Travel Smart With Jodie – Page 16 – Travel suggestions and tips

Travel with a National Geographic slide show

Passing the Mendenhall Glacier and so many other glaciers on our spectacular cruise up Alaska’s Inside Passage. (J Jacobs photo)

Among the ways to travel now while staying at home to defeat the coronavirus is to visit our national parks. National Geographic has a slide show of many of our iconic parks with most photos by and copyrighted to Jonathan Irish.

Visit them at NationalGeographic/traveldestinations/United States/NationalParks.

Here is a sample of what to expect accompanied by editor commentary.

The slide show starts with Zion National Park at the south end of Utah just over the Arizona border and near Bryce Canyon National Park. There are challenging places to climb and interesting formations to photograph. Places to stay are in the nearby town of St. George in the Mojave Desert. For a closeup, visit the film “We the Keepers. ”

Further along in the slide show is the Bass Harbor Lighthouse in Acadia National Park. A large island park accessible from mainland Maine, Acadia is interesting to drive around but a good place to headquarter is Bar Harbor. The town has delightful ma and pop stores and eateries. Arguably the best part of the visit may be a cruise that goes around the park to see its lighthouses, eagles and the coastline.

Of course Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are included in the slide show but you have likely traveled there or are planning to anyway. However, the slideshow is a way to learn about some national parks that may be less familiar.

So on to the Great Smoky Mountains, a “great” park for hiking, biking or driving. The park accommodates more than 1500 black bears. If when driving, cars stop ahead of you it is likely to be a bear jam not a traffic jam because mama bears take their cubs across park roads. Its location across the states of Tennessee and North Carolina on the edge of I80 and US Highways 129 and 321 makes it is the most visited national park. To stay in the area consider the highly commercial but fun town of Pigeon Forge to see its Titanic exhibit or the artistic community of Gatlinburg that has one of the easy to drive Park Information Center entrances. The town also has an arts and craft studio circle drive.

American Indians talk about the power of mountains and the spirits that are in our natural landscapes but if you haven’t felt any, drive around Mount Rainier National Park. It may change how you feel. The park is southeast of Seattle if flying in and Tacoma is clloser if driving. We stayed in Seattle where we had some of the best Copper River King Salmon we’ve tasted with the exception of a town visited while traveling to Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska.

Glacier Bay National Park, in Alaska Is different from Glacier National Park in Montana, so don’t get confused. You may have to visit really soon or revisit because the glaciers are rapidly shrinking due to earth’s warmer weather. But if having to make a choice go to Alaska. The area is worth the trip. You may have heard that Alaska is gorgeous. But unless you fly over it and tour what you don’t realize how spectacular the scenery really is.

The national parks offer wonderful vistas and experiences so travelers mayh have their favorites. It is hard to say you must go here because they amake good sightseeing trips. That said., I found Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado west of Durango to be among the most interesting. When I went several years ago the road was challenging and I had to climb ladders. But it is a memorable look into the world of another culture.

Travel to aTitanic and Game of Thrones destination

Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland's capital. (Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland) — Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland’s capital. (Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland)

t’s OK to dream of where we want to go when we can safely travel again. With that idea in mind, Tourism Ireland has come out with tempting scenes of go-to places just waiting for us when we land on the Emerald Isle.

A “stay at home and stay on board” video takes you on board the Titanic Belfast, a giant, amazing ship-style structure that seems to pull you into its hold. Inside you learn about the town of Belfast, its shipyards and, of course, the RMS Titanic.

A Game of Thrones video with its Belfast-ties shows off intricately carved doors and beautifully stained glass windows of some of the mega-hit’s special scenes and characters.

Another video takes you to the charming city of Limerick. It convinced me to add it to my go-to stops when I can visit Ireland.

Where do you want to go when we can start traveling again? (J Jacobs photo)

Until we can safely do more than drive to our local grocery store, walk the dog and do curbside pick-up or door-to-door delivery, it’s nice to start thinking of places we hope to go.

See last supermoon of the year

Supermoon seen in Chicago. ( J Jacobs photo)

Often called the Flower Moon or the Planting Moon, the early May moon appearing May 7 will be the last of the full supermoons in 2020. Best time to see it is at 5:45 a.m. CT. It will also seem at its full super size the next day.

There was one in March and one in April. Now comes the third and last one. The reason full is used before the term supermoon is because the orbits of some new moons also go close to Earth making them super in size if you saw them.

But the moon in its new phase doesn’t reflect the sun. So to enjoy a moon that appears super-sized because it is close to Earth you have to watch for it in its full phase when it fully reflects the sun.

Supermoon is a name given to our moon when it is within 90 percent of its closet approach to earth. The closeness does make it seem super sized but that is an illusion.

To find more background information check these two resources: NASA/full moon supermoon and EarthSky/full supermoon.

Catch the Lyrids streaking across the sky

Meteor showers happen when Earth is in a comet's orbital path and comet debris fly across the sky. (NASA photo) — Meteor showers happen when Earth is in a comet’s orbital path and comet debris fly across the sky. (NASA photo)

Instead of merely staying inside late tonight or tomorrow night (actually very early Tuesday or Wednesday morning), find a spot outside your abode to catch the Lyrid meteor shower while it peaks April 21-22, 2020.

Meteor enthusiasts have been watching the Lyrids for centuries. Among the oldest recorded meteor shower, it was supposedly first noticed 2,900 years ago.

The timing this year is perfect because the moon won’t be interfering as it is in its new phase April 20 and will be just a thin crescent April 22.

Most sky watching sites suggest dressing warm and lying down in or on a sleeping bag with feet pointing east, then looking up and letting the eyes adjust to the night sky. This year, experts predict between 10 to 20 meteors per hour during the peak.

What may help is that the Lyrids are bright and have a long tail of dust. But they are also fast at 30 miles per second.

The shower is called the Lyrids because the meteors appear to radiate from the Lyra the Harp constellation near the bright Vega star.

What you are seeing is debris that has crossed the earth’s orbit from the Thatcher comet. The comet, itself, take about 415 years to orbit around the Sun so earthling won’t be able to see that comet again until 2276.

To learn more about the Lyrids and meteors visit NASA, TimeandDate, EarthSky and Space.

See great American museums from very old to new and historic to live

T-Rex Susie and other dinosaurs reside at the Field Museum. (J Jacobs photo)

Settle in for an unusual video that takes viewers from the Charleston Museum founded in 1773 to when Chicago’s Field Museum obtained Sue in 1990.

Thanks to “Riches Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America” a part of the Great Museums film series, you can travel from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “live” museum to the 2004 Smithsonian Museum of The American Indian with stopovers at the National Museum of Air and Space, The Isabella Stewart Gardener in Boston, the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio and the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Add in NYC’s Met and MOMA, Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Boston’s Children’s Museum, Michigan’s Greenfield Village, Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, the US Memorial Holocaust Museum in D.C., New York’s Botanical Garden, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the National Zoo to see the breadth of the definition of museum and how museum architecture has changed.

It’s all on You Tube, so, refill the morning beverage cup, get comfortable, and visit youtube/watch/feature.

Travel virtually to Saint Augustine and Vegas

Photo is courtesy of Visit St. Augustine

Sure there are countries I still hope to explore, but there are also so many places in the US I would love to revisit.

Two of them are Las Vegas, NV because it has become a foodie town but also because I haven’t visited the Neon Museum and similar attractions and St. Augustine, FL because its centuries-old history is so much a part of the town.

Neon Museum

Director/producer Tim Burton takes visitors on a fun, inciteful, virtual tours of the Neon Museum and Vegas. Follow along with him in six short videos that include “Lost Vegas.” The videos make me realize how much I didn’t notice when there about 12 years ago.

St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum

Visitors get to walk up the historic lighthouse’s 219 steps with Deputy Director Rick Cain without having to huff and puff

They also get a close look at the lens that otherwise has to be seen outside its room. The video also visits the Keepers House.

But just as good are the views of the country’s oldest port city. Founded by Spaniards in 1565, the city cares about its waterfront and cobbled streets.

Supermoon tonight

The largest looking full moon, a really supermoon of 2020 will be brightening your neighborhood tonight if the sky isn’t cloudy where you are.

The reason we say that largest looking is that its size is an optical illusion. The moon looks larger because its orbit brings it closer.

For April 7, he moon’s closest orbital point to earth, called the perigee, has coincided with the moon’s full phase and will be closest at 10:35 p.m. EDT.

Super and even just full moons have been given lots of nicknames. The April one is often called the “Pink” moon. The Pink moon will look almost as good the evenings of April 6 and April 8, if the sky is clear.

If weather isn’t cooperating mark the calendar for May 7 for the “Flower” super full moon. Just think of the overused but usually true adage of April rain bringing May flowers.

For a fun look at the night sky and the moon visit Space/fullmoon/calendar because it has an interesting video from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The next closest moons will be in the new moon phase which doesn’t reflect the sun. They come the middle of September, October and November. However, the full moon Oct. 1 is the Harvest Moon and Oct. 31 has the Blue Moon, as in the saying “once in a blue moon” because there will be two full moons in one month

Related 2020 article: Super March Monday is about moons

Related 2019 article: March supermoon marks spring

Visit San Francisco Symphony and Monterey Bay Aquarium

This trolley scene is among those found online for zoom backgrounds.

Until we can physically travel again, Travel Smart will visit cities where art museums, zoos and other destinations are doing videos through youtube, Facebook and Google arts .

When clicking on the links you may get something else but they are just ads so click on” skip ad” and you will be at the even/place you want

Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, hills and trolley cars. It’s San Francisco, baby. Until you can go back there are also places you can enjoy online that you may not have thought of in the city and down the coast.

San Francisco Symphony

You can watch and hear about Aaron Copeland or listen to Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the symphony and Emanuel Ax in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also look for other concerts. They are like having a playlist on the computer to listen to while you work.

SF MOMA

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art features different artists and their work on line. See Judy Chicago and others.

Asian Art Museum

Visit the museum online to see its collection or learn about interesting and historic pieces.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Watch and learn about penguins or see the cams such as the hypnotic moon jelly movement.

Visit Chicago to see a zoo or travel by L or see it back in the Forties

This animal and others from the Hamill Family Wild Encounters section of Brookfield Zoo are in videos of Bringing the Animals to You. (Brookfield Zoo photo( — This animal and others from the Hamill Family Wild Encounters section of Brookfield Zoo are in videos of Bringing the Animals to You. (Brookfield Zoo photo)

Some Chicago institutions have put terrific videos on Facebook. Here are some videos sure to entertain and are worth sharing.

At Brookfield Zoo, the “Screaming Hairy Armadillo” sounds ferocious but be surprised by it and other zoo inmates. The zoo has several animal video visits on Facebook. Also check Bringing the Zoo to You..

Chicago Architecture Foundation uses First Lady for its river tour. (Photo courtesy of CAC)

The Chicago Architecture Center also has several good videos ranging from a WTTW Geoffrey Baer L visit and its architecture boat ride to an old film of the city in the 1940s.

Chicago’s ‘L,’ the nickname for the city’s elevated tracks (although not all are elevated,) takes riders through colorful neighborhoods.

It’s fun to see the trailer of the recently released documentary, “Geoffrey Baer’s Chicago” (WTTW). Find the trailer at the Chicago Architecture Center’s facebook page or go to Geoffrey Baer’s Chicago or WTTW-Chicago PBS or interactive WTTW.

Of course CAC is known for its Chicago River Cruise. So hop on board at this chiarchitecture/video.

Another good CAC site has a Metro Goldwyn Mayer film of Chicago in the 1940s. Go back in time to this chiarchitecture video site.

For youtube videos of the city visit Chicago Architecture Center/videos.

Enjoy!

Where to visit while staying home

The spiral galaxy NGC 2008 sits centre stage, its ghostly spiral arms spreading out towards us, in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA photo)

Get comfortable. It’s time to visit some of the places that have intrigued you or are on your someday list. Don’t dress for travel.

Lots of destinations have added virtual tours. Some are OK even though they expect you to read French, such as on the 350 degree Louvre exploration or Spanish such as with the Guggenheim in Bilbao videos on Mark Rothko’s “Untitled” and Jeff Koons’ “Puppy.”

Others, like the ones here, have videos and cams that make visitors feel they are there.

So warm-ups or jammies are OK as you visit outer space, a zoo, an amazing garden, a Royal home and an aquarium. Just remember if looking at a cam that the place may be in a different time zone so might have different action at a later or earlier hour.

San Diego Zoo

Meet its penguins in Penguin Beach video episodes and safari animals in the cams.

NASA

Visit the Hubble Space Telescope, watch a video on the Evolution of the Moon and experience outer space visits through the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Monet

Tour Claude Monet’s Garden at Giverny where you see what the artist painted including the Water Lily Pond.

Osborne House

Visit Osborne, the house that Victoria and Albert built via a Google Arts & Culture video.

Shedd Aquarium

If you have facebook follow penguin Wellington and his friends explore the closed Shedd Aquarium.