Commze

It’s somewhat fascinating to look at the history of some of the Hawaiian islands, and find that their time as a major tourist destination is relatively short. Waikiki is the perfect example of this, having come into its own rather recently, and one of the last islands to actively develop a tourist culture. It’s also been developing a sense of identity in conjunction with the tourist trade. It’s not as though the people don’t have a sense of what it is to be Hawaiian, but it sometimes takes a very close look in order to see how it’s possible to be represented as such.

The immense popularity of Waikiki beach hotels almost makes it seem as though they’ve been around forever. It would be hard to imagine Hawaii without mentioning these islands, and music history would be diminished, such are the level of references in popular songs. However, it’s due to the efforts of experts like George Kanahele , who was able to trace the importance of historical threads to help the other locals conceive of a narrative with which to create a Waikiki that others could read. And also visit. There may or may not be a Hawaiian renaissance, then, and that’s certainly something for the people here to decide for themselves. But there is a Hawaiian-ness that can be read globally, but it takes reflection and intention to produce it.

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Thanks for the guest post, Richard Fowler!

Recently we traveled to Beaufort, SC to see replica’s of Christopher Columbus’s ships the Nina and the Pinta. Before we left we gassed up the car, fed the dogs, and set the home alarm (which we love, by the way: click here). The boats were only docked there for a few days and then would travel up the coast of South Carolina to Georgetown. The ships offered special school field trips and you could even have a private party on them. We were really amazed at the workmanship of these two boats. They were hand made and made to size of the original vessels. One of them was actually made without any type of power tools. It was an exciting site to see. They had no outboard motors to run the ships with, they are powered by sails. The rutor that is used to steer the boat was very large and looked really heavy. It takes a few men just to be able to steer the boat and keep it on its course. The vessels were actually small compared to the boats we see today. It was hard to imagine a large crew of men, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in that small of a ship. It was easy to see why they had so many sicknesses on those earlier journeys, the men were confined to such small areas. If one person came down with a illness I imagine it went through the whole ship rather quickly. If you are a history buff this is something that you should see. If they are docking in your area, you should make the effort to go and see them. You will be glad you did.

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The Aintree John Smith Grand National is one of the most expected horse race in the world right now and the date has come upon us far quicker than many of us realized. For those who don’t know, it is a jumping race, which obviously means that obstacles are placed in the way which the horses must jump over. What makes the John Smith Grand National so special is the intricate history it has and feelings it leaves in the national memory.

Of all the races this one has come particularly far from it’s roots and now stands as one of the nation’s favorites. Starting back in 1829 organized by a syndicate, the first race was a flat race won by a horse named Mufti. For a while they had three meetings a year, each time accompanied by almost 40,000 people. It would start significantly changing in 1835 when they added the first stone walls and made their first jump fixtures on the track. Lottery was the first winner of these races, becoming a national favorite as well as sealing the horse race into national memory which allowed for the race track to continue to expand. With the growing popularity, they had to make an expansion and in 1953 another race track was added for jumping races. Feeling prosperous the owners built a motor racing track as well the next year, bringing in more people. They even hosted a number of Grand Prixs because of this expansion.

The good times could not last and the property had to be sold. This caused much turmoil for people nation wide as no one seemed quite sure if the new owner really had is heart in the races like themselves and this feeling never really went away after he tripled the admission price to the largest of the races, the Grand National. When Davies announced he was selling the whole thing, many fans were dismayed but ran to their pocket books when it was suggested that all the fans could put together enough money to save the race course. They did not make it in time, but were bailed out by someone else, who has made a point of restoring the old course back to it’s old recognition as one of the best. It has been successful securing great horses, jockeys and sponsors to keep the sport and the event alive and well in Liverpool.

It is now associated with Red Rum one of the most famous horses to race, being the race that really made him give it his all. With the new walls that have been built it once again stands as the true test of a horse.

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No trip along the nation’s East Coast would be complete without a stop at one of the oldest colonies in America, Williamsburg.  The first successful British Colony in North America was Jamestown, founded in May of 1607, four hundred and three years ago.  There were several failed attempts before it, with the Roanoke Lost Colony creating a number of mysterious legends in its wake (a play titled The Lost Colony was produced by the Roanoke Island Historical Association that explores this fascinating moment in American history).  In 1693, the nearby town of Middle Plantation began one of the oldest colleges in the nation, the College of William and Mary.  A few years later, Virginia’s Colony’s capital moved to Middle Plantation, where it became known as Williamsburg.

All of this history makes Williamsburg a fascinating place to visit.  You can attend Colonial Williamsburg, where buildings are virtually unchanged from the early days of the United States, and people re-enact what it was like to live in that time.  You can travel the Colonial Parkway, part of the National Park Service, taking in its scenic eleven miles, which connects Williamsburg to Yorktown.  There, you’ll find the Colonial National Historical Park, where you can see the Yorktown Battlefield, the actual place in which the Battle of Yorktown was waged.   You might check out the Yorktown Victory Center, as well, where you’ll find more living history run by the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation.

If the study of the Civil War isn’t to your liking, then you might try a ghost tour or spend a day or two at Busch Gardens Europe amusement park.  No matter what your interest, you’ll find stopping at Williamsburg will be worth it.  All you need to do is find a place to stay there, and that’s easy to do.  Just go to http://www.hotelswilliamsburg.com and you’ll find a hotel right for you.

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Once cartographers had been working on the world map for many years, some astronomers and map makers began to long for maps of the outer realms.  Scientists such as Galileo, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Hevilius began to map beyond the boundaries of the known world, the known universe.  The telescope was invented in 1609, and with this invention detailed diagrams and maps of the moon and the stars opened up a view of the heavens, a road map to spaces never before seen by the human eye.

During this time, microscopes and magnifying glasses brought into view the tiny worlds that live withing ours.  Again, a world that was never before witnessed, a piece of the world globe, in the tiny worlds on the microscope slides.  Now what had begun to fascinate these scientists was the inner world, the core of the earth.  Tides, and earthquakes, mountains and volcanoes were evidence that something was indeed happening at the core, which led such scientists through deductive reasoning, men such as René Descartes, to reaching propositions about phenomena that is not seen by naked eye.  The imaginary places were now becoming very real indeed.

These phenomena were finding their way into the writings of the poets of the time, such as excerpts from Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream“. These astronomical and global happenings were finding their place as “good” and “evil”.  This brought into the minds of scientists and artists alike, a change in perspective, not only of the universe but of the human psyche as well.  The medical field had begun to seriously “map” the human physical body.  This was a time of discovery, of thinking people finally seeing the evidence of certain things that they knew all along, but had not yet seen the physical proof.  Maps, and the early creation of maps, led people not only to places they were longing to go, but to places within where they already were.

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