Texas Tidbits : Waco and Its Mammoths

Waco, a city of 121,000 fine folks, is located on the Brazos River about 100 miles south of Fort Worth on I-35. It's home to the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of Texas - Baylor University. Waco is also the home to one of the country's most popular soft drinks. Dr Pepper was invented by Charles Alderton at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco in the 1880's. Another soft drink, Big Red, also calls Waco home.  Sadly, Waco is probably best-remembered by many young people as the location of the Branch Davidian tragedy in the 1990's.

I was somewhat surprised as I was looking for info on Waco this morning when I came across this story about a mammoth discovery on the Bosque River. I was already familiar with the dinosaur tracks near Glen Rose, but this was new to me. As someone who finds things like the discovery of the 10,000 year old remains of a 40,000 pound behemoth interesting, this finding has given me a real good reason to visit the Waco area again. If you'd like to see much more of the Colombian Mammoths of Waco, contact The Waco Mammoth Site so you can plan your trip back in time to prehistoric Texas.


       

     

                                           Get your FREE Texas Travel Guide at traveltex.com

Colorado Chronicles : The Gold Belt Tour

150 years or so ago, many Colorado mountain towns were besieged by miners. Yup, those four magic letters brought in prospectors by the thousands. Those letters? G-O-L-D. To this day, re-claimed mines dot the Colorado landscape. There are several of them up the hill behind my Mom's house in Central City. People still stop by one of many roadside "pan for gold" places in the mountains while vacationing in Colorado. I have a much better idea if you are eager to find gold in them thar hills. The Colorado Gold Belt Tour.

This 131 mile tour one of the better vacation ideas I've heard in quite some time. The tour takes you through Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Victor Town, Canon City and Cripple Creek (think casinos !!!). The scenery on your quest for gold will be some of the most beautiful in Colorado. Click here to see some of the sights that await you on the Gold Belt Tour. When you click the link above, be sure to navigate the page you land on and the provided links. You'll be glad you did.
Upon the completion of your day-long journey, you'll be the next one to yell, "Eureka!!!!"

Get your FREE Colorado Travel Guide here.

Maine Minutiae : Lewiston - Auburn

Lewiston, Maine, on the banks of the Androscoggin River, is about 20 miles down I-95 from where I am in Augusta. Across the river from Lewiston is the city of Auburn. The  two cities are invariably linked together and are often referred to as L-A or L/A, much like DFW.  About 38,000 people call Lewiston home and another 27,000 or so live in Auburn.
The L-A area doesn't seem like much of a place to locate a professional sports franchise or to hold a major athletic event. However, the only non-American team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is the Lewiston Maineiacs. In 1965, Lewiston played host to the famous (infamous?) Heavyweight Championship fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston.

Auburn, pictured just above, is the home of several notable Americans. One of the more well-known is US Senator Olympia Snowe. Visiting Auburn is a regular routine for many Mainers in South Central Maine. The city is loaded with good places to eat and a mall with a nice selection of shopping options. In summary, Maine's "Twin Cities" are a great place to visit, live or raise a family.

Free Maine Travel Guide : http://www.visitmaine.com/

Texas Tidbits : Rockwall

Sitting on the shores of 22,000 acre+ Lake Ray Hubbard, Rockwall is a city located just east of Dallas on I-30. As I was looking up information for this post, I was a bit surprised at just much the area has changed since the last time I was at the lake. For one thing, there is The Harbors. Looks like a nice place to have a good lunch, shop a little and sit with old friends and catch up with each other. (Kim Skeene Henning, I read your Facebook  post this morning) The Texas Queen is a 105-foot double decker paddle wheel boat that offers dinner cruises, reservations required.
Lake Ray Hubbard was an almost daily stop for me for a long time. The lake is/was the location of two "crappie houses" (literally a house anchored on the water with most of the floor cut out for access to the water) that feature some fine crappie angling. If these crappie houses are still open, by all means go! White perch are some damn good eatin'.
While in Rockwall, you might wanna stop by the Rockwall County Historical Museum. Rockwall County may be the smallest county in Texas, but it offers big fun for the whole family.

Be sure to order your FREE Texas Travel Guide at traveltex.com

Colorado Chronicles : The Highest City in North America

10,152 feet high in the Rockies lies the highest incorporated city in North America - Leadville, Colorado. A little more than 2700 people call this former mining boomtown and the-almost-capital-city of Colorado home. Today it seems odd that a town far-removed from the population center of Denver-Suburbs-Boulder could have been named the State Capital, but in the end The Mile High City won out as the seat of government in Colorado. With its Alpine altitude, Leadville has a very moderate, if not chilly climate. The average high temperature in July is a comfy 71 degrees, with the night time lows around 38. The coldest month, on average, in Leadville, not surprisingly, is January. The first month of the year offers up a median daytime high of 31 with the mercury plummeting to a nightly average of 3 above zero. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Leadville is home to the National Mining Museum , Ski Cooper ski area and is also designated as part of a National Historic Landmark District. As of this writing, there are over 50 buildings in town that date back as far as 1870. Speaking of relics of yesteryear, while in the area why not catch a ride on the Colorado, Leadville & Southern Railroad excursion?
Leadville, Colorado, the Highest Incorporated City in North America and a true small-town American West kind of place.

Maine Minutiae : Honeymoon Destinations for Glen and Mary

Earlier today my buddy Glen Chase posted on Facebook asking for suggestions for a nice place to have a wedding. He's getting lots of helpful ideas from many of his friends. As a public service (and because it gives me something to post), I am going to take Glen's request one step further and offer some potential honeymoon places for Glen and his betrothed, Mary. That's just how I roll, romantic fool that I am.


I will take into consideration locations that offer good food, shopping and lodging that don't cost an arm and a leg. Such as Bar Harbor. The Portland area has a variety of places for newlyweds. Glen and Mary would certainly enjoy the natural beauty and away-from-the-city location of Bear Mountain Inn. A simple Bing search turns up hundreds of places where the Happy Couple can enjoy the first days of their lives together.
I worked with Glen at Best Buy and can say that he is a fine young man, great co-worker and all-around nice guy (except for being a Celtics fan...haha). I wish Glen and Mary a long, happy and healthy future together.
With great admiration,
Toby, Three States Plus One

Texas Tidbits : Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is an $18 million facility located in Athens dedicated to the conservation and education about fish and fisheries in the State of Texas. Although TFFC is operated by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, it was built without State Funds ( that alone is reason enough to love the place). From the TFFC website : "TFFC houses a hatchery, laboratory, aquarium, and education center focusing on underwater wildlife in the state’s freshwater streams, ponds and lakes. It serves as home base for the ShareLunker program, which invites anglers to donate trophy-sized largemouth bass for research and breeding purposes. Annual visitation is more than 60,000. A third of our visitors attend with school and youth groups".


See that photo up there  ^^^? That's a 26,000 gallon aquarium in the theatre at TFFC. As you can see, that's a full-grown man in scuba gear in there feeding the fish. He's wired for sound and is able to take questions from visitors about the aquarium in particular or TFFC in general. I have seen this on several occasions and it's a very informative program. This huge fish tank is home to several species of piscatorial species, including (at the time I was there) a large mouth bass estimated to weigh 24+ pounds and a blue catfish at an estimated 44 pounds ! To top that off, this catfish was blind as a bat due to cataracts (true, but pun intended). Also on the property are a snack bar, gift shop and a pond that is stocked with rainbow trout during the winter and year-round with catfish. Rod and reels and bait are provided free of charge. The on-site museum is an awesome part of the facility with interactive displays and fishin' gear from days gone by. For more info, you can contact TFFC here.
The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is a must see not only for fishermen, but for the education they provide about fish habitat, etc, and how to conserve and protect these beautiful assets for all Texans.