Surfing The Channel

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

If you think of the Grand Canyon as something to gaze down upon, you may imagine that a trip there would just involved driving to the South Rim, taking in the view, and driving on to another destination. However, it is possible to spend days or even a week at the Canyon and explores something different every day. This is one of the reasons that so many people make return trips to the Canyon and Arizona residents take regular day trips there.

In most cases it’s probably best to arrive at the Canyon in the evening and check into one of the nearby Grand Canyon hotels so that you can start your day’s explorations early. You may choose to explore the Park’s natural attractions or to spend a day visiting the man-made and historical sites. The latter include things like the historic buildings of the Grand Canyon Village and the Grand Canyon Railway Depot.

The Canyon itself can be explored in parts. A single day offers the opportunity to hike down to the base of the Canyon and return again to the top. Mule tours are also available for those who aren’t up to the hike. Alternative options include hiking along either of the rims, rafting along the Colorado, or taking a helicopter or airplane tour of the area, which can include flying over nearby sights like the Hoover Dam or the Las Vegas Strip.

With careful planning, and maybe a picnic lunch, the Grand Canyon can be a wonderful day trip or can be experienced as a series of day trips that add up to a longer vacation.

It doesn’t matter what country you live in or what country you might be traveling to: you need to make the investment in visitor medical insurance for any foreign trip. A visitor policy should be as essential to your arrangements as hotel reservations and your passport.

You may think you don’t need insurance for short trips or pleasure trips. You may even think that if you’re going to spend all your time working in the foreign office you’ll be safe from any health risks. This simply isn’t true. By its very nature, travel is a risky endeavor. You will be exposed to various modes of transportation as well as foreign bacteria, viruses, and even foods. Any of these things could result in an illness or injury that requires medical attention. Without insurance it can be very difficult to obtain treatment in a foreign hospital or clinic.

If you are heading out on a longer term trip, such as studying abroad for a semester , or if you are planning to engage in sports and recreational activities, you will be at even greater risk of injury or illness. Do you really want to risk being denied treatment when you need it?

While some policies may be expensive, depending on what country or countries you happen to be visiting, it is irresponsible to get on that boat or plane or train without some of form of traveling health insurance, just in case.

Right about this time of year, many people are going stir crazy. Between work, winter weather, and the post-holiday doldrums , the idea of running off on a spontaneous vacation seems like a really good idea. You may think that such an excursion is beyond your means, but there are plenty of ways to economize money and time to squeeze in at least a quick weekend getaway.

The first rule of planning such a getaway is to do it as quickly as possible. The longer you procrastinate, the more things will come up to interfere with the vacation happening at all. You need this break, so take it as soon as you can.

Next, think small. No grand tours of Europe or extended vacations in Hawaii. Pick a destination that is nearby to minimize travel time and an extended weekend so that you don’t have to miss too much work. Skip the luxury resorts — unless you find unbeatable off-season hotel deals — instead look for bed and breakfast and other more intimate settings.

The last thing to remember is that you don’t want to overplan. This trip is about relaxation, not squeezing every single tour, activity and attraction. Hit the spa or the ski slopes, lounge next to a pool on or a beach, take long lunches and even longer dinners. Breathe. Relax. Breathe some more.

It’s a simple recipe for a quick escape that will do wonders for your stress levels.

Summer may be over for this year, but it’s never to early to start planning your vacation for next year. Montreal, Quebec is a wonderful destination, offering a wide range of activities and attractions that are tailor made for summer fun.

The St Laurent River surrounds the city and offers surfing. That’s right, inland river surfing is becoming a popular activity for residents and tourists alike. Experienced surfers may laugh at the size of the waves, but for fledgling and new surfers, it’s a great experience.

The city is just filled with parks and gardens to enjoy. Picnic at LaFontaine Park , play beach volleyball at Jeanne-Mance Park, or hike to the top of Mont-Royal. Visit the Botanic Gardens or the Zoo. Check out the Insectarium and BioDome (if they are back in operation by 2011).

There are also a few summer-only experiences usually only known by residents and a handful of tourists. The first is the Tam-Tams Festival which happens every Sunday near the Park Avenue Angel Statue. Listen to the drums or get up and dance. It’s a great way to while away a weekend afternoon. Another option is to stroll through Montreal’s Gay Village . Aires Libres is a program that shuts down the main street in the village, offering a sort of permanent festival where people can stroll through the village shopping, people-watching and having a general good time.

There are many other activities to enjoy in Montreal in the summertime. So make a reservation at a Montreal resort hotel for 2011 and start thinking about how to fill your time once you arrive.

Over 40 years ago the Dallas-Fort Worth area was full of reports that there was a monster at Lake Worth. Aptly named the Lake Worth Monster, it was reported to be a 7ft tall man-goat-beast which somehow is covered with both scales and lots of hair. If you find yourself in luxury Dallas hotel in early October with nothing to do, check out the Lake Worth Monster Bash. The annual event is scheduled for Oct 2nd in 2010.

Usually held at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge , the Monster Bash celebrates the Monster that first gained notoriety in 1969. The event feaTUres authors Stephanie Erb, Nick Redfern and Ken Gerhard will be selling and autographing books about the Lake Worth Monster. Erb book is titled Cam the Man Hunts for the Spooky Goat Man while Redfern and Gerhard penned Monsters of Texas. redfern will also offer a free lecture on Texas monsters.

Maybe the monster hasn’t been seen much in recent years, there’s still plenty to enjoy at the Bash. bison viewing, canoeing, hayrides and storytelling are just a few activities on the schedule. There’s also music, food and games as well as monster-tracking hikes through the area, or just take a regular guided hike of the refuge. And don’t worry if you miss it this year. The event will be back, whether the Monster is sighted in the next year or not.

In an age of mechanical reproduction, the work of the celebrity impersonator is something of an oddity. It’s possible to bring back an image, a moment, and a blip on the cultural map in moments with the aid of sound and video recordings, making it a tough thing to be in the business of doing it without wires. But this is exactly what the work of Danny Gans was all about, and his passing in May last year marks the end of an important era.

There will very likely be more impersonators coming from the next generation, but there are still holes left unfilled. It’s difficult work, and it’s also some of the most exciting to see. Here, where Las Vegas Hotels often resemble things they are not, performers performing other performers who they are not have found a natural home.

Las Vegas was the natural home for Danny Gans. Although he was featured in Bull Durham , his film work paled in comparison to his contributions to live comedy. Here, in the city of imitation, the chance to see a live performer expressing an imitative art in competition with the mechanical, offers an unusual chance to touch a familiar place. The familiar place here was always distant, and always just out of reach.

School of Fish Foundation in Vancouver is hosting a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience for the entire month of September. This unique event happens nightly and the seating in the private dining room is limited to 12 people and is expected to sell out quickly. The revolving 6-course menu with wine-pairings is priced at $216 per person.

This September event puts a lens on the dire state of the oceans by making the public aware of the possibility that seafood will become extinct within our lifetime. Canadian seafood consumers, due to the efforts of the School of Fish Foundation are now better equipped to make sound dining decisions on the spot.

The Ocean Wise organization with their outreach programs has convinced restaurants to place a Northern Star symbol next to sustainably harvested seafood. This symbol is becoming increasingly prominent. Many of the hotels Vancouver offers its visitors were the first to use the Northern Star symbol on their menus.

We’re no longer living in simpler days of wild versus farmed seafood. Rather, restaurant chefs are emphasizing the importance of spotting the characteristics of ethical seafood farming. Sooner than later farmed seafood will have a stronghold in the fish markets and will be regarded as the choice of fish and not the lesser.

Scottsdale, Arizona is one of the beautiful cities located in the greater Phoenix metropolitan region. Some of the Valley’s great cultural attractions can be found there as well as numerous luxury resorts and five star hotels. Scottsdale is one of the largest cities in the Valley and it is also close to some of the beautiful desert recreational areas, lakes and surrounding mountains. Just east of the city are the gorgeous Superstition Mountains that have amazing desert and city views as well as plenty of great hiking opportunities. They are also the location of the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine and there is a fun ghost town that attractions numerous tourists.

The city itself has some great attractions and the heart of the old town area is full of unique galleries and shopping opportunities. There are great restaurants in the area as well as a diverse selection of popular nightclubs. The Scottsdale Center for the Arts attracts numerous professional performances and also has special engagement events and gallery spaces. In addition the Fifth Avenue shops and entertainment establishments are one of the primary tourists hubs of the city. It is easy to find excellent Southwestern art , jewelry and clothes in this and other old town areas as well as a diverse selection of other genres. A vacation in Scottsdale will provide a great mix of luxury and sophistication with old west attractions.

If you’ve come to Manila, Philippines, then it’s likely you have an interest in history, and one of the best ways to find out the stories of this 439 year old city, founded in June of 1571 by three Spanish conquistadors, is to get out of the hotel suites and take a walking tour of sites that have existed for centuries.

On the Old Manila Walks tour , you’ll discover the actual story behind the fusion of so many countries — of Malasia, China, Spain, America, and Japan. Starting out with the original walled city of Manila, the Intramuros walk takes you to the origins of Manila four centuries ago, beginning at the Plaza Roma. You’ll make your way to the Manila Cathedral, then the San Agustin Church and Museum Complex, followed by the Barrio San Luis, and the Intramuros Wall. As part of the tour, there’s an optional fine-dining lunch or dinner in a pre-war home close to Malacanang Palace. The Legarda mansion serves classic Filipino menus here, in a 1930s style setting. The walk lasts approximately three hours.

If the walking tour hasn’t tired you too much the first day, and if you can rouse yourself from the comfortable rooms at the Manila hotels , then you might work your way through Chinatown in Binondo. Here, you’ll start at a 16th century Baroque cathedral, and work your way to a Chinese shrine. You’ll start at Plaza Calderon dela Barca, and continue on to the Basilica de San Lorenzo Ruiz, finally ending at Ongpin Street and the Carvajal Alley Market, simultaneously experiencing the culture, history, and cuisine of Manila.

There are so many things to see and do when you visit Seattle, Washington that many people are completely engaged in the standard tourist attractions, while others are so overwhelmed by what all the city has to offer that they completely miss seeing the obvious sights. And that’s a pretty difficult thing to do seeing that you will almost literally run into the Pike Place Market if you head to the western edge of the city and the Space Needle can be seen from all over and is one of the major landmarks and visual recognition points. But overlooking these aspects of two of the most famous and popular attractions in the city, it can be easy to understand how they are completely missed with so much else to do and see.

The Seattle boutique hotels will likely remind guests, as if that is actually really even necessary, that the Space Needle and market are there and will also guide visitors in the right direction. Again, that’s not a difficult task. However, they are also excellent guiding resources for other cultural attractions in the city such as the Seattle Art Museum , which will open its highly anticipated Picasso exhibit this October and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra . In addition, there are numerous theatre companies throughout the city and great live music venues. Rounding this off with great restaurants and fabulous shopping opportunities it easy to forget to visit, wait what are they again?