MIKE JEKNAVORIAN Travel

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

By Mike Jeknavorian

What’s Raleigh?  It’s the capitol of North Carolina.  But, as is sometimes the case—think New York City—it’s not the largest city in the state.  Charlotte, at a population of 800,000+, is the largest city in North Carolina.  The population of Raleigh is almost 500,000.

Where is it?  It’s centrally located in the state.  The ocean is about two hours to the east, and the Blue Ridge Mountains and Asheville are about three hours to the west.

How did you get there?  We flew into Raleigh-Durham International Airport.  They also have a new train station called Union Station, as well as a bus station.  Where did you stay?  On the outskirts of the city, about four miles away.  It took about 10 minutes to drive into the city.

What did you see?  Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks, because of its many oak trees.  It’s also affectionately known as the “Smithsonian of the South,” because of its abundance of museums and historical attractions—all of which are free.  We went to the City of Raleigh Museum (a small but interesting museum), The North Carolina Museum of History (affiliated with Smithsonian and gigantic), The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (even bigger than the history museum, and with many dinosaur fossils and working archeology labs), The Historic Yates Mill County Park (home to a historic water-powered mill), and Mordecai Historic Park (which features the birthplace of president Andrew Johnson).  Considering all the free sites, it’s a good city to see on budget.  Parking is also free on the weekend, and one bus line is free all the time.

Where did you eat?  We ate at Beasley’s Chicken + Honey (fabulous), The Pit (it was only OK, despite is 2,500+ reviews on Yelp and four-star rating), and Tacos Y Mariscos Vallarta (good Mexican food).  How was the city?  It’s a neat little city, and you sure can’t beat all the free museums.  Particularly, if you’re into historical sights.

How’s the gay scene?  There’s not much of a gay scene.  Unless we missed something, there’s really only two exclusively gay bars—the Legends nightclub complex, and Flex.  We didn’t go to Legends, but we drove by it at 11:00 p.m. on a Saturday, and it didn’t really look like anyone was inside.  Flex is good.  Flex caters to the more mature, leatherish crowd, but there’s women there, and they also have karaoke nights.  But other than opening at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, they don’t open until 8:00 p.m.

What was surprising about the city?  That it’s named after Sir Walter Raleigh, of the famed Roanoke Colony, a.k.a., the Lost Colony.  Spooky.  Is it worth going back to?  It seems to be a city that can be experience in two days, three max.  The area has mild weather, so as long as you catch in when the sun it out, you can even experience the parks and trails in the winter.

MIKE JEKNAVORIAN Travel

THE GRAND CANYON

By Mike Jeknavorian

What’s The Grand Canyon?  It’s a giant canyon in northern Arizona.  And if it’s not the biggest canyon in the world, it’s certainly close to it.  The canyon was carved about five million years ago by the Colorado River.  Where is it?  It’s only in Arizona.  I must confess that I initially thought that parts of it bordered Colorado.  Not true.  It’s all in Arizona.  How do you get there?  The closest major airport to the southern rim of the canyon is Phoenix International, in Phoenix.  I had a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix.  The drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon is about 220 miles.

ADVERTISEMENT

AmazonBasics Apple Certified Retractable Lightning to USB Travel Cable – 2 Feet (0.6 Meters) – Black – $12.99

Where can you stay?  The closest towns to the Grand Canyon National Park are Williams, Arizona (which is where we stayed), and Tusayan, Arizona.  Williams is known as “The Gateway to the Grand Canyon,” and they have a train that brings you to the Grand Canyon.  However, she ain’t cheap, and it only leaves once day.  Tusayan is the last town before you enter the Grand Canyon, and they’re many affordable hotels there.  The park itself also has several lodges and campgrounds.  The crown glory of the lodges is, of course, the fabulous El Tovar Hotel, which should not be missed.

How was the Grand Canyon?  I initially pictured some Thelma & Louise (which was filmed on the northern rim) open hole in the ground, and not much more than that.  It’s nothing like that.  When people say the Grand Canyon, they mean the southern rim, and, specifically, they mean the Grand Canyon Village.  The Grand Canyon Village, which is within the Grand Canyon National Park, contains many historic buildings and lodges, all set in deference to the canyon itself.  And some of the building and shops are literally teetering right on the edge of the canyon, where they’ve stood like that for decades.  Furthermore, there is heavy theming going on in the village.  The architecture style of buildings at some of the western and midwestern national parks is colloquially called, “parkitecture,” which is an architectural style that’s meant to both harmonize and utilize the surrounding landscape.  The Grand Canyon Village certainly has no shortage of building done in this style; many of them date to the early 1900s.  Concerning the village, there are free shuttles that bring you from one building to the next (or you can walk or bike the trails to get to different areas).

How many days do you need to see everything?  At least two.  There are so many buildings to see, that it’s too much to cram it all into one day.  The main village takes about an entire day to see.  There is also a smaller eastern section that takes about a half an hour to drive to.  This area has an indigenous museum and a popular observation tower.  On the second day, you can see this eastern area, and then maybe walk on trails for a couple of hours, either in the eastern area, or back at the main part of the village.

What can you do there?  You can visit the Grand Canyon Village, walk the trails, or take a helicopter to the bottom of the canyon.  If you want to walk to the bottom of the canyon, you must, one, enjoy heights, and, two, allow two days to do it.  It takes one day to walk down it, and then you have to camp at the bottom of it.  You would walk back up the next day.  If you want to raft the Colorado River, that’s a whole other thing, which requires several days to do it.  As far as the canyon goes, don’t miss the view from the Yavapai Geological Museum.  A group of scientists selected this site in the 1920s as the most spectacular view of it.  How’s the gay scene?  There really isn’t any to speak of.  You’ll have to turn on your Grindr or Tinder accounts.

What was surprising about it?  Several things.  One, we saw a male elk, and if you’ve never seen one of them, they’re like the size of an elephant (actually, an adult male is about 700 lbs.).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture of it.  Two, I wasn’t aware that much of the canyon in the southern rim is buffered by trees.  I wasn’t expecting to see trees, and then this monstrous canyon beyond them.  And finally, there’s a lot a smoking that goes on in the area.  There’s a large European population that visits the canyon, much larger than I’ve seen anywhere else in the U.S. (including Disney and Vegas), and you know how they are with the cigarettes.

Is it worth visiting again?  Omg, yes.  The first view of the canyon is difficult to describe, in that it was everything that I thought it would be, but nothing like it.  Once you get over the initial shock of it, the majesty of the canyon never dulls.  You could stare at it for hours.  You also have a weird sensation of looking down from an airplane (the highest straight-down drop is 3,000 feet) when you’re looking at it, but your feet are on the ground.  It’s really something that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.