Explorations for Vacations

Have you ever wanted to add a little adventure to your life over Break? Does adventure travel sound appealing, but you just don't have the time to fit it in? Have you ever, faintly lost, wandered the shelves in the library, wondering how the books are arranged? Well, today, we're going to explore the 900s section of the nonfiction collection to see what we find. (Hint: the 900s span includes books about History and Geography, as well as some closely related topics.)

So, what does all that have to do with adventure and exploration? How about we think of exploration as we step over to the Bragdon Room to pick a few books to start your adventure:

First off is a fine winter-weather collection of stories about a really, really cold place, the Arctic and many of the incredibly tough people who tried to explore it. While some have succeeded and now flourish living within the Arctic Circle, others were unsuccessful at best, terminally late at worst. If you're interested in extreme cold-weather tales of endurance, check out the 919s. This is the section for "geography of and travel in Australasia, Pacific Ocean islands, Atlantic Ocean islands, Arctic islands, Antarctica and on extraterrestrial worlds." The Icemen: 919.8 CON

If Arctic extremes of weather doesn't do it for you, how about we go in the opposite direction? We can while away quite a few miles, 24000 in fact, around the Equator in much more balmy circumstances. Warmer, but maybe not safer. Because Western exploration had a distinctly northern bias for so long, many explorers thought they were poking around at the ends of the Earth. Their stories are amazing. If you could try a little travelers' tales, check out the 910s. This section specializes in geographers, travelers, explorers regardless of country of origin. Latitude Zero: 910.92 GUA

If you just want to stay local and not reach quite as far as the Equator, how about checking out some of the absurdities to be found right here in the state of Massachusetts? A trip to the Moon might be too hard to arrange, but how about a trip to a house made entirely of paper (Rockport)? Or to a museum dedicated to bad art (Dedham)? Or to a memorial to a cookie (Whitman)? Day tripping in New England can be weird and wonderfully enlightening. Check out the 917s for more ideas for local adventuring. The geography of and travel in North America section brings you these gems. Massachusetts Curiosities: 917.44 GEL

The last stop on our exploration is 13th Century England. This isn't strictly travel to adventurous geography like the other selections, but it is too strange to miss knowing about. Did you know that King John of England (known as King John the Bad) moved the crown jewels of England from one place to another while he was fighting his subjects? The weird part is that the wagon train with the treasure completely vanished while crossing a marsh. Not one person, ox, or golden treasure piece has ever been found. To this day, no one knows exactly what happened to those carters and John's millions. 942 holds more history of England and Wales in all its flavors. King John: 942.03 MOR

-MJD