THE THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION
Where’s Your Whoa?
I’m not talking about a “whoa, look at the price of gas’. Or “whoa, did they really think that looked good on them?”
I mean a good WHOA! Where you just need to stop and take it all in.
Maybe you finally saw a bucket list item. The Acropolis of Athens, the Colosseum, or that Leaning Tower in Pisa.
Maybe it was something in nature like Niagra Falls, The Smokey Mountains or the Grand Canyon.
How about a piece of art? An Impressionist painting, a lifelike piece of marble sculpture or a church window with a sunbeam shining through.
It’s not that important what it was. What is important is when was your last WHOA?
Life needs more good Whoas.
You can certainly plan your whoa and wows. Arrange a trip to see the Taj Mahal at dawn or the market place in Old Algiers.
Don’t forget to look for the wows on the way to and from the place you are going.
What if you only have a day? Go to a local art gallery or museum.
Google “Must see in ______” and put your town in the blank.
Did you know about that place? Hey, there’s a state park nearby. A garden open to the public, or a historical site.
Does Size Matter to a Whoa?
Sometimes, the destination does not need to be as big as the Great Wall or the Pyramids.
A corner of a local park no one else seems to know about. A log alongside a river or lake. And my standby, a sunrise. Whether it’s over water, a mountain, or a valley, no two are ever the same. I find I am usually alone for sunrises. When was the last time you went out of your way to watch a sunrise? A new day ahead of you. A blank page with no lines to color within. Ohh the possibilities. WOW!
Sometimes I go walking down a street I am not familiar with. That is safer than driving and trying to look. On past outings, I was able to uncover an antique store with some obscure toys from my youth. A place with more than 100 pinball machines from the last 50 years. Yes, there was PacMan and the baseball game where you swing at the metal ball.
A restaurant that specializes in homemade pies and does not look funny at you if you order it for breakfast. Hole in the wall museums of voodoo, local history, artists and even Mardi Gras costumes. Who knew these were hiding there? WHOA!
Do you ever get in a car and drive without a destination? I love heading out of the city where there are fewer things to hit if my eyes start to wander. Old barns, roadside cider or boiled peanut stands may be waiting for you. On one trip I came across the home of Luciano Pavarotti in the countryside of Italy. In Greece, I find a ghost village that was not on my map. There was no one living there anymore. WOW!
Do You Need to Look any Further Than Your Own Backyard?
Closer to home I found a major tourist attraction from the 1950s, that is now slowly rusting away. A museum with several works by Louis Comfort Tiffany. On a recent visit to my hometown, on a whim, I go into a butcher shop. Turns out my Great Grandfather from New York City became their sausage maker in the late 1800s. I never knew that piece of my history. WOW!
So what can you do to get some good WHOA or WOWs back in your life? Or an “Ahhhh” or an “Ohhhh”.
Books take you places, and pictures will give you an idea, but you need to experience to get the WOW.
How To Get Your Whoa Back.
Drive home a different way from work or the store. Has that neat house always been there? I recently went to a restaurant I was sure was new. “When did you open?” I made the mistake of asking. About a year ago. WOW! OUCH!
When I go to the town I grew up in, I now try to visit somewhere I have never been. If something has been there 50+ years, maybe it holds a wow.
Are you driving somewhere in August? Parents house, dropping someone off at school, or a quick trip to the city? Add an hour to the drive either going or coming back. Get off the main highway and see a road less traveled. Don’t take the bypass but take the road through town. If you do it between 4 and 6 pm, you will have time to see everything while you’re sitting.
Learn From Me.
I joke about stopping at a place called “Yeehaw Junction” when I travel to the Orlando area.
The original name was “Jackass Crossing”. Here the main trail from Orlando down to southern Florida would cross the trail from Vero Beach over to Tampa. You found cowboys herding cattle and Florida “Crackers” snapping whips on mule-drawn wagons full of lumber.
The local cowboys and lumber workers would ride burros to visit the Desert Inn at the crossroads. Since the late 1880s, it was serving alcohol and the company of ladies.
When they put in paved roads in the 1930s, it is great for business. They add some rooms outback.
Building a toll road in the 1950s, the politicians feel the name is not conducive to tourists. They chose Yeehaw. Perhaps as a nod to the cowboys herding cattle. Or maybe to what the cowboys said when they saw the pretty-smelling ladies.
The toll road took the traffic out of Yeehaw and their tourist dollars.
In 1978, the current inn, dating from 1898, would install full-service water and electricity.
In 1994, it joins the National Register of Historic Places. There is a restaurant next to the bar with famous fried green tomatoes.
The joke is actually on me. Sometime in 2018, they close the door for the last time. I imagine the pie was outstanding. I will never know. Wow. (Not a happy one.)
So what are you waiting for? Don’t go another day without a Whoa. Or worse, lose a WOW completely.
PLEASE scroll down to the “Leave a Reply” section at the bottom and tell me your thoughts on:
When was the last time you had to stop and say “Whoa?” (the good kind.)
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“See New Orleans” Continued on Page T3 “Taste Italian Wine” Continued on T11