Travel Experiences that were Better Than Expected

Whenever people travel, they always have some kind of expectations about their time on the road. Maybe they’re hoping for some rest and relaxation. Perhaps they are looking forward to some new and interesting experiences. Sometimes as people travel there are certain activities that just seem to be a necessary activity to participate in or experience. These may not be something that excites them, but when they get back home they know people will ask about it so they just do it. What is interesting is when these low expectation moments turn into something that is far better than anticipated. Let me share some of those experiences I have had with you.

As I said in my last post, my wife and I are not major sports fans. However, when we traveled up the coast of Florida, we came to Daytona Beach. While there is a really nice beach area there, Daytona Beach doesn’t make me think beach. Instead I think of the cars racing in the Daytona 500. Now in terms of sports, car racing is toward the bottom of my list in interest. However, we drove right by the race track so it just seemed right that we should check out Daytona International Speedway.

It turned out that going out on the race track itself was a really fun experience as well as somewhat of an education. What I didn’t realize was that around the corners of the race track, the track itself tilts. It is angled to make it easier for the cars to take the corner. We were actually in the inner part of the track so we could see the track from that side as well as the stands beyond.

Now if you are a real race car enthusiast, one thing you can actually do is take a car around the track, and I don’t mean at slow speeds. There was a guy doing just that when we were there which added to the experience of being at the track. Driving a car doesn’t come cheap as you can image. Nevertheless for some it’s worth it to say they had driven the track of the Daytona 500.

At the end of the tour we went by the winning car of the previous year’s race. I didn’t find that particularly exciting. It was a car. However, overall the tour exceeded my expectations, and it turned out to be a really fun experience.

On that same trip we traveled farther up the coast to Georgia. After visiting Savannah we headed out to a well known resort area, Hilton Head Island. This is an area which was definitely a tourist type place. We just wanted to see what they had to offer. Toward the end of the road we came to a marina called Harbour Town that had a lighthouse.

Now we had seen various lighthouses over the years, and this one didn’t look particularly old or unique, but we could go up to the top. So we did. There was a nice view from the lighthouse deck of the various activities going on below. While walking around we noticed a camera. A nearby note indicated that the camera was broadcasting pictures on the internet. The camera was directed at the deck area not the view. So we called our kids from on top the lighthouse and told them to look up the website. They did and could see us standing on top of the lighthouse. That was just a fun little moment that made climbing up to the top of the lighthouse a memorable experience rather than a forgettable experience.

Do you remember when eight people entered a closed system called Biosphere 2 to demonstrate how humans could survive on another planet with the right environment? While the experiment did not succeed, the structure which they built for this experiment did. Located between Tuscon and Phoenix Arizona, Biosphere 2 is now used by the University of Arizona for research and educational purposes. We visited there is 2012. I’m sure things have evolved over the last ten years, but our experience did exceed our expectations.

The truth is we weren’t really sure what to expect. The architecture of the buildings itself looked quite interesting with all the glass enclosing the structure. We did not realize the various ecological environments which they sought to create within the biosphere buildings. Their intent was to recreate an environment of both rain forests and savanna. They had areas for fish as well as for gardens. Most fascinating to me was going underneath to see the mechanical aspects that sought to provide the air. Unfortunately that was the part that failed as oxygen levels declined over time. It was only after they shut down the experiment that they were able to determine what went wrong.

Our guided tour also took us through the sleeping and living spaces of the crew that were manning the Biosphere. While the initial purpose of the building failed, the University of Arizona has used the facility to great advantage. We found it a most educational experience which I would recommend to anyone.

Another unexpected location happens to be in Birmingham, Alabama. We traveled through Birmingham on our way to the airport in Atlanta from Memphis. When I was a kid, I remember learning that Birmingham was an iron and steel producing area. However, when we visited the city in 2013, that was no longer the case. There was still evidence of this, though, and one of those locations was the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. At this location iron had been melted into iron bars.

Much may have changed since we visited, but we were free to wander around the various buildings. While I can’t say that I learned a lot about the iron producing process, I had a fun time taking pictures. So many different angles, pipes and buildings created a unique environment for photography. This was a place when it wasn’t so much an educational opportunity, but an exciting visual experience. Of course anyone interested in the technology of the iron production can learn it through the various signs around. Guided tours are also available.

Over the years we have visited a number of National Parks. Most of these have met or exceeded our expectations. One park that definitely exceeded them was Canyonlands in Utah. Zion and Arches are the big two National Parks in Utah. Zion had 5 million visitors in 2021 while Arches had 1.8 million. Canyonlands was the least visited park in Utah with under one million visitors.

Arches and Canyonlands are actually quite close to each other, but they are completely different. While Arches is known for its structural formations, Canyonlands is just what its name implies, an area of vast canyons. Here one is mainly looking down into large areas of canyons with multicolored rocks and shadows. This creates a unique and at times other worldly landscapes. There are hikes one can take to see some of these landscapes from different directions.

I was not really aware of the park until we began to plan our trip to Utah. However, I am certainly glad we discovered it. Our experience in Canyonlands did verify that it was much less crowded than nearby Arches. We saw very few people, and parking was never a problem. Certainly both parks are worth visiting, but failing to spend the extra day to tour Canyonlands is a mistake far too many people make. It is definitely worth one’s time.

So is there a location you visited that exceeded your expectations? I’d love to have you share about it in the comment section below. Your comments really add to the knowledge I am hoping to share through this blog so don’t be shy. Also if you have yet to subscribe to my blog be sure to do so. All that’s needed is your email, and a new post will show up in your inbox each Wednesday. Nothing could be easier.

Credits: Pictures of me taken by Silvette Lee