Canyon Lake Gorge opens to public

Posted on January 28, 2012 by admin

If you’ve been anxiously awaiting a tour of the Canyon Lake Gorge, get ready as the Gorge Preservation Society (GPS) has opened once a month. Said to be formed in just three days, Canyon Lake Gorge was till date open just only to researchers since the 2002 flood but GPS now plans to share the beauty and wonder of this natural phenomenon with the public. The Canyon Lake Gorge in Texas is a beautiful and natural insight into the geology and hydrologic dynamics of glen-rose limestone in Comal County near Canyon Lake. Three-hour tours will be conducted on the first Saturday of the month and will begin at 9 a.m. Fees that the visitors pay to witness the vista of the lake will be applied towards a GPS membership. The brittle limestone is still breaking away from the canyon walls, so the visitors will not be allowed to hike the canyon on their own. The hike through the canyon is not recommended for the people that have bad knees, ankles, poor heart conditions or are overweight as it is physically very demanding. The three- hour tours include a hike of the one and a half-mile-long with discussions on the history and geology of the canyon. All those interested to witness the wonderful vista of amazing and beautifully scenic formations that are millions of years old and a sight to behold, plan your trip now! Source: USA Today

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$800-million luxury hotel opens in Downtown Detroit

Posted on January 28, 2012 by admin

If Las Vegas is a place you have added in your travel destination list then I’ll suggest you to check out MGM Grand Detroit. Raising the city’s hospitality offerings to unparalleled heights, the new MGM Grand Detroit debuted last week. Billed as the first Vegas-style resort in one of the major metropolitan area, $800 million MGM Grand includes 400 rooms and suites and its 18-story hotel has electronic concierges in each room. Developed by MGM MIRAGE, one of the world’s most respected hotel and gaming companies, MGM Grand Detroit is the only resort-style spa in southeast Michigan and 30,000-square-feet of meeting and convention space. The resort also features a 20,000-square-foot spa and, the lobby that has 20-foot ceilings and a private ‘living room’ for casual gatherings. The casino has 4,500 slot machines, more than 90 table games and an upscale eight-table poker room. Nightly rates start at $299. The opening was attended by Grammy-nominee Kid Rock and Grammy-Award winners Ashanti and Anita Baker along with celebrity chefs Wolfgang Puck and Michael Mina and many other Detroit dignitaries. MGM Grand Detroit is anticipated to be a draw for many audiences from the business traveler and international visitor. Source: The New York Times

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New Megabus service to be launched in Los Angeles next week

Posted on January 28, 2012 by admin

Next week, new nonstop line known as Megabus will roll into Los Angeles. It is a subsidiary coach of United States that will serve seven cities carrying passengers from L.A. to San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix. Including Chicago, presently Megabus is operating in 14 cities. On each Megabus, a few seats will be sold out for $1. For advance booking, the customers will have to pay 50-cent extra. The highest price for a ticket to San Francisco (a seven-hour ride) will be $38.50, while a ticket to Las Vegas (about 4 1/2 hours) will be $34.50. Tickets can be purchased on its website (www.megabus.com/us) starting Thursday. There are plans to launch a Spanish-language version of the site. Effective marketing and cheap fares have made Megabus run successfully in many cities but company needs to work hard to make it a success in Los Angeles where people are much used to cars. The company plans to advertise Megabus on billboards, in bus shelters and train stations and in college newspapers and AARP publications. Only time will show whether the efforts of the company help Megabus run successfully in Los Angeles or not? Source: Latimes

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Kona Coffee Cultural Festival: Sipping Kona coffee in style!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin

If you’re a java junkie head straight to Hawaii’s Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, happening on the Big Island on November 2-11, 2007. It’s Hawaii’s oldest food festival and the only coffee festival in the United States. The theme of the festival this year is ‘Kona Coffee Tradition of Excellence’. The festival offers a variety of events, ranging from coffee samplings to several contests, such as the coffee bean picking contest and a Little Miss Kona Coffee pageant. This year’s celebration will have nearly 50 events including tastings, art exhibits, cupping competition, farm tours, contests, parades and sporting events. For the first time, the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival will include a professional espresso training workshop during its 10-day celebration of Hawaii’s coffee heritage. Gevalia Kona Coffee Cupping Competition is the festival’s big event in which a panel of international Master Cuppers determines the best coffee of the year. Take coffee farm tour attend workshops on growing, roasting and brewing coffee, take part in a coffee-picking contest and tastings, watch a parade and enjoy sipping Kona coffee in style! Cost: $3 festival button. More Info.

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Take a ride on historic open-air Blackpool boat car!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin

The odd looking English street car you see in the picture above is the Boat Tram. Well-known as Blackpool Tram No. 228, it’s an England boat tram built in 1934 and the second Boat Tram to run on Muni’s tracks. Muni owns more than 90 historic streetcars and trolleys, many of which are in actual service on the F-Line. Some of the cars date back to the late 1800s. To know more about the San Francisco streetcar history, you can visit the Railway Museum near the San Francisco Ferry Building on Steuart Street. If you’re in San Francisco and miss the ride on this boat tram on a warm day then you surely miss the fun! Image Credit Source: Telstar Logistics

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Disney tourism movie should increase foreign visitors to US

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin

Walt Disney has been busy making cartoons and long animated movies. Lately, they seem to keep themselves busy with the idea of U.S. tourism promotion. How so? Well, the movie that they made on popular U.S. landmarks is supposed to attract foreign visitors to the country. Also, it will hopefully put a friendly perspective to the often sad and depressing business of foreigners traveling to the U.S. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is trying to make things cooler and present the U.S. as a friendly country to the foreigners, in order to promote international tourism. The post nine eleven era resulted the U.S. tourism to take a nose dive. So, the Disney short is just the Federal govt.s effort to attract international visitors. The movie hardly has any dialog whatsoever, except a meager welcome. The movie does a pretty good job of showing all the popular tourist destinations in the country. It will be shown at all the popular ports of entry in the U.S. Statistics tell us that the international travel to U.S. has dropped by 17% not including the Canadians and Mexicans. The Department of Homeland Security needs to put in more effort on U.S. tourism development. I think before anything else they need to make the folks in smaller towns more aware of other cultures and societies. Unfortunately, a greater percentage of Americans are geographically challenged. Disney should make more movies on foreign culture and society for the Americans. An interesting aspect about this particular movie is that it shows the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Movies can do so much to boost tourism. The rest of the effort lies on the economy. The decreasing dollar in the international market is the only hope of U.S. tourism going up. Image Credit: Go

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International Spy Museum lets visitors become 007!

Posted on January 26, 2012 by admin

Well, who on earth would know that there’s a museum devoted to the great spies? None other than LATimes. The International spy museum is all about the greatest spies and the spy related activities. The Operation spy package at the International spy museum lets visitors become a spy! — at least for an hour. The Spy museum is located at Washington D.C. In the Operation spy, the museum visitors who are 12 or older are assigned a secret mission. Technically, they are ‘working’ for the US Intelligence. These fictitious wannabe spies are then going to operate in a mythical country known as Khandar. I think this is probably an interesting way to glorify the Afghan war in the eyes of ‘future spies’. Khandar and Qandahar(in Afganistan) does sound similar. It even gets better. There’s a guide for each tour groups. This is well, hilarious to me. Every ‘spy’ is briefed at the ‘command center’ before he or she can move in with the team and the spy guide. Amazing concept huh! As of now, the museum has devised about 6 possible endings to this Kandahar spy game. It will only cost you anything between $12 to 24 to become a spy for an hour. You can go on spy city tours, scavenger hunts, or even attempt a spy cast. During these ops, you get to decode secret messages, solve problems, use deceptive maneuvers or even take part in solo and team based activity. Wow! This is very unreal and surreal. But, it all comes to life at the International spy museum at 800 F St., N.W. Image Credits:Latimes

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San Alfonso del Mar: How about making a splash at world’s largest swimming pool?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by admin

Seems the world has gone crazy for the massive pools. Trouncing all the record holders in the swimming pool category, the San Alfonso pool in Chile has been acknowledged by Guinness World Records as being the world’s largest swimming pool. It’s an artificial lagoon and absolutely immense pool that is 1 km long and covers eight hectares. Moreover, it contains an incredible 250,000 cubic meters of water. The clear water artificial lagoons, transparent to a depth of 35 meters and unparalleled design and construction methods of the pool are the brainchild of Crystal Lagoons founder, biochemist and Chilean businessman Fernando Fischmann. This artificial lagoon and swimming pool is already drawing the crowds but its details of technology are yet to be unveiled which will be done for the first time at Cityscape Dubai later this month. Source: Spluch

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Salar de Uyuni: Bolivia’s salt desert boosts tourism

Posted on January 26, 2012 by admin

For the tourists in Bolivia, there is a new kind of attraction – salt desert. Mostly known as Salar de Uyuni, this desert has become popular lately after it was listed as the top 25 wonders of the world. Before this, Bolivia didn’t really have any star attraction. As of now, about 60,000 tourists visit the 1100 kms. of salt flat a year. So you can well imagine the tourist boom. But, how’s the weather in the weird salt desert? Here’s an example. A typical weather condition in this part of the world would call for about freezing night temps. and scorching heat during the day. Here’s a little history about the salt desert. Roughly, about 40,000 years ago, this desert was part of the lake that covered up most of the Andean highlands. Now, it’s very much akin to a dry riverbed. Interesting , huh! After the floor dried up, the appearance was very much like a lunar landscape. In order to further improve the tourism in South America, the residents of the town Uyuni plan to transform the town into a major hub. Attractions will include a newly built llama museum. For accommodation, tourists will be provided with salt made hotels at Salar. Wow! I need to try them out soon. Image Credit: News

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Can you afford a luxurious living in Beverly Hills?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Who doesn’t dream of a house in tranquil Beverly Hills? But do you think it’s that easy to afford a luxurious living there? Beverly Hills is known for the most expensive homes in US and has topped again. Recently, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC made the comparison of home prices across 331 North American markets and found that with an average price tag of $2.21-million, Beverly Hills was the most expensive place on the continent in 2007 to buy a middle-of-the-road house. Ranging from the most expensive and the most affordable the report concluded: � Of all of the Canadian markets studied, Charlottetown was the most affordable. Homes with an average 2,200 square feet, four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths were found to be just $157,630. � There is not much difference in the home prices in Canada and the US. In fact, Canada mirrors the U.S. in that the costliest real estate markets are located on the West Coast. � With homes averaging $1.32-million, Vancouver topped the list of Canadian markets studied. � California has eight cities in the top 10 most expensive places to buy a house in North America. � Greenwich is the second-priciest place. � At a mere $136,725, Killeen was the cheapest real estate on the continent. � Housing sales in Canada are have not witnessed slump and varied greatly. However, famously expensive Manhattan and London, one of the world’s priciest markets were not included in the study. The value of the dollar has sunk against most major currencies (witnessing 15% slump against the euro) in the recent past and has made it difficult for Americans to buy a vacation home overseas but the weak dollar has made U.S. properties more attractive to foreign buyers. Source: USA Today

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