NEW YORK — When I was young, I learned a lot about travel from my mother. She taught me how and what to pack. She taught me to keep a travel diary to record my memories. And most importantly, she taught me how to power-sightsee. Continue reading →

JERUSALEM — An ancient limestone tablet covered with a mysterious Hebrew text that features the archangel Gabriel is at the center of a new exhibit in Jerusalem, even as scholars continue to argue about what it means. The so-called Gabriel Stone, a meter-tall (about 39.5 inches) tablet said to have been found 13 years … Continue reading →

The 5th annual Cruisin’ Cajun Country Cruise, featuring classic and muscle cars, will roll through Iberia Parish Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18. Participants can take in New Iberia’s Main Street historic district, food and live music, while spectators can enjoy free car shows and entertainment. Registration will open at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Super 8 Hotel … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Disney Cruise Line’s oldest ship, the Magic, is getting a makeover, including the addition of a children’s area themed on Marvel Comics superheroes and a three-story water slide, the company announced April 26. The Magic launched in 1998. Other updates when the ship goes into drydock in Spain for a month … Continue reading →

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Striped balloons dot a bright blue sky. Red rocks silhouette a lone dead tree. A white ladder leans on a brown adobe dwelling. On a road trip around New Mexico, this mix of motifs and cultures seems to echo across the centuries and turn up at every stop, whether you’re visiting … Continue reading →

The lanky, charcoal-gray dog with a distinctive, wiry hairdo would stand out in most other animal shelters, but no one gave him a second look on Hawaii’s island of Kauai. But thanks to a tourist willing to take him across the Pacific, an Airedale Terrier-Irish Wolfhound mix named Grady now enjoys a spacious California loft with … Continue reading →

VERMILLION, S.D. — A 16th-century Amati violoncello displayed in the National Music Museum has long been nicknamed “The King,” but the ghost of a legendary rock ’n’ roller has arrived in South Dakota to reclaim his regal moniker. A slightly smashed acoustic guitar played by Elvis Presley on his final tour in 1977 now … Continue reading →

Baton Rouge is a finalist in multiple categories in AAA Southern Traveler Magazine’s Best of the South survey. The magazine’s May/June issue includes the ballot for voting for the Best of the South. The Baton Rouge area is listed as a finalist under the following questions: 1. What is the best place for … Continue reading →

WARSAW, Poland — Almost nothing remains of the old Warsaw Ghetto: just a half-dozen buildings, a synagogue, some fragments of a brick wall. The rest was blown up by the Germans in their onslaught against the Jews who took up arms against them. Now this Holocaust-era prison of misery and death is undergoing a … Continue reading →

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Yellowstone National Park bull elk featured in a BBC film has died after likely being killed by a wolf pack. Park officials confirmed Tuesday that elk No. 10 was found dead near the Wraith Falls trailhead Saturday. He was believed to be between 16 and 18, a ripe old age for … Continue reading →

SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — The ridge-top Skyline Drive offers lots of panoramic views. The curvy 105-mile drive from Front Royal on the north to Waynesboro in the south offers 75 scenic overlooks in the 197,000-acre national park that was dedicated in 1936. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is trying to beat its reputation as a shut-in. MGM Resorts International announced Thursday that it will sink $100 million into building a park and public promenade outside of its New York-New York and Monte Carlo casinos. The project runs counter to casinos’ long-held strategy of trying to … Continue reading →

WESTON, W.Va. — What do hotels do with bars of soap that guests leave behind? Stonewall Resort in Lewis County is having them recycled. Stonewall and the Weston Wal-Mart are partnering to make old into new. Resort community outreach director Samantha Norris says Stonewall will collect used soap from guest rooms and ship it … Continue reading →

The Town of Jean Lafitte has a new museum, Lafitte’s Barataria Museum & Wetland Trace. Opened April 6, the 6,000-square-foot wildlife and fisheries museum tells the 200-year-old story of the Town of Jean Lafitte, a historic fishing village 20 miles southwest of New Orleans. The museum features a multi-media theater presentation, an animated museum exhibition … Continue reading →

FERRARA, Italy — I came to Italy to test a French adage by way of an American writer, Mark Twain. ‘‘Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” The more things change, the more they remain the same. The saying had been on my mind while traveling before, usually with a book from the … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Some never-before-seen artifacts from the minutes and hours following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination went on display April 19, along with an extensive collection of photographs of the young president’s family. The Newseum, a museum devoted to journalism and the First Amendment, is marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination with a … Continue reading →

BERLIN — “Are there still Jews in Germany?” ‘‘Are the Jews a chosen people?” Nearly 70 years after the Holocaust, there is no more sensitive an issue in German life as the role of Jews. With fewer than 200,000 Jews among Germany’s 82 million people, few Germans born after World War II know any … Continue reading →

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For most residents from bigger Texas cities, the South Texas city of Corpus Christi has always been a day-trip destination for a quick beach getaway. But often overlooked are the coastal city’s deep roots in Mexican-American history, some of it wrapped up in the civil rights movement. And while Corpus … Continue reading →

TOPEKA, Kan. — A new World War II exhibit starting this summer at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will pay tribute to the millions who fought, but organizers also have another purpose for the ambitious three-year project: getting young people engaged in the war’s relevance. Karl Weissenbach, executive director of the library and … Continue reading →

The Pointe Coupee Parish Historical Society is giving the general public a chance to tour four grand old houses. The houses, all now operated as bed-and-breakfast inns in the parish, will be open for tours 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 13. The Pointe Coupee Bed-and-Breakfast is in the Samson House on Richey Street … Continue reading →

Heading to Grand Isle for a spring outing? Beach camping returns to island’s State Park beginning Monday, April 1. Beach camping has been closed due to damage caused by Hurricane Isaac in September 2012, but clean-up and erosion control efforts have been successful, allowing beach camping to resume, according to a news release. The beach … Continue reading →

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — The journey east on Amtrak’s California Zephyr train is as good as the destination. Riding the rails from the San Francisco Bay area to Reno, Nev., offers beautiful views and a tangible sense of history on the route over the Sierra Nevada mountain range that helped bring America together after the Civil … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — The New York Historical Society is exhibiting its entire collection of 474 bird watercolors by John James Audubon for the first time. They’re being shown chronologically in three exhibitions over three years. The first group have alread gone on view. The collection includes 435 watercolors engraved for Audubon’s monumental … Continue reading →

Sidney D. Torres IV has found paradise. And, he’s willing to share it. The New Orleans hotel developer and former owner of SDT Waste & Debris, has pitched his tent further south this time, in the Bahamas. And the “tent” is actually a 40-acre luxury resort — The Cove, Eleuthera — on the Bahamian island of the … Continue reading →

ORACABESSA BAY, Jamaica — Mats of algae and seaweed have shrouded the once thick coral in shallow reefs off Jamaica’s north coast. Warm ocean waters have bleached out the coral, and in a cascade of ecological decline, the sea urchins and plant-eating reef fish have mostly vanished, replaced by snails and worms that bore through … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Snow is still in the forecast for some locales, but other places are getting ready for spring. And the season’s beauty will be on display with festivals and flower shows around the country, from events showcasing cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn, N.Y., to celebrations of dogwoods, camellias and azaleas in … Continue reading →

ZIPOLITE, Mexico — “You’re going to like it here in Zipolite,” Daniel Weiner, the owner of Brisa Marina hotel said with a wry smile as he handed me the keys to my quarters. “You’re not going to want to leave in five days.” A few lazy days later, I began to realize why so … Continue reading →

LONDON — Walking toward the George Inn on a drizzly evening, yellow light from its bustling Parliament Bar spilling out on wet cobblestones, it’s easy to imagine the ghostly footsteps of the past. Is that a double-decker bus rumbling down the Borough High Street? Or a four-in-hand carriage sweeping into the inn’s cobbled yard? … Continue reading →

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) Home and Art Tour will return to the New Orleans Garden District Saturday, March 9. The Home and Art Tour occurs every other year, and is organized by the NOMA Volunteer Committee (NVC). Guests will tour the Garden District homes of Susan Kittredge Hoskins, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stall, … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Whether you’re interested in Lincoln the president or Lincoln the movie, Washington is a downright thrilling destination. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and one of the country’s most admired, rising from humble roots in a frontier cabin to become a self-educated lawyer and brilliant politician. Continue reading →

Andrew Zimmern counts down his top five moments from the French Quarter.

Swaying to a calypso tune aboard a leisurely nature cruise, a young woman from upstate New York gleefully shouted, “This is paradise!” It wasn’t the Bahamas or Cozumel. It was Gulf Shores, Ala. The cruise on Wolf Bay delighted visitors who were enjoying a short getaway along Alabama’s Gulf Shores. Locals are accustomed to new visitors’ … Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is getting ready for the year of the snake. The casino capital celebrates Chinese New Year — also known as lunar new year — in a big way, with feasts, exhibits, performances and other events at outdoor festivals and at casino-resorts like Bellagio and The Venetian. While the new … Continue reading →

If you’re in New Orleans this weekend to catch the big game or catch some beads at a Carnival parade, maybe try a tour of the city with someone else in the driver’s seat. Gray Line is offering Super City Tours at 9 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Feb. 3-4. Riders will experience the … Continue reading →

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska’s senior senator has once again introduced legislation to rename Mount McKinley, Denali. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in an interview Tuesday that Denali might not be the name that people in the Midwest recognize “but it has long been the name in really the place that matters, which is the state … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — After a long day on the slopes, nothing quite eases the aches and pains like a good drink. For Brian Sbrocco, the perfect end to a recent day of skiing was a beer float. Yes, a beer float. Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Grand Central, the country’s most famous train station and one of the finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in America, turns 100 on Feb. 1. Its centennial comes 15 years after a triumphant renovation that removed decades of grime and restored its glittering chandeliers, cathedral windows and famous ceiling depicting a night … Continue reading →

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Travelers don’t equate the hustle and bustle of airports with yoga but now some airports are adding tranquil spaces where practitioners can stretch, meditate and get away from it all. It’s the latest effort to humanize and de-stress the unpleasantness of air travel: Yoga rooms at airports. Burlington, Vt., is … Continue reading →

BIRZEIT, West Bank — For most tourists, iconic religious landmarks like the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall and the Church of the Nativity are an important part of any visit to the Holy Land. Now a new trail offers visitors a look at little-known spiritual sites associated with Sufism, or Islamic mysticism. Continue reading →

BAGAN, Myanmar — The rising sun streaked a light blanket of fog with pink and yellow. Suddenly, pagodas popped out from the mist, some grand and intricate, others squat and modest, some crumbling, others glinting with gold — a carousel of Buddhist temples amid fields of sesame, tamarind and scrub. If not for a … Continue reading →

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the U.S. Forest Service will waive all fees at recreational sites in Kisatchie National Forest in Pineville, with the exception of camping on Caney Lakes in the Caney Ranger District and in the Calcasieu Ranger District through Monday, Jan. 21. All other recreational activities requiring a fee will be waived. … Continue reading →

SANIBEL, Fla. — Visit the beaches on this Gulf Coast barrier island and you’re likely to see people doing the Sanibel Stoop. That’s the term for the bent-at-the-waist posture used to collect seashells on Sanibel Island, which bills itself as one of the best shelling locations in the world. The island also offers 15 … Continue reading →

FORT DE SOTO PARK, Fla. — Picture this: You’re sitting on a white sand beach, warm sun on your skin. Coconut-scented sunscreen wafts through the air. A splashing noise comes from the blue Gulf of Mexico. It’s your dog, happily retrieving his favorite ball from the water. This could be your vacation, with a … Continue reading →

MIAMI — When Juan Ponce de Leon searched for riches in Florida, he unknowingly helped turn the Sunshine State into the first travel destination in the United States. In April 1513, the Spanish monarchy contracted the explorer to find another island off of Cuba that was rumored to have great riches. Instead he landed … Continue reading →

LONDON — Busy, congested, stressful. This is how the world’s first subway system was depicted by London newspapers in 1863. It’s a situation that would be familiar to nail-biting passengers of the present as the Tube turned 150 years old Jan. 9. “The constant cry, as the trains arrived, of ‘no room,’ appeared to … Continue reading →