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No airboats, alligator-wrestling or schlock

Many people think of Florida’s Everglades —if they’re familiar with this unique global ecosystem at all—as swamps and schlock, airboat rides and alligator-wrestling, but it’s an incredible natural wonder, filled with hiking paths, kayak trails, rare and uncommon wildlife such as wood storks, at least one crocodile, tons of alligators and great blue herons.    Travel articles too often paint the Glades as a tourist magnet for oversize buggy rides, souvenir shops and “gen-u-ine” Indians/native Americans, but it’s the “The Everglades, Naturally,” that attracts outdoors and nature-loving visitors from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Japan.   Jumping off points are Naples on the west and Miami on the east.   Dubbed the “River of Grass” in the 1940s by conservationist (and onetime society reporter) Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the Everglades is a vast, constantly moving marsh, stretching across a flat limestone shelf nearly 40 miles wide and over 100 miles long. But thanks to civilization’s encroachments, it is now less than one-third of its original size, threatened by such factors as rapid human population growth, agricultural runoff and disruptive water flow.   This marvelous subtropical wetland “has its own feel, its own good odor,” Florida mystery novelist Randy Wayne White writes in his book, “Everglades.”

World-class falls, and a quick trip from Rio, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires

Three waterfalls in this universe are considered world-class: Niagara, Victoria and Iguassu. The first two, of course, are also world-famous, But the third is unknown to many people—even those who saw the 1986 Hollywood film, “The Mission,” which starred Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons and which was partially filmed at Iguassu. “Quite simply.” state the authors of one guidebook,”these are the world’s most dramatic waterfalls. “Straddling the Iguassu River, which at that point serves as the border between the northeast tip of Argentina and one of the southern extremes of Brazil, the falls—Foz do Iguaçu in Portuguese, Cataratas del Iguazú in Spanish and Iguassu Falls in English—are simply spectacular. Depending on whether it is the rainy season (usually December to March) or the rest of the year, the number of separate waterfalls can range from 150 to 350 and are spread out horizontally over, incredibly, about three miles. Compared with its counterparts, Iguassu is located in a substantially more beautiful area than Niagara, and, unlike Victoria, is not covered over with a mist half the year. Certainly, a visit to Iguassu Falls is a perfect side trip—two days minimum, three days preferable—for those visiting Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and/or Buenos Aires. The falls—meaning “great water” in the Guarani Indian language—were first discovered by Europeans in 1542 by the expedition of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca of Spain. The national park, on the Brazil and Argentine sides, was created in the mid-1930s, and in the mid-1980s Iguassu was designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Oversize and offbeat art—Paul Bunyan’s girlfriend to the “world’s largest ball of twine”

Minnesota bills itself as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.” But it’s also home to dozens of “the world’s largest” statues, sculptures and other offbeat attractions—collectively known as Roadside Art.”

Along the roadways are such oversized statues as Paul Bunyan’s Girl Friend, Lucette, as well as The World’s Largest Ball of Twine Made by One Man and a bas-relief carving of two grasshoppers genuflecting at the feet of the Virgin Mary.

In the tiny town of Akeley, there’s the World’s Largest Paul Bunyan Statue, across the street from Paul’s Purple Cow Ice Cream Parlor and Eatery and Babe’s Cut & Curl. In Hackensack, local chroniclers report that in 1991 a high wind toppled Lucette’s head, and when residents repaired the damage, they surprisingly discovered she was pregnant with Paul Jr., who now has his own statue.….