyland Haunted Mansion Turns 50When Disney died in 1966, the mansion was still being planned as a walkthrough experience. As imagineer Rolly Crump recalled in a 2005 interview, visitors would be escorted through its rooms by a “ghost host” who would provide a backstory for the house’s mysterious hauntings.

This format would allow for meticulously timed illusions, impossible to pull off with guests moving through the attraction on a track. Crump and fellow designer Yale Gracey devised a series of clever apparitions to enthrall guests throughout the experience. Most of these relied on an old trick used by magicians and hoaxers of the Victorian era.

The Haunted Mansion was never supposed to be a ride.

The iconic Disneyland attraction, which turns 50 today, was first conceived as a walkthrough tour—somewhere between a carnival’s house of horror and a visit to San Jose’s spectacular Winchester Mystery House. Its development took nearly 20 years, and plans for the project changed constantly as designers fought over what park visitors might find within the walls of the neoclassical estate.

To read more click on following link: https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/9/20794585/disneyland-haunted-mansion-ride

Top European Road Trips: Granada To Almería, Spain Is Two Weeks Of Historic And Spectacular Sights

From The Guardian online article by Sorrel Downer:

Spain Road Trip Granada to Almeria The GuardianThe Alhambra marks the start of a drive taking in historic cities, a river valley and mountains – and ends in Almería’s spaghetti western desert.

Granada is dominated by its mighty Moorish fortress, the Alhambra. Book ahead and visit early, at its least-crowded, and then spend the afternoon meandering the narrow streets and plazas of the old town – the Albaicín….

….On day six drive the spectacular route (A-319, 17km) up and over mountains into the dappled valley of the Guadalquivir River, passing La Iruela (with its castle on a crag), and down into a tranquil enclosed world, thick with birds, smelling of pine, dominated by the wide, clear, burbling river. Allow four days here as there’s so much to explore….

 

…Day 12: The drive from Guadix to Almería (A-92, 113km, around 1 hour) passes through the pink and orange peaks and ravines of spaghetti western country, the Tabernas Desert, and several theme parks recalling the glory days of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns.

Spain Road Trip Granada to Almeria The Guardian

To read more click on following link: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/aug/07/spain-road-trip-granada-alhambra-almeria-spaghetti-western

Automotive Nostalgia: 25th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise On August 17 In Detroit Will Feature Over 40,000 Classic Cars

From a Curbed.com online article:

Four Ford Thunderbirds at the 2014 Woodward Dream Cruise - ShutterstockEnthusiasts and spectators will soon be out showing off their rides for the 25th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise, which rolls through the northern suburbs along Woodward Avenue on Saturday, August 17. The world’s largest one-day automotive event is an enormous draw—last year an estimated 1.5 million people attended and 40,000 classic cars were on the roads.

While the main event takes place from Pontiac to Ferndale, Detroit also has a few offerings for visitors this year. Here’s where to go if you want to watch—or avoid—the festivities.

Time

Officially, the Woodward Dream Cruise runs Saturday, August 17 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Events have already started, and an official ribbon cutting will take place on Friday at 5 p.m. in Ferndale.

To read more click on following link: https://detroit.curbed.com/2018/8/16/17690358/woodward-dream-cruise-2019-traffic-parking-route

Hobbies: Former “Vanity Fair” Editor Graydon Carter With His 1951 Chevrolet Woodie (WSJ)

From a Wall Street Journal article by A.J. Baime:

There was something wonderful and free-wheeling about the experience. There was no air-conditioning, no seat belts, and theride was rickety, so my kids would bounce around in back. The car was built beforeinterstate highways, and it doesn’t go over40 mph. It was also among the firstgeneration of cars with an automatic transmission. The previous owner kept aninstruction manual tucked into the visor onhow to use the automatic, which is kind of funny.

Graydon Carter with his 1951 Chevrolet woodie, at hishome in Litchfield County, Conn. JULIE BIDWELL FOR THEWALL STREET JOURNAL

Graydon Carter, the former longtime editor of Vanity Fair magazine and founder of the  new digital weekly Air Mail, on his 1951 Chevrolet woodie, as told to A.J. Baime.

To read more click on following link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-the-family-graydon-carters-1951-chevrolet-11565102890

Road Trips: The Vancouver To Whistler “Sea-To-Sky Corridor” Is 75 Miles Of Spectacular Scenery

From a Canada.com online article:

 

Sea To Sky Corridor Vancouver MapIf there’s only one drive that makes your list on your BC getaway, the Sea to Sky Highway has got to be it. No need to go stir crazy from a long drive, as the route offers plenty of worth-while stops along the way. Start your drive in BC’s urban centre of Vancouver and head north to Whistler and Pemberton via the Sea to Sky Highway. Snake your way through the small community of Horseshoe Bay and into Squamish where the Sea to Sky Gondola makes the perfect pit stop to gain another perspective of the vistas that surround you. Continue north along Highway 99 Sea-to-Sky corridor to Whistler, where you’ll find a variety of four-season activities in, and surrounding, the village.

To read more click on following link: https://beta.canada.com/travel/cruise-these-5-scenic-drives-through-british-columbia/wcm/363c9fbd-7267-4960-a61d-d0265fd2c2a2/amp/

Top RV Campsites: Chisos Basin Campground In Big Bend National Park, TX

From a Fodor’s online article:

Chisos Basin Campground Big Bend, TXSurrounded by rugged cliffs high in the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park’s Chisos Basin Campground is a picturesque slice of montane shrubland, featuring Arizona Cypress and desert-hearty mesquite trees. Chisos Campground is positioned close to the park’s most popular trails, including the Lost Mine Trail and Pinnacles Trail, and its highest point, Emory Peak. Almost half of the campground’s 60 sites can be reserved in advance (November to May) and 18 of them (non-reservable) allow the use of a generator. All sites have grills instead of fire pits, and the campground is replete with flush toilets and drinking water.

Chisos Basin Campground Texas

Top Travel Experiences: Remote Lakeside Camping In The Adirondack Park Reached By Floatplanes

From a New York Times article by Zach Montague:

The Adirondack Park In Upstate New York MapAway from Lake Placid, Lake George and other more crowded regional hubs, are several smaller hamlets that provide access to a handful of exceptionally remote lakeside campgrounds reachable only by pontooned floatplanes. With round-trip charters typically priced at $150 or less per person, some of the most secluded frontiers of the Adirondack Park are accessible even to travelers on a limited budget. Over the years, this little-utilized route into sequestered backwoods sites has become a prized secret among my close friends and family, and since my maiden trip with my father six years ago, I have been back every year with a rotating cast of companions.

An Adirondack Wilderness All Your Own New York Times July 2019
A floatplane arrives at the isolated Pine Lake camping site in the Adirondacks. Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

To read more click on following link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/travel/an-adirondack-wilderness-all-your-own.html