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| Travel briefs |
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| By The Associated Press |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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Titanic memorial cruise to sail on 100th anniversary
NEW YORK — A trans-Atlantic cruise is being offered in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
The Titanic Memorial Cruise will depart, as the original ship did, on April 8, from Southampton, England, and arrive at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank on April 15.
A memorial service will be held onboard the cruise exactly 100 years after the Titanic hit the iceberg and sank, between 11:40 p.m., on April 14, 2012, and 2:20 a.m. on April 15.
The cruise will then head to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where passengers can visit three cemeteries where Titanic victims are buried. The final destination for the cruise is New York, where the Titanic was headed. The memorial cruise will also make a stop in Cobh, Ireland, after leaving Southampton, just as the original vessel did.
The British firm Miles Morgan Travel has chartered the Balmoral, a ship owned by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, for the memorial voyage. The Balmoral holds 1,350 passengers and a crew of 510 and has 710 cabins. Prices for the 12-night trip started at $3,900 for an inside cabin, including taxes.
The cruise will include food that matches the menus of the original voyage, a live band offering music and dancing from that era, and lectures from historians.
Minneapolis-based Borton Overseas is handling reservations for U.S. travelers who wish to join the trip. Details at 800-843-0602 or www.bortonoverseas.com.
Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of CruiseCritic.com, said the irony of the Titanic is “the boost that the tragedy has given to contemporary cruising. The fact that a ship sank and lots of passengers lost their lives has paled in the face of the romantic image that it portrays.”
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Jen Schak, a spokeswoman for Borton, said the cruise is “selling quite well. All lower-grade inside cabins and some suite categories are sold out.”
Coincidentally, Fred Olsen’s parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. The cruise line is Norwegian-owned but based in the United Kingdom.
Environmentalists say climate change threatens 25 national parks
NEW YORK — The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization say 25 national parks are threatened by climate change.
A report called “National Parks in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption” say the changes in landscapes and ecosystems are harming plants, trees and wildlife, but also threaten human activity in the parks and manmade structures. The factors include a loss of ice and snow, including melting glaciers; a loss of water, especially in the West; and higher seas and stronger coastal storms, which leads to flooding in coastal areas.
The parks on the list are Acadia National Park, Maine; Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland and Virginia; Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico; Biscayne National Park, Florida; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina; Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia; Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska; Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida; Ellis Island National Monument, New York Harbor; Everglades National Park, Florida; Glacier National Park, Montana; Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana; Joshua Tree National Park, California; Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada; Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado; Mount Rainier National Park, Washington; Padre Island National Seashore, Texas; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; Saguaro National Park, Arizona; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota; Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands; Coral Reef National Monument, U.S. Virgin Islands; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Yosemite National Park, California; and Zion National Park, Utah.
You’ll find a link to the report at http://www.rockymountainclimate.org.
Bid on eBay for a whole hotel in Denver for New Year’s Eve
DENVER — The Curtis Hotel in Denver is putting itself up for auction on eBay for New Year’s Eve.
The winning bidder gets 330 rooms, the grand ballroom, live music, champagne, caviar, dinner, breakfast and of course all the staff to pull off a once-in-a-lifetime party.
The promotion is being called “Won Night Only.”
The Curtis is a funky boutique hotel with pop-culture themes like the “Big Hair” floor and a 5-and-10 store in the lobby selling Pez dispensers. Details at http://www.wonnightonly.com/ with a link to the eBay bidding.
The offer went live Oct. 1 and remains available for up to 30 days. As of Oct. 5, a bid had been made for $50,000, so subsequent bidders must bid more than that.
Voodoo Experience returns to New Orleans Halloween weekend
NEW ORLEANS — The Voodoo Experience alternative music festival returns to New Orleans for the three-day Halloween weekend with a diverse lineup that includes Eminem, Kiss, Jane’s Addiction and Widespread Panic.
The event runs Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at City Park. Also on the schedule of 150 acts are Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School Of Medicine, Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.
This will be rapper Eminem’s first full performance in more four years, and it is his only scheduled concert for 2009. KISS is slated to perform Halloween night, while Kravitz will close the festival on Nov. 1.
Besides alternative punk and rock groups, Voodoo offers a host of Louisiana favorites, including Walter “Wolfman” Washington and Trombone Shorty.
The festival is set among City Park’s lush lagoons and oak trees and celebrates music, as well as New Orleans food, arts and culture.
Details at www.thevoodooexperience.com.
Expedia launches Web site for national park trips
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Expedia is partnering with the National Park Foundation on a new Web site to help travelers planning trips to national parks.
The timing of the Web site launch was designed to coincide with the airing of Ken Burns’ new documentary on public television, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”
The site at www.expedia.com/nationalparks includes downloadable park maps and other content from the National Park Foundation, as well as information about lodging options outside the parks.
The content also includes suggestions for long weekend itineraries with stops at national park sites in Colorado, Texas and Michigan, and a series of stories called “Can’t-Miss National Parks.” The first five parks featured in the “Can’t-Miss” series are the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic and Yosemite.
While the Expedia site can be used to identify and book accommodations near the parks, it cannot be used to reserve camp sites or book stays inside the parks. For lodging options inside the parks, go to http://www.nps.gov/ and search for the park you’re interested in, then click “Plan Your Visit” or “Fees & Reservations.” The Web site www.recreation.gov also offers links for booking campgrounds and tours inside some of the parks.
Greenbrier resort offers table games to guests, plans video lottery
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Less than a month after getting its license to offer gambling, the historic Greenbrier resort has opened the Tavern Casino, an on-site facility for guests with table games including blackjack, three-card poker and roulette.
The 3,700-square-foot Tavern Casino is open to overnight guests, members of The Greenbrier Sporting Club and The Greenbrier Golf and Tennis Club, in addition to registered event and convention attendees who are staying off-property when more than 400 rooms at Greenbrier are sold. The Tavern Casino is open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 a.m. and Sundays 2 p.m.-3 a.m.
Slot machines will be added later this month, followed by a full-scale casino opening planned for April. The casino will offer nearly 40 table games and 320 slot machines.
Right now the Greenbrier is offering a Tavern Casino package including accommodations, $150 in match play coupons to be used for table games, and breakfast for two starting at $379 double occupancy, through Dec. 22.
New York state launches program to market green lodgings
ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has launched a program to certify hotels as “green” for using environmentally sound and sustainable practices.
Forty-three hotels and inns across the state have signed on.
To be certified, hoteliers must save energy, reduce waste, conserve water and resources and prevent pollution. The Audubon GreenLeaf program will certify lodgings and award them one to five green leaves based on performance.
The certification program is part of a larger state initiative to support and market sustainable tourism. The New York State Green Hospitality and Tourism Partnership, which includes state agencies and business and academic groups, launched a green restaurant program earlier this year.
Southern Living mag recommends Ybor City, in Tampa, Fla., for its cultural mix
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A spotlight on Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood in the October issue of Southern Living magazine reveals a vibrant blend of cultures.
The historic former Latin Quarter east of downtown has been home to generations of Italian, Spanish and Cuban families. Southern Living recommends these places to visitors interested in sampling the neighborhood’s ethnic mix:
La Tropicana Cafe, Gaspar’s Grotto, and The Columbia, on East Seventh Avenue, and La Segunda Central Bakery on North 15th Street, for Cuban sandwiches.
Bernini of Ybor and La Terrazza for Italian food, on East Seventh Ave.
Arnold Martinez’s studio and gallery at 1909 N. 19th St., for local art.
La Herencia de Cuba, 1817 E. Seventh Ave., a cigar-making operation that is a remnant of the many cigar factories that once existed here.
The Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn, 1915 Avenida Republica de Cuba, a 114-year-old boutique hotel that offers weekly dance parties.
Spooky lighthouses, from Oregon to Florida
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — No such thing as ghosts, right? But a lonely lighthouse can look a little spooky on a foggy coastline above the pounding waves. The October issue of Coastal Living magazine describes six lighthouses with haunted legends. They are:
Heceta Head Lighthouse in Yachats, Ore., now a bed-and-breakfast that claims a ghost known as the Grey Lady.
Owls Head Light, Owls Head, Maine, where the spirit of an old sea captain is said to keep an eye on the place.
Point Lookout Light, Scotland, Md., located on the site of what was once a hospital and Civil War prison camp, with soldiers’ graves nearby.
St. Simons Island Lighthouse, St. Simons Island, Ga., where one lighthouse keeper shot another in the 19th century and later residents claimed to hear the victim’s footsteps.
Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, Gasparilla Island, Fla., where colorful tales of the supernatural include one about a headless princess.
Point Big Sur Lightstation, Big Sur, Calif., which boasts stories of not just one ghost but a half-dozen.
Indiana tourism Web cams show fall colors from 5 destinations
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana leaf-peepers can watch the colors change online with “Leaf Cams” on the state’s tourism Web site.
The five Web cams at http://www.VisitIndiana.com show outdoor scenes at Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis, French Lick Resort, Brown County, the Corydon Capitol State Historic Site and Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell. In early October, the landscapes were still mostly green but the Web cams will show the foliage as it changes through Nov. 13.
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