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Sailors begin their journey from Chicago to Mackinac Island, Michigan during the Race to Mackinac © Karen I. Hirsch/Alamy

Batten down the hatches

The athletes on these boats are jockeying for position at the start of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac (pronounced ‘Mack-i-naw'). The ‘Mac,' at 333 miles long, is the world's oldest and longest annual freshwater boat race. It's an amateur event, but make no mistake, these sailors know their stuff. Many go on to race in the America's Cup. This year's race is held today, and the boats set sail, smallest to largest, just off Chicago's Navy Pier passing by the city skyline as we see in our image. When crews pass under the span of the mighty Mackinac Bridge—connecting the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula—Lake Michigan becomes Lake Huron, and the island appears.

The official finish line is Mackinac Island's Yacht Club, but many say the race ends at the Pink Pony Patio Bar, where an armada of sailors gather to boast and toast each other. It's about then that locals prepare for the merrymaking by locking up their bikes. On Mackinac Island, bicycles are a hot commodity because motorized vehicles are outlawed (even police pedal around). The few motorized vehicles on Mackinac are for emergency use, such as ambulances and firetrucks.

摇篮山-圣克莱尔湖国家公园 (© Rob Blakers/Getty Images)

加利福尼亚州雷斯岬国家海岸上的柏树隧道 The cypress tunnel at Point Reyes National Seashore in California (© Rachid Dahnoun/Tandem Stills + Motion)

The ‘Night of Nights'

This is the cypress tunnel at Point Reyes National Seashore, a nature preserve on the California coast north of San Francisco. The tunnel leads to KPH, a ship-to-shore radio station that once broadcast and received messages with marine craft in the Pacific. KPH stopped operations in 1997, as more sophisticated radio equipment and satellite communications made radio stations like it obsolete. Now it's one of the unusual features of Point Reyes, open to visitors interested in a glimpse of the past.

Tonight, the radio station will be full of Morse code and maritime radio enthusiasts, celebrating the anniversary of the ‘Night of Nights.' It was on July 12, 1999 that nearby station KFS sent what is thought to be the last commercial transmission of Morse code in the United States.

Waterperry花园，英国牛津郡 Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire, England (© Lauren Hibbit/Danita Delimont)

A learning garden

Today we're in Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire, England. The gardens have gone through many changes since 1931, when Beatrix Havergal and Avice Sanders first began turning the grounds of a country house into an educational public garden. (Waterperry grew much-needed produce during World War II.) The gardening school at Waterperry closed in 1971, and now the land is owned and operated by the School of Economic Science, which uses some of the buildings for study projects and retreats. Waterperry is a wonderful example of classic English gardening. Visitors can stroll through the aromatic ‘knot garden' seen on our homepage today, or explore other parts of the gardens, including orchards, a nursery, and a museum.

夜晚的地球 (© NASA)

"国王的小路"上的游客，西班牙马拉加 Visitors on El Caminito del Rey in the province of Málaga, Spain (© Ken Welsh/Alamy)

Put your helmet on, we're going on a hike

You'll need to wear a safety helmet before stepping onto the cliff-hanging path that passes above the Gorge of Gaitanes. Look around, but don't forget to look down whenever the floors are replaced with thick glass. This is your opportunity to fully appreciate the 325-foot drop below and consider what life must be like as a mountain goat. The renovated path is far less dangerous than the original which, for many years, had no guard rails. Made for workers back in 1905, the first walkway provided access between the Chorro and Gaitanejo hydroelectric power plants. After King Alfonso XIII visited in 1921, the walkway was given its nickname, ‘The King's Little Pathway.' But after years of use and lack of upkeep, the nickname was updated to ‘The world's most dangerous walkway.' By 2001, the trail was closed, riddled with gaping holes, crumbling cement, and missing entire sections. Luckily for thrill seekers, El Caminito del Rey is no longer off limits. In 2015, after extensive renovations, o

舍夫沙万的蓝色墙壁，摩洛哥 Blue walls of Chefchaouen, Morocco (© Tatsuya Ohinata/Getty Images)

Make your way up a picturesque passageway of Chefchaouen

You may not be familiar with the name Chefchaouen but its blue beauty is immediately recognizable. Nestled against the Rif Mountains, the city is well-known for the medieval walls washed in a hue that mimics the sky on a summer day. There are many theories as to why the walls are this color—some suggest it was thought to repel mosquitos; others say it follows religious beliefs that associate blue with heaven. No matter the reason, the blue creates photogenic passageways, one of which we are admiring here. As you wander through the city, you'll find the market filled with handmade textiles and other colorful local goods. The locals are mostly Berber, Jewish, and Muslim people who are famously friendly and laid back. Chefchaouen is also brimming with aromatic cuisine that draws visitors from their explorations to the many popular bakeries and restaurants.

Racers pushing past sunflowers in the 2018 Tour de France

Cyclists have been competing in this prestigious, multi-stage race since 1903. The route is changed every year but always includes a mix of terrains and elevations, mostly in France. Originally conceived as a promotion for a newspaper, the Tour is now a worldwide sporting event that draws billions of viewers each year, making it more popular than the Super Bowl. Here, competitors are biking alongside the summertime sunflowers of southern France that are in full bloom during the race each year. This scenic image is a foil to the grueling duration of the race, which covers more than 2,000 miles over a 23-day span. Although athletes are organized into teams, the individual who completes the strenuous course in the overall shortest amount of time wins and gets a cash prize often shared with teammates. This year's race starts in Belgium and will pedal past the iconic sunflowers around stage 16 before coming to a stop in Paris.

Peel Castle on St. Patrick's Isle with the Isle of Man in the background

The Isle of Man has a long and complicated history of invasions, conquests, and systems of government. Pictured on today's homepage is the ruins of the cathedral on the grounds of Peel Castle, on St. Patrick's Isle (which is connected by a causeway to the rest of the island). Vikings built the original wooden fortification during the 11th century on a location that had older Celtic monastic structures made of stone, which were incorporated into the castle. Over the next eight centuries, the various Norse, Scottish, and English rulers of the area added battlements, towers, and the cathedral to the grounds.

After the Vikings incorporated the Isle of Man into their Kingdom of the Isles in the 9th century, they also brought their particular tradition of parliamentary government to the island. This tradition survives today as the Tynwald, the island's tricameral parliament. Purportedly the oldest continuous parliament in the world, the Tynwald gathers outside on a special four-tiered hill every Tynwald Day—usually July 5—to promulgate the laws that have been passed in the last year.

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