Life is Fine...in Humboldt
How one Kansas town is luring tourists and creatively energizing locals
đđ» Welcome to the June 25th issues of The Jauntâthe newsletter that strives to give you the best-curated content about people and places shaping travel in America.
â If youâre new here, check out some of our past issues. We pull a list of our favorite travel articles each week and do monthly deep-dives on travel-related topics that are impacting domestic American travel.
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Life is Fine in Humboldt | Via: Iola Register
Weâve been watching Humboldt, Kansas evolve over the course of the last few years. Itâs a city thatâs high on our radar because itâs truly off the beaten path and locals like it that way. A collective called A Bolder Humboldt has worked to revitalize the downtownâs historic buildings to turn them into creative spaces, revamped bars, breweries, and local-focused retail and dining. Their most recent project is a pocket park that garnered the attention of two Manhattan-based muralists who used an old saying they found in a newspaper clipping, âLife is fine in Humboldt.â They paired their mural with the signature image of the townâitâs water tower. Itâs towns like these that make us yearn to get off the highway. Just think for a moment, for every rural town like this that has seen its fair share of folks leave, many more are seeing them return back. With the pandemic, people want to connect to the things that these towns had in spadesâa slower pace of life, familiar faces, civic pride, and a sense that you can juggle both profession and family. This is a theme we are very interested in following and weâll be covering the work of Bolder Humboldt and other small towns in future issues.
Bonus: Joshua Works (and tracking the progress on his wonderful blog) is currently restoring one of the townâs historic buildings, The Bailey, into a bar. But, not your average, ordinary small Midwestern town bar, although those are great, too. This is going to be a bigger project along the likes of something youâd see in a larger cityâand thatâs Joshuaâs whole point that summarizes the ethos behind much of the work happenign in this town. According to Joshua: âWe wholly believe that big cities should not have a monopoly on quality or culture, convenience or beauty. We desire and deserve these things to accompany all the other benefits of small-town life: the pace, the affordability, the meaningful relationships,⊠the human-scale of it all."
He continues: âAnd so we've made it our mission to build the town we want to live inâon the firm belief that we're not alone in these desires. What's driven a lot of the population away from small towns is not an innate inability of them to provide the lifestyle many desire, but because the challenges have been framed in terms that serve no one.âÂ
Disc Golf Courses of Colorado | Via: The Denver Post
Is disc golf having a moment? Recently, The Ringer profiled the sportâs first $10 million dollar disc golfer. And, that got us thinking about the sport and where the best courses are. As the niche sport is starting to crack into the mainstream, there is plenty of cash on the table in sponsorships. There is also a huge surge in local courses being built across the country and people are finding them. More than 26,600 new players joined the Professional Disc Golf Association, the sportâs official governing body, in 2020, an 84% spike compared to the previous year. Costs are also very cheapâthe typical course will set you back $10 to $30. Colorado is one of the epicenters for the sport and there are courses in the shadows of its most famed mountain town in Telluride and another that works through a real ghost town in Central City.
SFâs Iconic Tonga Room Set to Reopen | Via: Hoodline
SF's kitschiest Tiki bar experience, The Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel (950 Mason Street), will be welcoming guests and people who just want to Instagram the rainstorms starting July 9. Its full name is, of course, The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, and it was designed and built back in 1945 by MGM set decorator Mel Melvin, complete with the lagoon that's still there with its floating, thatch-covered barge for a live band. The Island Groove Band still performs top-40 hits on that barge on weekends, and the dancefloor was notably built out of the remains of the S.S. Forester, "a schooner that once traveled between San Francisco and the South Sea Islands," as the hotel website tells us. The Tonga Room has endured through the decades, even during a period when Tiki kitsch wasn't so popular as it was in the mid-century and then became again in recent years. And while the acclaimed Smuggler's Cove in Hayes Valley counts the Tonga Room among its inspirations, Smuggler's Cove and other modern-retro Tiki bars in recent years have strived to update or improve the cocktails they serve â which as of the 1960s or 70s were more likely to be ruined by canned sour mix and cheap grenadine.
North Americaâs Lost Civilization | Via: BBC
Spiro Mounds had been unearthed by a group of local men who called themselves the Pocola Mining Company. The artefacts they discovered were immediately sold around the globe. Spiro's bounty is now spread among more than 65 museums across the US, Europe and Asia, and researchers are still discovering additional galleries and people possessing its riches. Nearly a century later, the incident remains the worst looting of an archaeological site in US history.
Spiro was home to a ceremonial centre for a confederation of mound-building nations called the Mississippian Culture (Credit: Larry Bleiberg)
This year, 175 pieces were reunited in a travelling exhibition that set attendance records in Oklahoma City, and is drawing new attention to Spiro Mounds, one of the most important and least understood sites in pre-contact North America.
Big Boy Returns to Wisconsin and Boy, Itâs a Big Deal | Via: Milwaukee Magazine
If you grew up in the Midwest, you likely have fond memories of Big Boy: A diner known for itâs massive menu, double-decker sandies, and the famous and iconic statue of a chubby boy donning a pompadour hairstyle and checkered overalls holding, you guessed it, a double-decker sandwich. The last location in Wisconsin, located along Milwaukeeâs Capital Drive closed in 1995. Now, after almost a two-decade hiatus, Big Boy is returning. According to Milwaukee Magainze, a Facebook post by Walt Kaufmann who runs an amazing resource on the history of Big Boy in Milwaukee in a Facebook group says:
âBIG BOY is officially coming back to Wisconsin later this summer! The first of numerous BIG BOY franchise locations in Wisconsin is scheduled to open up in mid to late July 2021 at the former Jerryâs Old Town Restaurant in Germantown.â
Though the last Milwaukee location may have shuttered in the â90s, memories still remain. Those who grew up with Marcâs Big Boy in Milwaukee may fondly remember pulling up to the restaurant; a statue of a suave boy holding his iconic two-patty, three-bun original, and warmly beckoning them inside. The Milwaukee community has continued to honor the restaurant in the years following its absence through âMilwaukee Remembers Big Boy!,â which has amassed more than 5,000 members who love to tribute similar burgers at local restaurants and even hosted a one-day reunion featuring the beloved menu items.
Turning #VanLife Into a Profession | Via: The Magnolia Network
When Brett Lewis began converting vans into tiny homes on the road for his clients, his mission was to prove home can be found anywhere. Follow his journey to help others discover whatâs truly important in life in #VanGoâstream the first episode now on discovery+.
If you have a great story or article about local travel in America, weâd love to see them. Be sure to share it to us as a post or DM on Twitter so we see it or in the comments below!.