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Recommended Places in the USA to Visit during
Summer
Arizona
Phoenix
Phoenix (pronounced FEE-nicks) is located
in central Arizona about 150 miles south of Flagstaff and 150 miles north of
Tucson. It is situated on a broad, flat desert basin amid scattered barren rocky
mountain peaks. It is a large sprawling city that has expanded to envelop the
surrounding communities of Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Glendale and Sun City. It
has a small downtown area containing a few dozen high-rise buildings surrounded
by a large metropolitan area that has expanded outward rather than upward. Phoenix
has attracted many retired people who come to enjoy the year-round warm climate,
the dry desert atmosphere and the relatively modest cost of living. Unfortunately,
this popularity has given rise to increased population density, urban sprawl
and traffic congestion. Nevertheless, Phoenix and the surrounding areas retain
a pleasant arid climate free of the rains and mosquitoes in Florida and without
the exorbitant cost of living in Southern California.
There are many things to see in Phoenix
and the surrounding area. The Desert Botanical Museum has a wonderful collection
of desert plants from arid regions around the world. It is a great place to
learn about the flora of the southern Arizona desert. The museum is located
near the popular Phoenix zoo, which contains a fine exhibit of animals living
in the surrounding desert. Heard Museum features Native American culture and
art including an extensive collection of artifacts that depict the lifestyle
of local indigenous people. Deer Valley Rock Art Center is dedicated to the
preservation and interpretation of petroglyphs or prehistoric Native American
rock art. Pueblo Grande Museum features an archeological site revealing some
of the ancient dwellings. These attractions in addition to the Mining and Mineral
Museum and the Chicano Museum help form a complete depiction of the Central
Arizona heritage.
Tucson
Tucson (pronounced Too-sawn) is small
city located in southern Arizona about 100 miles south of Phoenix and 60 miles
north of the Mexican border. It is situated on a flat desert valley nearly surrounded
by barren, rugged mountains. Like Phoenix, it has become a retirement community
for elderly citizens that appreciate the year-round warm weather and inexpensive
living. It is less congested than Phoenix and well situated for tourists wishing
to explore the many surrounding attractions. The climate in Tucson is always
dry with temperatures ranging from warm to extremely hot. The city normally
receives less than 25 cm of rainfall per year. Daytime temperatures can exceed
45 deg. C during the Summer with a much more pleasant 20 - 25 deg. C during
the winter months. High tourist season extends from November through March.
Fall and Spring are good times to visit this area if you want to avoid the tourist
crowds.
The surrounding desert is filled with
giant Saguaro cactuses that stand up to 10 meters high. (pronounced Sa-war-owe)
You can drive through forests of these cactuses or hike the many trails in Saguaro
National Park located just outside of the city. The Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum,
located about 15 miles west of the city near Old Tucson at the southern entry
to Saguaro National Park, is a great place to experience the flora and fauna
of the surrounding desert. It is open 8:30AM until 6PM daily and admission costs
about $9. Old Tucson is a simulated western town originally constructed as a
film set for cowboy movies. Today it is a theme park with entertainment, restaurants,
gift shops and many actors dressed in western costumes. It is open daily from
10AM until 5PM. Admission is about $15. It can be great fun to experience this
tourist oriented cowboy theme park, but probably think Tombstone is much more
authentic.
Tombstone, Arizona is an hour-and-half
drive from Tucson across the desert and into the sparsely populated rangelands
that still support numerous cattle ranches. It is an authentic, old-west, gold-mining
town best known as the site of the "Gunfight at the OK Corral". Main
street has been restored as it was in 1881 when Wyatt and Virgil Earp along
with Doc Holliday killed Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers in the famous
shootout at the OK Corral. Most of the old buildings now contain restaurants,
gift shops and tourist attractions, and the OK Corral has been enclosed and
converted to a museum. Along the streets, actors in western costumes promote
gunfight shows, old-west museums, saloons and stagecoach tours of the town.
You can visit "Boot Hill", the graveyard at the edge of the town where
250 residents of Tombstone were buried, most of them murdered, killed by Apache
Indians, shot in gunfights, lynched or legally hanged. Billy Clanton and the
McLaury brothers are buried there. Tombstone is very tourist oriented, but it
is an authentic old west town well worth seeing. There is no admission charge
to visit the town or Boot Hill.
The mission San Xavier del Bac is located
nine miles south of Tucson on the O'odham Indian Reservation. This eighteenth
century mission is an excellent example of early Spanish colonial architecture
and is still used by the local inhabitants for daily religious services. About
40 miles south of Tucson, the abandoned but well-preserved mission San Jose
de Tumacacori is a National Historical Monument. It is located near the old
Spanish settlement of Tubac, which is now filled with shops selling the works
of local artists and craftsmen. Twenty miles further south is the border town
of Nogales, a great place to cross into Mexico for a few hours of shopping.
Like most border towns, it is filled with shops and street vendors selling native
pottery, jewelry, leather goods and gifts at very reasonable prices. Be careful
where you eat and drink in any Mexican border town, as the water supply and
sanitation may be lower quality than you normally expect.
For a very different experience, visit
the Pima Air Museum just south of the city. In addition to viewing their wonderful
collection of military and civilian aircraft, you can take guided tours of the
"Boneyards" at neighboring Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Over 5000
military aircraft including hundreds of huge B-52 bombers awaiting destruction
are parked in endless rows at the Aerospace Maintenance and Reconstruction Center
(AMARC). It is hard to even imagine so many aircraft parked in one place. There
are huge open pit copper mines near Sahuarita just south of Tucson and in Bisbee
south of Tombstone. Both mines offer public tours. A 29-mile road winds its
way up the Catalina mountains to the 3000-meter high peak of mount Lemmon where
temperatures average 10 deg. C lower than the city below.
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo is held
in late February. The Yaqui Easter Ceremony combining Native American traditions
with Christian beliefs occurs during Easter week in early Spring. The Tucson
International Gem and Mineral Show is held in late February. It is the largest
such event in the world, so hotel accommodations will be hard to find during
those two weeks.
Sedona
Sedona, Arizona is one of the most beautiful
vacation locations in the USA. It has been revered as a magnificent spiritual
haven since prehistoric times. Native Americans have been coming to Sedona for
their religious ceremonies, their spiritual awakenings, their rites of passage
and their weddings for hundreds of years. The first time you visit this marvelous
valley with its awe inspiring beauty, you will understand why it has been venerated
for so long. Red sandstone cliffs rise a thousand feet above the valley floor.
Buttes, mesas and pinnacles of rock rise throughout the valley. Everywhere the
rocks have been eroded into fantastic shapes resembling giant fortresses, towers,
pinnacles and other exotic visages. The village of Sedona is located in the
midst of this scenic splendor surrounded by cascading mountain streams, lush
green meadows, and forested hillocks all dominated by the imposing red rock
formations.
The Grand Canyon, just a 90 minute drive
to the north, is similar to Sedona but on a much larger scale. Other geological
attractions like Yosemite Valley are equally magnificent. Yet, no other scenic
attraction is as accessible as Sedona. You can drive through the valley absorbing
the scenic views from your car. You can bike or hike through the canyons and
explore the rock formations. You can golf in the shadows of the red rock cliffs
or even photograph the exotic formations from your hotel window. Sedona is located
in northern Arizona just a 30 minute drive southwest of Flagstaff and less than
90 minutes from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is only two hours drive
north of Phoenix. You can easily fly to Flagstaff or Phoenix and drive to Sedona.
The valley is about 4,500 feet (1.500 meters) above sea level. The climate is
semi arid, so it gets little rain or snow, but it has a plentiful supply of
water from the nearby mountains. Summers are a bit milder and winters a bit
colder than the low altitude deserts near Phoenix.
Sedona reputedly is the location of several
universal vortexes that provide spiritual healing and metaphysical enlightenment.
New age advocates come to this beautiful valley seeking spiritual and physical
rejuvenation. You can easily visit some of these vortexes and sit on the rocks
absorbing the metaphysical energy sources. But probably, a bottle of good wine
helps. Shops and boutiques in the village sell power crystals, Indian amulets,
copper bracelets and other spiritual appliances. Many of the resorts and spas
offer yoga classes and various esoteric spiritual regimens in addition to the
usual massages, facials and traditional cures. A wide selection of accommodations
is available in the village of Sedona with some exclusive resorts located in
nearby canyons and some tourist cabins and camping along Oak Creek Canyon. There
are plenty of restaurants, groceries, gas stations, boutiques and souvenir shops
in Sedona. It has a small airfield located atop a mesa overlooking the town.
The airport offers some airplane and helicopter tours of the area and a limited
number of charter flights to nearby locations.
The scenery in and around Sedona is spectacular
and most of it is easily seen from the various roads throughout the area. Oak
Creek Canyon is the main entry to Sedona from Flagstaff. This road follows Oak
Creek through a narrow defile of colorful rock walls as is cascades beneath
towering pine trees. In many places, this canyon is only a few hundred feet
wide (100 meters) with red, pink, brown and white rock walls rising a thousand
feet (350 meters) or more on either side. Airport road climbs to the top of
the mesa overlooking the village of Sedona. The airport parking lot offers a
great panoramic view of the town, the valley and many of the spectacular rock
formations. Visitors flock here at sunset to watch the red rocks become inflamed
in glowing scarlet from the rays of the setting sun. Near the bottom of airport
road, a small parking place provides access to a short trail up onto a large
rounded rock that is supposedly the location of one of the universal vortexes.
New age advocates and bemused tourists often flock to the top of this rock to
absorb the metaphysical energies of the vortex. Bell rock, Cathedral Rock, the
Coffeepot, the Soldiers, Chimney rock and numerous other formations are easily
visible from many parts of the village. The magnificent Holy Cross Chapel sits
atop a rocky spine overlooking the eastern end of town. It provides a magnificent
view of the valley and is a spectacular piece of architecture. There are plenty
of other fabulous locations for weddings in Sedona.
If you are adventuresome, you can attempt
a drive up Schnebley Road, the original roadway into this isolated valley from
Flagstaff. It is paved for only about one mile, but its unpaved portion extends
another seven miles up through a spectacular canyon with fantastic views of
the valley and many immense red rock formations until it culminates on the rim
of the cliffs thousands of feet above the valley. It can be rough driving at
certain times of the year. If you prefer, you can sign up for one of the jeep
tours that will take you up this scenic route. Walking, hiking, bicycle touring
and horseback riding are some favorite activities for visitors to Sedona. You
can rent mountain bikes or riding horses at several locations in and around
the town. The rangers at the visitor centers will provide you with free maps
indicating all of the trails and will cheerfully offer advice on the best routes.
You can take airplane rides, helicopter tours, balloon adventures, jeep tours,
hummer tours or horseback rides in Sedona. There are numerous tourist adventures
available from the many tour operators in Sedona. If you are less inclined to
adventurous activities, the many resorts and spas will provide you with plenty
of pampered luxury. Some of them have golf courses, swimming pools and tennis
courts within the very shadows of the spectacular red rock cliffs. Shopping
and dining are also favored activities in Sedona. It provides plenty of choices
in both. Designer shops, boutiques and quality restaurants abound in this little
village. Some of them can be rather expensive, but there are plenty of moderately
priced alternatives as well.
The quaint reconstructed mining town
of Jerome sits high upon the flanks of a mountain about 30 miles west of Sedona.
The Ghost town of Gold Queen is next to it. You can drive there in less than
one hour. It makes a nice half-day excursion from Sedona. Flagstaff is less
than an hour northeast. It offers shopping malls, cultural activities and all
the amenities of city life. Old route 66 once passed through Flagstaff, and
you can still find some of the original flavor of the mother road in the nearby
town of Williams. Sunset Crater, the great hole caused by a meteor impact is
near Flagstaff. You can visit the Grand Canyon by driving two hours north of
Sedona to the South Rim Visitors Center. It is an easy day trip, but it is worth
spending more than a single day to see that magnificent sight. If you prefer,
you can even drive to Williams Arizona on old route 66 and take the Grand Canyon
Railway to the South Rim Visitors Center.
California
San Francisco
San Francisco is on the coast of California
about 400 miles north of Los Angeles. It is situated along the shore of a large
bay sheltered behind the California Coastal Mountains. The city is renown for
its steep streets with panoramic views of beautiful San Francisco bay and the
surrounding mountains. It has a very moderate climate with warm summers and
chilly winters but without extremes. Constant breezes off of the Pacific Ocean
keep the summers from becoming too hot and also prevent freezing winter weather.
Take a sweater, as the evening breezes can be quite brisk all year round!
Oakland and Berkley, California lie just
across the bay from San Francisco and are easily accessible via the Bay Bridge.
The more famous Golden Gate Bridge spans the narrow inlet that extends from
the Pacific Ocean into the bay. The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco
with a mountainous peninsula called the Marin headlands that is primarily known
for beautiful scenery and expensive homes with spectacular views. Sausalito,
a small village on the bay shore of the Marin headlands is famous as a local
artist's community. Alcatraz Island with its abandoned prison is situated in
the middle of San Francisco Bay. The city of San Jose lies about 30 miles south
of San Francisco at the southern tip of this extensive bay. The area near San
Jose and Santa Clara is known as "Silicon Valley", home of the largest
concentration of electronics and computer firms in the USA. San Francisco was
founded in 1776 when father Junipero Serra constructed the mission San Dolores
to Christianize the local native Indian population. At the same time, Spanish
troops constructed a Presidio, or fort, to protect this colony for the Queen
of Spain. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the village of Yerba Buena,
consisting of whalers, traders, adventurers and pirates, occupied the present
site of San Francisco. In 1848, gold was discovered in the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains about 100 miles to the east. By 1849, San Francisco
was inundated with "forty-niners" as the gold seekers were commonly
called, and the population of the city exploded. Ever since, it has remained
the center of commerce, entertainment, culture and tourism for Northern California.
San Francisco is one of the most popular
vacation destinations in the USA. Steep streets lined with Victorian era houses,
a great turquoise bay surrounded by low mountains, and antique cable cars that
still shuttle passengers up and down the city slopes all make San Francisco
one of the most picturesque cities in the US. The city has developed a unique
character from its mixture of diverse cultures including Native American Indians,
Spanish colonials, gold seeking adventurers and numerous European, African and
Asian immigrants. This is reflected in the great San Francisco cuisine found
in the many fabulous restaurants of the city. Among the many attractions of
San Francisco are the ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown and Japantown with
their traditional shops and restaurants. Each of these communities houses a
large population of Asian immigrants and has a unique oriental character. North
Beach is renown as an Italian neighborhood, the Mission District as a Hispanic
community and Castro Street for its gay and lesbian population.
The Embarcadero, a broad avenue along
the bayfront, is now lined with shops, restaurants and tourist attractions including
several piers that have been converted to specialty shopping malls. Most famous
is the historic Fisherman's Wharf which still hosts a fleet of working fishing
vessels as well as fish markets, seafood restaurants and gift shops. Excursion
boats and ferries depart from piers near Fisherman's Wharf. They are a great
way to see the sights around the bay. The Alcatraz tour takes you to "The
Rock" and allows you to visit its abandoned prison. This trip usually fills
up, so it is best to make your reservations at least one day ahead. You can
also take a ferry to visit the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Museum in Oakland,
or you can ride a ferry to Sausalito and Tiburon for some sightseeing and shopping.
A cable car line terminates a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf, and many tourists
congregate there to watch the motormen manually rotate the cars. This is a good
place to photograph the cable cars but not a good place to board one as the
wait can be long. It is easier to take a bus or taxi to the downtown area where
you can quickly board a passing cable car. Golden Gate Park and Seal Rocks,
along the Pacific side of the city are worth visiting.
Other California tourist attractions
are located near San Francisco. Across the Golden Gate Bridge, the first pullout
on the right provides a nice view of the city from across the bay. If you follow
the small road under the highway and climb the mountain behind the bridge, you
will be rewarded to some spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the
bay area. From the top of the mountain the road continues high above the Pacific
Ocean with pullouts at many scenic vistas and hiking trails. This road eventually
leads to Stinson Beach, a popular Pacific Ocean swimming and surfing area, and
to Muir Woods, an impressive reserve of Giant California Redwood trees. Beautiful
Monterey Bay is an hour-and-half drive south along the scenic Pacific Coast
Highway and Big Sur extends about 100 miles further. Napa and Sonoma valleys,
in the heart of California Wine Country, are just an hour drive north of San
Francisco. The Sierra Nevada Mountains and exquisite Yosemite National Park
are within a half-day drive to the east.
The downtown area of San Francisco is
the center of business, commerce and shopping. There are a wide variety of large
department stores and smaller shops near Union Square and a big shopping mall
on Market Street. The Embarcadero especially in the Fisherman's Wharf area offers
many small shops, specialty stores and tourist attractions. Chinatown and Japantown
have many small shops specializing in oriental artifacts and Asian foods. Sausalito
and Tiburon across the bay have many boutiques, art galleries and specialty
shops. For serious shoppers, the immense "Great Mall of the Bay Area"
in Milpitas, near San Jose is a wonderland of factory outlet stores. There are
also a few outlet malls in Sonoma Valley near wine country and several in the
Monterey Bay area.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the largest city in California
and the second largest city in the USA. It is located on the southern coast
of California about 75 miles (120km) north of the Mexican border and 400 miles
(600km) south of San Francisco. The original name of the city was "El Pueblo
de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles" or "The Village of Our
Lady the Queen of Angels", but the name was shortened for obvious reasons.
Los Angeles is situated on an irregularly
shaped coastal plain about 30 to 60 miles across. It is bounded on the west
by nearly 60 miles of Pacific Coast beaches and ocean cliffs. The San Gabriel
and San Bernardino Mountains form a 2500-meter high wall to the east. The Santa
Monica Mountains define its northern limit and the Santa Anna Mountains define
the southern. Los Angeles natives inhabit the entire plain and all the local
hills plus the sides of the mountain ranges and into all of the connecting valleys.
The city now covers over 1000 square-miles in dozens of interconnected communities.
High-rise buildings only exist in a few isolated clusters. From nearly every
vantage point, you can gaze across miles of low rooftops with palm trees towering
above. In order to commute between these widely dispersed neighborhoods, Los
Angeles has constructed a remarkably efficient system of broad streets and avenues
including the10-14 lane wide freeways. These enable you to quickly navigate
across the vast metropolitan complex most times. Try to avoid the freeways between
7 to 9 AM and 4 to 6 PM. when millions of cars commuting to and from work clog
the roads. Air pollution from these millions of cars combines with the moist
air from the Pacific Ocean to form a dirty gray haze known as Los Angeles Smog.
Unlike most cities, Los Angeles does not have a distinct urban center. It is
a collection of individual communities tied together by a complex network of
roads and freeways. Each community offers a uniquely different character. Together,
they make up this huge metropolitan complex called Los Angeles.
Along the Pacific shore, Malibu, Santa
Monica, Marina Del Rey and Palos Verde are high-class residential beach communities.
Venice Beach, on the other hand, is known for bikini clad roller bladers, muscle-bound
weight lifters and an odd assortment of slightly off-beat characters. Long Beach
is a thriving seaport with a vibrant commercial district and oil wells. Laguna
Beach houses a large artist's community. Hollywood is the historic home of the
old movie studios, and Beverly Hills is still the home of the movie stars. Here
you can drive along the western terminus of historic route 66 on Santa Monica
Boulevard. You can stroll along famous Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip.
In nearby Burbank, you can visit many modern movie and television studios. In
Anaheim, you can see the original Disney Land and Knott's Berry Farm. Downtown
is certainly a commercial district, but it is no more the urban center of the
city than many other neighborhoods. Near the downtown area are ethnic neighborhoods
with large Asian populations called, Korea Town, China Town and Japan Town.
Nearby are several predominately Afro-American neighborhoods and many predominately
Hispanic-American neighborhoods. Los Angeles has four major airports; Los Angeles
International, Burbank-Glendale Airport, John Wayne Airport and Ontario International
Airport. In addition, the Orange County Airport is less than one hour from the
city and San Diego Airport is within a two-hour drive.
San Diego
San Diego lies along the southern coast
of California near the Mexican border. It is 125 miles (200 km) south of Los
Angeles and about 600 miles (1.000 km) south of San Francisco. It is situated
along the shores of a large bay sheltered behind several low-lying peninsulas.
This great natural harbor enticed the Spanish missionary Father Junipero Serra
to found the first of his series of 21 missions here in 1769. During the Second
World War, the US Navy established its primary Pacific naval base and naval
airfield at San Diego. Today, San Diego is the second largest city in California.
It is a large modern metropolitan center, a year-around tourist resort and a
thriving commercial seaport with a large naval base. Despite its size, San Diego
seems less congested and frenzied than Los Angeles. It has a very hospitable
climate with comfortable temperatures in all seasons. During the winter, days
are usually warm and sunny and the nights are cool. In the summer, a pleasant
breeze off of the Pacific Ocean moderates the heat from the tropical sun. It
does not suffer from the problems of air pollution, which plague Los Angeles.
San Diego has spread north and south along the coast and eastward into the foothills
of the mountains and now encompasses several distinct communities. Downtown
San Diego is a combination of high-rise hotels, modern office buildings and
a restored "Gas Lamp Quarter". Here, you will find a large convention
center alongside an extensive yacht basin, several unique shopping centers and
a wide assortment of restaurants, bars and clubs. Balboa Park, on the eastern
hills skirting downtown, offers a wide assortment of museums, cultural attractions
and one of the best zoos in the USA. San Diego International Airport is located
near the downtown section of the city.
Coronado Peninsula stretches across the
harbor from downtown. It is a beach resort community that offers a wide assortment
of recreational activities like swimming, boating and fishing and many resort
hotels. Mission Bay, just north of downtown, has an extensive shorefront park
with two family amusement facilities: Sea World and Belmont Park. The "Old
Town" section of San Diego to the northeast includes six square blocks
of historic buildings restored to their colonial splendor. There are a lot of
restaurants, clubs, boutiques and souvenir shops in the Old Town area. A bit
further north along the shore lies the beautiful seaside community of La Jolla
with its up-scale shops and exclusive hillside homes. Any trip to San Diego
should include a visit to the beaches on Coronado Peninsula and a stroll through
the historic Coronado hotel. Balboa Park can occupy several days of sightseeing
in the numerous museums and the world-renown Zoo. A trip to old town San Diego
including a tour of the Junipero Serra museum and the reconstructed Mission
San Diego will occupy another day. Add a boat excursion around the harbor, a
stroll along the embarcadero, and a walking tour of the Gas Lamp Quarter, and
you will have spent an enjoyable week touring beautiful San Diego. For the more
adventuresome, there are fishing excursions, hot air balloon rides, and even
air-combat experiences. The main shopping district in downtown centers around
the architecturally unique Horton Plaza Shopping Center and the Gas Lamp Quarter.
Small shops and boutiques are also found along the Embarcadero especially at
the Fisherman's Village. There are numerous small shops in the Old Town district.
The more serious bargain hunters will wish to visit the suburban Mission Valley
Shopping Center and Fashion Valley Shopping center in Mission Valley, the Grossmont
Center in La Mesa or the La Jolla Village Square.
The Mexican City of Tijuana is just ten
miles south of downtown San Diego. It is famous for its bargain shopping and
wild nightlife. Many native handicrafts, especially leather goods, silver jewelry,
pottery and hand woven textiles are available in numerous shops and from thousands
of street vendors. Bargain-priced alcoholic beverages, Cuban cigars and over-the-counter
pharmaceuticals are also readily available. Be sure to check the US customs
restrictions before you attempt to bring such items back across the border into
the USA. When driving into Mexico, you may be required to purchase additional
auto insurance and the traffic delays at the border crossing can sometimes be
quite long. It is easier to take the tram from downtown San Diego to the border
and walk across to Tijuana. You can also drive to the border and park your car
in one of the large parking lots on the US side, then take a bus to downtown
Tijuana. Be careful when purchasing food and drink from street vendors as the
standards of cleanliness are sometimes far less than you may expect.
About two hours drive north of San Diego
brings you to Los Angeles, the largest city in California and a sprawling metropolitan
center that includes Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Long Beach and dozens of other
communities. One hours drive to the east takes you up into the Santa Rosa mountains
with cooler temperatures, vineyards, cattle ranches and vast forests. About
two hours drive to the east brings you back down to the arid desert valley of
Palm Springs and the Salton Sea. Here you will find eternal sunshine, hot temperatures
and affluent oases with golf courses and luxury winter resorts. Another half-hours
drive and you reach Joshua Tree National Monument with its bizarre high altitude
desert landscape and ecology.
Santa Barbara
The city of Santa Barbara is located
on the California coast approximately 90 miles (150 km) north of Los Angeles.
It is somewhat sheltered from Pacific Ocean weather by a group of uninhabited
rocky isles, known simply as the Channel Islands, situated 30 miles to the west
across the Santa Barbara Channel. Its beautiful beaches and sheltered waters
offer a great environment for swimming, boating and sunbathing. A low ridge
of hills with spectacular views of the harbor nearly surrounds the city. Many
beautiful but costly homes adorn these ridges and hillsides. A few miles further
inland, the great wall of the Santa Ynez Mountains forms a picturesque eastern
backdrop. This part of the California Coast is often called the California Riviera,
as it is a beautiful vacation destination but a very expensive place to live.
You can get to Santa Barbara by driving about two hours north from Los Angeles
on Highway 101. On the way, you will pass some great scenery as the road snakes
between the coastal mountains and many isolated surfing beaches. Santa Barbara
Municipal Airport is small, but it hosts a nice selection of daily flights from
many major western cities. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner train offers a half
dozen trips a day from Los Angeles and San Diego to Santa Barbara.
The major attraction in Santa Barbara
is its beautiful broad beach fringed by rows of palm trees and pristine parks.
It resembles the gorgeous beach at Santa Monica in northern Los Angeles, but
without any of the surrounding congestion, traffic or air pollution. It even
has a long pier accommodating restaurants, shops and amusement attractions.
On a Saturday afternoon in August, this beach had only a handful of sunbathers
scattered about its vast sandy surface. This is what makes Santa Barbara a favorite
weekend getaway destination for residents of all southern California including
many Los Angeles natives. To the north and south of downtown Santa Barbara,
there are numerous narrower beaches ideal for surfing. Near Carpinteria, about
15 miles south of Santa Barbara, Rincon Point is reputedly the finest surfing
spot in California. Several surfing schools in Santa Barbara offer to teach
you how to surf like a real California beach bum in a single day. From the harbor
basin in Santa Barbara, you can rent kayaks or sailboats. You can go on whale-watching
cruises, on fishing charters or on boat excursions to the Channel Islands nature
preserves. You can rent bicycles and pedal cars nearby.
There are no high-rise hotels or beach
condominiums in Santa Barbara. Small classy hotels, restaurants and shops surround
the beach area. All of the streets in town are lined with palm trees and flowering
shrubs. The major shopping and entertainment area is located along State Street
beginning about 6 blocks back from the beach. This city has a wonderful selection
of fine restaurants, boutiques and upscale shopping malls. On weekend nights,
the bars and clubs along State Street offer lively entertainment to both tourists
and local revelers. The city also offers a ballet, a symphony, theaters, museums
and many art galleries. For golfers, there are several beautiful courses near
Santa Barbara with gorgeous palm-lined fairways and year-round golfing weather.
Sightseers will enjoy exploring the Old Spanish Presidio and the Mission Santa
Barbara in the older parts of the city. The courthouse that combines striking
modern design with traditional Spanish colonial features is worth visiting.
From Santa Barbara, it is less than an hour drive over the mountains or along
the coast to the Santa Ynez Valley with its flower farms and wineries. This
is the heart of the California Central Coast wine region where some great Pinot
Noir and Chardonnay grapes are grown. You can visit many of the wineries and
sample some of their vintages.
Solvang, located along route 101 in the
Santa Ynez Valley, is one of the most unique towns in the USA. It is a complete
Danish village with Danish architecture, Danish restaurants and Danish shops.
It is a good place to stop for lunch during your explorations of the Santa Ynez
Valley. The best times to visit the California Riviera are from May through
October. The temperatures for this half of the year are normally warm enough
to lie on the beach and to enjoy other outdoor activities. Swimming in the somewhat
chilly Pacific Ocean waters is always a challenge. During the winter months,
it is usually warm enough for most outdoor activities like golf or tennis, but
a bit too cool for sunbathing or swimming. It never gets too hot even during
mid summer as the ocean breezes keep the temperature very pleasant.
Palm Springs
Palm Springs is an old resort city located
114 miles (190km) east of Los Angeles California. It is located in the upper
Colorado Desert just east of the 10,804 foot (4,500m) San Jacinto Mountain Peak.
This arid desert valley lying in the rain shadow of the Santa Rosa Mountain
Range offers a warmer, dryer and sunnier climate than the city of Los Angeles
less than two hours drive to the west. It was once known for its natural hot-water
springs. Today it is better known for its many beautifully manicured golf courses.
Years ago, Palm Spring was the weekend refuge for many famous Hollywood film
stars and movie moguls. As far back as the silent picture era, it was the place
where the rich and famous sought relief from the Los Angeles smog, and the crowds
of city dwellers. Many Hollywood personalities built their lavish vacation homes
in the desert surrounding Palm Springs. Some of those magnificent villas still
stand as testament to the glamorous days when Palm Springs was the vacation
retreat for Hollywood legends. Many streets, boulevards and civic centers still
bear the names of its famous inhabitants like Frank Sinatra Drive, Dinah Shore
Drive, Gene Autry Trail and the Bob Hope Cultural Center. Palm Springs has grown
from a small desert spa to a conglomeration of intertwined towns that spread
along the Coachella Valley for many miles. Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs,
Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Indio are a few
of the many communities that form this fashionable metropolitan area. As you
cruise along highway 111 through these connected villages, you pass endless
developments of expensive homes, lush green golf courses, upscale shopping malls
featuring designer boutiques and trendy restaurants interspersed with thousands
of palm trees.
As you drive interstate highway I-10
east out of Los Angeles, you pass through a narrow gap in the San Bernadino
Mountains known as San Gorgonio Pass. A windmill farm with hundreds of giant
propellers atop slender towers attests to the fact that this geological feature
acts as a funnel for the coastal winds off of the Pacific Ocean. Then you drop
into the flat desert basin of the Coachella Valley and enter the suburban developments
of expensive desert homes, golf courses, swimming pools and palm trees. You
have arrived at Palm Springs and its neighboring villages. Palm Springs has
a small but very beautiful airport with commuter flights from many destinations
in the USA especially from West Coast cities. Taxi fares from the airport can
vary greatly depending on destination. It may cost only $10 to a hotel in nearby
Palm Springs, but a trip to a resort in Indio can be as much as $40. Rental
cars are usually a better choice. There are more flight options at Ontario airport
about one hours drive to the west or at Los Angeles International two hours
drive from Palm Springs. Amtrak, the US passenger rail system, has a station
in Palm Springs but only one train heading west and one train heading east stop
there each day, and those are in the middle of the night. Greyhound offers long-distance
bus service from Palm Spring to Los Angeles and to destination across the USA.
For many years, Palm Springs was known
as the vacation spot for wealthy elderly folks. It was especially renown for
attracting affluent gray-haired gentlemen in green golf pants who spent their
days on the fairways while their very young glamorous escorts lounged by the
hotel swimming pool or shopped in the exclusive designer boutiques in town.
The scene has changed. Young affluent urban professionals from West Coast cities
like Los Angeles have discovered this weekend getaway a few hours from home.
Today, a younger trendier set of tourists can be seen golfing, shopping and
cruising the classy restaurants of Palm Springs. It is once again becoming more
of a party town like it was in the days when the Hollywood elite spent their
free time here.
There are a wide variety of accommodation
options in Palm Springs. You can find elegant resorts that offer spacious rooms,
picturesque swimming pools, tennis courts and private golf courses. You can
also find plenty of modestly priced hotels with similar accommodations in a
slightly less glamorous setting. You can even find a variety of budget priced
hotels. Check our Palm Springs accommodations page to read about some of the
lodging options in the Palm Springs area, to compare the prices and to book
your reservations.
The major attractions in Palm Springs
are its climate, its golf courses and its elegant vacation resorts. Temperatures
can get quite hot during the summer and a bit chilly during the winter, but
the climate is quite pleasant most of the year. Rainfall is always sparse, and
blue cloudless skies are the norm. Tourists from the cold northern states tend
to flock to Palm Springs from January until May. October or November is preferable,
which are usually very pleasant months with less tourist crowds. Golf is a year-round
activity at Palm Springs, and there are over one hundred courses in the area.
The lush green fairways seem so incongruous to the surrounding barren desert.
It takes over on million gallons (4 million liters) of water every day just
to maintain the grass on the golf courses. Swimming pools and tennis courts
are almost as numerous as the palm trees in this area. Palm Springs is typically
a place to relax, play golf and lounge around the pool under a warm desert sun.
Shopping is another popular diversion
in Palm Springs. There are hundreds of shops, designer boutiques, art galleries,
and markets. Most are located on South Palm Canyon Drive. Every Thursday evening
a portion of this main thorofare is closed to all but pedestrian traffic for
an open-air Village Fest. El Paseo in nearby Palm Desert is another shopping
area that has been compared to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills because of its collection
of elite designer shops. If you are a bargain hunter, the Desert Hills Premium
Outlets in Cabazon, about 15 minutes west of Palm Springs features 120 factory
outlet shops. There are a variety of restaurants in Palm Springs and its neighboring
communities. The dining options include everything from very classy fine dining
establishments to modestly priced ethnic cuisine and inexpensive fast food.
The dance clubs and bistros are favorite after-dark hangouts for the trendy
urban professionals that flock to Palm Springs on weekends. Sometimes, you can
even spot a few Hollywood celebrities.
Indian Canyons, located on the tribal
lands of the Agua Caliente natives, is a delightful place to see some of the
great natural beauty of the desert geology and desert foliage. These picturesque
canyons featuring a natural desert oasis provide a great place for walking and
hiking. A rotating aerial tramway located in Chino Canyon can take you up 8,500
feet (2700 meters) to Mount San Jacinto State Park where the temperature is
often 30 degrees cooler and the hiking trails are surrounded by giant redwood
forests. Palm Springs has a Desert Museum and an aircraft museum. Nearby Palm
Desert offers a large Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Joshua Tree National Park
is only 35 miles east of the city.
Florida
Orlando
Orlando is located in central Florida
75 miles northeast of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater Beach. It is 50 miles
due west of Cape Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. Best known
as the home of Disney World, this city is also the center of the largest concentration
of family entertainment attractions in the world. The climate in central Florida
is semi-tropical. Summers are oppressively hot and humid with almost daily afternoon
Thunderstorms. Winters are pleasantly mild with sunny weather and comfortable
temperatures. Hurricane season, between August and December, can produce some
unpleasant weather on the rare occasion when a tropical storm chances to veer
inland in the immediate vicinity. Many US families brave the heat and flock
to Orlando during the summer school holidays from the beginning of June until
the end of August. They invariably fill the hotels, amusement parks and restaurants
with hordes of raucous children. Adult vacationers and retired folks usually
choose the winter months of December through March to visit Orlando. The off
seasons in the fall and spring are often the best times to visit. Two major
airports serve the Orlando area. Orlando International Airport is located 8
miles southeast of downtown. It has numerous daily fights to major cities throughout
the USA. Orlando Sanford Airport is situated about 15 miles north of downtown.
It serves numerous charter airlines from overseas destinations. The Tampa St.
- Petersburg airport is less than two-hour drive to the west and the Melbourne
airport is a bit over an hour to the east. Airport buses provide convenient,
inexpensive transportation to downtown Orlando and an airport van service provides
quick transport to the International Drive area hotels.
Most of the major attractions in the
Orlando area are located along a ten-mile stretch of route 4 southwest of the
city. The Disney Resort Complex is situated along route 4 ten miles southwest
of downtown. Universal Studios is located just 5 miles southwest of downtown.
Sea World, Wet and Wild, plus many other attractions, numerous hotels, hundreds
of restaurants and several shopping malls are all located along route 4 between
those two giant theme parks. Check our Orlando Attraction Map to view the locations.
The Disney Resort Complex is immense. With over 40 square miles (100 square
km.) of land, it is the size of a small country or at least a province. It contains
four major theme parks. Each of them is equivalent in size to the Disney parks
located in California, France or Japan. The complex also contains three water
parks, eight golf courses, twenty-five themed hotels, hundreds of restaurants,
several shopping centers and a wide variety of additional entertainment and
recreational sports facilities. Universal Studios Great Escape contains two
major theme parks, a luxury hotel and an assortment of restaurants and shopping
facilities. Sea World has a marine theme park and will soon be adding a water
park with a dolphin encounter experience. Wet and Wild is a major water park.
There are dozens of other attractions in this area and along route 192 in Kissimmee,
5 miles east of Disney World.
Accommodations are concentrated in and
around the major theme parks, all along this stretch of route 4 and along route
192 in Kissimmee. There are additional accommodations near downtown Orlando,
in the vicinity of the two airports and scattered throughout the area. Disney
Resorts has at least 18 different hotel and vacation home complexes within its
realm with 7 more just outside the main gates. Each has a different historic
or geographic theme with prices varying from moderate to very expensive. There
are no budget accommodations at Disney, but all the facilities are very nice
and all include free access to the convenient Disney internal transportation
system. Lake Buena Vista offers a number of moderate to expensive hotels near
the entrance to Disney Resorts. The ten-mile stretch of route 192 between Disney
World and the town of Kissimmee is lined with moderate and budget priced accommodations
along with a wide array of restaurants, shops and entertainment facilities.
You can still find hotel rooms in the $25 to $50 range along this highway. Universal
Studios offers luxury accommodations at its Portofino Bay hotel on-site and
is currently constructing a second hotel. There are large concentrations of
moderate priced hotels in this area especially along International Drive and
near the exits of route 4.
In addition to the major theme parks
and water parks, Orlando provides a wide variety of family entertainment options.
For typical Florida diversions, We recommend that you visit Gatorland with its
vast collection of native alligators and crocodiles and its "gator-wrestling"
shows or that you try an airboat ride through the swamps at Boggy Creek Airboats.
For adventure and excitement, try a hot air balloon ride with Orange Blossom
Balloons or a high-speed spin in a genuine NASCAR racer at the Richard Petty
Driving Experience. Even dining can become an adventure in Orlando. Theme dinner
shows such as Medieval Times provide you with entertainment like jousting tournaments
and sword fights while feasting. The dinner show themes run from Medieval to
Cowboy, Arabian Nights, Gangster or Broadway Show motifs.
There are great concentrations of souvenir
shops, boutiques, specialty stores and shopping malls in the theme-park strip
along route 4 southwest of downtown. You will find shops scattered throughout
the major theme parks and in the hotel complexes. Disney also offers a variety
of shopping at its downtown area. Universal does the same at its City Walk.
There are many shops and malls in Lake Buena Vista or along route 192 to Kissimmee
and along International Boulevard near Universal Studios. Additional shopping
centers are concentrated in downtown Orlando at Church Street and in the suburban
communities of Altamonte Springs and Winter Park. For serious shoppers, there
are two very large Belz Factory Outlet Malls at West Oakridge Road and along
International Drive. Orlando Premium Outlets and the Lake Buena Vista Factory
Stores are outlet malls located near Disney World.
Miami
Miami is located on the Atlantic coast
of Florida at the southern tip. It is warm year around and usually very hot
and humid during the summer months. Most tourists prefer to visit during October
through April. Outdoor sports and swimming are open all seasons, so be sure
to take your swimming suit and plenty of cool clothing. A sun hat and a good
sunscreen are essential even in the winter months. In Miami, dress is always
casual, with sundresses, jeans or walking shorts appropriate during the day.
A few higher-class restaurants require jackets and ties, but most do not. Hundreds
of thousands of Hispanic immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central America
and South America have settled in Miami. Spanish is spoken almost everywhere
in the city. Many signs are in both English and Spanish especially those near
the Latin district known locally as "Little Havana". Cubans originally
settled in the area around Calle Ocho Street (Southwest Eighth Street) more
than 20 years ago. Today, this colorful area embraces immigrants from all over
Latin America.
Miami and Miami Beach are actually two
distinctly different cities. Miami Beach, located on the outer bank is almost
exclusively tourist orientated, and consists mainly of hotels and vacation apartments.
Miami, located on the mainland, is a cosmopolitan city with a distinctly Latin
American flavor. The Art Deco district of Miami Beach occupies a compact one-square
mile area roughly between Lincoln Road, Sixth Street, Ocean Drive and Alton
Road. It is a showcase for this early twentieth century art movement and contains
dozens of restored buildings with that characteristic architecture. To help
find your way around, visit the Miami Design Preservation League's Welcome Center
on 1001 Ocean Drive (305) 672-2014. Pick up the league's audiocassette for a
self-guided introduction to the Art Deco Historic District. The South Beach
section, where fashion designer Gianni Versace lived and died, is one of the
trendiest neighborhoods in the world.
If you can tear yourself away from the
beach, you might want to visit the Parrot Jungle and Gardens, the Monkey Jungle,
the Metrozoo, Vizcaya (a fabulous Italian Renaissance-style villa), the Metro-Dade
Cultural Center, or the Holocaust Memorial. You can also take tours by boat,
plane, helicopter, walking or driving. All sorts of water sports are available
like boating, fishing, skin diving, snorkeling and water skiing. Golf and tennis
are popular. Horse racing, greyhound dog racing and Jai alai are favorite spectator
sports. Miami Beach provides plenty of nightlife. The large hotels have elaborate
stage shows and the Art Deco District is filled with bars and nightclubs. Find
a free copy of "This Week in Miami-Miami Beach" at any hotel. It will
list all of the current shows and entertainment attractions. Both Miami and
Miami Beach offer many excellent restaurants with a diverse selection of cuisine.
Fresh seafood is the local specialty. Joe's Stone Crab restaurant is a very
popular Miami Beach landmark known for its large portions of excellent food.
Wherever you eat, be sure to try some Key Lime Pie, a famous Florida dessert.
There are plenty of good shopping opportunities in the Miami area. For exclusive
shopping, go to the Ball Harbor Mall. Other shopping centers include Bayside
Market Place, Coconut Grove, The Falls, Aventura Mall and Cocowalk. If you are
a serious bargain hunter, don't miss the 173-store Sawgrass Mills Factory Discount
Mall in Sunrise, Florida 40 min north of the city. In the Little Havana area,
there are many small shops with unusual and interesting items, but you may have
to speak Spanish to get the best deals. There are two large National Parks near
Miami. The Everglades National Park is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness
in the USA. It has more than 1.5 million acres of natural habitat with over
half of it under water. The main entrance is reached via Florida City south
of Miami. It is open all seasons. Biscayne National Park is also reached by
traveling south through Homestead. It consists mainly of unspoiled coastline,
islands, crystal-clear ocean waters and coral reefs. The majority of Biscayne
Park is under water along the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula and around
the northern keys. If you visit either park, remember to take your mosquito
repellent and sunscreen!
Tampa, Saint Petersburg and Clearwater
Tampa, Saint Petersburg and the beachside
community of Clearwater are all located around Tampa Bay on the western coast
of central Florida. They are within two hours drive of Orlando, Disney World,
Universal Studios and the surrounding entertainment complexes. This is a popular
beach resort area for families that come to Florida to see the Orlando attractions.
The Gulf Coast along the western side of the Florida Peninsula has a very different
character than the eastern Atlantic Coast. The fine sand beaches are equally
nice on both coasts, but they are usually shallower with warmer waters on the
Gulf side. There is very little surf on the gulf, so it attracts fewer young
revelers and has less wild amusements. The gulf coast is favored by family vacationers
and retired folks.
Downtown Tampa lays at the northern end
of a great shallow bay a few miles inland from the coast. It is a large metropolitan
center with many commercial buildings, offices and retail establishments. Clearwater
is a beachside community just west of downtown on the gulf coast. It has a many
hotels, motels, restaurants and tourist attractions. It also has a fishing harbor
with many excursion boats and fishing charters. Saint Petersburg is just south
of Clearwater on the peninsula extending between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Saint Pete is less commercial than Clearwater. It has fewer hotels but many
condominiums and beachside apartments. It has a lot of quiet neighborhoods with
private homes and vacation rentals. If you like to be at a beach near the excitement
and entertainment, choose one of the many hotels in Clearwater. If you prefer
a quieter vacation away from the tourist crowds, rent a condominium or vacation
home in Saint Petersburg where you can be near great beaches and a short drive
from the entertainment in Clearwater and the shopping in downtown Tampa. Tampa
International Airport is located right in downtown Tampa near the causeway to
Clearwater. Several commercial airlines and many charter services land there.
Downtown Tampa and Clearwater are easily accessible via a short taxi ride, and
the airport limo service provides convenient access to St. Petersburg. Orlando
International is a much larger airport with a wider array of domestic and international
flights. It is about a two-hours drive from the Tampa - St. Petersburg area.
Sanford International Airport, with its many international charter flights is
just north of Orlando and about a two and a half hour drive from the Tampa Bay
area.
Tampa attractions include the Tampa Museum
of Art, the Children's Museum of Tampa, the Museum of Science and Industry,
the History Center, the Zoological Gardens and the Museum of African-American
Art. St. Petersburg offers the Salvador Dali Museum, the Museum of History,
several art galleries and numerous parks. Clearwater has an aquarium. Nearby,
Busch Gardens theme park features herds of wild animals that can be viewed on
simulated safaris, and Weeki Wachee Springs amusement park has the world's only
underwater theater. Cypress Gardens, Florida's oldest theme park, still offers
botanical gardens, a butterfly conservatory, amusement rides and their famous
water ski shows. Tarpon Springs, a coastal community about 30 minutes drive
north of Tampa, has an active sponge diving fleet and a thriving Greek community.
It is famous for its restaurants featuring authentic Greek cuisine and its unique
gift shops. Sarasota is less than an hour drive south of Tampa Bay. It is generally
considered the cultural center of Western Florida. Of course, the Tampa Bay
area's most popular attractions are its white sand Beaches especially those
in Clearwater or the quieter beaches in St. Petersburg and the northern suburban
communities. Fishing is another popular activity. The large marina, located
near the Clearwater side of the causeway, has numerous excursion boats and fishing
charters. You can spend a half-day fishing on the Gulf for as little as $25
or you can rent a six-passenger charter for $700. The boats will provide all
of the tackle and will even clean your catch, while a nearby restaurant can
cook it for you. If you prefer fresh water fishing, there are also many inland
charters in the area. Golf is another popular attraction with dozens of area
courses offering year-round recreation. If you prefer spectator sports, you
can find NFL football, NHL hockey, major league baseball, major league soccer,
arena football, horse racing, greyhound racing and Jai Alai. |
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Daytona
Daytona Beach is conveniently located
54 miles from Orlando on Florida’s Central East Coast, just an hour’s
drive from many popular theme parks and other favorite tourist destinations.
If you are traveling around Florida, Daytona Beach is easy to reach via Interstate
95 or Interstate 4. Daytona Beach International Airport is served by several
major airlines with service from more than 150 destinations worldwide.
The beach is 23 miles long and up to
500 feet wide at low tide. The gentle slope and tides have packed the hard,
white sands nearest the ocean, enabling automobile access. Of the 23 miles of
beach, 16 miles allow driving and parking during the day and when the tide permits.
The sand becomes softer as one moves further inland from the waterline. Sand
dunes in the area can reach as high as 25 feet. The beach became well known
because it was used as a proving ground for developing the automobile engine.
That technology was also put in use in developing aircraft engines for World
War II fighters. Thus, the world's eyes were on Daytona Beach each time an automobile
raced along the beach in the late '30s and early '40s attempting new land speed
records. From a glamorous Mediterranean-styled villa to intimate beachfront
cottages, the Daytona Beach area is filled with a variety of quality, small
lodging accommodations which provide excellent value and convenience to families
and couples on vacation. Seventy-four small hotels, motels and inns are members
of the Daytona Beach area's Superior Small Lodging program. This program is
a unique accommodations concept that helps visitors choose from the finest small
lodgings this area has to offer. The hotels participating in this program have
no more than 75 rooms and are distinguished by their warm, friendly ambiance
and personalized service. To become a member of the SSL program, each small
hotel must pass an annual inspection and meet quality assurance criteria for
cleanliness, comfort, privacy and safety. Travelers can look for the familiar
SSL logo that designates participating properties.
The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Museum,
located at the southernmost point of the area, the lighthouse serves as a faithful
guide to mariners off the Atlantic coast. Historical displays and a gift shop
are located on the grounds. A climb to the top provides a spectacular view of
the Daytona Beach resort area. The Caribbean-themed waterpark and family entertainment
center, Adventure Landing, features three waterslides; a quarter-mile, two-level,
go-kart track; three nine-hole miniature golf courses, and an arcade with over
100 games that feature the latest technology in sports and fantasy video games.
Daytona USA is an interactive motorsports attraction designed to entertain and
inform race fans about the history of motorsports in the Daytona Beach area.
Included in the 50,000 square-foot attraction are opportunities for visitors
to participate in a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car pit stop; design their own
race car; talk to their favorite competitors (via video); take a walk through
the history of Daytona Beach racing and play radio or television announcer by
"calling" a race.
Key West
The great peninsula of Florida extends
over 400 miles south from the eastern seacoast of North America. Below its southern
tip, a curved archipelago, consisting of thousands of small islands and coral
reefs, stretches another two hundred miles south and west. It helps to form
a great natural barrier between the South Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
They call these islands the Florida Keys. Most of them rise only a few feet
above the shallow seabed and are covered with mangrove swamps, shallow beaches
strewn with shells and occasionally a few palm trees. A few islands are large
enough to support thriving villages. In the olden days, these tropical isles
were the refuge of pirates, commercial fishermen, treasure seekers and reclusive
castaways from civilization. Today, you can drive along highway one, hopping
from island to island over hundreds of bridges and causeways, until you reach
Key West over 100 miles southwest of the Florida mainland. As you pass over
the many bridges, you can peer down into crystal clear waters and plainly see
the coral bottom 20 feet beneath the surface with schools of colorful fish swimming
about. It is easy to understand why this is a paradise for snorkeling, scuba
diving and fishing.
Key Largo, the first island south of
Miami and the largest key, contains John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park. The park
is open 8AM until dusk every day and admission is $3.75 per vehicle plus 50
cents per passenger. It would be wise to stop at the shopping center down the
road and buy diving masks before you enter. When you swim at the beach, you
will be amazed by the clarity of the water and the vividly colored tropical
fish swimming around you. The main portions of the coral reef lie several miles
east of the island. You can take a 2.5 hour glass bottom boat tour of the reef
for about $13. If you are more adventuresome, you can take a snorkeling tour
of the reef for about $24. Snorkeling and scuba diving along with sports fishing
are the main attractions all along the keys. Boats of all types and sizes are
available everywhere in the keys. You can rent boats or take guided excursions
for fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving or just plain, island sightseeing. Fishing
excursions can be booked for as little as $25 per person for a half-day on a
large boat or up to $100 per person for a full-day of deep-sea fishing on a
small boat. There are hotels, motels and vacation cottages all along the keys.
Big Pine Key, about 75 miles south of Miami, has commercial camping. There is
a wide selection of accommodations and restaurants at Key West. During the late
summer and early fall hurricane season, you should pay attention to the weather
warnings. There is only one road to Key West and back to the mainland. Getting
stuck on a small island during a fierce tropical storm can be quite uncomfortable
and even frightening. Fortunately, the National Weather Service always provides
ample warning of an impending hurricane.
Panama City
The northwestern extension of Florida
that stretches along the Gulf Coast is usually called the "Panhandle of
Florida". It is less developed than other parts of the state with sparser
population and vast expanses of wild pine forests. The climate is a bit cooler
than the southern parts of Florida but it still offers mild winters, hot summers
and pleasant spring and fall weather. Its beaches are magnificent with warm
shallow waters and fine white sand. The Panhandle attracts fewer tourists, and
remains a favorite "undiscovered" vacation spot for local vacationers
and retired couples from the northern states. Panama City is located along the
coast of the Florida Panhandle about 350 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida
and approximately 350 miles east of New Orleans, Louisiana. It has a small airport
with limited access via commuter flights. There is a much broader selection
of flights going to Fort Walton Beach, sixty miles to the west, to Pensacola,
one hundred miles to the west or to Tallahassee 120 miles to the northeast.
Panama City is a small seaside community with a population of approximately
35,000. It has several large marinas in town and lies adjacent to one of the
finest beaches in Florida. Panama City Beach begins just west of the city and
extends for more than twenty miles along the Gulf of Mexico. Its beaches are
renown for their fine white sand often called "sugar sand" and for
the deep azure-green waters that give this area its nickname of "the Emerald
Coast" Many travel authorities have rated the beaches of Panama City among
the best in the world.
Due to its somewhat isolated location
far from the popular tourist attractions of south and central Florida, Panama
City has remained relatively unspoiled by the tourist crowds. The beachfront
is not dominated by an unbroken wall of high-rise tourist hotels, and there
is still plenty of public access to its beautiful beaches. You can actually
find affordable lodging in small hotels and motels right on the beach. There
are a small number of exclusive high-rise condominiums along the beach and several
more are under construction. Evidently, people are beginning to discover the
unique charms of Panama City Beach, so it may not remain unspoiled much longer.
Saint Andrew Park is situated at the eastern tip of Panama City Beach across
the bay from Panama City. This 1260-acre park contains natural coastal dunes,
wetlands, forests and a large undeveloped island. The entry fee is $2 per person
or $4 per car. It offers swimming at its beautiful white-sand beaches, fishing
from its jetties and piers, camping, hiking and boating. A shuttle service will
take you to nearby Shell Island for a modest fare. Panama City Beach extends
westward from St. Andrew Park for at least twenty miles until it changes its
name to Laguna Beach. The eastern half of Panama City Beach is characterized
by classy condominiums, upscale vacation rentals, restaurants, gift shops, golf
courses and restaurants. The western part of the beach becomes more "honky
tonk" with budget motels, modest vacation rental homes, amusement arcades,
tourist attractions, souvenir shops, convenience stores and fast food establishments.
Laguna Beach becomes more residential with many private homes and vacation rental
units.
The best time to visit Panama City Florida
is between May and October. During the winter months, it becomes a bit chilly
for swimming and sunbathing, but is fine for golf, tennis, biking and other
outdoor activities. From mid March through mid April, several hundred thousands
of college students from around the USA descend on Panama City Beach for their
Spring Break revelries. This is a great time to visit the area if you are looking
for wild parties and a youthful crowd. On the other hand, if you are looking
for a peaceful vacation, you might wish to avoid Panama City Beach at that time.
The primary attraction in this area is the magnificent white sand beaches with
their warm clear waters. Sunbathing and swimming are the most popular activities.
Boating and fishing are also very popular. You can fish from the jetties and
piers along the shore, or you can join a fishing expedition on one of the many
charter boats. Scuba diving and snorkeling are equally popular due to the crystal-clear
warm waters in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. Several businesses in Panama
City and Panama City Beach offer snorkeling adventures, scuba diving expeditions
or charter fishing cruises. Popular year-round activities include golf, shell
gathering, hiking, biking and walking. Shopping is somewhat limited along the
beach with most of the shopping malls and major stores located along Panama
City Parkway and within Panama City.
Most accommodations are located along
the beach. There are also some accommodations in Panama City but they are 15
to 30 minutes drive from the beach. Hotel prices are highly inflated during
March and April due to the Spring Break madness. The rates drop significantly
from mid-September through February. Probably, the best bargain vacations can
be found in late September and October as the weather is normally very nice
and the hotel prices are low.
Sarasota
he City of Sarasota and the surrounding
area are known as the cultural hub of Florida. An abundance of sun, sand and
water provide a stunning backdrop to museums, botanical gardens, wildlife sanctuaries
and professional theater, dance, art and music. Officially recognized as having
the finest, whitest sand in the world, beach life couldn't be better than here.
Year-round outdoor recreation and water sports abound, as the Gulf of Mexico,
Sarasota Bay, the Myakka River, Lemon Bay, and the Inter-coastal Waterway surround
the area. The average daily temperature range is from 72 in January to 91 in
August, which is one reason why this area is so popular with tourists at any
time of the year. In any month, there are usually 22 sunny days, a real cure
for the gloom of winter. There are two international airports near the City
of Sarasota: Tampa International (one hour north of Sarasota) and Sarasota-Bradenton
International Airport (just northeast of town). There are buses, taxis, limousines
and car rental services at both airports to get you into the city.
Sarasota literally teems with places
to see and things to do. The John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art and the Circus
Museum are located at the intersection of US 41 and University Parkway just
south of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The Museum is open daily
from 10AM to 5:30PM and closed all national holidays. The main building of this
Venetian palace is Ca d'zan, the former winter home of the Ringlings, with 2-story
vaulted ceilings, a crystal chandelier from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New
York City, and wall hangings depicting figures from mythology. The Ringling
Museum is best known for its 17th-century Baroque paintings, in one of the world's
most important collections. For a visual treat, take the opportunity to tour
the outside of this unique and dramatic complex with its tropical palm trees,
manicured lawns, and location on the bay. Admission is $9.00 for adults. Children
are admitted free. Are classic cars more your speed? Then don't miss the Sarasota
Classic Car Museum, just south of the airport and across the street from the
Ringling Museum on US 41, open between the hours of 9:30AM to 6:00PM daily.
Admission is $8.50 for adults and children under four are free. This is the
third oldest car museum in the United States. Three cars owned by the Ringling
family now reside here.
For a grand look at the flora and fauna
in this city, head directly to The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, located on
the peninsula at Sarasota's downtown waterfront on South Palm Avenue. Open daily
from 10AM to 5PM. Admission to the botanical gardens is $8.00 for adults and
children between the ages of 6 and 11 is $4.00, with younger children free.
Best known for its live collection of over 6,000 orchids, this bay-front acreage
is also home to 20,000 colorful plants, with seven greenhouses. As an added
attraction, within the grounds is a unique example of eclectic Southern Colonial
architecture, housing the Gardens' Museum, with botanical exhibits. Appreciation
of the natural environment abounds in this tropical palm-treed community. The
theme of the Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary, located at 1708 Ken Thompson Parkway,
is conservation and protection of birds along with providing a home for injured,
rehabilitated and rescued birds. It is set on two waterfront acres and open
seven days a week. Many native Florida birds as well as migratory birds from
all over the world can be seen at this wildlife retreat. Admission is free but
donations are encouraged to help care for the birds. Next door to the bird community
is the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, the Center for Shark Research and
the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program, located at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway
on an eleven-acre site fronting on Sarasota Bay. The facility is open from 10AM
to 5PM daily. The marine aquarium has over 200 species of fish and invertebrates.
The Mote Laboratories also conducts research and rehabilitation programs for
marine life.
Opera and ballet lovers will feel right
at home in the cultural hub of it all. On Sarasota Bay is the home of Van Wezel
Performing Arts Hall, host to the symphony orchestras, jazz, opera, musicals,
choral productions, and ballets. Additionally, there is the Asolo State Theatre,
a fixture in Sarasota for over 40 years and home to one of the area's leading
regional theatrical companies. These attractions are located at the Center for
the Performing Arts at 5555 North Tamiami Trail (US 41) for your cultural entertainment
and enjoyment. After the beach, the golf course and the other attractions, head
directly for St. Armands Circle for a real shopping treat. There are over 145
shops; boutiques and restaurants laid out in a circular pattern. Art galleries,
jewelry and clothing stores, bookstores and much more are here to discover.
Leaving Sarasota behind won't be easy. However, traveling one-hour north up
the coast of Florida brings you to Tampa, home of Busch Gardens. At this African-theme
park, kids of all ages can enjoy themselves on the newest and largest double-dueling,
wooden roller coaster in the Southeast, christened Gwazi. Two hours northeast
from Tampa is Orlando, home of the ever-popular Disney World, where you can
delight in being a kid again and where kids get to be who they are, kids. Whatever
your pleasure, the golden gulf coast of Florida has something for everyone.
Silver Springs
Silver Springs is a hidden treasure in
north central Florida that is usually missed by most tourists. It is located
near Ocala, Florida just 75 miles (120 km) north of Orlando. Located at the
headwaters of the Silver river, the springs gush nearly 550 million gallons
(over 2,000 million liters) of crystal clear water every day creating the largest
natural artesian spring formation in the world. The waters of Silver Springs
and the nearby Silver River are so transparent that this has become a favorite
location for the filming of underwater scenes in many movies and television
shows. You can visit Silver Springs and view the underwater creatures in a glass-bottomed
boat, take a jungle cruise, visit the wildlife park, petting zoo and alligator
farm. You can stroll through the botanical gardens, watch an animal show and
listen to a concert. The price of admission is about $30 for the whole day including
all features. The park is open 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM every day of the year.
This is great entertainment for the whole family.
New Jersey
Atlantic City
Atlantic City is located in southern
New Jersey along the Atlantic coast. It is just 60 miles east of Philadelphia,
PA and 115 miles south of New York City. You can easily drive from New York
City to Atlantic City in about two hours. It is less than one hour from Philadelphia
and only three hours drive from Baltimore or Washington DC. One hundred years
ago, Atlantic City was a fashionable summer retreat for the affluent residents
of nearby cities. The wives and daughters of the social elite would escape the
summer heat in the city by moving to their summer homes on the beach. You can
still see their elegant Victorian mansions and beach cottages in the southern
suburbs of Atlantic city. Today, Atlantic City's main attraction is gambling.
The oceanfront is now lined with grand casino hotels. It has become the little
Las Vegas of the east coast. At least a dozen glitzy hotel casinos are located
along the beachside boardwalk. Some of them are quite spectacular, although
on a smaller scale than Las Vegas. They offer entertainment, fine dining and
naturally, gambling. Most of the casinos offer musical variety shows similar
to those found in Las Vegas but at more reasonable prices. Tickets usually cost
about $10 to $25 or about half the price charged in Las Vegas. Often, the Atlantic
City casinos also offer famous name entertainment. Many big-name stars appear
at the Atlantic City casinos for a few shows on the weekends. Tickets to these
shows cost a bit more. (about $25 to $50). It is still much cheaper than Las
Vegas or Broadway. Every year, Atlantic City hosts the Miss America pageant
and frequently, the major casinos hold world-class sporting events such as championship
boxing matches. Tickets may be difficult to find for the really big events.
If you are not a gambler, Atlantic City is still worth visiting. It has a nice
sandy beach for sunbathing and swimming with a broad boardwalk stretching several
miles. The boardwalk includes the usual assortment of restaurants, souvenir
stands, amusement arcades and quaint shops. The Atlantic City casinos are worth
seeing. Their overdone glitzy architecture and massive scale are truly incredible.
You will have no problem finding a nice restaurant and the entertainment opportunities
are excellent. If you are visiting New York City, you can easily take a day
trip or an overnight jaunt to Atlantic City. Excursion buses depart from the
big apple to Atlantic City every day. Many of the major tour bus operators offer
regularly scheduled excursions to Atlantic City for about $25 per round trip.
For a real bargain, find a gambler's excursion bus or van tour. They usually
provide a round trip ticket which includes a free meal at one of the casinos
and a rebate of gambling tokens for nearly the value of your ticket. It is like
getting a free trip!
Newark
Newark, New Jersey is located ten miles
southwest of New York City. It is best known as the location of the Newark Liberty
International Airport, one of the three major airports serving the New York
City area. Northern New Jersey is primarily a commercial and industrial area
interspersed with residential neighborhoods and shopping centers. Much of the
area around Newark is flat marshy lands traversed by a complex of interstate
highways, roads and intersections. Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey are the
two communities adjacent to Liberty International Airport. Newark is a mixed
community with some commercial and industrial areas and a lot of ethnically
diverse residential neighborhoods. A few of the inner-city neighborhoods are
rather impoverished and possibly insecure. The parts of Newark and Elizabeth
adjacent to the airport are fairly decent neighborhoods but not scenic. Liberty
State Park is just a few miles from Newark Airport. It offers some nice views
of the Statue of Liberty and provides ferry transportation to Liberty Island
for up-close viewing of the statue. Most of the hotels are situated adjacent
to the Airport or along the nearby roads. These hotels are typically moderate
to budget priced and are far less expensive than hotels in Manhattan. When driving
to New York City, The hotels in Secaucus are preferable, as they are closer
to the city and the commute is quicker, but the hotels near Newark Airport are
also suitable alternatives to staying in Manhattan.
If you are driving to New York City or
flying in via Newark Liberty International Airport, the hotels in this area
are less expensive alternatives to accommodations in Manhattan. Rooms cost approximately
25% to 50% less, and you can save as much as $35 per day in parking. There are
even suites and short-stay apartments available for reasonable prices. Newark
airport is convenient to anyone driving north from Philadelphia or Washington
DC as it is located adjacent to I-95 the main north-south corridor along the
eastern coast of the USA. It is also convenient to anyone driving along I-78
east from central Pennsylvania. You can easily stop and stay at a hotel near
Newark Airport and avoid the drive through the tunnels into Manhattan where
traffic is fierce, parking is expensive and hotels prices are often exhorbitant.
There are several convenient and inexpensive transportation alternatives into
New York City from the Newark Airport area.
From Newark Liberty International Airport
Terminal, there is a choice of transportation alternatives into New York City.
Taxis and Limos are available, but they cost about $35 for a commute into Manhattan.
Shuttle busses leave every half hour or so and they can take you to various
locations in downtown or midtown Manhattan. The cost is a more reasonable $10
fare. The least costly method of transportation into the Big Apple is via the
New Jersey Transit trains. In the airport, you can hop onto the free AirTrain
that connects the various terminals and take it to the Liberty International
Airport Train Station. There, you can purchase a ticket from the vending machines
for $7, then ride any train into Manhattan at the Pennsylvania Railway Station.
If you are staying at one of the hotels near the airport in Elizabeth New Jersey,
you can always return to the airport terminal via shuttle bus or car, and take
the train or other transportation into the city. You can also go directly to
one of the train stations by car or by walking, and take the train into the
city. The train stations in Elizabeth and in North Elizabeth both have commuter
parking lots nearby where you can leave your car. The Liberty International
Airport Train Station has no parking.
Secaucus
Secaucus, New Jersey is located nine
miles north of Newark, four miles west of New York City and just two miles from
the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel to Manhattan. It is best known as the home
of the Meadowlands Sports Complex which includes the New York Giant's Football
Stadium, Continental Arena and the Meadowlands Racetrack. This area of Northern
New Jersey is a flat marshy area traversed by a complex of interstate highways,
roads and intersections. There are a several industrial parks with numerous
office buildings, warehouses and light manufacturing sites. The little village
of Secaucus has been swallowed up in the midst of it all. Secaucus offers some
small shops, filling stations, restaurants, convenience stores, a shopping mall,
an assortment of factory discount outlets, a convention center and a nice assortment
of hotels. North Bergen is the next community one mile east of Secaucus. It
is only one mile from the entry to the Lincoln tunnels. There are a few budget
priced hotels just off route 3 in Bergen. The area is not as convenient as the
area around Harmon Meadow Mall. It is primarily a commercial neighborhood with
less restaurants and shops within easy access, but the accommodations are typically
more bargain priced.
If you are driving to New York City,
this is a great place to stay. The accommodations are typically newer, more
spacious and less expensive than in Manhattan. Rooms cost approximately 25%
less, and you will save as much as $35 per day in parking. New Jersey Transit
Bus # 320 goes from the Harmon Meadow Shopping Center near many of the hotels
directly to the Port Authority Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The ride costs
about $4 and takes approximately 30 minutes. The Port Authority Bus Terminal
is on 42nd Street just a four-block walk from Times Square and the Broadway
Theater District. Busses run every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes
on Saturdays until 1AM. Service is limited on Sundays. Driving into Manhattan
on Sundays is recommended. As an alternative, you can take the Weehawken Ferry
into Manhattan. You must drive east on Route 3 to the last exit before the Lincoln
Tunnel. It is the exit for "Hoboken". Follow the signs that say, "Ferries
to New York"! There is a large parking lot along the banks of the Hudson.
All-day parking costs $6. The ferry ride to the 38th Street Pier at Midtown
costs $5 each way but includes a free shuttle bus ride to many locations around
Midtown Manhattan. When you wish to return to your car, you simply board one
of the free red, white and blue Waterway busses that loop around Midtown Manhattan.
It will take you back to the 38th Street Pier and the ferry back to the New
Jersey parking area. Another ferry from Weehawken takes you to Wall Street in
downtown Manhattan for $7. On Sundays, it is more convenient to drive into Manhattan
as traffic is usually very light and on-street parking is available. Most parking
garages charge greatly reduced rates on weekends. |
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New Mexico
Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico, located sixty miles
north of Albuquerque, is a favorite vacation destination in the USA. As the
second oldest city in the United States, it offers a unique mix of history,
architecture, culture, cuisine, outdoor activities and shopping in a setting
that epitomizes the American Southwest. With 65,000 residents, Santa Fe is New
Mexico’s third largest city. It was originally settled by Spaniards before1607,
and is now the oldest state capital city in the United States. Its original
name “La Villa Real de Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis”, is Spanish
for “the Royal City of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi”.
At 7,000 feet above sea level, the city spans nearly 35 square miles in a valley
near the Rio Grande at the southern base of the Rocky Mountains. It is nestled
between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east and the Jemez Mountains to
the west. Santa Fe can be surprising to first-time visitors who think they will
find a hot, dry desert climate all year-round. While the city is blessed with
abundant sunshine, winters bring sufficient snowfall to makes it a popular ski
destination. Without severe temperature extremes, it offers much to enjoy any
time of the year. The annual Santa Fe Indian Market is held in August. It provides
the opportunity to purchase original works of art directly from 1,200 American
Indian artists who participate from across the country. With the growing interest
in folk art, the city recently launched the Santa Fe International Folk Art
Market, scheduled for July, with artists from 40 countries exhibiting. Spanish
colonial art can be seen and purchased at the Traditional Spanish Market, the
oldest and largest exhibition and sale of its kind in the United States, which
is also scheduled for July. The smaller Winter Spanish Market is held in December.
Allow time to adjust to Santa Fe’s
high altitude and take it easy the first day or so. It is especially important
to drink plenty of water, and to apply plenty of sunscreen even in winter. Albuquerque
International Sunport Airport, about an hour’s drive southwest, is the
closest major airport to Santa Fe. Santa Fe’s smaller Municipal Airport
is served by Great Lakes Aviation with commercial flights from Denver, Colorado.
For a short visit of a few days, no car is needed to enjoy the city’s
major sites. Take a shuttle bus from Santa Fe Municipal or from Albuquerque
Sunport Airport, and stay at one of the many glorious hotels or charming bed
and breakfast establishments close to the Plaza downtown. Most of the historic
sites, restaurants and stores are within an easy walk. For a longer stay, rent
a car and visit some of north central and central New Mexico’s nearby
attractions. Santa Fe boasts the United States’ oldest public building,
church, house and neighborhood. It has 10 major museums and some 200 world-class
art galleries, making it an art and history lover’s paradise. Downtown
Santa Fe is a National Historic District. At its heart is the Plaza. Bounded
by Palace Avenue on the north, Old Santa Fe Trail on the east, San Francisco
Street to the south, and Lincoln Avenue on the west. The park like Plaza is
the main town square. On its north side is the Palace of the Governors, built
in 1610 as Santa Fe’s original capitol building and first major structure.
The one-story adobe spans the block and is the oldest U.S. public building still
in continuous use. The front portal is reserved for Native Americans to sell
their traditional and contemporary jewelry, pottery, sand paintings, and other
arts and crafts. They are there 360 days a year from 8 a.m. to dusk. The Native
American Artisans Program of the Palace of the Governors provides an opportunity
for these talented artists and craftspeople to market their original artwork
in a venue that assures authenticity for the buyer. The goods displayed and
sold by program participants must be made by the seller or by their household
members. East of the Plaza is a turquoise portico with shops, restaurants and
courtyards, and the Sena Plaza. At the end of East San Francisco Street, is
St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral. South on Old Santa Fe Trail is the Loretto
Chapel erected in 1873-1878. Its choir loft staircase which makes two complete
360-degree spiral turns without center or side supports is said to be a “miraculous”
architectural achievement. Legend has it that the chapel’s small size
and choir loft height precluded a conventional staircase. Faced with using a
ladder or rebuilding the balcony, the good sisters prayed to St. Joseph, the
patron saint of carpenters, and a carpenter appeared who constructed the staircase
and mysteriously left without payment. Further south on Old Santa Fe Trail is
an area formerly known as Barrio de Analco and part of a National Historic District.
Some homes date to the mid-18th century. On the eastern side of Old Santa Fe
Trail at 215 East De Vargas Street is the oldest house in the United States,
built around 1646. At the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and East de Vargas is
San Miguel Mission Church, said to be the country’s oldest church structure.
The altar was built by Indians from Mexico in 1610, and mass is still celebrated
every Sunday. The adobe Santuario de Guadalupe, west of the Plaza was built
between 1776 and 1796. It holds a stunning altar painting and is the country’s
oldest extant shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
A sampling of works by New Mexico’s
most famous artist can be seen in the small Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 217
Johnson Street, a few blocks west of the Plaza. The Museum of Fine Arts, 107
West Palace Avenue, has a collection focused on 20th century Southwestern American
art, while the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, 108 Cathedral Place,
is dedicated to contemporary Native American fine art and a showcase for artists
from the Institute. Four museums are clustered on Museum Hill, a few miles southeast
of the Plaza above the city, on Camino Lejo off Old Santa Fe Trail. The Museum
of Indian Arts & Culture gives a fascinating opportunity to learn about
the culture and history of Southwest Native Americans from their perspective
in an exhibition that combines displays ranging from architecture and the arts
to language and song with videos in which they tell their own stories. A second
permanent exhibit displays nearly 300 pieces of pottery created over 2,000 years
by Pueblo Indians. The Museum of International Folk Art houses the world’s
largest collection of folk art and is regularly voted Santa Fe’s best
museum. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, designed after a Navajo
“hooghan,” or home, features changing exhibits of contemporary and
traditional Native American art. Its Case Trading Post Museum Shop is worth
a visit on its own. Outfitted to resemble a turn-of-the-20th-century Navajo
reservation trading post, it sells pottery, jewelry and textiles from more than
100 respected artists. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art holds the most comprehensive
collection of Spanish Colonial art, focusing on works created in New Mexico
since colonized by Spain in 1598 and encompassing art from countries that influenced
this art from the Middle Ages to today. Museum Hill can be reached by taking
the M line bus from the downtown, with bus fare free on Sunday.
From cowboy and cowgirl boots, buckles,
belts and custom-made hats to high-fashion jewelry and collectable works of
art, Santa Fe offers an array of goods to satisfy the most discerning shoppers,
with an eclectic mix of unique boutiques, familiar chain stores, shopping malls,
and art galleries. Several shops and small indoor malls, including the Plaza
Galeria and Santa Fe Arcade, surround the Plaza or are within easy walking distance.
Lincoln Avenue, one block north of the Plaza, offers a collection of shops called
Lincoln Place. More shops are located on West San Francisco Street. For delightful
shopping in a renovated warehouse, visit Sanbusco Market Center, 500 Montezuma
Avenue, in the Guadalupe District adjacent to the historic Railyard. Some two
dozen shops and restaurants are located at Sanbusco – short for Santa
Fe Builders’ Supply Company -- in what was once the Railyard Center, a
pleasant walk southwest of the Plaza. Visit Canyon Road, the internationally
famous, half-mile collection of one-of-a-kind galleries, shops and restaurants,
off the southeastern curve of Paseo de Peralta near East Alameda Street. Lined
with historic adobe houses, Canyon Road is a former route used by American Indians
to travel from pueblos along the Rio Grande to those in the Pecos region. This
is the place to buy original works of art. South of the city on Cerrillos Road
and accessible by bus from the downtown Plaza are three major shopping complexes.
Villa Linda Mall at Rodeo Road; Santa Fe Plaza Shopping Center, and the Santa
Fe Premium Outlets, with a few dozen stores offering bargain prices.
About 70 miles north of Santa Fe is Taos,
a small historical artists’ community with art galleries, museums and
world-class skiing. Especially noteworthy is Taos Pueblo, with its multi-storied
adobe buildings. One of North America’s oldest continuously inhabited
communities, it has been home to the Taos Pueblo Indians for more than 1,000
years. It is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark.
The pueblo is open to visitors except during late winter and early spring. Bandelier
National Monument, west of Santa Fe, has ruins of ancient cliff dwellings. Most
of New Mexico’s 19 Indian pueblos are within driving distance from the
city. Some are open to tourist visits; others are not. Northwest of Santa Fe
about 34 miles is Los Alamos, where the first atomic bomb was created. The small
village still attracts many scientists from around the world that come to visit
the Los Alamos National Laboratories, but there are few attractions for tourists.
New Mexico’s largest city, Albuquerque, is worth visiting to see historic
Old Town and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. The city celebrates its 300th
anniversary from April 2005 to April 2006. It hosts the Gathering of Nations
Indian Powwow every spring which is the largest Native American cultural festival
in the USA. In the downtown area surrounding the old town district, there are
a number of beautiful hotels designed in the Adobe Spanish Colonial style of
architecture. For the most part, they are luxury hotels in the above average
to expensive price range. There is a much broader selection of hotels along
Cerillos Road a few miles south of downtown. You can find hotels in the budget
to moderate price range in that area. There are also a few moderately priced
hotels near the exits on I-25
Albuquerque
Albuquerque (pronounced al–buh–kirk–ee)
is the largest city in New Mexico. It is located along the Rio Grande River
near the center of the state. Two major interstate highways neatly divide New
Mexico into quadrants. Route 25 comes across its northern border from Colorado,
wends its way through the north central mountains, then follows the Rio Grande
Valley south to El Paso at the borders of Texas and Mexico. Route 40 bisects
the state roughly following the path of old Route 66 from the Texas border on
the east to the Arizona border on the west. These two major traffic arteries
intersect in Albuquerque. At the intersection of these two highways near downtown
Albuquerque, the ramps and bridges are all painted in pastel hues of pink, tan
and turquoise. The bridge abutments and retaining walls are artistically decorated
with Indian designs. The very roads and civil constructions of this city are
imbued with the essence of southwestern culture. The city sprawls across the
wide shallow valley of the Rio Grande River nearly 5,000 feet (1,524 m.) above
sea level. To the east, the Sandia Mountains form an imposing wall reaching
high into the turquoise sky. On the horizon in every other direction, distant
hills and mesas punctuate the vast upland plateau. On the western edge of the
city, the Rio Grande River lies nearly hidden in its shallow channel at the
foot of the low bluffs overlooking the city. The climate at Albuquerque is surprisingly
mild in all seasons. Although located in a near desert environment, it is spared
from intense summer heat due to its higher elevation and spared from bitter
winter cold due to its southern latitudes. It receives some rainfall in the
summer and a spare amount of snow in the winter, but normally has clear blue
skies on most days in any season. Downtown Albuquerque, with its small cluster
of new high-rise building, lies near the intersection of the two highways. Commercial
buildings, shopping malls and hotels cluster along these major highways in all
directions. The old town section of Albuquerque lies just a few blocks southwest
of this crossing of roads.
About ten square blocks of the old town
district have been carefully restored to its original Spanish colonial era atmosphere.
Low adobe structures with protruding wooden Vigas and shaded promenades surround
the main plaza which is dominated by the imposing adobe structure of the San
Felipe de Neri church. Narrow passageways lead to shaded inner courtyards and
hidden fountains. About 100 shops, restaurants and galleries are located in
the area, with Native American crafts sold daily at an open-air market under
the eastern portico of the main plaza. There are several unique museums located
in the old town area including the rattlesnake museum, the turquoise museum
and the national atomic museum. If you intend to buy any turquoise jewelry,
you should definitely go to the turquoise museum first, as you will get an education
on the mining, manufacture and quality of turquoise gems. Albuquerque also offers
a zoo, a biological park, an aquarium, a botanic garden a science center and
a museum of natural history. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is located just
a few blocks north of the old town district. It provides visitors with information
about the history and culture of the Pueblo Indians and the other Native American
tribes indigenous to this part of the USA. You can learn about the 19 ancient
Indian Pueblos in New Mexico that are still inhabited by resident natives, and
can find out how to visit them. The center offers many interpretive programs,
including native dances by members of various tribes during summer weekends.
The center has a store featuring Native American crafts manufactured in local
villages, plus an outdoor market featuring foods and crafts sold by their native
producers. Every April, the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque hosts the
“Gathering of Nations”, the largest Native American Indian powwow
in North America. This weekend festival attracts as many as 2,000 Native American
dancers, drummers and singers from numerous tribes. It also attracts tens of
thousands of Native American spectators, but everyone is welcome to attend.
In October, Albuquerque hosts an annual International Balloon Fiesta. This colorful
nine-day event attracts hundreds of balloons and features some spectacular mass
ascensions. The geological features around the city create near perfect conditions
for ballooning with winds that radically change directions at increased altitudes.
Other nearby attractions includes the
Petroglyph National Monument on the western outskirts of the city. It contains
thousands of ancient and not-so-ancient Native American rock carvings and paintings.
A few miles to the north of downtown, the Sandia Peak Arial Tramway can take
you on a 2.7-mile (4,5 km) climb to the top of this 10,378 feet (2.343 m) high
peak. If you enjoy driving, there are several scenic routes through the eastern
mountains including the beautiful Turquoise Trail that passes through alpine
meadows, evergreen forests and even a few ghost towns. Heading west from Albuquerque,
you can see historic old route 66 running parallel to the main highway. You
can even get off the Interstate and drive it for a few miles. About an hour
and a half west is Acoma Pueblo, also known as “Sky Pueblo”. This
beautiful Indian village is located high atop a mesa overlooking the vast prairie.
It has been continuously inhabited for nearly a thousand years. It is open for
guided visitation daily. There are several other pueblos that you can visit
within an hour drive from Albuquerque. An hour and a half drive north is Santa
Fe, the capitol city of New Mexico. It is a beautiful old city with adobe architecture
and rich Spanish colonial culture. It is also an upscale ski resort and artist’s
community with a fabulous array of fine restaurants, craft shops, boutiques
and art galleries. Albuquerque Sunport International Airport is located just
a few miles south of downtown along route 25. There are busses, shuttles and
taxis that will take you anywhere in town for very modest prices. Amtrak, the
national passenger rail service, operates its Southwest Chief Line from Los
Angeles to Chicago with a stop in Albuquerque. There are plenty of nice accommodations
in Albuquerque at very affordable prices. Most of the hotels are located along
route 25 and route 40 with a large concentration of budget to moderate priced
hotels near the airport. There are hotels in all price ranges near downtown
and in the vicinity of the crossing of route 25 with route 40.
Tennessee
Nashville
Nashville is a small city that feels
more like a big town. It is situated along the banks of the Cumberland River
in the center of the state of Tennessee. It is commonly known as "Music
City USA" and as the world capital of Country Western Music. Country or
"hillbilly" music was born in the 1920s soon after radio and records
made it possible for local "folk" musicians to hear what their contemporaries
were creating in other parts of the US. Country music was originally based on
Scotch-Irish melodies and ballads that were popular at "barn dances"
in many rural states. It soon became popular with millions of farmers and urban
factory workers across the country.
Music Valley is accessible from downtown
Nashville via a Cumberland River water taxi that lands at the Opryland dock.
An old-fashioned show boat provides excursions, musical shows and dinner dance
cruises from the same dock. Within walking distance of Opryland are a wax museum
of country stars, a car museum, a toy museum and several clubs offering live
country music entertainment. Downtown Nashville contains many attractions related
to country music including the country music hall of fame, several museums dedicated
to famous country stars, and the "Music Row" area with its array of
international recording studios. It also offers an assortment of interesting
museums; parks and churches including a full size replica of the Parthenon restored
to its original Greek splendor. Nashville's entertainment district is centered
on Broadway and Second Avenue downtown. There you will find a variety of restaurants;
bars and clubs featuring live country music. The Wild Horse Saloon on Second
Avenue is famous for its weekly country dances that are nationally televised.
Yes, you can be on television if you are brave enough to venture out on the
floor with some of the best country dancers in the world. On weekend evenings,
musicians play their instruments and sing country ballads on the downtown street
corners. Every day in Nashville, you can see men and women walking on the streets
in their faded western attire with a guitar slung over their back, looking for
their chance to find fame and fortune in Music City, USA. From Nashville, it
is a short 75 miles drive south to Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the Jack Daniels
whiskey distillery. It is about 200 miles west to Memphis, Tennessee and "Graceland",
home of "The King of Rock and Roll", Elvis Presley.
Memphis
Memphis is situated on a bluff overlooking
the Mississippi River at the western border of Tennessee. Like its ancient namesake
in Egypt, this city lies above the apex of a mighty river delta. It forms a
gateway between two radically different regions of the USA. To the south, lie
the poverty stricken farms of the delta, the swampy bayous of Louisiana and
that great European flavored port city of New Orleans. To the north and west
are the rich farms of the Midwestern plains and the northern industrial cities
like Chicago and Detroit. Perhaps this strategic location has helped form the
unique cultural heritage of Memphis. A genteel atmosphere of southern aristocracy
has blended with the intensely spiritual soul of its Afro-American community.
This is the birthplace of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock and Roll. It
was also the home of the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. Downtown Memphis,
stretches along the bluff overlooking the Mississippi. Main Street has been
converted to a pedestrian mall with antique trolleys and horse drawn carriages
providing convenient transportation to the entire downtown area. The Peabody
Hotel, located near the midpoint of the downtown district has a unique tradition.
Every day at eleven AM and at five PM, the Peabody ducks parade to and from
the lobby fountain with the accompaniment of an orchestral march. A giant steel
pyramid, housing a sports and entertainment complex is at the north end of downtown.
Just south of the pyramid a walkway leads to Mud Island, containing a river
museum complete with a working model of the lower Mississippi and the Memphis
Belle, a world war II, B-17 bomber made famous in the movie of the same name.
Historic Sun Studios is situated in a
rather run-down neighborhood just a few miles east of downtown. It is small
and not very impressive looking, but the tour is well worth the modest eight-dollar
fee. You will stand in the very room where Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, and Howlin
Wolf recorded their earliest blues recordings, where a young electrical worker
named Elvis Aaron Presley cut his first demonstration tape and recorded his
first hit, "That's all right". You will even hear the famous recording
of Elvi | | |
