Travel Tips & Trends

A garden lover’s England
Pearl Harbor center gets upgrade
Free skiing for Colorado kids
Arts for free in D.C.
The French fry express?
Florida beaches: oil-free and open
Happy birthday, Colorado State Patrol

Organic gardens at Highgrove House.
© Andrew Butler.

A garden lover’s England

By Tom Sweat

As home to some of the world’s most beautiful and diverse gardens, England is a favorite destination for those who place great value on nature’s handiwork.

Now is the time to start planning a visit to England for spring, when one of the world’s best-known events for flower lovers takes place: the famous Chelsea Flower Show in late May. This annual weeklong exhibition has been taking place in London since the mid-1800s. Most visitors spend the better part of a day winding their way through the maze of garden and flower exhibits built and designed by some of the world’s best horticulturists. In 2011, the show runs from May 24–28.

Many special privately owned gardens in England belong to members of the British aristocracy who open their homes and gardens to the public. I visited some of them on a recent trip.

A winding country road led us to our first stop, Highclere Castle in Newbury, Berkshire. Lord and Lady Carnarvon are the current owners and residents of Highclere, which has been in their family since 1679. The breathtaking 6,000-acre manor includes a stunning climbing rose wall, lavender walk and a “secret garden.” The castle also is home to a collection of Egyptian artifacts, acquired by the fifth Earl of Carnarvon who financed Howard Carter’s excavation of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. A thousand acres of surrounding parkland were designed by the great 18th century landscape gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown.

Another example of Capability Brown’s landscape work can be found at Bowood House in Wiltshire. Its gardens, designed in 1762, are open to the public from April to November. The ninth Marquis of Lansdowne took over the reins of this grand estate from his father 38 years ago and has been running it as an upscale resort since that time. The beautifully landscaped gardens cover a vast acreage of rolling hills. The central lake is almost a mile long and there is even a 30-foot waterfall.

The country home of Prince Charles in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, is interesting as a modern example of a royal garden. When it was purchased by the prince in 1980 as a weekend residence for his family, it did not have a garden at all. Prince Charles, an avid environmentalist, prides himself on the diligent work that he and his staff have done to transform this 900-acre farm into one of the most famous organic garden estates in the world.

Highgrove is a collection of many small and eclectic gardens connected by a footpath. “The Stumpery” is an area with twists of stumps and exotic plants that the Prince has collected. You’ll also see the tree house he and Diana built for their boys. At the gift shop, you can purchase watercolors of garden scenes the Prince himself painted. The proceeds from the gift shop all go to charity.

For more information about packages or independent travel for garden lovers, in England or other countries, contact a AAA travel agent.

Pearl Harbor center gets upgrade

© Pacific Historic Parks

The 17-acre, state-of-the-art Pearl Harbor visitor center scheduled for dedication in December will serve as the central entrance and ticketing location for all four Pearl Harbor historic sites: WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument (the USS Arizona), the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, the USS Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Aviation Museum.

Pearl Harbor is one of four sites supported and funded by the Pacific Historic Parks non-profit association, part of the National Park Service. The others are Kalaupapa Historical Park (Molokai, Hawaii); American Historical Park (Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands); and War in the Pacific Historical Park (Guam).

AAA Travel offers numerous packages to Hawaii as well as ideas for independent travel.

Free skiing for Colorado kids

© Powderhorn.

If there’s a 5th grader in your family, here’s a great gift idea—up to 63 free days of skiing or snowboarding and a free ski lesson in January, courtesy of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA).

CSCUSA’s 5th Grade Passport provides three days of free skiing or snowboarding at each of 21 participating Colorado ski resorts. The free ski lesson in January includes rental equipment for 5th Grade Passport holders who are new to the sport.

“There are many 5th graders who want to ski or ride, but who haven’t tried before and don’t know how to begin,” said Melanie Mills, CSCUSA’s president. “We are doing this so more kids can grow up with the confidence to navigate Colorado’s mountains.”

CSCUSA is a not-for-profit association formed by the Colorado ski industry in 1996. Since then, more than 200,000 children have been taught to ski.

A 6th Grade Passport costs $99 and provides four days of skiing or snowboarding at each of the 21 participating resorts—a total of 84 days. Both the 5th Grade and 6th Grade passes include coupons for discounts on other lessons, lift tickets, equipment and other activities offered by participating resorts and retailers. Some coupons can be used by other family members.

Applications for this year’s passports opened in late September and have a deadline of Jan. 31, 2011. Colorado Ski Country USA says that while quantities are limited, it will do everything possible to make sure every Colorado child who applies can get a pass. Apply at www.coloradoski.com.

Arts for free in D.C.

Washington, D.C., is known for its many museums and art galleries (although we’ve heard there may be some other reason it’s famous, too). If you’re heading there, try these art attractions that aren’t quite as well-known as some.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to the work of women artists. Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month.
The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle was America’s first museum of modern art. Entry to the permanent collection is free.
Follow Georgetown’s cobblestone streets to Old Stone House, a National Park Service site and the last pre-Revolutionary building still standing in Washington, D.C., on its original foundation.
View French paintings of modest size but high quality in the National Gallery of Art’s permanent exhibition, the aptly titled “Small French Paintings.”
For even smaller paintings, try the National Postal Museum with its exhibits of rare stamps.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at art preservation in the Lunder Conservation Center. It’s the first facility to allow permanent free public access to watch art conservators at work. Staff from the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum work here on numerous preservation and restoration projects.
The Howard University Gallery of Art’s collection of African-American art houses one of the world’s most comprehensive representations of black artists.

The French fry express?

Look out the window of a vintage Grand Canyon Railway steam locomotive, imagine the wild, wild West—cowboys driving cattle over dusty trails, prospectors searching for fortune—and notice the smell of … French fries?

The “green” 1923 locomotive you’re riding is powered entirely by recycled waste vegetable oil.

Grand Canyon Railway has been transporting passengers from Williams, Ariz., to the south rim of the Grand Canyon year-round for more than 100 years. While the two-hour ride uses diesel engines, with emission levels and fuel usage that is far more environmentally friendly than those of a traditional steam train, the railway operates its “green” steam locomotive on select dates.

“We made the decision to discontinue regular usage of our steam locomotives for environmental reasons,” said Gordon Taylor, general manager of the Grand Canyon Railway. “We sought ways to operate them in a more eco-friendly manner, and that’s where our sister operation Xanterra South Rim entered the picture by collecting and processing the used vegetable oil from its restaurants.”

Xanterra operates several restaurants at the Grand Canyon.

The big question: Does the train smell like French fries? This beautifully filmed, 12-minute online promotional video of the train offers sights and sounds, and when we watched it, we couldn’t see any frowns on the passengers’ faces.

AAA Colorado partners with Grand Canyon Railway to offer special member discounts and an exclusive package, Rails to the Rim.

Florida beaches: oil-free and open

Tourism is slow all along the Gulf Coast—but in most locations, that’s the result of misunderstanding, not the BP oil spill.

“Many consumers have the misperception that there is oil on all of Florida’s beaches,” said Nancy Hamilton of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, which represents Fort Myers and Sanibel, in an interview with SATW Traveler. “This is not the case. Our southwest Florida beaches are as pristine as ever.”

Andy Newman, on behalf of the Florida Keys and Key West Tourism Council, said the Keys have not seen any physical impacts from the spill, “and are not likely to see any in the near future.”

Many hotels in St. Petersburg and Clearwater are so confident that their coastline will remain in its usual condition that they are offering a 100 percent money-back guarantee if any beach within 20 miles is closed due to oil.

“We have no oil on our shores and we do not expect any,” said Mary Haban, public relations manager for the two cities. “The 24/7 news cycle has created a perception that just isn’t true. And since we are the largest and most popular destination on the Gulf of Mexico, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to separate what’s happening hundreds of miles away from what is really happening here, which is that we are oil-free and open for business.”

The spill affected beaches in the Pensacola Bay area, in the state’s northwest, but has left the rest of Florida untouched. For live webcam views of numerous unaffected beaches, go to www.visitstpeteclearwater.com/beachcam, www.fla-keys.com/oilspill or www.fortmyers-sanibel.com/oil-spill.

Happy birthday, Colorado State Patrol

September 2010 marked the Colorado State Patrol’s 75th birthday. Now employing more than 900 personnel, the agency began with 44 recruits selected from more than 7,500 applicants.

The idea of a statewide law enforcement agency was relatively new and very unpopular in 1935. To soothe public concerns, the state Legislature carefully outlined the powers of patrolmen: “It shall be their duty to promote safety, protect human life and preserve the highways of Colorado by the intelligent, courteous and strict enforcement of the laws and regulation of this state relating to highways.”

The first patrolmen received six weeks of intensive training at Camp George West in Golden. Dispatchers contacted patrolmen by phoning the gas stations along an officer’s usual patrol route and leaving a message to be passed along. Attendants would then post a red flag alongside the highway to alert the officer that there was a message waiting.

By 1945, the ranks of the Courtesy Patrol had grown to 100 patrolmen, 10 sergeants, six captains, the Chief and the Assistant Chief. The organization’s name was formally changed to the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) in 1947. Patrol cars were equipped with two-way radios in 1949.

In 1950, the CSP’s first woman was hired—as a telephone operator. It wasn’t until 1977 that the first female trooper started work. Today, women make up around 7% of the force.

With technology far beyond what those first applicants in 1935 could have imagined. In-car video cameras and computers, digital radio systems and laser speed-measuring devices help today’s officers perform their safety mission.

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