Browsing: United States of America

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park became the first national park in the United States. Today, there are 390 areas under the National Park domain. Every state with the exception of Delaware has some National Park Service land. This land includes national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, lake and sea shores, rivers, trails, historic sites, and the White House.

The National Park system provides plenty of opportunity for a variety of vacations and tours. …

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You stare out at the most enormous vista you’ve ever seen. You’re surrounded by a silence that’s so calm, yet so all-consuming that you let out a nervous giggle just to make sure you’re still part of it. You stretch your arms out as far as they can go to either side to see if you can give the view a vast bear hug, but the panorama escapes and trickles through your fingers towards the …

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Colorado is known for seasonal activities such as skiing and hiking, but there’s something more unique you can do there any time of year. The craft spirits business in Colorado is booming, and you might want to hit the road (not while you are drinking, of course) and check it out. All of these distilleries welcome you to arrange visits and tastings.

Boulder Distillery, Rob’s Mountain Gin-Boulder
You can fly into Denver from just …

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Downtown Los Angeles, a once-deserted city center, has come to life again — after years of neglect — as a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood full of new arts, entertainment and food venues. Locals and tourists are flocking to the City of Angels center to enjoy Lakers games, concerts, plays, museums, bars and restaurants.

Here are some places to check out on your next visit downtown:

STAY

Ritz Carlton, 900 West Olympic Boulevard

Rising above the modern L.A. …

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Bed, treats, water dish and leash: Pooch needs a suitcase too. More and more people are packing up their dogs and taking them on vacations.

Pet lovers want to travel with their dogs for both practical and sentimental reasons. Many dog-loving travelers head to California resorts for a trip to share with their four-footed furry friends. The mix of tourist-oriented hospitality, year-round warm weather and miles of beaches in California creates an exceptionally dog-friendly state. …

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We rev up the 600 horses in the ancient engine, which at first sputters, then coughs, then spurts to life.

I’m sitting in a 68-year-old fighter plane from World War II, an AT-6, nicknamed “The Texan” by the cocky young pilots who flew her. I’m going to do some stunts, in tandem with Dennis Van Swol, the vastly-more-experienced pilot who’s sitting in the second cockpit behind me.

As we turn onto the runway at the …

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Some come to Las Vegas to get rich quick and others come to get hitched quick. It happens once every five minutes. Celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Joan Collins, Paul Newman, Elvis, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears all took vows in Sin City. Getting married is as simple as playing the slot machines. There are no blood tests or waiting periods, making Las Vegas ideal for couples who want to elope. In …

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It’s the Spanish moss you notice first. Draped over the live oak trees which fill the many squares in Savannah, Georgia, it hangs in ragged festoons from each of the branches. It creates a mood. A relaxed, sultry, southern mood. A Savannah mood. A pleasant mood that you can enjoy for your entire stay.

Savannah is the largest city in Chatham County, Georgia but still feels like a small, sleepy Southern town – and the …

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Some of early-America’s greatest painters and writers called this one of the most beautiful spots in the world. On the map, it’s only two hours north of Manhattan. But it may as well be a world away.

The Kaaterskill Clove is a Catskill Mountain ravine of stunning beauty, with dense forest and thundering waterfalls. And the biggest of those waterfalls — Kaaterskill — is higher than Niagara.

This region is a place of Technicolor surprises …

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Santa Catalina Island is a slice of tropical life nested in Southern California. Once you arrive in Avalon, you can forget all your worries and play as if you’ve landed in the Caribbean.

You will find Catalina Island listed as a stop for a number of cruise ships on their way to Mexico from Los Angeles or San Diego. It is also just a short ferry ride from the Southern California ports of Marina Del …

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Inspiration for your next trip can come from many places — websites, guidebooks, other people’s travel tales and even classic Disney cartoons. Those idealized landscapes, the sweeping opening shots set to iconic music — no trip could ever be as perfect as it seems in a Disney movie, could it? Here are seven trips to try out and see if life is as wonderful as art.

An African safari (The Lion King)
Perhaps …

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San Francisco has a lot to offer to both tourists and locals. Take a ride on a cable car, be awe inspired by the ingenuity of the Golden Gate Bridge, eat a noodle bowl in Chinatown- there are so many places to explore and experience. These sites attract thousands every year, but they may not be the type of memories everyone is looking for. Are you a resident of San Francisco who wants to find …

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Travel is full of enthralling encounters, of moments that stick with you forever — a glimpse of a wild gorilla, an African sunrise, your first sight of the pyramids.

But those moving moments wouldn’t seem so spectacular if they weren’t peppered with less exciting experiences. For every lion kill there’s a lame museum; for every gargantuan sculpture there is a giant ball of yarn. Here are eight utterly underwhelming tourist attractions, places that have you …

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Don’t laugh.

Often, when I travel, one of the first places I seek out is the local cemetery, and not just during Halloween season. Why? Because there, believe it or not, you can learn a lot about the place you’re visiting — about its people, about its history, about its lifestyle, and about its colorful characters and legends. You can be moved to tears, of course. But you may also find yourself laughing out loud, …

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