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EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL SERIES
Houston Institute for Culture Tour DescriptionsThe current tour schedule is on line at:
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel
We have organized travel for over ten years with a simple plan: the most adventure for the best price. During that time we covered the Southwest United States and Mexico extensively and started traveling to New York City and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival during the past five years for new educational opportunities and experiences. But, wherever we travel, we have so much local experience to share, that we feel at home anywhere.
Group sizes are usually five to six travelers. Most are willing to make the tour entirely by van, but there is nearly always an option to fly to Albuquerque or El Paso to begin our western adventures. Our East Coast trips to Washington DC and New York City all require travel by plane and rely mostly on subways to get around the city. We plan for the transportation costs to be divided among travelers, and hotel or motel accommodations to be paid in pairs (double occupancy). Air fare is additional and single occupancy rooms will usually cost more. Meals are not covered, unless they are part of the hotel room charges.
With increasing fuel prices and other costs going up, this may be the last effective way to travel without getting on a large charter bus on a tight schedule.
It is recommended that you attend a slide presentation to learn more and have specific questions answered, and meet others who you may be traveling with some day soon.
TOUR DESCRIPTIONS
The Land of Enchantment
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; rural adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking]
Our New Mexico adventures are auto tours of small communities, folk traditions and festivals in the culturally rich state. We have a few favorite events, like the Fiesta de San Lorenzo (now in its fourth century), wine festivals, and holiday traditions. We travel just at the right time to have the best possible experience in the Land of Enchantment during the annual Good Friday Pilgrimage to Chimayo, Gathering of Nations, or Christmas. Trips to New Mexico take place in April, August, or December.
A Santa Fe Christmas
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; rural adventure; urban adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking]
Santa Fe is one of our very favorite places to spend Christmas. We travel leisurely through the plains of Texas and eastern New Mexico, with a flexible schedule to avoid winter weather conditions. Our northern New Mexico plans usually include Christmas Eve in the town square and walking the luminaria-lined Canyon Road. We attend Christmas Day ceremonies at area pueblos, visit Spanish-era churches, and tour art and history exhibits at the Museum of New Mexico units around Santa Fe.
Dineh (Navajoland)
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; rural adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible]
Our visits to the Navajo Nation are planned to coincide with longstanding traditional events, such as the Navajo Nation Fair and the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial. We stay in some of our favorite towns, like Bluff, Utah and Farmington, New Mexico, where we stop in for a meal at the Three Rivers microbrewery. We usually include a side trip to Canyon de Chelley, Acoma Pueblo (Sky City), or Wupatki National Monument.
Canyonlands of the Colorado Plateau
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible; backpacking possible; biking possible]
Our auto tour of the surreal landscape of southern Utah takes us to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, as well as out-of-the-way places like Luna Mesa, Valley of the Gods and the Moki Dugway. Sometimes we focus on the southeastern corner of the state, covering the highly photogenic Canyonlands, Arches, and Natural Bridges National Parks from our base in Moab. The trip is usually offered in early summer, but as an auto tour with short and medium day hikes, it also presents great possibilities in fall, and even winter (when we have added a side trip to the Grand Canyon).
The Great Unknown (Glen Canyon/Colorado River)
[cultural experience; education; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible; backpacking possible; boating]
Our Lake Powell adventure features boating in the cliff-lined path of the Colorado River, once explored by John Wesley Powell. We usually spend three days on the lake and camp for two nights in our favorite remote spots in places like Balancing Rock Canyon. Nothing compares to the experience of riding a small boat or canoe into the serene narrow canyons and smooth water to sites like Rainbow Bridge. Depending on the length of the trip, we usually relax for a couple of days at one of our favorite old vacation motels in Page, Arizona and hike a spectacular slot canyon on the Navajo Nation.
Blue Mesa/Black Canyon Adventure
[cultural experience; education; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; train possible; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking; backpacking possible; biking possible; boating possible]
Our typical adventure in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado includes rugged hikes into the narrow Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, a 3,000 foot deep gorge, as well as hiking and camping near the Blue Lakes, high in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness. We stay in a well-kept locally owned motel in Montrose, Colorado. This trip offers excellent auto touring in the Rocky Mountains. On some occasions we have taken a narrow gage train from Durango to Silverton, or hiked to cascading waterfalls near Ouray. But there is still more to do; we are still looking forward to seeing the Aspen trees turn golden in the fall.
The Ancient Puebloans
[cultural experience; education; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; great restaurants possible; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; train possible; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking; backpacking possible]
Our trips to see ancient ruins of the Anasazi take us to Aztec, New Mexico and Cortez, Colorado. We take in Native American talks and dance programs at the Cortez Cultural Center, and we tour magnificent 1,000 year old dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park and others. Depending on the season and weather conditions, we hike easy trails in Chaco Canyon to spectacular vistas above the prehistoric pueblos. For winter and spring visits we hike to sites in Bandelier National Park near Santa Fe.
Islands in the Sky (Chiricahua Mountains)
[cultural experience; education; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking; backpacking possible; biking possible]
Our favorite destination for combining history resources with great hiking and photo opportunities is the underutilized parks and research centers of southeast Arizona. We make our base during any season in one of the curious desert communities of Cochise County, or camp in Cave Creek Canyon in late spring. We fill our days with sightseeing trips to historic mining towns-turned-art colonies, bustling border towns, centuries-old Jesuit missions, or mountaintop observatories. The food may be typical American fare in this region, but the magnificent scenery overcompensates for it.
Mexico's Grand Canyon (Copper Canyon)
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; wilderness adventure; rural adventure; urban adventure possible; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; train; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible; backpacking possible; biking possible]
Our most exciting and sometimes mystical adventures take us to North America's most dramatic environment, the Barrancas del Cobre. Depending on the interests of the group we may find ourselves hiking over remote mountains in the land of the Tarahumara Indians, lazing near the river in Batopilas, making short day hikes to old Spanish ruins and remote villages, or touring nearby waterfalls and Indian villages with local tour guides. The canyon system offers several possible modes of transportation, from trains that cross high trestles and deep tunnels, to old school busses that climb the steep canyon roads, and one of the latest ways to see the canyons, by bike. And we frequently use our own two feet to go where humans rarely go in this vast rugged land.
The Colonial Cities of Mexico
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; rural adventure; urban adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; train or subway; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking]
Whether we fly to bustling Mexico City, or take the El Expresso or Turismos Rapidos bus lines right out of Houston, we experience the real Mexico in old world colonial cities, including San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Puebla, and Taxco. We often visit during El Dia de los Muertos, Semana Santa, Oaxaca's Gualagetza, or Canaval in Vera Cruz. On our way to national anthropology museums and art galleries, we are always on the lookout for new favorite restaurants in the mercados and central plazas. And it is always necessary to dedicate some of our time to visiting shops and street vendors in this part of Mexico.
New Orleans and the Deltalands
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; rural adventure; urban adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; auto touring; train or subway possible; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible; boating possible]
We time our New Orleans vacations to take part in local traditions, like Saint Joseph's Day, the Irish-Italian Parade and Super Sunday. And we attend annual music festivals, like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Gretna Heritage Festival. In addition to our favorite local spots, we visit many of the cityıs lesser known museums and regional historic sites, and often make an auto trip along the back roads of Louisiana.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; urban adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; train or subway; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible]
Out greatest educational and cultural adventure over the past five years has been the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the nation's mall. Themes feature unique and exciting cultures from around the world, including traders and artists of the Silk Road, nomadic travelers from the deserts of Oman, and the music of Latino cultures from all over the Americas. On the first weekend of the festival we usually take part in DC's annual Caribbean Carnival. On the second weekend we enjoy Fourth of July activities in the nation's capital. Our lodging is within walking distance of the rail system and great local restaurants are always in site. We spend each morning at one of the city's many great museums.
New York City Tours
[cultural experience; education; festivals and holidays; urban adventure; great restaurants; beautiful scenery; leisure; train or subway; easy day hiking; moderate day hiking possible]
Our newest travel series takes us to the Burroughs of NYC. We combine Queens and Brooklyn for a lively tour during the week of the West Indian Day Parade. And we set our sites on Manhattan and Staten Island in the early summer or fall. Our New York trips generally involve a great deal of walking through the streets and parks, as we tour historic sites of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, or search for the best pizza and Italian ices on Staten Island, or the best Roti shops and Indo-Caribbean music stores on Liberty Avenue. We always make time for some of the nationıs most important historic sites, like Ellis Island and Union Square.
We are currently working on a tour of central and upstate New York that will tour women's voting rights and Underground Railroad sites in the Finger Lakes region and Mohawk Valley. We also organize trips to the West Coast (San Francisco and Yosemite National Park), and the Great Plains (Yellowstone and the Black Hills) when there is substantial interest. Other destinations offered on a somewhat infrequent basis include archaeological sites in the southeastern United States, as well as prehistoric mound sites in Ohio.
We also organize shorter weekend adventures to places like St Augustine, Florida, Natchitoches, Louisiana and the Cane River National Historic Park.
Call 713-521-3686, or email info@houstonculture.org to learn more.
Houston Institute for Culture
5555 Morningside, Suite 204
Houston, Texas, 77005