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The Pacific Coast Highway also known as Highway 1 is a beautiful drive up the California coast. It starts in Orange County California moves through must see places like Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu. Works its way up along some of the most scenic areas of San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz. It reaches its way to San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and through Marin County. It makes its final stop in Leggett California where travelers can see some of the most amazing redwood trees.

Each area of the drive has its own adventure and beauty. In the southern section of the highway visitors will find some great fun in stops like Santa Monica. There are some really fabulous hotels to check into that are close to some main attractions like the Santa Monica Pier and the Third Street Promenade. If one takes a long enough walk south down the beach boardwalk they will end up along Venice Beach and all of the crazy people and sights to see there. It is truly a one of a kind place.

Santa Monica and the surrounding area may have a few celebrities walking around like Owen Wilson and his brother Luke Wilson, who have been seen walking on the Santa Monica Pier. There are also some great places to shop and eat both on the boardwalk and pier as well as the Third Street Promenade. There are many brand name shops along the promenade like Anthropologie and the Pottery Barn as well as American Eagle Outfitters and the Banana Republic. What ever your favorite stores are, they are bound to found along this pedestrian friendly walk way along with many nice places to eat like Barney’s Beanery . So make sure you plan to spend some time in the different areas that the Pacific Coast Highway has to play in on your vacation.

If you are visiting Charlotte North Carolina for the first time then you may want to catch a tour or two. Even if you’re not a tour sort of person it is sometimes a good chance to get a broad view of an new place and learn about sights that you may not have known about. In an area like Charlotte with such rich history there are many things to see and do. Maybe you would like to go spend an afternoon at the Levine Museum of the New South which give a really great picture of the American south from 1865 to today. They have a great record and interactive account of how the area has grown in the perspective of all walks of life.  

If you are only in the area for one night and you only have the night time to spend out on the town than check out what is happening at the NC Music Factory maybe there is a great concert or show going on while you are in town. This is the center of a whole neighborhood of fun or at least a good corner block of fun. Great for a one stop entertainment and restaurant experience. There is a main stage that holds a variety of live performances. They have a comedy club and a dance club called Halo. You can rock out at the Crobar or just go people watch at one of the restaurant and pubs like Black Bear Saloon or Wet Willies. Definitely a great way to get out of the cozy hotel for a little local adventure.  

If you have only a small bit of time during the day before catching the plane out of town maybe you would like to see a museum to open you mind back up. Check out the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art it is sure to help you relax your mind and get a nice walk in before sitting around another airport.

We checked out of our hotel in Kuala Lumpur and got on the bus back to the airport. We wanted to get there early to see if we could change our Singapore Flight to India, but unfortunately they were unable to change our tickets. After checking in at our gate on this little machine at the airport, we dropped off our bags and went to find a place to relax that had a free wifi spot in the airport. Since we were hoping to go to India instead of Singapore, I wanted to see if Singapore had a good Indian restaurant , and I found this great restaurant website that listed all the better Indian restaurants in Singapore.

While I was searching on the Internet, my husband chatted up with a guy from Adelaide , but he once lived in Singapore, then in Japan and now in Kuala Lumpur. He was travelling to Singapore for the weekend with his girlfriend. He told us that there’s a section in Singapore called ‘Little India’ and that we would at least get a feel for India there. We ended up sitting next to them on the plane and he gave us several places that we should visit.

Our flight to Singapore only lasted about 55 minutes and we took the train into town. We walked to our hotel and that gave us our first taste of Singapore, and we think our stay will be all good, until we got into our hotel room. The bathroom was ridiculously small, and a weird shape. There was a entrance for the disabled, but for the life of us we couldn’t figure out how they would fit in here. It was so small that we feared if we dropped something there was no room to pick it up. We couldn’t help but laugh.

We headed out of our hotel to find Little India. That guy we met in the airport was right, it did give us a taste of India, and that Internet site that gave me the addresses of some Indian restaurants was great. The India restaurant we had lunch at was excellent. Our meals were very delightful, but it only made us really want to experience the real India all the more. We headed back to our hotel to use the wifi to see if we could make arrangements to fly to India.

This city always gets to me.  Every time I come to New York, thinking that I’ve already seen it all, I end up seeing more, or at least something new.  The last time I was here, holing up in my usual spot where I can find hospitality that agrees with me, I was setting things in place in my room, and had my music playing off of my laptop.  I always like to start a project by listening to the Pogues, it has something to do with a streak of superstition that I blame on my Irish grandmother.  So when the Thousands Are Sailing song came on, it was background music until the lyrics started to dig into my unconsciousness.

This song is about New York, and it’s particularly about the Irish experience here after the potato famine in 1947.  It moves forward in time, past JFK, and into the present, or at least the 80s when the song was written.  It’s got a happy beat, like all their songs, but an incredible sadness buried in it, just like all their songs, too.  This is a song that tells the history of the Irish crossing, and lamenting all of those who never made it across the ocean.  I think of my great-grandmother, born in one of these coffin ships during the passage, and think of how tenuous that life was, and the soft miracle that she made it into the world.

The song was written by one of the long-term Pogues, Phil Chevron.  He was writing about his own experience in visiting New York, after learning about it through the eyes of Irish history.  It’s a very patriotic song, and one of the best kinds of patriotic songs, revealing deep sadness and tragedies that are the bedrock of the lives of those who see promise, and keep pushing on in spite of the difficulties of the struggle.  Chevron is working more in theatre now, having survived a very rough bout of living as a Pogue, and his vast experience in musical forms are coming to light in the recent and splendid work.

There are a lot of songs about New York that speak to the spectrum of human emotions.  The city is a fascinating place, and it’s often very exciting, with so many interesting things to do and see. It’s very easy to get caught up in the lights and the magic, and also easy to forget about the way that it’s also extremely challenging.  For people who live here, there are daily struggles that really don’t exist anywhere else.  Tourists won’t worry about the daily grind so much, because there are fabulous hotels, and the whole array of tourist attractions.

Paul Simon has written a song here that speaks to a very particular part of the human experience.  There are many who interpret the song as being an inspiration for those who struggle against all the odds and come out winning, but a close look here doesn’t reveal a win on the part of the main character telling the song.  He goes through hard experience, and he is changed.  He doesn’t live through the difficulties by learning how to face them, in fact, he leaves.  This is a very important distinction, because it reflects a sentiment that would fall under the anti-hero umbrella rather than an underdog story.  It speaks to a feeling that an entire generation had in common, and one that resurfaces again when the stakes are high, but the value of the fight is in question. 

I’m happier here than I’ve been in most places, and I’m usually extraordinarily happy.  I have a sunny disposition.  I like to be aware of my surroundings, and being aware, for me, opens up the capacity for joy in all things.  All the things I care about are related, on some deep level, to food, perhaps.  That says more about me than it does about the things themselves, but then again, I love to eat.  If there is an opportunity to try something new, I usually take it, and if Indian food is involved, that’s even better.  I didn’t come to Singapore to have an experience with Indian food, but now that I’m here, I wish I’d planned it this way.
There are more great Indian restaurants here than anywhere on earth, at least in terms of how they relate in terms of the size of the population, the quality of the food, and the capacity to cause utter pleasure among the diners.  I had first suspected that I was enough to make waves of joy come rolling over us, should such things be possible, because my own delight with the food was enough to make me consider losing my memory.  If I could convince a surgeon to help me lose my short-term memory, and the procedure was a low enough risk, that would be a perfect situation.
I really don’t think I need to say that I love Indian food.  But I do.  There’s something about the cheese, something about the spice, and something about the curries, that reminds me that this world is much more complex and satisfying that we are sometimes lead to believe.  And anything that can open up the pores, the taste buds, and the capacity for joy, is worth paying attention to.  With a more carefully honed memory, one that could recall important things like directions and pin numbers, but forget exactly how food tastes, so you have to go back again and again, I might have unlocked a secret of immortality.

This is the weekend when I decided I would lock myself in and write the poem of the century.  I had been stuck in a dayjob for years, and the past three months has been about overtime.  I haven’t seen the inside of my own apartment, or my own head, for a lot of hours in a row, and I knew there was something in there.  Usually, I try to work just enough to keep food and lodging, so I can spend some time every day working on my craft.  It happens sometimes, what they say, where you start to work, and the money is not bad, and you start to get used to that, and suddenly you’re no longer a writer.

I’ve seen it happen to close friends, and it always strikes me as a great loss.  It’s not just because there’s another dream deferred, and a kind of personal happiness that’s compromised, but also because that work that was supposed to come and live on the planet has been abandoned.  With that spirit then, I checked myself into a cool hotel, and prepared myself to write all weekend.

It starts off slow, this writer’s block, and it always starts the same way, and I always convince myself it’s not started.  The distractions in the world that make it hard for a dog to watch tv start to affect me, and I’m soon deciding to meet a friend in the Village, because it’s been so long.  I scribble a few words just so I don’t feel totally guilty while I’m out.  While I’m out, we’re having a great time, and those few words grow in significance in my mind, and I start to remember them as being the beginning of that poem.  It’s almost an entire verse, and that’s quite a bit, and I’m very optimistic.  By the next morning, however, the few words are really only two, and one of them is “the,” so I decide to sit down, and stay in the room even if there’s a fire.  I write about the Village, and suddenly I remember why I came here.

My cousin Vinnie, and yes that’s really his name and yes he really is my cousin, invited me to go with him on a road trip that would span Oregon, Washington and lead us into Canada. He wanted to take a whole month last summer to do this and at first I had hesitations. After all, I’m a working man, I have a job and responsibilities. So naturally I said yes. Vinnie and I grew up together in Northern California. My family lived in Pleasant Hill and his family lived in Albany. Both of these cities are on the East Bay and when we were teenagers we began taking BART into San Francisco and always had a great time. Vinnie is almost exactly one year older than I am and he is pretty much the one that determines what we’ll do. I’ve always just sort of relied on him for this and he always comes up with great ideas. I figured his road trip to Canada last summer would be nothing less. And I was right. It was just the two of us and we had an amazing time.

We stopped in Ashland, Oregon at the Shakespeare Festival. It’s something both of us had always wanted to do and just never made it up there. Moving on we stopped in Portland for a night and then headed out early the next morning and didn’t really stop until we made it Seattle. I know this is cliché but one of the first things I wanted to do was stop and have a great cup of coffee. We happened upon a place called Cherry Street Coffee and though this might sound stereotypical, it really was a good cup of coffee. Maybe the fact that there was a nice drizzle outside and it just all sort of felt right regarding Seattle expectations contributed to the overall effect, but still it was good coffee. Next we headed over to Pike Place Market and hung out for a while. Vinnie and I liked Seattle so much that we decided to stay the night and found a quaint little inn in which to rest our heads. The rest of the trip was just as amazing and I forgot to mention I have a great story about crossing the Canadian boarder. I’ll have to save that one for next time.

What if you could bring home CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to live with you?  You might think he would object, especially if you’ve never met.  However, for a price, you can bring back Cooper to wherever you live after you visit the CNN gift store at the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. over on 190 Marieta Street in Atlanta, Georgia.  Okay, it’s not actually Anderson Cooper, but a life-size cardboard cut-out of him.  The gift shop, though, shouldn’t be your only goal if you visit the TBS headquarters; instead, you should aim at the CNN Studio Tours, which are available from nine in the morning to six in the evening, Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday).

The tour lasts about fifty minutes, with a friendly and expert guide.  You won’t be able to take pictures during the tour, but you’ll be able to see how CNN puts together the news and you may even get the opportunity to play news reporter for a few minutes.  The cost of all this?  Around thirteen dollars for adults and ten dollars for a child (the good news is that a child is considered anyone from the ages of four to eighteen — and if you have a Triple A or an AARP card, it may be less).  The CNN tour is actually a destination spot for locals to bring their guests, which really gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the news and the morning shows offered on CNN.

If you hadn’t yet considered a CNN tour as part of your itinerary, I’d certainly put it on the list.  I would grab a hotel room, and make a call or on-line visit to CNN and reserve a spot on the tours.  You can have your choice of a number of shows.  There’s the Morning Express Tour with Robin Meade, or Inside the Conversation Tour with Rick Sanchez, as well as the CNN Studio Tour.  And while, like any tour anywhere, CNN does deposit you into the gift shop at the end of fifty-five minutes, that’s where you can pick up the cardboard cut-out of Anderson Cooper.

Okay, so I’ve been to Los Angeles quite a few times. Actually, having lived in Phoenix, Arizona for most of my life, this is an easy thing to do. In fact I’ve had some really great times in Los Angeles and while I was a student at ASU my best friend’s and my favorite thing to do on the weekend was take off and go to LA. The only thing I could say about LA that I’m not a fan of, and this won’t win me any points with people from Los Angeles, but I do not like the Lakers. Keep in mind I’m from Phoenix and I am a big Phoenix Suns fan, so it should make obvious sense why I do not like the Lakers. In fact, I’m willing to bet that the majority of tourist you could find in any of the rooms in the Los Angeles hotels won’t be Lakers fans either. But enough of that, I want to talk about the great things about the city. Okay, and the truth be told, the Lakers are a great team, right now.

Anyway, here’s another thing I’ll admit that won’t win me any favors with locals but one of the best times I had in LA happened a few years ago when I met my good friend there on a business trip. It was her business trip, I was just along for the ride. We stayed in a great room in the Pacific Palisades and had so much fun while we were there. She had only been there once before I think and wanted to do all of the silly things that tourists do and I was just along for the ride so I agreed to just about everything. You see how I’m not taking any responsibility here?

Anyway, we went to places like Hollywood Boulevard and we walked all along street looking at prints and signatures of some of the biggest stars ever. We also spent time looking at all the crafts and jewelry that was available from venders around the Kodak Theatre. That place is even glamorous when nothing is going on and to be honest it was fun walking around in the area. I bought a really pretty jade necklace. So of course we also drove down Sunset Strip and we spent an afternoon on Venice Beach. That was nice, and dang it was interesting. Muscle Beach wasn’t as active as what it’s legend prepared me for, but it was still fun. This touristy trip I took with my friend honestly was one of the greatest times I’ve had in LA.

Here’s my Grand Rapids travelblog entry, I know, I don’t need to state that this is a travelblog, but for me, this is almost the same as showing slides to all your friends and thoroughly bore them to death. So, here is my writing slid-show, and it will bore you.

One place I visited is the Fish Ladder, this is where the salmon and stellhead’s find their first hurdle upon their momentous journey to spawn upstream from Lake Michigan to Lansing, which is located in mid-Michigan. Another place of interest is the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Inside, there is tons of activities for children; I wish I had something like this when I was growing up. The Grand Rapids Public Museum, which has an old-fashion carousel indoors and 3 stories of interesting things. The Grand Rapids Art Museum, which not only carries some famous painting, but also features local artists as well. I only toured the Grand Rapids Symphony, I didn’t have time to see a concert, but the Symphony includes a ‘Lollipop’ series for young children, which the tour boast to be extremely popular and successful.

I found, which I didn’t think possible, that Grand Rapids really does have a lot to offer travelers and visitors. I’m a little spoiled when it come to the arts and entertainment, coming from Chicago, but I was totally pleased with the amount of things to do here. I only spent two days here at this really nice hotel that I found on-line: hotelgrandrapids, which was conveniently located in the downtown district.

I really liked the Meijer Gardens, it really is worth a visit if you ever come to Grand Rapids, there was quite a lot to do and see. As I reflect about my two days visit, Grand Rapids really does offer a great deal of culture for children. I think, if I wanted to raise a family, I’d choose Grand Rapids.

New York is the home to many forms of theatre, from the Broadway musicals, to the off Broadway dramas, to the new and innovative, sometimes experimental productions of off-off Broadway.  One company took what was at the time and abandoned school building and turned it into one of the most esteemed art and theatre institutions; Performance Space 122 has become a world leader in the world of alternative and experimental theatre, and has become home to some of the most talented, up and coming artists of today’s generation.

Just as corporate companies such as hotel chains, are challenged by the innovative and artistic concept of boutique hotels, New York traditional forms of art are being challenged by the work that is pushing the boundaries in the worlds of music, theatre, dance and performance art.  Known as PS 122, the name reflects the previous inhabitants of the building, Public School 122.  The school was abandoned in the 1970’s, and many visual artists began renting out the classrooms for painting studios.

Abandoned public schools have long been the perfect place for artist studios, and for rehearsal spaces for dance and theatre companies.  What happened at PS 122 however, went beyond the simple rehearsal spaces, and in 1980 opened to the public a series of presentations, which illustrated the work of those who had been involved with the school for years.  It was a multidisciplinary show, that evolved into classes and workshops being offered by the artists in residence.

In 1986, the old gym was converted into a performance space that other companies were renting out in order to put up longer running shows.  The mission of PS 122 is to seek out new talent, and to support and nurture new artists in all fields, those who are defying traditional conventions and pushing the bounds of performance art.  The history of the evolution of this institution is illustrated in the 2000 film, “Homecoming”, and provides a wonderful look into the lives of the artist who have made this innovative space in New York come to life.

When you visit a city the never sleeps, sometimes all you want is a really good nap. But, here in Manhattan, there’s not even a chance of that, there’s too much restless energy going through your pores and pumping your very being into a jumble of thoughts that can lead you to the brink of insanity. You feel you have to do everything that there is possibly to do in Manhattan.
 
Escaping the city is another possibility, seeing the forest for the trees, feeling the mountains ruggedness under your feet, finding sand in every parts of your body after playing in the ocean or encompassing the vastness of space. I love this city, I love my room at one of the New York top hotels, it’s like icing on top of a cupcake, but I’m so over-stimulated and frazzled.
 
At first glance, New York does overwhelm the senses, stimulates the possibilities, brings about a zest for life, and sparkles like diamond for the taking, but then it hits you and suddenly the urge to sleep or run pours in like Niagara Falls. I need calm, I need warmth, I need a friendly person to talk to, I need sleep.
 
I couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk to Central Park, I haven’t been there yet, so maybe, just maybe I find solace. I braved the park at twilight and with a threatening sky; as I entered, my first thought was: I found escape. The peace, the tranquility flowed through my garbled soul. The air was pungent with the scent of Night Jasmine, the horse-drawn carriages echo down the cobblestones. I felt sleepy and calm. Why didn’t I come here sooner? Central Park is an oasis in the concrete forest, it’s a balm on an open wound and saviour that grounds home a sense of being whole again.
 
I think I can once again take on the hustle and bustle of this spectacular city.

Year round, the city of San Antonio celebrates its history and holidays.  No matter what season you arrive and book a hotel, chances are good that there will be a place to enjoy yourself. 
 
Starting out in January, San Antonio rings in the New Year on South Alamo Street, across from HemisFair Park.  You’ll find here music and food as well as an amazing fireworks show blasted off from the heights of the Tower of the Americas.  This is followed by the Michelob ULTRA River Walk Mud Festival, which honors not a new year, but the annual maintenance of the River Walk, which is done by draining a portion of the river.  The festival, which includes a Mud Parade, an art festival and a Pub Crawl, also honors a newly crowned Mud King and Queen.
 
In February, there’s a sixteen day event known as the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo held at the Freeman Coliseum and AT&T Center.  In April, there’s a ten day festival held all over the city in order to commemorate the heroes of the Battle of the Alamo, as well as the Battle of San Jacinto.  This is all about the independence of Texas from Mexico, and there’s over one hundred events taking place at this time.  This particular festival goes back to 1891 when the festival was just a parade of ladies in carriages tossing the blossoms of flowers at each other.  In 1895, this parade had grown into a week long celebration, now known as the Battle of Flowers Parade.
 
Around Easter, you’ll find a Passion Play performed at the Cathedral of San Fernando, which happens to be the oldest cathedral in the country, and this production has happened every year for the last two hundred and fifty years.
 
In May, of course, Cinco de Mayo festivities occur in Market Street.  In June, you’ll find there’s free theater at the San Antonio Botanical Garden with Shakespeare in the Park.  There’s also a Texas Folklife Festival, four days that bring together forty ethnic groups in Texas to display food, music, crafts and folk dancing. 
 
In November, you’ll find the Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony which is held the day after Thanksgiving, which lights up the River Walk for the holidays with over 122,000 lights.  In addition, there’s floats that move down the river, concluding with Santa Claus and Pancho Claus, the Latin variation on the mythic Christmas elf.  In December, you’ll find the amazing Fiesta de las Luminarias along the River Walk, where people put out seven thousand luminarias; this ceremony is part of a tradition with Mexican-American roots and will continue over nine nights.  This particular procession has been going on for over forty years here.
 
This brings us back to New Year’s Eve and another round of festivals begins.

Fort Lauderdale has much to offer in the ways of fun and good times in the sun, on the beach and in the water.  However should you need a bit of time away from the sun and the sand there are three museums in the city that are well worth a visit.  As mentioned in the travel pamphlets provided by the staff of most of the luxury hotels on the beaches of Fort Lauderale is rich with history, art and science.  The African American Cultural Center celebrates and offers the public, a look into the lives of the residents of African heritage.  The library located at the center draws researchers from around the world, as their collection of books numbers close to 80′,000.  Many rare or out of print books are to be found in the library as well as an extensive collection of African American writers and the museum contains a rich collection of paintings and sculptures.

The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art is also filled with works of art, on canvas or in stone and bronze, with as well, a vast collection of locally produced textiles and craft-work.  There is a wide variety of famous works housed in the museum, and the touring exhibits change frequently.  This is one of the museums you will wish to set aside the entire day for, as there is much to see, and much to photograph.

As with the previous two museums, the Museum of Discovery and Science (http://www.mods.org/) offers fun for the entire family, in fact it is one of the best attractions for children in the city.  There are more than two hundred interactive displays and exhibits.  There is even a small section of the museum which houses and cares for alligators, snakes and bats.  There is a large nature trail filled with the fauna and the flora of the region, as well as the different levels of the Everglade forest.  And, as with the bringing of the animals and reptiles inside, the museum houses a shark exhibit, which contains along with the sharks, the largest coral reef to be in captivity.  From land to sea to the sky, the space exhibit will top off your trip.  These are great places to escape the heat of a humid day, and great places to learn while having fun.

The history of the area surrounding fine hotels located in Greensboro, North Carolina is long and plentiful. There are many stories that can be heard from the Civil War times and into the more modern African-American Civil Rights Movement. Some freedoms were won in the early 1860 but the battle continues on for some areas of America. In the 1940s,50s and 60s African-Americans continued to fight for their place in America. They had a vision of everyone who lived in this country should be able to live, eat and be where ever they wanted. There were plenty of people who didn’t want that to happen.

In early 1960, when segregation of public facilities was still in full force, four black freshman from a North Caroline University decided to walk into a segregated Woolworths cafe and asked to be served. They felt that if they were going to spend money at the local Woolworth store on products, then they should also be able to sit in the stores cafe and be served lunch. The restaurant refused to serve them so they sat there until the store closed. For the next five days these same young men came in and sat at that lunch counter. Each day more and more protesters showed up until there were hundreds of angry protesters creating a scene outside. The efforts they made did lead to the desegregation of the F.W.Woolworths cafe counter. The store in Greensboro was eventually forced to close its doors but the chain is still active and has made its way online.

These young protesters were the first to start the sit-in movement, which was led by a group called CORE, in an effort to make peaceful protests to push the point that they deserved to be in the same pools, restaurants and other public places along with the white men and women of the country. Groups of African-Americans were to go to lunch in a white mans cafe, sit down and order. They were not to leave until after they were served. However, they had to follow a few rules. They had to be friendly at all times while sitting at the counter. They had to sit up straight and face the counter. They were not allowed to talk, laugh out loud or strike back at any attack that may come at them. The were also not allowed to block entrances. This movement turned into many other forms of non-violent ways of protesting to come.

Manhattan is best for non-particular meanderings; no plans are necessary. I just walked and explored the city, she reveals exactly what I need at just the right moments. Like my quest for a ‘good’ cup-o-coffee, not what’s being served here at every corner and calling it coffee, but an actual great cup of coffee. Through my meanderings, I stumbled across ‘Stumptown Cafe‘. It’s the first in New York city and is the brainchild of a completely obsessive coffee addict spouting that the bean varietals as just as important as the grapes used for wine.

Stumptown coffee is Superb! It takes me back to my roots in Melbourne. I feel like I’m now ready for anything New York City wants me to explore. There is nothing better for one’s spirits than a Superb cup of coffee! Nothing! Not even alcohol, nothing. With my latte in hand, I let a new days adventure begin. I traveled through some previously ignored boutiques, boutiques busting with originality! See how a good cup of coffee leads to an eye opening experience? I found one boutique where people watching was just as quirky as the clothes price-tags were.

My next day, was just as random as all the previous days, except for a quick stop by Stumptown. Fortunately, the top hotel I booked on-line from this site: http://www.topnewyorkcityhotels.com, to stay at during my trip wasn’t too far away from Stumptown, which is located on 29th and Broadway. It was Sunday and Sunday led me on a wild cheese-burger and fries chase through the Lower East Side. A place named ‘Pianos’ was spotted, so I went inside. I found it to be somewhat of a California atmosphere of laid-backness-beach-house type of bar. I sat up at the bar and ordered a cheese-burger with fries. Boy!  Saying that was the best burger I’ve ever had is an understatement!

One of the best parts of being plan-free, is the truly unexpected happens, like as I was taking photos of myself via Iphone, Sarah Jessica Parker passed by me laughing! I quickly turned the camera phone around and managed to get a shot of her as she stepped into a taxi! So, next time you’re in New York City, don’t plan anything and be random and free. You’ll get to see a part of New York that isn’t on any tour package.

When it comes to estuary’s the largest one in the United States is Chesapeake Bay of the coast of Virginia. Any of the hotels Hampton has to offer is a good place to start your exploration of the Bay. This bay is shared with Virginia and Maryland along the Atlantic Ocean and each state has a few cities along the waters edge. It has more than a hundred and fifty streams and rivers mix in with the Atlantic Ocean everyday. The area of the bay runs about 200 miles long starting from Susquehanna River down to the Atlantic. You could spend days boating in the bay in order to see most of it. The narrowest part of the bay is between Plum Point and Romney Creek and spans about 2.8 miles. The widest section of the bay is about 30 miles wide and is near the Potomac River. The bay varies in depths between 46 feet to 208 feet. It also has a few bridges built over it. One bridge is in Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and it crosses the bay from Sandy Point to Kent Island. The other is in Virignia, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel will get travelers from Virginia Beach to Cape Charles.

There are many thing to do on the Chesapeake Bay. Boating and fishing are very popular. In fact, the seafood like blue crab, oysters and clams were the well known harvest of these waters. There is even a famous boat that is the state boat of Maryland called the shipjack. The shipjack is a sail powered work boat and the only one of its kind in the United States. The waters are not quite as plentiful with shellfish as it once was but there is still some a good business being run there. Visitors can even get out and to a little fishing and crabbing. It is still a great tourist attraction.

Often when we think about campaigns and elections we think of rallies, shaking hands, holding babies, and endless commercials on television.  While it is still important to get out into the streets and talk to people, we are quickly creating a more technological approach to campaigning.  These days most politicians use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites to keep their potential constituents informed about their policies and their progress on the campaign trail.

With an increasing number of people going online to investigate each candidate, their policies, and their history, it is more important than ever that politicians utilize online reputation management.  It only takes a few minutes for the opposing party or an overzealous competitor to post derogatory comments or blog about a candidate and seriously damage their reputation and, potentially, their campaign.  With established reputation management, damage control in such a situation would be minimal if at all.  On the same token, search engine optimization services can help boost the ranking on the candidates personal and campaign websites.  This will also help voters find the most accurate and direct information for each candidate.  By properly ranking their sites, candidates can share with voters their policies, past terms in office, as well as their voting history if they served in the Senate or Congress.

The internet is constantly revolutionizing the way we live, work, and vote.  As more information becomes available online, the more we use it to research and investigate products, services, and candidates.  For candidates it has never been more important to stay on top of their campaign and what it being said about them.  For voters it has never been more important to stay informed, but, on the other hand, it has never been easier.

The Australian Open is coming up, and with it, a renewed interest in tennis: its history and its players.  Perhaps one the most polarizing people ever in the history tennis was not the groundbreaking Billie Jean King and all that she did to make tennis a more even playing ground for women to compete in, but the Superbrat.  Named so by the British press for his nasty tantrums that included swearing and classic one-liners like “You cannot be SERIOUS!” John McEnroe has made a name for himself as a seriously good tennis player.  His tennis scores and matches throughout the years prove it.

Often people tuned into the matches, people who were not normally fans, simply to wait and watch for one of his famous tantrums and shouting sessions.  Nearing fifty, he has yet to cool down.  And incidentally, his famous line actually turned out to do him some good use later on his life.  It became a serious of commercials for the car rental company, National Car Rental, and when he wrote his autobiography, he did not have to look far for a title.  In later years, he has branched out even further, doing an episode of CSI: NY.

Despite his flare-ups and seeming rudeness on the courts, he actually has deep respect for many of the people he has played against, but not so much for many of the calls umpires made during those matches.  Bjorn Borg and he had a famously intense rivalry, but both hold an extreme reverence for the other a player, both during their heyday challenging the other to new heights and accomplishments.

He might be rude.  He might have hurt tennis’s reputations.  But there is one thing that John McEnroe never was or will be: boring.

Between the Western Indian Ocean and China, Singapore has served as a major world trading port for centuries.  Its past is certainly as complex and fascinating as its present, and there are multiple cultures and multiple influences running through the city state.  That’s true now, and has been true for a long time.  Lately, though, Singapore has had kind of a boom in the tourist trade, and suddenly a lot of fascinating new trends in design, fashion, and visual art are emerging in world culture that’s directly influenced by Singapore.  It might be a new trend, or it may just be that the world is waking up to how much influence this place has.  The influences are rather splendid, too.  The urban population is extremely sophisticated, with sensibilities that run from pop to high culture, and there is a definite love of the arts here.  It’s very apparent from even a surface look, and the deeper you look into entertainment in Singapore, the more you’ll find, and discover that it holds endless possibilities for exploration.

The sophistication runs in the area of cuisine, too, or perhaps this is one of the places where cultural sophistication in Singapore originated.  One of the fastest ways into a culture is through its food, and with the port’s long history of contact with other cultures and other cuisines, it’s very evident here that there has been a marvelous culinary dialogue going on for years.  Today, it expresses itself at dinnertime with a spectacular flair.  With the incredible array of Chinese, Indian, vegetarian, and seafood restaurants, Singapore has some dynamic things to offer a hungry guest.  Its fascination with the sea doesn’t end with food, either, but again, probably originates there.  If you look deeper, you’ll find plenty of things to explore.  The New Maritime Heritage Foundation has set up some wonderful attractions.

One can see the artifacts from one of the most famous shipwrecks in the region, the Belitung Wreck.  This was an Arab ship that went down in the Gaspar Strait in the 9th century, and was discovered by a German prospector named Tilman Waterfang, just a few years ago, and it is a magnificent piece of history.  Thousands and thousands of Chinese artifacts were found on board, and although there are still come contestations about origin and propriety, it is a fantastic thing to see, and you can only see it here.

There’s something about the nature of fame that makes people want to be near it, sometimes even more so once that celebrity is gone.  Because of that, in Los Angeles, even cemeteries are famous, such as Forest Lawn, but if you were to ask most people where a movie star, such as Marilyn Monroe, has found her final resting place, they couldn’t tell you.  What about Dean Martin?  Or Natilie Wood?  Or Roy Orbison, to name just a few.  Many writers, producers, movie stars, directors, and comedians have all finally come to a spot so hidden, so exclusive, that literally you could spend years in L.A. and never know you were so close.  For the first ten years I lived in this town, I would walk by, even attend movies at local theaters and not know that if I crossed a side street, walked down an alley beside a parking garage, to my right, I would find memorials for much of Hollywood.  It’s almost as if it’s one of the town’s best kept secrets.  But if you want to pay your respects to these lives who captivated us on the screen and page, then follow these simple directions.

First, go to Westwood, almost to the intersection of Westwood and Wilshire, at the beginning of Westwood Village, next to UCLA.  A short distance south of Wilshire, you’ll find on the east side of the street, the Majestic Crest theater, a magnificent independently run old movie palace.  Behind the theater, there’s a side street.  On the east side of that street, there will be a parking garage.  On the north side of the garage, there’s an alley.  Pull into the alley and drive past the parking garage (or walk in; there’s not a lot of space for cars in this small memorial park), and the gates will be to your right: You’ve found the Pierce Bros Westside Village Memorial Park.

The next time you’ve arrived in Hollywood, and you’ve checked into a fine Los Angeles cheap hotel, and are looking for a way to spend an afternoon, but not spending money, taking a walk by the markers and memorials of great writers and stars of the past may make for an unforgettable time.  It’s not for everyone, of course.  But you’ll find a trip there could well be surprising as well as humbling, and  even amusing.   Among the notables, including Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Eve Arden, Eva Gabor, Truman Capote, Cornel Wilde, and Donna Reed, the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield has written on his tombstone, “There Goes the Neighborhood.”

While the town of Sitges, a few miles away from Barcelona, offers beaches and a lively night scene, there are at least three museums in town that shouldn’t be overlooked.  If you’ve checked into one of the hotels Sitges offers, consider also checking out one of the following three museums: The Museu Romantic (“Can Llopis”), the Museu Cau Ferrat, and the Museu Maricel.

The Museu Romantic (“Can Llopis”) explores the 18th and 19th Centuries by recreating the world of a land-owning family in Sitges.  You’ll see the furniture of the time, objects of the house, and rooms the family in which the family lived.  Upstairs, you’ll find a collection of antique dolls, while downstairs, you’ll find the wine cellars, showing off the life of the family from child to adult.

In the Museu Cau Ferrat, you’ll find two cottages from the 16th Century, which the Santiago Rusinol, a Catalan artist, joined together to create the home in which he worked and lived.  He willed the home and its art collection to the the town of Sitges when he died in 1931.Rusinol’s house and art work are one of the chief reasons Sitges is such a favorite resort; this former home includes small Picassos, as well as The Bullfight, and a couple of paintings from El Greco.  And, of course, Rusinol’s own work is exhibited here.

Finally, we have the Museu Maricel.  The King and Queen of Spain opened this particular museum, and it displays art which Dr. Jesus Perez Rosales donated.  Originally built after World War One, or the Great War, the building was owned by American Charles Deering; it’s a palace in two parts, joined by a little bridge.  You may wish to visit this museum for the palace itself as well as three works by Santiago Rebull, as well as art work by Jose Maria Sert, whose painting is an allegory of World War One itself.

There is no denying that Baltimore, Maryland has great art.  There are so many museums and galleries located within the city and in the surrounding neighborhoods that it is often difficult to decide just where to go next.  Two women put together and incredible collection, that was fifty years in the making.  Etta and Claribel Cone lived their entire lives in side by side apartments in the city, and throughout their years and their travels and their friendships acquired one of the most inclusive and important collections of modern art in the world.

The two became friends many years ago, with artists who either gave them the pieces as tokens of friendship, and the sisters purchased many pieces in order to support the work of their friends.  The collection contains more than five hundred pieces by Matisse.  They also have quite an extensive collection of sculpture and paintings by Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, and Vincent Van Gogh.  They not only have one of the best collections of today, but they played a role in the evolution of modern and contemporary art.

The Matisse collection alone spans his entire career and offers insight to his evolution as a painter.  The two sisters lived well off of a family trust, so they took to traveling and collecting art.  They often visited Paris, and this is where they met and became friends with these master painters.  Some of Picasso’s drawings they purchased for a couple of dollars.  They would then come home and open their doors to show the public the art that they had purchased.

At the time, these painters who are now widely famous, were unknown and not yet accepted.  But the sister had an eye for what would become some of the most priceless pieces in the history of art.  The collection is part of the permanent display at the Baltimore Museum of Art, located to any fine Baltimore restaurant in the downtown area.  This is a bit of the history of art, a big bit, and one must stop here when in the city, at least for just one day.

Once you have made the decision to buy new tires, you must make the decision about which tires will be the best for your vehicle.  Once you know the manufacturer’s recommendations for the size, it is time to take in account what your everyday driving conditions are like.  The Cooper Tire Company has many options when it comes to all weather tires.  If you live in an environment where in the weather and the climate can be a bit unpredictable it is best to take into account what would be the worst possible driving scenario and purchase tires based on that.

If you do switch out your tires when the seasons change, this will not be such an important consideration.  But if not, it is best to be prepared for the iciest roads in the winter time, and the long hot road trips and vacations in the summer time.  Also consider your typical everyday driving patterns.  Driving around a small town making short trips is much different than spending hours on congested inner city highways.  General Tires will have a set of tires to fit your needs, and Toyo Tires are well known as being some of the best constructed tires in the industry.

If both your worst anticipated driving conditions are not too extreme, and your typical daily habits are consistent, just one set of tires is all that you will find necessary.  New tires will last much longer if you make certain that your car is in proper alignment and that your tires are balanced.  This is good to have taken care of at the time that you have your new tires mounted on your vehicle.  This will also ensure that your car will handle efficiently and will serve to increase your gas mileage.  New tires will provide you with a sense of comfort and well being, especially when the snowy conditions start becoming regular conditions.

With all of the available outdoor kitchen features designing a cooking area or outdoor kitchen for your own backyard can become complicated. It is easy to get carried away with ideas and dreams and forget about practical issues like functioning capacity and ease of use. Of course a professional designer is beneficial in this respect, though it is also possible to great a great outdoor kitchen and cooking space by doing a little research and planning before starting to make your purchases.

With the above friendly piece of advice in mind, there is one phrase that every consumer should know. Barbeque islands are the answer. They are extremely convenient, attractive and diverse. Depending on the model you choose they can include sinks, built in grills, bars, cabinets and other features to make the outdoor cooking experience complete. With all of the various features available on these islands, they completely eliminate or greatly reduce the need for extensive additional counter and cooking space.

These outdoor islands can fit into most areas and in themselves can account for the entire kitchen elements. They are easy to adapt to most backyard settings and also offer ample counter area for family and friends to sit around and talk or play games while the food is being prepared. They also have ample dining area, which can eliminate the need for additional table space. They are also great for incorporating into already existing backyard thematic areas. They can be installed into the pool area and serve as a great snack area for a pool party. It is also popular to build a deck around them and create a nice little outdoor café or pub area, which is a great place to invite friends for a weekend appetizer and drink. Whatever their specific purpose or wherever in your backyard you intend to use them, the barbeque islands are an essential element in designing our outdoor kitchen space.

Singapore is amazing, and keeps getting more interesting.  It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what is so attractive about this city state, whether it’s the mix of the urban with the exotic, or the global sensibility that seems to permeate everything, or if it’s something that’s just not palpable, but it’s certainly there.  The past decade or so has seen an increase in travel, and its for very good reasons.  There are excellent world class hotels, amazing food everywhere you go, including Italian restaurants, and a cultural scene that is always growing by leaps and bounds.  One of the most fascinating things about Singapore is its ability to adapt to and adopt cultures that are not necessarily native, and that’s one of the many reasons Italian food is so delightfully good here.

It might also have something to do with its geography, with a constant supply of fresh and excellent seafood.  The culinary traditions here are extremely diverse, and the influx of excellent ingredients from all over the world make it a chef’s, as well as a diner’s, paradise.  There are many connections between Italy and Singapore besides the food, and one area where these connections are very prominent is in the art.  Art has a way of bringing collaborators from diverse backgrounds together, and projects are often a way of finding a common language.  Or perhaps it’s a matter of finding different languages that somehow communicate something anyway.  Lucy Davis, artist and professor at the School of Art, Design and Media at NTU has an impressive body of work that bears witness to this in many spectacular ways.

This artist, whose work crosses between visual art and cultural studies, grew up here, and spent a significant amount of time in the U.K. and in Copenhagen, where she studied art and developed her own art practice.  She has done a number of works in performance, installation, photography, and sculpture, and lately has been working with an interest in animality.  Her work does indeed intersect between high art and political engagement, and one of her recent works, The Tree Project, involved the planting of Hibaku trees around the world.  Hibaku trees are trees grown from seeds that were present at the bombing of Hiroshima, so the project is an enormously powerful statement, expressed in a beautiful form.

Derek had never been much of a seafood eater, though his wife Joann absolutely was. This required a sort of compromise when dining out as Joann had a preference for pure seafood establishments and Derek couldn’t find anything off the menu there. So, generally they would opt for a combination steak and seafood restaurant when Joann was in her nearly uncompromising mood. And she rarely was able to enjoy sushi because Derek would have nothing to do with it so they couldn’t go to a sushi place. All of this changed however, two months ago when Derek had to fly to Singapore for a business meeting.

He had spent so much time in the past year traveling that he felt like he lived more in hotels than in his own home. He was away a lot and he missed his wife and his house. So, he managed to talk Joann into going with him on his business trip. This actually didn’t require any convincing. Joann was happy to go though she pretended it was a problem because she knew it would benefit her for Derek to think he was doing her a favor. It worked and when Joann finally agreed and said yes, Derek was incredibly grateful and would spend as much time as possible making her happy while they were there.

As it turned out this was incredibly easy to do. Both Derek and Joann loved Singapore and she spent her days in the parks, both Fort Canning and Pasir Ris while Derek was in his meetings. She loved the bird watching tower in Pasir Ris and also rented a bicycle one day and rode around the pond. She enjoyed watching the children play and the parks were always full of activities. The one thing she asked Derek to do was go with her to a sushi place while they were there. He reluctantly agreed, though he knew he owed it to her. Oddly, he was so happy in Singapore that he was inspired to try a bit of Joann’s roll. And to Derek’s utter and unbelievable, by both of them, amazement, he actually loved it. This was the beginning of a new food obsession for Derek and great new transition for Joann who would be able to eat sushi regularly from then on. And she always had sushi Singapore to thank.

All of her life Cathy felt that there was just nothing like a great musical being preformed life onstage in front of her. She loved the theatre and was particularly found of musical comedies. She also loved a good rock opera like Jesus Christ Superstar but for Cathy there was just nothing like a Gilbert And Sullivan show. That is, there used to be nothing like one, however Cathy recently visited New York, which was something she tried to do at least twice a year, and her friend Maya had two New York Broadway tickets for Superior Donuts.

At first Cathy wasn’t sure how she felt about this, they always went to musicals when she visited. And it wasn’t purely selfish on Cathy’s part, Maya also liked them and would save the ones she wanted to see for when Cathy was visiting. However, she received tickets to the Music Box Theatre at work and since Cathy was going to be in town she thought they could go together. To demonstrate her appreciation for being thought about and also to be a good sport Cathy agreed to go.

The play was written by Tracy Letts who is the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning author of August Osage County. Well, at least the play has a good pedigree thought Cathy as she waited for it to begin. And when it did, right from the start she didn’t stop laughing even when she felt she shouldn’t and didn’t know quite why she was. It was an incredible play with fabulous performances and even the die hard musical theatre lover Cathy could not help but to walk out of the theatre asking Gilbert and Sullivan who? She was kidding of course and would always remain a musical comedy fan, but she had definitely broadened her horizons and loved Superior Donuts and was willing to explore the world of straight theatre.

After leaving Gascar, which to tell you the truth, was bittersweet. I’m not in Cape Town and so far, Cape Town is sweet, entertaining and delicious. I’m only here for a couple of days and I can already tell that’s not enough. There’s so many things to do. The city is modern, hip and very international; an amazing combination. I would like to take a safari, but I’ll save that for another day, when I have the money to do it and do it right.
I did, however, have an experience that could not been saved for another day. The reason being is that it’s International Refugee Day, and the Desmond Tutu Peace Center is currently being built in Cape Town. I got the opportunity to hear the man himself give a very stunning and inspirational message of hope, peace and accepting all people of the world. I really don’t know how to explain just how cool it was to be so close to a man who’s done such tremendous work and just how well he can express himself with eloquence and charisma. It was also great to see all the refugee children who also read their poems and sang songs about their experiences. I really couldn’t hear them well, but it was still heartening to witness such young folk who are aware and hopeful about things getting better.

This only happened a few hours ago for me, so I’m still riding the good energy wave. Even after 3 hours, I’m still radiating like the sun. I could gush some more, but I think you get the drift. I’m on a prepaid Internet cafe service, so I’ll rap this up now before I get cut off. I’m looking forward to being home soon and find employment. Since hearing Desmond Tutu’s speech, I’m going to look for jobs where I make a difference. Time to call it a day and head for my Cape Town hotel.