Author: Ms. R.

Located in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District is the world-famous honky-tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas. This huge country/western nightclub opened in 1981 and was named after its founder Billy Bob Barnett, a former professional football player. The building dates back to 1910 when it was once an open-air cattle barn, part of the Fort Worth Stockyard. During World War II, the barn became an airplane factory and in the 1950s it was converted into a large department store…….

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An easel on the sidewalk suggests a pop-up-style shark museum exhibition hiding on the third floor of one of many historical buildings in the heart of downtown Westerly. A coastal town in Rhode Island, Westerly is known for its sandy shoreline access, world-renowned surf haunts, and sleepy upscale living communities. Rhode Island tracks its shark population using modern tracking technology. The Living Sharks Museum is far ahead of the curve in educating the public on the sharks that populate……

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One of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix—they explode. The resulting detonation obliterated the surrounding forest and left a circular, low-rimmed volcanic crater, called a maar, about 3,000 feet across and more than 600 feet deep. The prehistoric rains gradually filled in the hole, forming a……

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This small Catholic church is located amid farmland near the communities of Reyes Etla and Villa de Etla in Oaxaca. It houses an effigy of Christ that is highly venerated by the locals, specially on its feast day during Lent. Known as both “El Señor de las Peñas” (the Lord of Rocks) or “Señor de las Peñitas” (the Lord of Little Rocks), its feast is one of the most popular in the state. What sets this sanctuary apart from……

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In 1979, When Rodrigo Carvalho was nine years old, his mother took him to Rio De Janeiro’s largest outdoor market, Feira Nordestina, where more than 600 vendors from Brazil’s Northeast region came to sell their wares. These include food, folk medicine, handicrafts—and cages upon cages of wild animals. “I very much remember the snakes, because I was always fascinated by snakes,” Carvalho says. “But there were turtles and monkeys and thousands of birds.” Wildlife trafficking in Brazil happens mostly……

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A beloved beast in bronze sits beneath the central arch of a historic edifice, one of two visible clues that point to the past life of this Beaux-Arts building. The other symbol is a concrete slab directly above the elk’s head engraved with the letters “B.P.O.E.” Land for the headquarters of the Alexandria Elks Club was purchased in 1902, the same year the chapter was founded. Plans for the lodge were drafted in 1909 and Lodge #758 was completed……

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The Basilica di Sant’Andrea stands in in Mantua’s historical center, overlooking the Piazza Mantegna. In the crypt are kept two reliquaries with earth soaked in the blood of Christ. Christian tradition holds that while Jesus was being crucified, a Roman soldier named Longinus pierced his side with a lance. After Jesus died, Longinus repented for his sin and collected the blood-soaked soil from underneath the cross. That mix of blood and earth is now considered a holy relic, the Preziosissimo Sangue……

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