OFM Travel: Places to Visit During a Time of COVID Healing

Enjoyable Spaces Requiring Masks On Your Faces

Five Destinations Open for Visitation During The Healing Period Of COVID-19

Has your wanderlust’s spirit been aching for freedom? Have you been itching to travel places that may be off the beaten path?  Here are five destinations that may peak your interest and alleviate the “stay-at-home” blues. All five destinations are in the Lower 48.

750 Miles of Empire State Trail

New York to Canada Border

As of December 2020, all 750 miles of Empire State Trail have been completed. The trail runs through New York City via the Hudson and Champlain Valleys to Canada, and from Albany to Buffalo along the Erie Canal. The trail is 75 percent off-road, ideal for cyclists, hikers, and runners. 

Now named the nation’s longest, multi-use trail, the trail provides a “safe and scenic pathway for New Yorkers and for tourists to experience New York State’s varied landscape.” Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul comments, “The completion of the 750-mile state trail not only makes physical connection between locations across the state, but it continues to build on how we are reimagining our natural wonders and historic corridors as a source of recreation, economic development, and tourism in New York State.” The Empire State Trail connects to 20 other regional trails, creating one uninterrupted stateside route. 

Alcatraz East

Pigeon Ford, Tennessee

Home to some of America’s most notorious and horrific history, Alcatraz East is a museum that encompasses all things serial killers and criminal events. The museum boasts collections of historical, “criminal” artifacts such as Ted Bundy’s VW Beetle and OJ Simpson’s White Bronco, plus crucial belongings of Bonnie and Clyde, John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, and more!  

Alcatraz East’s goal is to “share the connection between events such as these and how they affected our country through one-of-a-kind objects.” Visitors can explore American horror history from a unique and up-close perspective by exploring five different galleries that scrutinize and display criminal profiles, criminal artifacts, and victims’ stories, as well as discover critical information about crime prevention and forensic science. Alcatraz East has more than 100 interactive displays to experience and learn about America’s criminal history.  

Alcatraz East is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey, California

Monterey, a small-but-wondrous beach town located on the rugged coastline of Central California, is home of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While many of the buildings in this beach town  present a strong relationship between site and community, nothing comes close to the intimacy the Monterey Bay Aquarium flaunts between the aquarium and the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. 

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, expanding 320,000 square feet, stands on the precious shorelines of Monterey Bay.  Home to more than 35,000 sea animals and plants, the Monterey Bay Aquarium focuses on regional animals and habitats that occupy the Pacific Ocean it touches. The Monterey Bay Aquarium “blurs the lines between museums and natural habitat” in many ways, including having expansive, open windows looking out into the ocean, continuously stimulating its visitors with never-ending, transitional observation of ocean life indoors and outdoors.

Natural Bridge Caverns

San Antonio, Texas

Nearby in San Antonio, the Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest, commercial caverns in the state of Texas. The deepest part of the caverns available for tourism is 180 feet below the surface. The tourist destination offers three different exploration packages to choose from.  The “Discovery Tour” is the most popular tour, as it includes illuminating, “state-of-the-art,” LED technology. 

This package comprises a half-mile exploration “of the most spectacular show cavern in Texas.” The second package is the “Hidden Passage Tour.” This tour is unique because it examines the cave passages in light and darkness combined to increase exploration stimulation in the underground chambers. Hidden Passage Tour offers the unique experience leaving guests in the cavern in total darkness. For those who want the ultimate experience, the third package is called “Combo,” which includes both tours. 

The caverns are still slowly developing and evolving, ready for visitor exploration daily from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

UFO Watchtower

San Luis, Colorado

Colorado’s oldest city, San Luis, is 223 miles from Denver. This historic town is home to a supernatural attraction. For visitors desiring a wild experience, San Luis homes to multiple vortexes of energy. The UFO Watchtower is an “off the road” attraction which keeps visitors curiously coming back and locals regularly looking up into the sky.  

The Watchtower rests upon an area that is said to have “powerful magnetic pulls within converging vortexes” and portals into other dimensions. Opened in 2000 by Judy Messoline, the UFO Watchtower has become a landmark in the San Luis Valley. The tower itself stands 10 feet tall and presents a full, 360-degree view of the area, providing an all-encompassing chance for the extraterrestrial and supernatural seekers an opportunity to spot and experience UFO sightings. 

Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends only.