DanTraveling

Best Trip EVER! or Student Loan Stroll

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Oh how sweet it is.. Congrats Janet

Road Side Sculpture - DanTraveling in Lenoir NC

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Ok I probably get a little more excited about art than many travelers but it is just the coolest thing to see the unexpected fifteen foot tall articulated stainless steel sculpture on the side of the road. That is what I saw on Hwy 321 heading south from Lenoir, NC yesterday.

I am so impressed with towns, villages, cities and such that invest in this type of iconic representation of their home. Maybe since Eiffel built his tower some city leaders consider the ROI of such structures beneficial to their tourism or economy but I think that is the least of it. Life in America, contrary to the current Republican and Democrat's version, is not about money and profit.

Art and specifically the sculpture, West Wind Sentinel in Lenoir, NC by Mike Roig, made me smile and it didn't matter how much money I had in my pocket at the time.

You know I think the people in Lenoir must be a fairly enlightened group of good mountain folk. I think I will try to spend some more time there in the future.

Our Vacationer Videos (playlist)

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Here is a collection of the videos we had featured in the YouTube Vacationer Channel.

What is the YouTube Vacationer Channel?

"YouTube Vacationer brought to you by Alamo Rent A Car. This new channel showcases a great collection of helpful and entertaining videos from YouTube's travel partners as well as a Google Maps enhancement. These are places you've just got to see!"

Hope you enjoy and get inspired to get out there.

Hunger Games Ghost Town, NC

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Just off Interstate 40 at Exit 119 you can drive by the abandoned Henry River Mill Village, is featured in the Hunger Games as the Seam and the Mellark family bakery. Warning: This is private property. There is a new Hildebran Heritage Museum that can give you more details about his abandoned mill village.

The site is a beautifully preserved representation of a company town complete with houses and company store. I read that there are dozens of empty houses and the entire property is for sale. What a historic jewel.

Check out these other Hunger Game Sites, Dupont Forest, in North Carolina.

Driving under a waterfall - Bridal Veil Falls in North Carolina Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:39:00 +0000

Check out this cool video we shot. The rain was insane and we were able to drive under/behind Bridal Veil Falls on our way to Highlands NC. Crazy huh?

Vacation inspiration from travel experts at YouTube Vacationer

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:20:00 +0000

Hello fellow Travelers. I know the winter winds are still blowing but now is the perfect time to plan your next exploration. YouTube and Alamo Rent a Car has come up with a fantastic video site to help you get inspired. Check out the new YouTube Vacationer Channel. Vacationer is a visual guide book of destinations for travel videos from folks like National Geographic, LonelyPlanet and the TravelChannel, and not to mention Moi, (remember try to say that with a slow southern drawl) MuuuuWahhhh! Oh and the channel has the perfect sponsor for the road trip enthusiast in us all Alamo Rent-A-Car.

Well where ever you go, as always we wish you the most interesting trip you have ever taken. Look for more DanTraveling videos added to the site each week as well as all the other wonderful travel and food partner. (There is a complete list of all the other video channels associated with the Vacationer, with links on our YouTube channel page)
Remember when you start thinking about a place to go, check out the Vacationer Channel.

DanTraveling Travel DVDs

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +0000

10 Days in New England DVD

Description.
New England is rich in history, culture, and natural beauty. Our ten day trip to New England was an eye opening experience. We are not used to toll roads or eating chowder at almost every meal. The views were breathtaking and the history, culture and food was outstanding. It kept our undivided attention for the ten days we spent roaming the six states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
About a year before our trip we started asking as many people as we could to tell us what we "must see" when we are in New England. We asked folks on twitter, facebook, and youtube as well as friends and family that had ventured or vacationed there. The recommendations were enormous and we figured out early that ten days would not be enough to see everything so we decided we would hit the highlights and venture off the beaten path when time allowed. This is our journal of locations and days spent.
We visited in late May and the weather was so incredibly perfect that we didn't see a cloud until day 9 in Vermont. I doubt we will ever have that kind of meteorological luck again.

Note* This DVD is compiled from home movies and photos as well as our YouTube videos. We think it is entertaining and useful and would have loved to have seen something like it before touring New England for the first time. So with that said keep in mind that some of the visual quality is intended for a small screen not a huge Plasma screen TV. Thanks

Pocahontas, Virginia DVD (2nd version w/photos)

2nd Edition 2011 - (Extra Feature- This DVD includes a slideshow in addition to the movie with nearly one hundred behind the scenes and historical photographs.)

The film takes the viewer on a journey back to the beginning of coal mining in the Appalachians and the beginning of a new culture of people. It follows the loss of the primary employer in 1955 and continues through the struggles and celebrations of modern day. A Hundred Years Ago, Pocahontas was a thriving and jubilant town, complete with a lavish opera house. The streets bustled. The town sprung to life on the heel of the coal boom, fueled by men who spent their days in the darkness of the mines. Many were paid in scrip only redeemable at the Company Store.

Today, if you were to find yourself in the forgotten and dilapidated downtown of Pocahontas, you might feel like you were on the set of a movie, a film set in a ghost town long, long ago. You would stare up at once magnificent buildings that had just given up and collapsed right on top of themselves. And after spending some time here, talking to locals who would instantly recognize you as a tourist, eager to greet you, you would realize this little, crumbling town is amazing. According to the last census taken in 2000, Pocahontas is home to four hundred and forty one residents. A Virginia newspaper ran a story in June of '08 announcing the closing of Pocahontas' sole school. They closed the doors a year shy of its 100th anniversary and told the story in just five brief sentences.

The documentary began in part due to the overwhelming interest in a YouTube video produced by the same director in 2007. The video garnered nearly 100,000 views on the internet and has prompted hundreds of comments about the coal industry, the connection people have with the town and the common personal experiences people share about the area.

Through oral histories, the film profiles the history and culture of the people. It features historic landmarks, such as the 70 year old exhibition mine, the 1883 company store, the 125 year old cemetery, the 1895 Opera House and various churches and buildings throughout town. In addition to the interviews of area residents, there are interviews with college professors, a local congressman, and local leaders. Special thanks to musicians, Mayhem String Band and Jeff Williams who have lent their work to the production. The documentary also includes an original song written for the project by Betsy Ulmer, a Nashville song writer.

"Our hope is that people come away from watching and feel like we did when we first visited Pocahontas. The buildings are incredible, the history is fantastic, but neither compare to the real hidden treasures of the area, the stories of the people." Dan McCoig

DanTraveling the First Season DVD

Most weekends, my wife, Janet, and I pick a
path on our map and drive off in that direction just to see what we can see. Over the years we have been down many roads and had quite a few adventures, and some long boring drives that seemingly served no real purpose.

We come home, go to work Monday mornings and tell our friends and family about our trip, and people always say, "Gosh, that sounds like fun, how do we get there?"

Now you can join us as we discover the people and places in our native southeast.

Elkmont Houses, Tennessee
Visit the vacation homes of affluent Appalachians in this abandoned logging community deep in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Wonderland Hotel, Tennessee
The hotel was demolished last year, but not before it was taken down we were able to shoot some video of the deteriorated structure.

Bramwell, West Virginia
Visit this "town of millionaires" and see the Victorian mansion lined streets, as well as a complete coal town in the surrounding communities of Shinbriar and Coopers.

Pocahontas, Virginia
One of most interesting town we have found buried deep in the coal rich mountains of southwestern Virginia. Historic buildings are falling in on main street and beyond, the historic 1883 Company Store collapsed just one week before we arrived.
Join us as we visit the very first exhibition coal mine in the country, the hundred year old Opera House, numerous churches and see the "Iron Front" buildings that have stood the test of time.

Seagrove, North Carolina
Over two hundred years of pottery making in Seagrove offered us both interesting conversations and shopping. Meet the potters and see examples of the folk art craft that has given the town the title of Pottery Capitol of the South.

Mabry Mill, Virginia
Listen to the park rangers at Mabry Mill discuss the origin of the mills founder. We watched corn being ground and enjoyed the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Horne Creek Farm, North Carolina
We listen to the historian discuss the regional importance of farming in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and we get a tour of the wonderful old farm house and out buildings. We also saw the apple orchard that has over eight hundred native southern heritage apple trees.

The Rocket Boys Reunion: Coalwood, West Virginia
We visited Coalwood to see the reunion celebrating
the success and ingenuity of local boys in the race for space of the nineteen fifties.

If you are representing a museum, gallery, non-profit organization, or gift shop please contact us about wholesale pricing. dmccoig@hotmail.com

Please note that the 100% 0f the proceeds from the sale are intended to raise money to complete our documentary on Pocahontas, Virginia.

DanTraveling Season Two DVD

DanTraveling the Second Season
The Most Viewed Southeastern Travel Show on YouTube

Includes the popular titles "A Single Seed" and "Mountain Churches of the Blue Ridge."
The following favorites are on this one hour disk as well.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC
Bethabra Park in Winston Salem, NC
Moonshine Face jug making with Terry King in Seagrove, NC
A Castle in North Carolina in Jamestown, NC
Rock Your World at the Gem and Mineral Museum in Franklin, NC
A Pig in the Poke from Nahunta, NC

DanTraveling Season Three DVD

DanTraveling Season Three will take you on a ride up to visit the good folks in "Mayberry", Mount Airy, NC and then down to the sand hills to Rockingham, NC to see the World's Largest Strawberry.
You'll get a glimpse into Paradise Garden in Pennville, Georgia, the former home of folk artist Howard Finster, who died in 2001.
Then travel back in time to the World's Strangest House in Kernersville, NC once
called a great "Folly" We will take a ferry boat ride out to see what Dr. Beach's named America's Best Beach, Ocracoke Island. The island, embraced by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks, is known for its clear water, sand and unspoiled natural beauty.
We will go from beach to mountains and a stop in to see the famous
fresco churches off of the Blue Ridge Parkway and then on to a wine tasting at Childress Vineyards in Lexington, NC and
then finish our southern tour with a special tribute to the Great Smoky Mountains seventy fifth birthday.

Holiday Historic Hotel Tour - DanTraveling

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:15:00 +0000

We Wish you a Merry Christmas.

Beautiful winter scenes and festive decorations are the star of our latest video. We travel to the Historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton, Virginia to watch our documentary, Pocahontas Virginia, on the local PBS station. The incredible winter displays and Christmas splendor is amazing at our favorite holiday lounge in Roanoke, Virginia, The Hotel Roanoke. The quite downtown hotel in the mountains of east Tennessee, The General Morgan Inn in Greenville, Tennessee, offers some of the most festive holiday dining that we have ever had the pleasure of partaking. We also show you two more famous historic inns, The Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, DC and Governor Calvert House in beautiful Annapolis, Maryland.
Yet another reminder that the journey is as important as the destination.

This video was a treat to make and it has been a treat to share videos with you in 2011.

Happy Holidays to you all

Dan and Jan

We added the Hotel locations to our DanTraveling Map

View DanTraveling in a larger map

Fairy Stone Park, Virginia - DanTraveling

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:24:00 +0000

Top 10 Affordable Cities to Retire In... Really?

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:34:00 +0000

This is a video look at some of our favorite videos of great places to retire. My hope is that I can finish building my sailboat just in time to retire and move to the Chesapeake Bay. (Janet may have other ideas :) We decided, after reading the AARP magazine article by: Sarah Mahoney | Sept./Oct. 2011 issue 10 Affordable Cities for Retirement, that it would be cool to investigate their choices via YouTube Videos. Most places lived up to the recommendation; however a couple had us scratching our heads?

See what you think. Here is a link to the AARP article

Painting of jazz concert at Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington DC

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Painting of jazz concert at Smithsonian museum of art in Wash... on Twitpic

10 Days in New England - DanTraveling's Southerner's Guide

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Kid Slides Down a Waterfall - DanTraveling

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:32:00 +0000

We hiked to the bottom of High Falls in Dupont State Forest over in Western North Carolina and watched as kids took part in the ride of their life.

Well at least the FREE ride of their life. Ha what fun.

High
Falls
Hiking
Dupont
State
forest
north
Carolina
triple
hooker

We hope Hurricane Irene bypasses Ocracoke, NC

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:46:00 +0000

If you have never been to the outer banks or Ocracoke Island
then you are missing out on the most fantastic place in the entire
Southeastern US.
Hurricane Alex cut our first trip short years ago but we have been back
many times since to make up for it.
Howard's Pub, an island icon, claims to never have closed due to a hurricane.
Good Luck Howards and Ocracoke!

(For those that have never been)
Our Journey Guide to Ocracoke Island, NC

Ashley Jones Damn Squirrel

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:15:00 +0000

My favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:28:00 +0000

All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

the Art of Travel - Washington, DC

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Join us for a peek inside a few of our favorite art museums in Washington, DC.

Janet and I had a wonderful time exploring the treasures in the nation's capitol last April.

We visited the Hirshhorn, National Gallery of Art,Smithsonian American Art Museum,Corcoran Gallery of Art , The Phillips Collection and the
Renwick Gallery

We even share some of the live jazz we were treated to at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
from
Brad Linde
http://www.bradlinde.com

Happy 50th Birthday President Barack Obama

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:01:00 +0000

This year I turned fifty in April and for the first time in my life I am now
OLDER than the current US President! egad

I am at least glad that the President shares my advanced age.
Happy Birthday and welcome to AARP eligibility.

Google Doodle inspired Alexander Calder Happy Birthday Video

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:41:00 +0000

Short tribute to the sculptor of Alexander Calder's work that we saw while visiting Washington, DC
We saw his work at the Phillips Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and sculpture garden

Category:

Travel

Double Rainbow

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:06:00 +0000

No the greatest photo from my scratched up i-phone, but cool to see,

Our Washington, DC Trip on Google + Scribble Maps

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:08:00 +0000

Mouse on my Mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:37:00 +0000

Imagine my surprise when I reached to open my mailbox and this little fellow was staring at me.
I have no idea why he was there. With temperatures in the mid nineties this week in North Carolina maybe he wanted to mail himself to a cooler climate?

The longest continuously running clock in the United States

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:20:00 +0000

"The Town Clock"
100 Congress Street, Winnsboro SC

On our way back from the flower show in South Carolina we decided to take a detour through Winnsboro. It turns out we had some time to spare. Ha ha
After visiting the visitor center and we found out that Winnsboro is the home of the longest continually running clock in the United States.

From Fairfield County Website
"South Carolina's General Assembly authorized Winnsboro's town fathers to build a market house that "shall not be of greater width than 30 feet" to allow 30 feet of wagon travel on either side. The narrow building was modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia and built on the site of a duck pond. A clock was added in 1837, and the building has since been known as the Town Clock. Residents boast the clock is the longest continuously running clock in the United States. "

We are told it has been running for over one hundred years

Winter is a Beach - DanTraveling in Myrtle Beach South Carolina

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 21:27:00 +0000

Ghost Town Elkmont Houses - Smoky Mountains Tennessee DanTraveling

noreply@blogger.com (DanTraveling) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:14:00 +0000