Posted on 02/26/2018 1:14:22 PM PST by MissEdie
I have a question for you Freepers who travel a lot. My daughter has asked for a trip to the Diamond Park in Arkansas for her birthday. We will be traveling via car from South Carolina to Arkansas, possibly in late June early July. I am looking for a service to design a trip with directions and points of interest along the way. I have tried AAA on previous travels but I want something that offers better information about local landmarks/historical places we will be passing.
Contact the states you want to visit. You will get some very nice (free)maps, brochures and contact info. You can custom design it yourself.
I have no suggestions on a specific route, but I strongly recommend you get your car’s AC checked out and, if needed, serviced, before you start your trip.
Hope you find some diamonds.
Don’t use Delta!
I agree with that. Planning the trip was always one of the fun parts of our cross country trips with 3 kids and dog.
My daughter has asked for a trip to the Diamond Park in Arkansas for her birthday. We will be traveling via car from South Carolina to Arkansas, possibly in late June early July...
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Go early. That is - take that trip now. Or early spring. If you must go in June or July - go early in the day.
You will be out in an open dirt field with temperatures blazing hot. Oh, then if that sun doesn’t bake your brains, you will sweat to death with the humidity.
You will have a good time, don’t let my comments here dissuade you. Just know it’ll be hot as hades.
Up thread someone posted to get info from the States tourist bureau(s). Excellent idea.
I notice the Google Earth has a very good catalogue of places of interest with travelers notes and pictures.
If you wanted to go through North Alabama, there is the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.
I’ve gone there twice. Its hot!! If you want any alcohol bring it with you. Its a dry county, you can’t buy it, but you can consume it. Do you know what chiggers are?? I thought mosquitoes were the bane of existence until i met these little demons. Make sure to pick up some Arkansas stones for knife sharpening. We didn’t find any stones while we were there. We had better luck rock hunting in North Carolina.
Prepare to swelter in the mud.
Made that trip with the wife when we were young. Told her I’d buy her a diamond the minute we left!
I can’t be of any help at all.
But I wanted to say your daughter is so lucky to have such a considerate and thoughtful Mom. I’ll bet she loves the trip and what you finally have planned.
Hope you have a terrific vacation!
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were found here in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats.
Notable diamonds found by visitors to the state park include the Amarillo Starlight, a 16.37-carat white diamond discovered in 1975, which ranks as the largest diamond ever found by a park visitor. The second-largest find by a visitor is the Star of Shreveport, an 8.82-carat white gem unearthed in 1981. In 2011, a visitor from Colorado found an 8.66-carat white gem named the Illusion Diamond, which is the third-largest gem found at the park.
In June 2015, another visitor from Colorado discovered an 8.52-carat white diamond named the Esperanza, the fifth-largest diamond found by a visitor. In September 2015, celebrated diamond cutter Mike Botha cut the Esperanza into a 4.6-carat triolette shape during a public event in North Little Rock. The diamond was later graded colorless and internally flawless by the American Gem Society and valued at $500,000.
I hope you guys strike it big. 8>)
Hot Spings is a nice city to visit while in the area.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60856-Hot_Springs_Arkansas-Vacations.html
Also, Petit Jean Park is not too far away.
I concur regarding the time of year to visit. Late spring or fall is best.
I used to have summers off. I did four cross country trips over ten years. The best one—the last one I did alone. I left without an agenda or destination.
After a particularly tough couple of years caring for elder relatives my told me to get on my motorcycle, and go, Spend what I wanted. Go for as long as I wanted. But when I came home, I had to go get a job.
People in this country are great. You just need to meet them.
But Arkansas in July is much hotter and more humid than you might think.
ML/NJ
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