Travel briefs
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- The new Midwest Genealogy Center, billed as one of the nation's largest libraries for people tracing their ancestry, has opened in this historic Missouri town. The 52,000-square-foot building, which opened June 21, replaces a facility one-quarter its size.
Among genealogists, the Mormon church's Family History Library in Salt Lake City is considered the mother lode of information, with millions of documents available online or through local branches.
The next tier is occupied by public libraries in Dallas, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Ft. Wayne, Ind. and Independence -- a one-time frontier town known as the jumping off spot for westward expansion.
While you're in town, other attractions worth seeing in Independence include the Truman Presidential Museum & Library; the 1827 Log Courthouse; the Mormon Visitors Center; a skate park; the Pioneer Spring Cabin and Independence Square, where you'll find restaurants, antiques and specialty stores.
Details and packages at www.visitindependence.com/. For information on the library, visit www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/ genlh/mgc.htm.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- The 45th Parallel is an imaginary line circling the Earth exactly midway between the North Pole and the equator, and it's never moved.
But tourists in Yellowstone National Park for years have had their pictures taken next to a sign marking the 45th Parallel.
Yellowstone officials have moved the sign nearly a mile to the north. They say they did it for two reasons. One is for safety: So many people stop to have their pictures taken at the sign that the road gets congested during the summer. The other reason is the old sign wasn't even at the 45th Parallel.
The new sign isn't at the parallel, either, but Yellowstone officials say it's a lot closer -- less than a quarter-mile away. AP