USA Travel Blog

Springfield’s only claim to fame is its most famous resident, one Mr. Abraham Lincoln. About a hundred and fifty years ago a young lawyer rode into town and settled there, when he arrived he was just like any other young man of those days but left as president of America, he lived there for a twenty five years. The city revolves Abraham Lincoln, the house where he lived with his wife is very well preserved, and thousands of tourists come to the city to see the house. The furniture has been painstakingly restored just as it was when he lived there by the national parks service. On the 4th of July the city hosts the ‘Lincoln fest’, last year it attracted over a hundred and fifty visitors, the fest boasts of sound-and-light shows as well as Lincoln impersonators at the major sites. After President Lincoln passed on the town growth was somewhat thwarted, it concentrated on preserving the memory of the man and nothing else. The old court house where Lincoln practiced law is still there, the court room has books and paper stacked on the lawyers and judges tables as though there was a case still in progress and the court has merely been adjourned.

A drive along interstate 91 in southwest Massachusetts will take you by the town of Springfield, for most the year there isn’t much to catch your eye, however from the week prior to thanksgiving to the week after the New Year the town is transformed into one giant light show known as Bright Nights. It’s arguably the biggest drive through holiday light display in the whole of New England. Downtown Springfield is where the show begins, every business or building is light up, visitors drive slowly in a procession around town taking in the varied light display till they reach the towns park, in the park the sides of the road are adorned with thousands of metal frames covered in lights depicting the characters and mood of the season. The park is seven hundred and fifty acres and is covered in pine trees. The park was a gift to the city by Everett H. Barney, the man who invented modern ice skates. In 1995 ‘the spirit of Springfield’- a local group- decided to put up the light show to boost the moral of the town, which at the time was struggling economically. Each year the show has attracted over three hundred thousand visitor’s a third being from out of town.

Sedona was always like all small towns somewhere in America, but in 1987 everything changed. That was the year the harmonic convergence was to occur, about 5000 new-agers flocked to Sedona hoping for worldwide manifestation of love and harmony. On the material day they all converged at Bell Rock and waited for a U.F.O. to appear, like all such events none appeared but most of the new agers stayed on. Up to this day extraterrestrials still have a major impact on the lives of the locals; ask how many of them have ever been abducted by aliens and there are many who will put up their hands. The new-age crowd blended in well with the locals; the locals didn’t seem to their crazy ways.

For years Sedona has long attracted people out on a spiritual journey, Native Americans have worshiped here for centuries, in fact the Tonto Apache were the last group here, they were driven out by the US army in 1870 after gold was discovered nearby. There are still well preserved rock paintings in the area.

One of the best ways to see Sedona’s in famous landscape is to take a jeep tour. The local guides are very conversant with the area’s history and its fauna and flora. Majority of the jeep-tour companies are sincerely conservation-minded: they use the approved trails and they always alert the Forest Service about jeeps or motorbikes that don’t. The native Americans and the new-agers were not the only ones drawn to Sedona; Hollywood too has come knocking, John Wayne’s “Angel and the Badman” (1947) and James Stewart movie “Broken Arrow” (1950), were all shot here, Al-Pacino also owns a home in this town.

It’s not weird to hear someone was charged a high interest rate on payday loans. Well in this day and age trusting someone to repay you back money that he has borrowed to clear his debts, well you will be well reassured it wont be paid back in time. Many of those in the business of loaning cash to customer’s subject such heavy penalties are because of security reasons. Its also pushes the loaned to pay before the stipulated period so that he does not incur huge interest rates.

A resident Prestonburg Kentucky borrowed $150 on her weekly paycheck and promised to repay back with an added fee but six months down the line she is still paying for that loan that she borrowed and has been threaten to serve jail term if she does not clear her loan.

In Washington, Colorado and Tennessee this business of loaning cash is legal and it’s thriving. Other states are still pushing for payday loans business to be legalized and so they can get into business. But with the exorbitant interest rates that they charge they are not in favor with many who are running against them to make sure that these businesses are not legalized in their states or strict sanctions should be implemented so that consumers can be protected, since they target working lower income earners.

A poll carried out by Zogby International, in Washington DC to survey local residents; majority of those polled did not support the ban on fast cash loans. Although they may want some areas regulated they don’t see the need to get rid of these “life saver”.

Letters sent to DC council members urged them to consider the majority of the residents who are in favor of faxless payday loans. Many residents felt uncomfortable that these businesses should be put to an end since they rely on them for short-term financial emergencies.

Residents preferred that the council look into other important matters affecting them other than faxless payday loans merchants but also support the council of wanting to reform the business of payday loan and consumer protection.

Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina was first settled by Europeans in the early 18th century by families mainly from Ireland and southwest England moving down the barrier islands from Tidewater Virginia, Ocracoke remained isolated until about 60 years ago. The first ferry service, from Hatteras Island in the north, begun in 1957 and in 1964 the mainland route started from Cedar Island. The locals like to refer to themselves as O’cockers, kept the speech patterns of their ancestors. One product is a drawl resembling that found in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. O’cockers pronounce the ‘’i'’ sound as an ‘’oi,'’. The drawl is quite an attraction to visitors, if you are lucky to find someone who still has it. The local drawl is fast disappearing, Walt Wolfram, a North Carolina State University sociolinguist has studied this vernacular for nearly ten years. According to him the drawl is already extinct; it has become a victim of change, mainly through increased contact with tourists, increased visits out of the island, and television. Ocracoke’s history is littered with countless ship wrecks and is commonly referred to as the grave yard of the Atlantic. Hundreds of sea farers have died in shipwrecks off its shores; many of them were buried in the sand dunes along Route twelve. In 1942 Hitler dispatched U-boats to North Carolina, the locals unwittingly aided the German boats by leaving there lights on in the night. The Germans were quick to take advantage and they managed to sink 39 ships that year. The island is a great place to visit, beaches are exquisite and anglers paradise.

The museum of the north alaska is located at the University of Alaska. The museum’s design and display have spread its fame across the land. In northern Alaska most buildings are cube shaped, this design is favored because it is cheap and easy to heat- winter temperature can reach 50 below. The museum of the north building takes its design from the natural Alaskan landscape, from one end it appears as though it’s rising from an iceberg on others it hints at a giant whale breaching the surface. The museum reopened in may after a $40 million expansion which included renovating the old museum and building the new wing. The new museum is the brain child of a native New Yorker, Dr. Jonaitis, when she took up her job; the museum was over crowded and sat in an uninspiring cubic building. She intended for the museum to be the main museum and most talked about in Alaska, a feat she has achieved. The museum display is an eclectic mix of modern and Native American art displayed side by side; this type of display is a first in America. Opinions are divided however the majority seem to have been taken by the idea with many prominent artist displaying their works here, on the other side are those who think the two forms of art should not be displayed together because they are very different from each other. Dr. Jonaitis actually planed to have them together, for years museums have segregated modern art from native art, this has turned out to be the magic ingredient, and now people can enjoy modern art which they are already familiar with and at the same take in Native American art.

Fruita Colorado is about an hour and half from Moab and near the Colorado Utah border. It is one of the last great and least known mountain biking paradises. Fruita has been endowed with the natural splendors that have put Moab on the mountain biking map, but without the traffic jams and other human distractions that have come to be synonymous with Moab. About 15 years ago, Fruita was an agricultural town spiraling downwards after the local Oil refinery was shut down by the EPA. Troy Rarick a cyclist from Grand Junction came up with a plan to revive the fortunes of the town. He intended to turn Fruita into an ecotourism destination. In 1994, Mr. Rarick acquired a downtown storefront and then set out with a group of locals to curve out dream mountain bike trails on the northern end of town known as eighteen Road. 18 road has expansive, lofty mesas eroded in three thousand foot columns that slope downwards to the lush valley floor. All the trails were done unofficially to by pass all the local council regulations that would have required the trails to be multi-use, this would not have helped them achieve the dream trails they were after. Troy then organized the first Fruita Fat Tire Festival and lobbied the town council to offer amenities to the festivals visitors. The festival has been running since 1994 and each year the number of visitors has grown. The town old buildings have been renovated and now businesses are opening up all over town. Hotels have also opened up but those who want to enjoy the outdoors can use one of several camp sites but must be mindful of the environment.

Payday cash points are an easy target to thieves and robber. For one they don’t have ample security to man their business and because they don’t operate very big cash transactions they don’t see the need to thus the laxity in security. Just like a bank Payday businesses should have tight security and anyone who poses as a customer should be frisked for the security purposes.

Since people support payday loan businesses, it would affect them because the business man would think of closing or relocating his business elsewhere. Again for those not in favor of payday loan businesses if such a business was robbed, they would feel like their money is being returned, since they believe such businesses are out to rip off innocent clients. And again their wishes would in a way come true.

In the city of Benicia California a payday store was robbed during the day and police have put up man hunt to look for the robber. It could have been an easy target due to its location; maybe it was an inside job or just some lucky guy who struck gold. Whatever the reason it’s always important to beef up security within and around the business.

Asheville is a year-round resort town nestled between the Smoky and the Blue Ridge Mountains; it’s an Appalachian magnet attracting mountain bikers, New Agers, farmers and antiques aficionados. Asheville has its own take on southern hospitality. The town has a wonderful collection of buzzing bistros and lethargic cafes, Art Deco style skyscrapers and arcades evocative of Paris, bio-diesel cooperatives and kayaking. It is also home to the Biltmore Estate, a two hundred and fifty room French Renaissance-style mansion.

Asheville is a place with my characters, the suave side is located at the Grove Arcade, a huge market built around 1929 and was superbly restored a few years ago. It’s now the heart of downtown Asheville. At the Grove Corner Market you can treat yourself to wine tasting, fresh bread, and live music. Local farmers also sell jams and jellies at pocket friendly prices. A lazy stroll through the area is the ideal way to see the place. There are local artists performing along the streets as well local traders selling honey, jewelry and batik cloths and homemade soaps.