December 09, 2021

Preserving a Heritage Trail The Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail, named for the author’s 1942 autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road, is a trail highlighting eight locations that were relevant to Hurston’s life and final years in Fort Pierce, Florida. The history it encodes into the city, of Black life thriving on its own during segregation in the American South, is monumental. Hurston had spent her final years in lush and colorful Fort Pierce, along the Treasure Coast, some 30 years after her time as a core figure of the Harlem Renaissance, and today, the community is pushing to keep her memory alive. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Fountain Revivals There’s a revival movement happening in Mumbai—specifically around its pyaaus, or water fountains. The fountains were largely built between the late 1800s and mid 1900s, and while there are no clear numbers on how many pyaaus Mumbai once had, close to 30 are being restored or are already functioning. These fountains were once more than public utilities; they were once architectural gems, with some even rising to more than 20 feet. READ MORE → FREE MEMBERS-ONLY EVENT Winter Wonder Show Don’t miss this special holiday event! Join us as we celebrate the season with some of our favorite curious people and visit some wondrous places. We’ll look at curious holiday toys at the Strong Museum of Play; learn about the dances and celebrations of Matariki, the Māori new year; chat with special guests; and much more! It’s going to be the most wondrous holiday celebration of the season! Not a member yet? Join our membership program to qualify for your free ticket to this wonderful event and all our upcoming members-only events. GET TICKETS → VALENTINE PLAINS, AUSTRALIA Beautiful Betsy Crash Site On February 26, 1945, a B-24 Liberator bomber named the Beautiful Betsy went missing on a flight across Australia from Darwin to Brisbane. Several expeditions were dispatched to find the bomber, but none were successful. Over the decades the missing plane became a largely forgotten mystery, until one fateful day in 1994. READ MORE → 15 Places That Sparkle Year-Round One of the great joys of the holiday season is the wealth of artistic light displays that cascade from houses, trees, and, in some cases, cover entire mountainsides. But we don’t have to wait for the holidays to enjoy amazing displays of light! Here are some of our favorite spots that sparkle and shine, holiday season or not. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA COURSES Cooking Insect-Based Dishes Insects have increasingly been making headlines as a sustainable food of the future, but they’ve been enjoyed by billions of people across the globe for a long, long time. In this hands-on cooking workshop led by edible insect expert Chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs, you’ll explore the culinary role of insects in a variety of cuisines, get to know the distinct flavor profiles of different insects and learn how to incorporate them into your dishes. ENROLL NOW → BROOKLYN, NEW YORK Brooklyn-Flatbush Border Line What we know as Brooklyn today wasn’t just one city: Many of Brooklyn’s iconic neighborhoods started off as their own villages, and the “city” of Brooklyn wouldn’t properly exist until 1834. But even then the area of Flatbush retained its independence until 1894, just four years before the entirety of Brooklyn was incorporated into the City of Greater New York in 1898. A few signs of Flatbush’s independent streak remain throughout the neighborhood, including this plaque and a statue marking the former location of the Dongan Oak, a tall tree that once stood between Brooklyn and Flatbush. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES The Unusually Long Life of the Greenland Shark At first glance, Greenland sharks are strange, but perhaps unremarkable. They’re sluggish, awkwardly proportioned, and often have long, pinkish parasites dangling from their eyes. But a recent study of these sharks produced astounding results, indicating that Greenland sharks could live anywhere between 272 and 512 years. There could be Greenland sharks alive today, the results suggest, that were born during the Renaissance. READ MORE → THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST The Past Beneath Our Feet In this episode, Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team catch listeners up on the new and surprising additions to Atlas Obscura that capture their attention. This includes a heiress’s pet cemetery and ruins visible beneath a grocery store floor. FROM THE ARCHIVES The Enduring Mystery of ‘Jawn’ The word “jawn”—found in Philadelphia—is unlike any other English word. In fact, according to experts, it’s unlike any other word in any other language. It is an all-purpose noun, a stand-in for inanimate objects, abstract concepts, events, places, individual people, and groups of people. It is a magical word, and did not come about in a vacuum—the rise of “jawn” dovetails with breakthroughs in the study of American linguistics itself. READ MORE → PORTUGAL Covão dos Conchos Despite its appearance, the surreal-looking opening in Portugal’s Lagoa da Serra da Estrela is actually not a portal to any other time or place, but rather a man-made funnel leading into a long tunnel. Though it looks like a natural sinkhole lined with cascading waterfalls, Covão dos Conchos is, in fact, a wonder of engineering. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA TRIPS Oaxaca: Tastes of Past & Present Escape winter with a trip to Mexico. You could be experiencing the sights and flavors of Oaxaca in February! Join us on this epicurean adventure through the most diverse region in Mexico. Enjoy home-cooked meals, hands-on cooking workshops, an artisanal mezcal distillery tour, and much more as we trace the rich history, culture, and culinary traditions of Oaxaca. VIEW FULL ITINERARY →