Part One: Honoring African American Culture

Discovery Map International salutes the great diversity of our more than 130 destinations within the United States, Canada and Mexico. In view of all that has been happening in our world these past months, the Map Geek thought it would be a good idea to create a series of posts that highlight some of the Black and Brown art, heritage and culture offerings within many of our Discovery Map destinations.

Here at Discovery Map International, we love the Library of Congress. Why wouldn’t we? It is one of the world’s greatest repositories of books and maps, including our entire collection of Discovery Maps. Yep, that’s right! I think I even heard a drumroll that preceded that last disclosure.

So inevitably the Map Geek strives to tout the Library of Congress at every turn. Check out these two previous posts on the Library of Congress entitled Loving the Library of Congress and Loving the Library of Congress Online.

What a summer it has been! Back in the spring when the shutdown first began many people in the hospitality business were panicked about the prospects of a slim summer season. And now, look at how it has panned out. Our mountain and beach towns are booming, our national parks are overflowing with visitors, there’s nary an RV or camper available to rent, many choose to bike, kayak, SUP and other outfitters for fun outdoor toys have sold out and our scenic byways are packed with road trippers. Thank goodness the country has not run out of ice cream!

Have you been to the drive-ins yet this summer? I’m not just talking about a regular drive-in where you sit in your car and watch a classic showing of “ET” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” No, the trend these days during these COVID-19 times is to go and be a part of the show. You can go to a country music concert as in the case of one of the many listed in this Billboard story (which also includes rock and other genres), groove to an electronic music and light show by Mark Rebillet or hear some good stand up comedy like some folks recently did when they attended Jim Gaffigan’s first drive-in stand up show. With your car or flatbed pickup, you have more opportunities than ever to show your enthusiasm–think flashing lights, gyrating windshield wipers and a cacophony of horn tooting. Of course you can also shout, clap, sway and sing along to your heart’s delight whether sitting within the comfy interior of your vehicle or lounging on the hood of your rig. It sounds like a blast and it’s not just happening at old drive-ins; all kinds of parking lots and fields are being converted into showplaces all over the country, allowing for lots of social-distancing fun on these warm summer nights. In Paris, they’ve even created a movie theater where you can watch a film on a boat floating on the river Seine. Not surprisingly, it’s called a float-in instead of a drive-in. Mais oui!

Some regular movie theaters have even started offering drive-in movie experiences. Big Picture Café Theatre in Mad River Valley, Vermont, is one such example. Isn’t it nice to be able to choose two different ways to watch a good flick?

Have you noticed how maps have taken on new significance during COVID-19? Just think of how many times you’ve consulted a map to see which continents, countries, states and cities are affected by this novel coronavirus? Maybe you’ve even looked at a map of your county to check its numbers. You can easily zoom in on one on your handheld device or trace its parameters with your finger in your local newspaper. No matter how you do your map reading, the Map Geek bets that you’ve consulted more maps in recent months than you did in the period leading up to the onslaught of this outbreak. Yes, indeed– the Map Geek is not happy to see how this virus has shaken our world to its core but she is delighted that maps have become such a valuable tool in helping people to better chart and understand this disease.

Whether you’re an ordinary citizen, a nurse, an infectious disease expert, an epidemiologist or just another Map Geek, there are all kinds of COVID-19 maps out there that can serve to better inform you. Many are often accompanied by graphs and statistics much to the delight of numbers people that share a geekiness similar to the Map Geek. It’s all cool stuff despite the fact that much of the information reflects very scary and unfortunate happenings such as loss of life and economic hardship, all a result of this worldwide scourge. But still, these maps have been and will remain essential to all. The Map Geek would go so far as to say that this pandemic will forever change how people look at maps.

Located on every Discovery Map within a little red frame is the following: "This map is catalogued in the Library of Congress, Harvard Map Collection & American Geographical Society Library for Historical Reference." Have you ever noticed that? If so, have you ever thought about what that means?

Next time you pick up a Discovery Map or peruse the Discovery Map website, let your thoughts drift to the many stages of conception and production that go into every one of our maps. As I reported in Day in the Life of a Map Maker, from research, travel/exploration, layout/editing and coloring, there’s a tremendous amount of time and effort that goes into the creation of every Discovery Map destination. And not surprisingly, just like everything about our brand, there’s always a good dose of fun that goes into the making of our maps. So glad we’re not in the vacuum cleaner business! (Although I’m sure that has its entertaining sides as well.)

The average Joe may hear “map” and think highways, rivers and roads, but they may not realize how many types of maps exist. I mean, there are maps for almost everything - weather maps, political maps, even meteor maps! When I’m not on the road hitting the latest and greatest Discovery Map destination, I spend a lot of time (virtually) exploring using the various types of maps online. One of my favorite things about maps is their ability to keep you from getting lost while simultaneously opening the door to discovery. Below you’ll be able to check out my favorite digital maps and a couple cartographers who reveal much more than the correct turn to take.

Maps I Admire:

Fellow geography fans...you may know that Discovery Map is located in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. And what better place on earth to be is there than right here during fall foliage, amid all this glorious and golden (and red, and orange, and purple) splendor? Well...because Discovery Map has an intimate knowledge of 130 destinations, they know that New England doesn’t have an exclusive on fall fun.

Many communities and cultures have distinctive traditions to celebrate the harvest season. Two of my favorite examples...first, while Oktoberfest is beloved worldwide, travelers seeking the truly quirky can take in the quackin’-action of the annual Entenrennen race in Tübingen, a university town in central Germany. Early October is when you’ll see as many as 7,000 rubber ducks dash down the Neckar River. Or, in the Swiss canton of Valais, cows butt heads, or perhaps butt herds, at the Battle of the Queens on October 1 to bring home the grand prize. Spectators can watch cows nudge each other in “combat” to see who will be crowned harvest queen (Queen Cow, that is).

The AAA estimates a whopping 79% of families are taking to the road this summer to explore the nooks and crannies, and vast landscape, of America. If you're one of the 40 million map-users out there, we've got you covered!

Back in the old days, or what I call BA (Before Apple), parents did everything they could to keep us kids interested....and well-behaved. My parents traveled a lot and always loved maps (from treasure maps to plotting out Route 66) so I picked up the map bug as a kid. Your kids will pick up the bug too because now we've got kid-friendly maps with classic car games like (my personal favorite) the "License Plate Game."