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MUMBLINGS August 11, 2005
Sight seeing and traveling are important topics of
conversation and economics in Baldwin County.
This is our biggest source of income, which brings Alabama
more tourist dollars than any other county in the state.
It has been my good fortune to do
considerable sight seeing throughout the world the past several decades.
Happily, many of the readers of this column like for me to talk on the subject.
In fact, I've had some loyal readers fuss at me because I haven't been
traveling much lately. Hopefully, before the year is over, this will be
partially corrected. Present plans are to visit Glacier National Park in
Northwestern Montana; Branson, Missouri, one of the most entertaining small
cities to be found anywhere and I am still hoping that Karlene and my family
will permit me to go to India before the year is over.
Throughout the years, many of you have
heard about the Seven Wonders of the World. These Wonders include ancient, as
well as modern, man-made and God made.
Various experts, travelers etc. have
listed seven wonders of their own. As you expect, they vary widely and it would
be, understandably, a very difficult task to accurately name the Seven Wonders
of the World. It would be easy to name many, many more.
For example, the Readers Digest suggests
the following as one Seven Wonders list: The Taj Mahal of India
built in 1630- 48 by the Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz
Mahal, said to be the most beautiful building in the world.
Next is The Great Wall of
China, built originally to keep out nomadic invaders from the
North… most of the present wall was constructed during the Ming dynasty
(1368 - 1644). The wall winds for 1400 miles across northern China and has an
average height of 23 ft. It is the only man made site naturally visible from
space. It has been my privilege to see this.
The Easter Island Statues carved from
volcanic rock… this South Pacific island on which they stand was
discovered on Easter Day, 1722 by the Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeven… and
the ancestors of the island's Polynesian inhabitants probably made them.
The Mayan City of Tihal, Central America,
was the ceremonial center of the Mayan empire, dating back to about 300 BC. It
was rediscovered in 1848 by a team of Guatamalan explorers. Situated in
northern Guatamala, its temples and buildings include the imposing Pyramid of
the Great Jaguar and the Palace of the Nobles.
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