Travel -: Hemingway would have loved this lodge

Travel - Headlines from Hemingway would have loved this lodge 2 Jul 2011, 8:00 am Even if you're not the outdoorsy type, the natural beauty of the Torstenson lodge and surrounding wildlife can easily lure you in â€" or draw you out, as the case may be. Rockford tool magnate and avid conservationist Robert Torstenson died in 2002, leaving a house and estate in Pecatonica, Ill., about 100 miles northwest of Chicago. Today it serves as the 750-acre Torstenson Family Youth Conservation Education Center, run by the Illinois Conservation Foundation. The center provides a place where kids can learn about wildlife, nature and hunting. To raise money for nature programming, the foundation recently started offering Torstenson's main "log house" as a vacation rental for nature lovers, family reunions, couples getaways or any group of at least eight looking for rustic nature and oversize luxury in a house you can imagine Ernest Hemingway or Teddy Roosevelt adoring. Though it's called a log house, this place is no frontier cabin. Made of lodgepole pine logs from British Columbia, this $3 million abode features a huge gourmet kitchen, billiard room, kennels, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a dining room that can seat 20 and a breathtaking great room that brings new meaning to the word great. An avid hunter and outdoorsman, Torstenson decorated the house with taxidermy mounts of more than 30 African animals from ostrich, leopard and gazelle, to warthog, sable antelope and water buck. The mounts lend a certain "Night at the Museum" feel to your stay and can serve as a great walk-around animal quiz for anyone who knows a bit about African wildlife. But the inanimate animals aren't the main attraction of the great room. Instead it's the floor-to-ceiling windows that stretch across nearly the entire back of the house. These offer a breathtaking panoramic vista onto the river oxbow, forest and a field where living animals â€" sandhill cranes, whitetail deer, all manner of waterfowl and migratory birds â€" come to eat, drink and swim each day. This makes the giant leather couches and chairs in the room like theater seats on a nature program that doesn't end and changes with the seasons. Those who would want to enter the wildlife scene, rather than just watching it, can enjoy nearly four miles of Pecatonica River frontage and about nine miles of trails on the property for hiking, bird watching and cross-country skiing (you'll need to bring your own) in season. It's a bit like having your own forest preserve outside your door. Currently, all eight beds in four bedrooms are singles, but the foundation is working on installing queen beds this summer. It's also working to convert a couple of extra rooms into bedrooms. Meanwhile, those who want bigger mattresses or who want to add some sleepers to the large rooms can bring an air mattress. Speaking of sleeping quarters, if you go with a group, you may want to draw straws to see who gets the immense master bedroom, with its adjacent sun room and giant bathroom whose waterfall fixture flows into a hot tub. It is by far the fanciest bedroom in the house and offers yet another reminder that this was the home of a man who enjoyed blending comfort with his love of the outdoors. Part of the fun of the house is its outsize nature, the feeling that you are a tiny person walking through a forest of logs, animals and sky beyond the windows. The view beyond the great room can make the room feel as if it's a continuation of the trees, pond and field in front of its windows. I stayed in the house as part of a weekend program for youth hunters, who were there in search of wild turkeys. Two of the kids harvested birds, and two were unsuccessful, but the second most memorable part of their adventure was exploring the house and the accompanying grounds. Hunting opportunities are restricted mostly to youth hunting events on the grounds, but Mark Spangler, executive director of the foundation, advises checking out ilcf.org for possible hunting opportunities to raise money for the center. Say what you will about hunting, but if Torstenson hadn't been conservation-minded, this massive animal habitat wouldn't exist, hunting or no. And habitats are getting harder for the animal population to come by. Those who like to cook can feed a crowd from the large, well-equipped kitchen, but the foundation also can arrange for a chef to be hired during the stay. If you prefer to cook and eat outdoors, the house features an enormous screened outdoor dining room with a built-in grill, a fireplace and a huge log table that can seat at least eight. Nearby Pecatonica and Winnebago are home to many chain restaurants but also some great independent spots. We particularly like Toni's of Winnebago (815-335-2328, tonisofwinnebago.com), where the staff is friendly and the butternut-squash ravioli and wild mushroom gnocchi are divine. The one drawback to the lodge for some will be the spotty cell phone reception (T-Mobile was the worst, while others operated better) and the lack of wireless Internet, though the land-line phone system works fine. But, in some ways, this detachment from the digital world was more of a benefit than a drawback in this serene wilderness escape so close to the city, yet so blessedly removed. If you go To make reservations or inquire about hunting opportunities, call 217-785-2003 or visit ilcf.org. As the Illinois Conservation Foundation modifies the house, prices may go up. The current rental donation is $750 for the first night and $500 for subsequent nights. Cost of a chef depends on the number of meals and the menu. Toni's of Winnebago, 508 Elida St., Winnebago, Ill.; 815-335-2328; tonisofwinnebago.com You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: Couple recovering after Papua New Guinea attack

Travel - Headlines from Couple recovering after Papua New Guinea attack 5 Jul 2011, 11:54 am WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) â€" A young couple who took a dip in a river in a remote part of Papua New Guinea are recovering from a harrowing attack by a tribesman, who shot the man with arrows twice before attempting to sexually assault the woman. The couple have declined requests to speak to the media, but interviews by The Associated Press this week with the local doctor who first treated the pair, along with other accounts from Papua New Guinea, are shedding new light on the attack near Nomad in the isolated North Fly District. According to Dr. Charlie Turharus, who treated the couple, the tribesman had been covertly tracking the pair for perhaps an hour or two before the June 19 attack. He fired an arrow at Matt Scheurich as the 28-year-old New Zealander relaxed on a river bank while his girlfriend, a French doctoral student studying tribal life, swam in the river. The first arrow hit Scheurich on the right side of his chest, Dr. Turharus said. The tribesman then emerged from his hiding spot and fired a second arrow at Scheurich which hit him in the left side of his chest and deflected down into his stomach. "Normally they use these arrows for hunting, for shooting at cassowaries and bears," Dr. Turharus said. Cassowaries are large, flightless birds native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The tribesman also threw rocks at Scheurich's head, the doctor said. The tribesman then attempted to sexually assault the French woman, but she managed to bite his hand and run to a nearby village, where she activated a personal locator beacon. Fortunately, an airstrip was nearby, the doctor said. Scheurich was rescued from the riverside where he was "bleeding in pain and in agony." The New Zealander had ripped the arrows from his body, the doctor said. But bad weather prevented the pair from being transported to a large regional hospital, Rumginae, and the couple were instead taken to the small and basic Kiunga Hospital where Dr. Turharus, who works for the Ok Tedi Mining company, operated on Scheurich. Scheurich lost a significant amount of blood and there wasn't enough blood remaining at the hospital to treat him, Dr. Turharus said. Australian Doctors International volunteer Allan Mason donated a pint of his blood to help out. "The violent attack was an extremely unfortunate and rare incident," the doctors group said in a statement, adding that two of its members "collaborated with local medical staff to act quickly and save the man's life, as well as support the woman." The woman suffered minor injuries to her hand and arm as well as scrapes to her legs, Dr. Turharus said. The AP generally does not name the victims of sexual assault. After being treated at Kiunga Hospital, Scheurich was transported first to Port Moresby and then to Cairns in Australia, where he was admitted to Cairns Base Hospital. Scheurich was released but then readmitted due to an infection related to his injuries. He remains at the Australian hospital in a stable condition. Dr. Turharus said both Scheurich and his girlfriend were traumatized by the incident. Dr. Daniel Priest, the medical superintendent at Rumginae Hospital, said in an email sent to Ok Tedi staff that the tribesman has committed previous attacks. "The perpetrator was a known felon who has been imprisoned before for rape and has supposedly offended at least four times," Dr. Priest wrote. Superintendent Dominic Kakas, a spokesman for the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary police force, confirmed details of the attack and said the identity of the likely offender is known, and that now it's a question of finding him. "It might take some time, but it won't be difficult," Kakas said. Kakas added that it has been difficult to get updated information from the remote area. Scheurich, originally from Hamilton, New Zealand, had been working as a freelance designer and illustrator in the Australian city of Melbourne before traveling to Papau New Guinea. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: New travel licenses could bring thousands more US visitors to Cuba

Travel - Headlines from New travel licenses could bring thousands more US visitors to Cuba 2 Jul 2011, 4:20 pm HAVANA (AP) â€" Washington has begun issuing travel licenses that promise to bring thousands more U.S. visitors each year on legal trips to Cuba, just 90 miles off Florida but off-limits to most Americans. Nine tour operators have been granted licenses to run so-called people-to-people exchanges since May, said a U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson who was not authorized to be quoted by name on the matter. The spokesperson declined to comment Friday on how many applications have been filed, were rejected or are still under consideration, but said Treasury has been receiving an average of 10 applications each week since new guidelines were published in April, and officials are working to review them. The spokesperson also would not identify companies that have been approved, citing department rules against discussing individual cases. However a handful of organizations confirm that they have received permission, and one company that got its license Tuesday is already booking four inaugural trips for Aug. 11, with space for 100 people. "We immediately went into launch mode, which was what we were preparing for quite some time," said Tom Popper, director of Insight Cuba, which operated people-to-people trips from 2000 until they were canceled by the George W. Bush administration after 2003. "It was a great first day. We were actually registering participants within three hours of bringing up the website." Insight Cuba expects to run about 130 trips a year to the island and take 5,000-7,000 people, Popper said. Other groups have more modest plans, but with dozens of operators seeking licenses, industry experts expect a return to the levels of 2000-2003, when tens of thousands traveled on people-to-people licenses annually. Even before the relaxed guidelines, about 63,000 Americans traveled to the island in 2010, according to Cuban statistics published last week. That figure, a 20 percent increase over the previous year, includes both visitors on approved trips and those who slipped in through Canada or Mexico. It does not include the hundreds of thousands of Cubans living in the U.S. who come home to visit family each year. The people-to-people initiative restores rules established by the Clinton administration on the theory that American visitors put a human face on the United States, which is continually criticized by the Cuban government and official media. Opponents of the policy say it is tantamount to propping up President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel. The trips are thinly veiled tourism, they say, a kind of end-run around the decades-old economic embargo that aims to weaken the Cuban government and pressure for political change. One of those critics, Cuban-American Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, recently attached an amendment to a Treasury funding bill that seeks to restore tough limits on remittances and travel to the island imposed by President George W. Bush and relaxed under Obama. The Treasury Department requires that people-to-people licensees demonstrate itineraries packed with meaningful cultural exchanges, and vow to weed out anyone would offer spring break-type packages. But just about any trip will offer opportunities to sip a mojito at a nightclub or savor an after-dinner stogie in between visits to orphanages and sustainable farms. Early confirmed licensees include the Harvard Alumni Association and Learning in Retirement, which is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and plans an eight-day, $4,300 Santiago-to-Havana tour for next spring. "The major benefit is developing new awarenesses, destroying some of the myths that people might have about Cuba and Cubans," said Burt Altman, a retired education professor who obtained the license for Learning in Retirement and is organizing the trip. "Most people who go to Cuba, frankly, are curious, and they come back with a different attitude." Malia Everette, director of reality tours for San Francisco-based Global Exchange, said the nonprofit is awaiting word on its application. A people-to-people license would let Global Exchange make a fourfold increase in trips it already operates under a separate authorization by expanding who is eligible, she said. "For example it enables people to travel with their partners," Everette said. "And Cuba's a very safe place to send high school groups. I already have a number of high schools that want to go." You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: New York's public art is a breath of fresh air

Travel - Headlines from New York's public art is a breath of fresh air 26 Jun 2011, 8:00 am Reporting from New York â€"â€" Few sculptures by Sol LeWitt actually resemble skyscrapers. But by installing 27 works by the artist in City Hall Park, in view of the lower Manhattan skyline, the Public Art Fund has put LeWitt's art into a playful and powerful dialogue with the city's architecture. Here, a pared sculpture of a white cube looks like some sort of building block or else the grid of a window. A pyramid form that might in a museum seem a celebration of art for art's sake seems more like an elegant real-estate solution. Even a more organic structure, the colorful cascading-form "Splotch 15" from 2005 that greets visitors at the southern entrance of the park like a fountain frozen midsurge, bears a jolting similarity to the cathedral-like Woolworth Building, visible a block away. This is not the only ambitious public art project â€" make that public art exhibition â€" in New York these days. On Governors Island, a short ferry ride from lower Manhattan, the Storm King Art Center has installed 11 steel Mark di Suvero sculptures in sites like picnic areas. One highlight, called "She," is a massive, steel-beam sculpture made more intimate by a swing that visitors can use while enjoying the ocean breeze and a view of the Statue of Liberty. Two years ago, this 172-acre island â€" a defunct military base that has been transformed into a recreational destination â€" hosted a more experimental group show. Organized by Creative Time, "Plot '09" featured videos, installations and other works designed in their lingo to "activate" the island's historic buildings, from Army barracks to a defunct movie theater. These exhibitions represent the latest wave in public art in New York, far from the classic notion of plopping a bronze monument in a public square. They are more like museum shows in their scope, quality and also complexity, with a curator carefully selecting artists or artworks that speak to one another and situating the works for the sake of artistic relevance and resonance. They are also temporary like museum shows â€" with Di Suvero closing end of summer and LeWitt at the end of the year. In most cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, it can be challenging for cultural producers to install a major work of art, let alone a dozen, in the public sphere. But here the public art scene benefits from having two of the most experienced nonprofits in the field and the support of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration. "This is a city where in a way it's easier to do things that are big, ambitious projects than just tinker around the edges. People want to be involved with things that are exciting and making an impact," says Nicholas Baume, who became director of the Public Art Fund two years ago. He says he brought the museum exhibition model (and his interest in LeWitt, who died in 2007) with him from his previous curatorial posts at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston and the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art in Hartford, Conn. "I think it's fascinating to take the museum model of a curated survey or retrospective and see how that might translate into a public space," he says. "When I started at Creative Time 15 years ago, everyone thought of public art as heroes on horseback," adds Creative Time director Anne Pasternak. "Creative Time and Public Art Fund together have done a stand-up job of expanding the notion of what public art is: places for engaging broad audiences and starting great conversations." Baume and Pasternak both reject the notion that the organizations are archrivals, as many in the arts see them. Creative Time tends to be scrappier in style and more performance-oriented in content. But they admittedly share similar missions of bringing serious contemporary art to the public, free. And, perhaps spurred on by each other, they have both reached a a sort of young middle-age in which they have accumulated the know-how and contacts to get things done but still have the energy to accomplish them. Creative Time, founded in 1974, now has 15 employees, an annual budget of $2.5 million, and a board of trustees that includes such artists as Shirin Neshat and Vik Muniz and art patrons such as Beth Rudin DeWoody. As recently as 1994, when Pasternak took over the organization, "we were like a 20-year-old start-up, and I was only the only full-time employee," she says. Public Art Fund, founded in 1977, now has eight employees and an annual operating budget of $3.8 million. Its trustees include collector Adam Lindemann and former Goldman Sachs partner Jonathan Sobel. Nowadays, 28% of its funding comes from a combination of earned income and investment income. With both groups, the majority of funding comes from private individuals and foundations. Governmental agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Department of Cultural Affairs in New York, play a smaller role financially. Government funding represents only 3% of Public Art Fund's budget and 8% of Creative Time's. But the city can offer other forms of support, from providing public sites for art projects to facilitating construction permits. "You really need all the city departments behind you to realize projects like this," says David Collens, director of the Storm King Arts Center in Mountainville, N.Y. The Di Suvero show is the first time Storm King has staged an exhibition outside its main campus. It was, Collens says, "a huge logistical challenge," in part because of the size and weight of the works (some approach 40,000 pounds) and in part because of their destination â€" an island accessible only by ferry, not bridges. The works came from as far away as Atherton, Calif., home of the Don and Doris Fisher collection. Collens reports that the show cost $1 million to produce, all raised by Storm King. The LeWitt show also includes works from far afield â€" including loans from a foundation in Switzerland and a museum in Minneapolis. And Public Art Fund worked closely with the city, conducting archeological studies to make sure it wasn't disturbing an 18th century burial site underneath the park and completing engineering studies to make sure some works by LeWitt would not compromise the subway tunnel underfoot. Baume did not disclose the total costs of the show but said they were "on par with those of producing a major museum exhibition." He ticked off a long list of city officials, from parks to cultural affairs commissioners, who helped facilitate the exhibition. As for Bloomberg himself, Baume says, "I don't know that everything we do is something he'd love to have at home, but he's totally on board with the idea that creativity drives the spirit and energy and future of New York." One small example of the mayor's involvement: Last year he participated in a Creative Time project by artist Paul Ramirez Jonas called "The Key to the City," designating a key that Jonas designed to unlock secret spaces throughout New York the official key to the city for a month. A larger example has been Bloomberg's ongoing support of cultural programming at Governors Island, led by the island's trust president, Leslie Koch. She says one of her strategies for bringing the moribund island back to life is to open the door to artists, from letting them design a mini-golf course (or this summer a tree house) to facilitating big shows like the Di Suvero. "We have no programming budget and no curatorial staff. We don't get involved with selection of artists or works any more than we get involved with the selection of plants on our organic farm in the summertime." Rather, she says, she encourages projects by "constantly talking to the city's arts organizations." The island is open to the public Fridays through Sundays during the summer, and one lead attraction is free bicycle rentals. Koch believes art is another. "We had 26,000 visitors in 2006, the first year the island was open to the public. Last year, we had 443,000. I believe the arts have played a huge role in the island's popularity." Reached by email, Bloomberg says he makes public art a priority not just because it exposes people "of all different backgrounds and ideologies" to culture but because it reconnects citizens to their own city. Public art, he wrote, "encourages us to look at our neighborhoods in a new light and with new appreciation. New York City has many of the finest museums in the world, but there's something special about encountering artistic works in an open and public place and as a part of one's everyday life." Pasternak says she has not seen a more supportive administration when it comes to public art. "With [former Mayor Rudolph W.] Giuliani you usually didn't ask for permission, you apologized later," she said. "A bunch of us who program in New York have reason to be nervous for when Bloomberg is no longer mayor." jori.finkel@latimes.com You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: Fort Ticonderoga shows off its artistic side

Travel - Headlines from Fort Ticonderoga shows off its artistic side 2 Jul 2011, 4:47 pm TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (AP) â€" Plenty of cannon, muskets, bayonets, swords and other 18th-century military hardware are on display at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. Officials claim to have one of the most extensive collections of military artifacts from the 1700s, rivaling those at the Smithsonian Institution and the Tower of London. But there's more to see this summer and early fall at the historic site on Lake Champlain than relics from the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The fort's extensive art collection is getting equal billing with the weaponry on display. For the first time since the fort was rebuilt as a tourist attraction 102 years ago, 50 of Fort Ticonderoga's most important artworks are on display in a single exhibit. They include a painting by Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole, engraved powder horns circa 1759, and a portrait of George Washington by Charles Peale Polk. "You don't have to go to New York City to see great art," Christopher Fox, curator of collections, tells visitors to the fort, located in the southeastern Adirondacks 75 miles north of Albany. "You can go to Fort Ticonderoga and see many pieces that relate to various periods in American art." The exhibit â€" titled "The Art of War: Ticonderoga as Experienced through the eyes of America's Great Artists" â€" is in the gallery on the lower floor of the new $23 million Mars Education Center, named for Forrest Mars Jr. and Deborah Clarke Mars. He's an heir to the Mars candy fortune; she's a Ticonderoga native. Visitors to the new exhibit pass a large oil-on-canvas portrait of Deborah Mars. Once inside the intimate gallery, they see artwork that tells Fort Ticonderoga's story, from an 18th-century map drawn when the Lake George-Lake Champlain corridor was the focus of warring European empires to black-and-white photographs that capture the fort's crumbling condition before restoration was started by the Pell family in 1909. The artwork includes side-by-side portraits of British Gen. James Abercromby and his French counterpart, the Marquis de Montcalm. Abercromby commanded the English army that attacked the French-built fort on July 8, 1758. The French, outnumbered 5-to-1, hastily built a defensive line of earth and log barricades about a half mile from the fort's walls. Despite wave after wave of frontal assaults, the French line held while mowing down hundreds of redcoats with a hail of musket fire. Two other items are linked to the pivotal year of 1759, when the British finally captured the fort, followed weeks later by their victory at the Battle of Quebec. The first is a painting made in 1774 by Thomas Davies, a British artillery officer who was part of the 1759 campaign. The scene shows the British encampment on the southern shore of Lake George. Fox said it's the earliest known painted image of the lake. The other link to 1759 is a powder horn engraved with a map showing the British siege works outside the fort that year. Soldiers of the period commonly carved maps and other images onto powder horns during idle hours in camp, Fox said. "They can be very important documents of what people were actually seeing," Fox said. "I included two powder horns in this exhibit to make the point that art isn't just paintings and prints that you hang on the wall." The portrait of George Washington painted by Polk around 1790 is part of the exhibit not just for its stellar quality, Fox said. The Continental Army commander and future president visited Ticonderoga briefly during his tour of northern military outposts in July 1783, when he was waiting for word on the treaty that would end the American Revolution. "He had fellow officers and friends who were at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War," Fox said. The centerpiece of the exhibit is Cole's 1826 work, "Gelyna, or a View Near Ticonderoga." Considered the fort's most valuable and important piece, the painting depicts a fictionalized scene of a British officer coming to the aid of a wounded comrade lying on a wilderness outcropping, while smoke rises in the distant background from the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga. It's the earliest known piece signed by Cole, an English-born artist regarded as the founder of the 19th-century American art movement known as the Hudson River School. "Once his work gained popularity, it seemed the artists who were doing these types of dramatic landscapes began to copy his style," Fox said. The exhibit also features 19th-century line engravings of the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, a favorite subject of artists of the period. Unlike Europe, where centuries-old ruins dot the landscape, the United States offered few places where architecture from bygone eras could capture an artist's imagination. Ticonderoga, with its mountain backdrops and old fort ruins, fit the bill for American artists in the decades leading up to the Civil War. The core of the fort's art collection were acquired in the first half of the 20th century by Sara and Stephen Pell, who restored the fort on the site where it stood before falling into disrepair after the Revolutionary War. Pell was a descendant of William Ferris Pell, the wealthy New York merchant who acquired the fort grounds in 1820. Together, Sara and Stephen Pell spent decades building a collection that went beyond the glass cases filled with weapons and other martial artifacts viewed by generations of visitors. "We're most obviously known as a fort," Fox said. "It's fair to say a lot of people wouldn't associate a military site with a place that has a lot of art related to topics outside the military sphere." The Marses had a highly publicized falling out in 2008 with the fort's then-executive director and cut off their financial support after footing most of the bill for the new building. The couple has since divorced, and fort officials say Forrest Mars is once again among the fort's benefactors. The exhibit ends when the fort closes for the season Oct. 20. ___ IF YOU GO ... Fort Ticonderoga, 100 Fort Ti Road, Ticonderoga, N.Y. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 20, when the fort closes for the season. Admission: $15; $13.50 age 62 and older; $7 age 7 to 12; free for children younger than 7. For information: 518-585-2821 or click on the website http://www.fortticonderoga.org. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: Maine farmhouse now U.S. landmark

Travel - Headlines from Maine farmhouse now U.S. landmark 2 Jul 2011, 4:28 pm By Associated Press 10:28 a.m. CDT, July 2, 2011 CUSHING, Maine (AP) â€" A weather-beaten farmhouse in Maine, featured in the backdrop of one of the most famous paintings from the 20th Century, is now a national landmark. The Olson House in Cushing where Andrew Wyeth painted "Christina's World" was one of 14 landmarks to receive the designation from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Thursday. "It's now affirmation that it's an American icon," said Christropher Brownawell, executive director of the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, which has owned the farmhouse for the past 20 years. Wyeth, who lived in Pennsylvania, spent 30 summers in Maine and he used the farm as a backdrop for the 1948 painting of Christina Olson, who suffered from polio and was unable to walk, crawling through a field toward the farm. The Olson House, which overlooks the St. George River and Muscongus Bay, is where Wyeth, who died in 2009 at age 91, developed a relationship with Christina and Alvaro Olson that spanned 30 years. Wyeth's gravestone is near the property. The Farnsworth Art Museum is currently displaying a collection of 50 watercolors and drawings depicting the Olsons and the farmhouse. "Christina's World" is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.

Travel -: Fort Scott historic site offering Independence Day celebration 19th-century style

Travel - Headlines from Fort Scott historic site offering Independence Day celebration 19th-century style 2 Jul 2011, 4:22 pm By Associated Press 10:22 a.m. CDT, July 2, 2011 FORT SCOTT, Kan. (AP) â€" Fort Scott National Historic Site is taking Fourth of July weekend visitors on a trip back in time. The southeast Kansas venue is offering events and activities Saturday through Monday in the manner of a mid-1800s Independence Day celebration. Fort Scott was established in 1842 and remained active until 1873. It's now supervised by the National Park Service and has more than 20 historic structures and a parade ground. At 2 p.m. Monday, Park Ranger Robert Thomas will deliver a patriotic speech honoring the 30 states in the Union in 1848. The speech will be followed by a 30-gun salute, which Chief Ranger Kelley Collins says was a tradition at the Fort on Independence Day. ___ Information from: Fort Scott Tribune, http://www.fstribune.com You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.