The first round of winter holidays is over, but these road trips are the perfect way to celebrate some of the commemorations of late winter: the Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, Ramadan, and Easter.
Mamalahoa Kona Heritage Corridor Scenic Byway
Explore over the Lunar New Year, February 10
The Mamalahoa Kona Heritage Corridor is only 11 miles long, but it winds through hundreds of years of history and culture. The byway follows an ancient footpath that became the first road route around the Island of Hawaii. A modern drive feels like a trip through the past.
Perched on the slopes of the Hualalai volcano, the area’s temperate climate established it as an agricultural area in the days of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1828, the introduction of a new crop launched the industry Kona is known for: coffee. It also jump-started immigration to the area as people arrived to work the temperamental bean.
The route runs through the village of Holualoa, home of dozens of historic buildings that reflect the multicultural makeup of the community. The oldest remaining structure, built in 1895, is a small shack originally used to make sake. A charming 800 square foot former Buddhist temple is visible from the road, currently a private residence.
Antu Harvey, Executive Director of the heritage council, says traversing the narrow, windy road requires driving with aloha. It only takes about 30 minutes, but visitors will want to at least stop in small, walkable Holualoa. Named for the Hawaiian practice of descending long mountain slopes on wooden sleds, its historic buildings now house art galleries, coffee shops, and restaurants. Four original general stores, a handful of the 23 that used to line the route, have gained new life in the village.
At Kimura’s Lahaula Shop, the family’s fourth generation specializes in lauhala weaving, an important part of the island’s cultural heritage. Petals and Provisions offers lei making classes. The annual Hōlualoa Coffee & Art Stroll (part of the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival) hosts free coffee tastings by 30 local coffee farms and open art galleries.
“The heritage corridor route runs through a sleepy coffee growing area, and the small farms have tours and tastings,” said Harvey. “The Island of Hawaii is over 4,000 square miles, twice as big as the rest of the islands put together. Composed of 28 different ecosystems, from low desert to tropical forest, it is beautiful to drive.”
Cajun Bayou Food Trail
Celebrate Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras, February 13
The best-known Mardi Gras city in the nation is New Orleans, Louisiana, but 45 minutes south of the city you can find a more intimate, small-town experience. The Cajun Bayou Food Trail, dubbed “off the eaten path,” links communities across Lafourche Parish.
“Food culture runs the way of life around here and it is one of the biggest attractions in Louisiana,” explained Ian Wallis with Lafourche Parish tourism. “The trail recommends 18 mom and pop restaurants that serve locally-sourced authentic Cajun and seafood dishes.”
Meals on the Cajun Bayou Food Trail from Griffin’s, Kajun Twist, and Cher Amie’s Seafood Restaurant. (Photos: courtesy of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism)
The largest town in the parish is Thibodaux, pop 15,543. This university town has a French-quarter style streetscape with eight Cajun food joints, from hole-in-the-wall diners to upscale modern seafood restaurants. Visitors who take the time to wind further down the bayou, to Cut Off and Galliano, will find traditional down-home Cajun comfort food and genuine small-town experiences.
The parish events calendar runs on food. The bayou-based seasons include spring mud bugs (crawfish), summer shrimp, fall oysters, and a winter gumbo festival. Mardi Gras, though, is a month-long marathon season all its own, with 16 separate parades throughout the parish. Last February, over 2,000 people attended the holiday kick-off Bayou King Cake Festival. Restaurants on the trail joined the fun, creating special dishes like a king cake burger.
The food trail first began in 2018, but Lafourche Parish was hard hit by the pandemic in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021. Since its relaunch in May 2023, the trail has attracted 200 people who have eaten over 850 local meals. Among those who have completed the five-stop passport were diners from Indiana, Texas, Florida, and Minnesota.
In between meals, visitors can stop at Zam’s Swamp Tours to see alligators up-close, then take a boat tour with an unapologetically Cajun guide. Fishing charters and kayaking are also popular, and for rainy days, the parish has several museums including the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. “Friendly people make Lafourche Parish what it is,” said Wallis. “When you visit, the restaurant staff and chefs will introduce themselves and might even invite you over to their houses.”
Covered Bridges Scenic Byway
Take your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day, February 14
Covered bridges are often referred to as kissing bridges for their clandestine nature, but those on the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway in Madison County, Iowa, have a special claim to romantic fame. It was here that author and amateur photographer Robert James Waller found inspiration and the setting for “The Bridges of Madison County,” a fictional love story that became one of the best-selling novels of all time, a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, and a Broadway musical. Now, these bridges are part of an 82-mile-long state scenic byway designated in 2016.
The byway’s hub is Winterset, pop 5,455. Three rivers cut through Madison County, and in the 1870’s locals constructed 19 covered bridges. Built of wood, walls and roofs were added to the bridges to guard against extreme weather and get more years of wear. Of the six bridges that remain, five are original and four have flat roofs that are of a unique construction, not found anywhere else in the United States or Europe.
Besides travelling to all six picturesque 150-year-old red bridges, a romantic weekend could include tastings at the two wineries and one hard apple cidery in the county. The downtown Iowa Theater is a single screen art deco cinema built in 1913. A perfect date place, it runs romantic classic movies every Wednesday in February. Stay at one of the local historic stone homes or the Covered Bridges farmhouse, built by a family of renowned covered bridge builders. All are listed on Airbnb.
Besides travelling to all six picturesque 150-year-old red bridges, a romantic weekend could include tastings at the two wineries and one hard apple cidery in the county. The downtown Iowa Theater is a single screen art deco cinema built in 1913. A perfect date place, it runs romantic classic movies every Wednesday in February. Stay at one of the local historic stone homes or the Covered Bridges farmhouse, built by a family of renowned covered bridge builders. All are listed on Airbnb.
Though “The Bridges of Madison County,” was published in 1992, its love story continues to resonate. Madison County has seen more than its share of engagements and wedding proposals and the bridges themselves hold carved professions of love from numerous visitors.
Teddi Yeager with Madison County tourism remembers a recent visitor, a middle-aged woman from Australia who arrived holding her dog-eared copy of the book. She had experienced a thwarted love affair similar to the one in the story, and this emotional in-person visit to the county was on her bucket list.
“There are thousands and thousands of stories,” said Yeager. “Visitors from around the world continue to make the covered bridges a place of pilgrimage.”
Religious Freedom Byway
Appreciate freedom of religion over Ramadan, March 11; and Easter, March 31
The roots of one of the first amendment’s protections can be traced back to the founding of the colony of Maryland. It was established in 1634 by English Catholics, and religious tensions between the colonists and the government led to the adoption of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. It was the first time such a liberty was codified into law.
Those early freedoms were revoked in 1692 by an Anglican majority, but it was the Maryland delegates to the Continental Congress in 1787 who lobbied to include the guarantee in the Bill of Rights. Driving the 195-mile Religious Freedom Byway, with stops at congregations that have worshipped continuously for over 300 years, allows visitors to give pause and fully appreciate the foundational nature of this freedom.
Historic St. Mary’s City, an expansive living-history museum and archaeology site, provides visitors with an immersion into the 1700s. It served as Maryland’s first capital from 1634 to 1695 and is the site of the first Catholic chapel in the colonies, the Brick Chapel of 1667. Roman Catholic parishioners worshipped here until 1704, when the Anglican governor closed it and the structure was dismantled.
The chapel was recently reconstructed on its original site using 17th-century techniques. The north transom has a clear glass floor, where visitors can see the original lead coffin coverings of three 17th century colonists.
Heading north, St. Clement’s Island State Park commemorates the first Catholic mass celebrated in the English-speaking colonies. A 40-foot-tall cross honors the service, held in 1634, and the faithful colonists who arrived on ships named the Ark and the Dove. Accessible only by water taxi, the rustic park is perfect for hiking and fishing.
St. Ignatius Chapel Point is the oldest Catholic parish in continuous service in the United States. Established in 1641 by Jesuit priests, members of the congregation can trace their lineage back to both the native Piscataway peoples and the early settlers. The church sits on a hill overlooking the Potomac River and has a gorgeous view of the sunset.
Other sites on the byway include St. George’s Episcopal Church, built in 1799; Mt. Carmel Monastery, home of the first religious community for women in America; and Christ Church in La Plata, famously moved from Port Tobacco by ox cart, stone by stone. Together, they demonstrate the strength of the human spiritual impulse and the nation’s capacity for pluralism.
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