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There & Back |
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| Sept. 18: Travel Briefs |
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| By The Associated Press |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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Washington tourism launches ‘Lost Symbol’ Web site for Dan Brown book
WASHINGTON — Washington is anticipating a flurry of visits from fans of Dan Brown’s new thriller, “The Lost Symbol.”
Fans of “The Da Vinci Code” novelist flocked to the Louvre in Paris and other sites in Europe that were featured in that book. One church in Scotland, the Rosslyn Chapel, saw a threefold increase in visitors after the book became a bestseller and movie.
Destination DC has launched a Web page at http://www.Washington.org/lostsymbol to help readers explore some of the places and themes that are expected to receive attention from “The Lost Symbol.”
The Washington tourism agency launched the Web page prior to the book’s release Tuesday, using places that were hinted at in advance publicity for the novel. The Capitol building is featured on the book’s cover, and the nearby U.S. Botanic Garden was referenced in a Today Show clue about the novel.
The novel’s plot was not revealed before publication, but the story is believed to be about Freemasons, the centuries-old fraternal organization. Other sites featured on the Washington “Lost Symbol” Web page include an early 20th century Masonic stone temple at the corner of 16th and S streets, and the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va.
Yellowstone seeing record visitors this year
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park hosted a record number of visitors this summer and remains on track for its busiest year ever.
Park officials said that nearly 2.3 million people visited Yellowstone in June, July and August. That’s up about 5 percent from the previous summer high set in 1999.
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August visitors were up 3 percent over last year to nearly 753,000 visitors.
For the year, more than 2.6 million people have visited the park, making the first eight months of 2009 the busiest January through August in the park’s history.
Park officials attribute the large number of visitors this year to factors like good weather, a drop in gas prices and the travelers’ ability to tailor a Yellowstone trip to their budgets.
For details on visiting the park, go to www.nps.gov/yell.
Missouri turns old jail into bike hostel
FARMINGTON, Mo. — The old St. Francois County jail here hasn’t held a prisoner in years. But the historic building in downtown Farmington has a new name and purpose, according to the Park Hills Daily Journal.
The Transamerican Trail Cyclers Inn was opened and dedicated Sept. 8, in time to accommodate some of the participants in the Tour of Missouri cycling race, which ended Sept. 13.
The eastern Missouri community is on the TransAmerica Trail bicycle route. The hostel has 14 bunk beds in three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and laundry room.
The inn, also known as Al’s Place, was dedicated to the late Al Dziewa, a Farmington cycling enthusiast.
Work on the inn was done by city employees and state prisoners and furnished in part with a $6,000 donation from the Farmington Downtown Development Association.
An estimated 1,200 bicyclists travel through Missouri each year on the TransAmerica Trail. The city says it’s the only hostel of its kind on the trail.
The hostel, located on Franklin Street, does not take reservations and is not staffed. Guests simply show up and call a number on the door to get an access code. The system is monitored by the local police department. A $20 nightly donation is requested.
Disney Wonder cruise ship in Alaska for summer 2011
CELEBRATION, Fla. — Disney Cruise Line is offering cruises to Alaska for the first time in 2011.
The Disney Wonder ship will make 18 seven-night sailings to Alaska beginning May 3, 2011, with the last ship departing Aug. 30.
The ship will depart from its new home port in Vancouver, B.C., and travel through Tracy Arm in Southeast Alaska, with stops in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.
The news of Disney’s foray into the Alaska cruise market is a bright spot in an otherwise down year for tourism in the state.
Experts say Alaska’s tourism industry is flat and sliding downward. They predict that next year Alaska will see 150,000 fewer cruise ship passengers.
Touring the colder climes of Alaska is requiring some changes to the ship. The Disney Wonder will be outfitted with a 2,500-square-foot cafe with floor-to-ceiling curved glass windows where guests can watch for wildlife and take in the spectacular scenery.
Rates start at $939 per person for a standard inside stateroom, based on double occupancy. Excursions for wildlife tours and other onshore activities like fishing or panning for gold are additional.
Before and after the 2011 summer season in Alaska, the Disney Wonder will sail seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Rates for the seven-night itinerary start at $639 per person for a standard inside stateroom, based on double occupancy.
Disney’s other ship, the Disney Magic, will sail 10- and 11-night Mediterranean itineraries for the 20ll season, starting May 28 departing from Barcelona with stops elsewhere in Spain in addition to Italy, France, Tunisia, Malta and Corsica. Rates for the Mediterranean cruises start at $1,739 per person for a standard inside stateroom, based on double occupancy.
Additional guests after the first two occupants of any stateroom sail for reduced rates.
Disney’s 2011 cruises can be booked starting Sept. 28. Details at http://www.disneycruise.com or call Disney Cruise Line at 888-325-2500.
Arizona in the fall: Good weather and fall colors
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The weather’s good, the landscape ranges from desert to grasslands to canyons and mountains, and the foliage is beautiful too: That’s Arizona in the fall.
You can see changing colors late September to mid-October in bigtooth maple trees, scarlet sumac, and of course in the golden aspens.
Some of the best places to see autumn colors include the White Mountains, where the small communities of Greer and Alpine — especially Picnic Hill east of Alpine — are good leaf-peeping spots; or near Sedona, along scenic Highway 89A north from town about nine miles to Slide Rock State Park.
Also near Tucson, check out Madera Canyon, 40 minutes south off I-19, at the village of Summerhaven and atop Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalinas northeast of town. In the Chiricahua Mountains (70 miles north of Douglas, 36 miles southeast of Willcox and 120 miles east of Tucson), you’ll find oak, ash, maple and aspen.
Near Flagstaff, the best sites include Hart Prairie Road about a mile beyond the SnowBowl ski area. Check out the chairlift skyride there for a bird’s eye view.
New items at Odd Wisconsin exhibit in Madison
MADISON, Wis. — An original script from the movie “Casablanca,” a journal from the Lewis and Clark Expedition and one of the world’s first atlases are among the new items at the Wisconsin Historical Museum’s exhibit of odd items.
“Odd Wisconsin” opened last fall at the Madison museum, with more than 60 artifacts. Museum officials recently swapped out about 40 percent of the exhibit to replace fragile or sensitive items with different ones.
Some of the other new items include the banjo-ukulele used to record the “Oh I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener” jingle, a collection of the creepiest of dolls and toys and the blanket under which Abraham Lincoln purportedly died.
Some of the remaining artifacts include the glass from which Teddy Roosevelt was drinking when he was shot in Milwaukee. Museum spokesman John Lemke said the exhibit will run at least through the summer 2010.
The Wisconsin Historical Museum is at 30 N. Carroll St. on Madison’s Capitol Square and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is by donation: $4 for adults, $3 for children under 18 or $10 for families. Visit the museum online at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum.
Conde Nast Traveler celebrating ‘America’s Best Idea’
NEW YORK — Conde Nast Traveler is marking Ken Burns’ new PBS series about the national parks, “America’s Best Idea,” with a look at 10 national parks and recommendations for how to see them.
The magazine looks at five parks in its September issue and another five online at www.cntraveler.com/nationalparks.
In print, Conde Nast Traveler mentions Glacier National Park in Montana, known for its Going-to-the-Sun Road; Great Smoky National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, 75 years old this year and the most popular national park in the country, with 9 million visitors; Olympic National Park in Washington, with glacier-capped mountains and temperate rainforests; Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, known for wildlife like bison and elk as well as spectacular geothermal features like its famous geysers; and Yosemite National Park in California, where the 2.2-mile hike up to Sentinel Dome provides a 360-degree view of the scenery.
Online, Conde Nast Traveler has more information on five other parks: Acadia in Maine, Grand Canyon in Arizona, Denali in Alaska, the Rockies in Colorado and Volcanoes in Hawaii.
Coastal Living recommends 10 road trips with water view
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Coastal Living magazine is recommending 10 road trips with beautiful views of oceans, beaches, lakes and bays, from Alaska to Maine to Mexico.
The drives, described in the magazine’s September issue, are as follows:
96 miles along California’s Highway 1 from Jenner to Fort Bragg;
Highways 17, 158 and 64 along the Outer Banks in North Carolina;
From Whidbey Island to Chuckanut Drive, in Bellingham, Wash., along the Puget Sound via ferry to state highways 525 and 20;
A 52-mile drive along the eastern and northern shores of Kaua’i, Hawaii, starting in Lihue to Highway 56;
Mobile Bay, Ala., to New Orleans, with stops in Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis;
The 185-mile Cabot Trail, which was built in 1932 to connect fishing villages in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia;
Mexico’s Highway 1, making a 223-mile loop from the Sea of Cortez town of La Paz, through Cabo San Lucas and Todos Santos;
A weekend road trip to see a piece of Lake Superior, from Duluth, Minn., via Highway 2 to Wisconsin 13 to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, then on to Michigan’s National Peninsula;
U.S. 1 in Maine, from Acadia National Park east to the West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine, one of the easternmost points in the U.S.;
And Seward Highway in Southern Alaska, 127 miles between Anchorage and Seward on Highway 1.
Best apps for iPhone, from National Geographic Traveler
WASHINGTON — There are now more than 50,000 applications related to travel available for the iPhone. Here are a few of the travel apps recommended by National Geographic Traveler magazine’s September issue as being among the best:
Flight Track, $5, offers real-time flight updates, delays and cancellations, while Next Flight, $3, helps you find options if you miss your plane.
The Maps app, which is free, can be enabled to show traffic with green, yellow or red highways, depending on how many cars are on the road.
Cheap Gas, a free app, gives you nearby stations and fuel prices.
Trapster, also free, identifies speed cameras and known speed trap zones.
Rest Area, $1, gives you a list of highway rest stops organized by how near they are to your location.
Urbanspoon, which is free, queries a database to find nearby dining options.
Currency, a free app, converts money between more than 90 currencies.
goPostal will print an actual postcard using your photo and message and put it in the mail for $1.29.
Best US flea markets, according to Budget Travel, from Brooklyn to Alameda
NEW YORK — Do you love looking for treasures in a flea market in your leisure time?
Budget Travel magazine’s September issue is featuring the world’s best flea markets, including five in the U.S. They are:
The 127 Corridor Sale, also known as the World’s Longest Yard Sale, along 654 miles in five states, from West Unity, Ohio, to Gadsden, Ala., with the next one scheduled for Aug. 5-8, 2010.
The Brimfield Antique & Flea Market Shows, six consecutive days each in mid-May, July and September, in Brimfield, Mass., with next year’s scheduled for May 11-16 , July 13-18 and Sept. 7-12.
The Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market, held in Springfield, Ohio, one weekend each month excluding February and July, with supersize Extravaganzas held in May, June and September.
The Brooklyn Flea, held in Brooklyn, N.Y., at 176 Lafayette Ave. on Saturdays in Fort Greene and 22 Water St. on Sundays near the Brooklyn Bridge;
And the Alameda Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire in California, held the first Sunday of each month on a decommissioned naval base on San Francisco Bay.
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