Destination: North America
Introducing the ‘Walkway Over the Hudson’
by Eva Holland | 10.02.09 | 2:28 PM ET
It seems pedestrian park-bridge hybrids are really catching on. After Manhattan’s High Line opened to rave reviews this summer, Poughkeepsie, NY, has followed up with its own offering, transforming a 1.25-mile railway bridge into a state park/walkway running more than 200 feet above the Hudson River. This Just In has the details on the grand opening.
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Yahoo! BuzzThis Week in Tourism Slogan Mishaps
by Eva Holland | 10.02.09 | 12:45 PM ET
It’s been a rough week for a couple of local U.S. tourism boards. First up, the Wisconsin Tourism Federation changed its name—to the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin—after catching on that the federation’s acronym, WTF, means something different when the kids say it. And then Reno’s mayor vetoed a proposed slogan that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t mean anything at all. The short-lived idea? “A Little West of Center”—which, said Mayor Bob Cashell, “doesn’t do a thing for me.”
Indeed. As the kids might say: WTF?
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon
by Eva Holland | 10.01.09 | 1:01 PM ET
British Airways: Introducing the ‘Son of Concorde’
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 4:42 PM ET
With BA’s luxury London-New York route launching this week—exactly forty years after the Concorde’s first flight—the Independent’s Simon Calder takes a closer look at the new service, and at the history of luxury and business class-only air travel.
Dan Brown Tourism Hits D.C.
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 12:06 PM ET
That was quick. Two weeks after the release of his latest, “The Lost Symbol,” and the Dan Brown-themed travel stories about the city where it’s set—Washington, D.C.—are already piling up.
Video You Must See: Burning Man in Time Lapse
by Eva Holland | 09.29.09 | 4:42 PM ET
(Via The Daily Dish)
Alaska and the Cruise Industry Go to Court
by Eva Holland | 09.29.09 | 2:12 PM ET
With several major cruise lines headed into the courtroom to challenge Alaska’s $50-per-cruise-passenger “head tax,” Rob Lovitt takes a broader look at the uneasy relationship between the cruise industry and the state. Here’s his take on a return visit to Skagway after a 20-year absence:
I was gobsmacked by the changes. Instead of one ship, there were three, each of which probably carried 2,000-2,500 passengers. With 6,000-plus cruisers unloading simultaneously, Broadway was more or less impassable, and while the Sweet Tooth and Red Onion were still there, they were joined by the likes of Del Sol, Tanzanite International and other absurdly out-of-place outposts of Caribbean kitsch.
And it’s not just Skagway. A recent editorial in the Juneau Empire bemoaned the “yuck factor” created by the dozens of jewelry stores and trinket shops along the city’s main tourist drag. Written, surprisingly enough, by a local economic development booster, the piece didn’t single out the cruise industry, but it doesn’t take an advanced degree in tourism management to realize that cruise ships and curio shops go together like buffet lines and bulging waistlines.
High-Speed Rail Watch: From Russia to America?
by Eva Holland | 09.28.09 | 2:43 PM ET
A new breed of locomotive-less high-speed train will launch in Russia in December, running between St. Petersburg and Moscow—and Siemens, the German company behind the new model, is hoping to bring it to America next. The New York Times has the details.
The ‘Entity Formerly Known as the British Empire’ Has Some Advice for an America in Decline
by Michael Yessis | 09.28.09 | 12:31 PM ET
More McSweeney’s hilarity from World Hum contributor Kate Hahn. Here’s one bit of advice for the U.S. from the former British Empire, delivered from a bar on the Costa del Sol:
Look, I’ve been there. Coffers empty. Troops everywhere. Economy sour. Your empire’s finished. But just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I can’t be useful. Here’s how you get through it.
First off: lean on your family. And by that I don’t mean the hearth-and-home sort, I mean royals. Make the office of the president of the United States more regal. Pomp and circumstance distracts you from the fact that you don’t matter anymore. Have guards stand outside the White House gates in some kind of regalia. Celebrate the president’s birthday—not just the dead ones, the one you have now. What’s his ... Bomama ... Obama, yes, yes, the Kenyan.
Ah, Kenya. Mine once. Moment for Kenya.
McDonald’s in America, Mapped
by Eva Holland | 09.25.09 | 12:59 PM ET
Check out this cool (if slightly disturbing) map of every McD’s location in the lower 48—where, apparently, you’re never more than 107 miles away from the nearest Big Mac.
National Parks Travel Posters, Resurrected
by World Hum | 09.25.09 | 12:23 PM ET
By Doug Leen Doug Leen helped rescue some WPA travel posters from oblivion. Here's a look at 11 of his stunning originals and re-creations.
Interview With Doug Leen: The Lost National Parks Travel Posters
by Eli Ellison | 09.25.09 | 12:06 PM ET
Eli Ellison learns how the former National Park ranger resurrected a long-forgotten series of Depression-era prints
Portraits from the New York Subway
by Eva Holland | 09.25.09 | 9:47 AM ET
Improv Everywhere is back. (You remember the group that “froze” Grand Central last year?) This time around, they posed as MTA-contracted photographers, taking photos of passengers on the New York subway for an eventual subway yearbook. The result is not just a funny gag, but a pretty cool set of portraits, too. Check it out:
(Via Boing Boing)
What if the Burj Dubai was in Manhattan?
by Eva Holland | 09.24.09 | 4:26 PM ET
Kottke posts an altered version of the Midtown skyline. Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
Kimchi Taco, Meet the JapaDog
by Eva Holland | 09.24.09 | 3:18 PM ET
Anyone who was intrigued by L.A.’s kimchi tacos will want to read the latest Frugal Traveler dispatch from Vancouver, wherein Matt Gross explores daikon- and soy-sauce-topped hot dogs and other low-budget fusion delights.