| Finding happiness is easier than you might think. | | | | Oakleigh while you are there. In fact Mobile is packed |
| Happiness is all around us, and all we have to do is | | | | with great historic sites from the French Fort Conte |
| hop in the car and hit the road to find it. Actually, | | | | to the U.S.S Alabama, These sites have been |
| there is more to true happiness than just jumping in | | | | carefully preserved or restored |
| the car, but for many people, self-actualization does | | | | Take time away from the celebrating to visit |
| involve discovering new places, new cultures, | | | | Bellingrath Gardens and home, Dauphin Island Sea |
| beautiful nature and secret little hideaways. Kathleen | | | | Lab, Weeks Bay Preserve, and Mobile Botanical |
| Walls, publisher of American Roads Magazine, and | | | | Gardens (which will introduce you to the ecological |
| David Leonhardt, publisher of Your Daily Dose of | | | | diversity of Mobile as well). Then there are all of |
| Happiness share a few of their favorite "Happy | | | | those parades. All of which are guaranteed to make |
| Trails," hoping you, too, will find happiness there. | | | | you feel good. |
| MOJAVE DESERT | | | | MACON GEORGIA: SPORTS HALL OF FAME |
| For a Canadian, snow is no big deal. This year, we've | | | | INDUCTION |
| been shoveling it since early November. But to find | | | | For some people, sports equate happiness. The |
| snow in a desert, that really made my eyes pop. It | | | | Georgia Sports Hall of Fame's 46th Induction Class, |
| was noon, and it had rained in Palm Springs, California, | | | | which will be held February 7-8 2003, will includes two |
| the previous evening. But the famous Mojave Desert | | | | female pioneers, arguably baseball's greatest home |
| is actually quite high up in the mountains, and the rain | | | | run hitter, one of football's best place kickers, a |
| fell there as snow. Just how amazing was it to see | | | | Peach State high school coaching legend, and one of |
| snow tucked up against the north side of a cactus? | | | | Georgia's most celebrated golfers. |
| Amazing enough that, through my jetlag, I delivered | | | | Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is the newest of |
| a mostly impromptu speech on the sighting at my | | | | Macon's attractions housing memorabilia of pro and |
| Toastmasters club. | | | | amateur athletes in all fields. You can even |
| If you want to see snow sidling up to a cactus - | | | | experience the thrill of driving in a Nascar event |
| what a photo op! - head for the desert in January or | | | | without the danger. Climb into a racecar and take the |
| February, and make sure to choose a desert with a | | | | wheel in a fast paced race. Hear the sound when you |
| high altitude. The Mojave Desert proved most | | | | ram the fence. Experience the thrill of the track. |
| effective for this. Now, should I mention the Joshua | | | | Then get the results of your foray into professional |
| trees? | | | | racecar driving. Depending on how well you drive, the |
| YELLOWKNIFE | | | | results may or my not make you happy. The |
| It really is hard to fill one's eyes with wonder, what | | | | museum is sure to be a crowd pleaser for sports |
| with Star Wars and The Lord of The Rings and so | | | | fans and non-fans alike |
| many special effects that make a person just want | | | | FORT VALLEY GEORGIA: FESTIVALOF CAMELLIAS |
| to yawn. Then, every now and then, one comes | | | | Flowers are a sure mood lifter, so don't miss the |
| across something truly unique, something that actually | | | | Festival of Camellias at Massee Lane Gardens in Fort |
| does make your eyes pop with wonder. Such is | | | | Valley Georgia encompasses the entire month of |
| Yellowknife, a town built on a peninsula of rock in the | | | | February when camellia blooms are at their |
| Arctic. What is unique about this town are the | | | | peak.(Something is out of place in this sentence.) The |
| houses in the old city. There are some amazing | | | | flowers begin to show color in October and continue |
| mansions hoisted up on the rock. Well, at least some | | | | through late March. |
| corners are on the rock. Others are on stilts one or | | | | Not only camellias show their beautiful faces here. |
| two stories high. Each house is unique, and so are the | | | | Each season provides a new delight for the eyes |
| various contraptions to keep them level on this | | | | with roses, flowering bulbs, day lilies and much more. |
| uneven land. (Why would anybody choose this spot | | | | Even the path winding throughout the gardens is |
| to settle in the first place, with so much flat land all | | | | unusual. Scattered randomly through it you will find |
| around?) | | | | ancient millstones gathered from middle Georgia. Also |
| The second amazing feature is the shanty-town | | | | along the path you spot granite mile stones from the |
| shacks scattered among the mansions. In every | | | | Old Wire Road witch ran from New Orleans to |
| other city, the slums and the ritzy parts of town are | | | | Washington, D. C. The road was so named because it |
| separate, but not in Yellowknife. I found that a truly | | | | was the route of the first telegraph lines in the |
| stereotype- shattering sight. | | | | southeast. |
| LUSK CAVERNS, GATINEAU PARK | | | | After you have absorbed nature's outdoor offerings, |
| Happiness is spelunking. Let's face it, you've done a | | | | visit the two museums housing the largest public |
| million vacations on the road and in the air and on the | | | | collection of Boehm Porcelains. Here you will find |
| water. How many have you done underground? | | | | nature reproduced so exquisitely you will sometimes |
| Two, in my case. Once in Pennsylvania on a boat, | | | | think you are looking on a live bird or a blooming |
| and once in Gatineau Park, in Quebec. | | | | flower. |
| If you think of a cave as something cavernous, | | | | ATHENS GEORGIA: TASTE OF ATHENS |
| these don't qualify. The two caves are merely a | | | | Food is sure to make everyone happy and Taste of |
| passage for a stream that flows underground for a | | | | Athens, a community fund raiser, is sure to make |
| few yards. The first cave is just right for little | | | | you feel good all over. You get to sample all of the |
| children, who can wade in the gently-flowing water. | | | | exotic restaurants Athens Georgia abounds in all |
| The second cave is a little more challenging, as the | | | | under on roof and contribute to a good cause at the |
| water pools into a miniature underground lake. In the | | | | same time this February 23th. |
| spring, when the water is high, there's not much | | | | Athens' restaurants are hard to beat both in number |
| room for a head to pass between the water and the | | | | and in excellent cuisine. Harry Bissett's New Orleans |
| roof of the cave. Of course, you have to be daring | | | | Cafe and Oyster Bar, where you experience the |
| to brave the cold spring water. June is a great time | | | | ambience as well as the authentic food of "The Big |
| to visit; by August there's not as much water. And | | | | Easy". It's housed in an old bank building and the |
| can there be anything happier than splashing in water | | | | mellow brick walls are reminiscent of some of the |
| while exploring a cave? Happiness is watching the | | | | French Quarter's courtyard restaurants. The majority |
| sunrise over Mobile Bay. And what better time to | | | | of the food served here is spicy, for example The |
| visit the city by the bay than Mardi Gras, when the | | | | Blackened Redfish, gumbo and Crawfish Etoffee, but |
| historic city puts on it's party face. This traditional | | | | there are enough less heated dishes to suit any |
| celebration was brought to Mobile by the French | | | | taste. Any festival that brings all of these culinary |
| even before it was established in New Orleans. That | | | | delights together makes me happy. |
| history is preserved at the Mardi Gras Cottage | | | | It looks like for David, happiness is scenery, and for |
| Museum located on the grounds of Oakleigh, an | | | | Kathleen, it's festivals. Whatever it is about traveling |
| antebellum mansion located in the historic section of | | | | that turns you on, now's the time to hit the trail. So |
| this fun city. Centuries of Mardi Gras history are | | | | "Happy Trails to you until we meet again. |
| packed into this little cottage. Be sure to visit | | | | |