Friday, May 27, 2011

Memorial Day Across America!

Sail your Memorial Day Weekend away in the historic seaport town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the Tall Ships Festival! From May 27th to 30th, 2011 at the State Pier, 555 Market Street. Admission is $9.00, children under 12 are free, with a family package of $30.00. For more info visit the Sail Portsmouth 2011 website: www.pmcportsmouth.org 
 
Enjoy some good ol' Cajun food this Memorial Day Weekend at the Crawfish Fesitval in Fredericksburg, Texas - serving up red beans & rice, boudin, gumbo, and of course crawfish! May 27, 28 & 29, 2011! Hours: Friday • 6PM - Midnight Saturday • 11AM - Midnight Sunday • 11AM - 5PM Admission: - $6 adults - Two-day passes $10 - Three-day passes $15 - Kids 12 and under $1 ($10 starting 7:00 PM Saturday) More info at: www.tex-fest.com/crawfish/ 
 
Honour our veterans by visiting the national monuments in Washington D.C.! On Sunday May 29th at 5pm enjoy a free concert on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol sponsored by PBS! Monday May 30th at 2pm march along with the National Memorial Day Parade Marching Bands and Veterans units from all 50 states steps off at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 7th Streets, NW and proceeds along Constitution Avenue, past the White House, ending at 17th Street.
 
Listen to some great music while eating some award winning BBQ this Memorial Day weekend in St. Louis, Missouri at the RibFest! Held at Soldier's Memorial Park downtown admission is free before 5 p.m. Friday or 1 p.m. Saturday through Monday; after that tickets cost $7. For more info visit: www.ribamerica.com 
WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM EVERYONE AT MyVacationPages!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

American Must-Sees

Cemetery Hill is a key terrain feature in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the northernmost extent of Cemetery Ridge. It played prominent roles in all three days of the Battle of Gettysburg, from July 1st to 3rd, 1863. Cemetery Hill is not only the location of the bloodiest battle in the civil war but also where Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches.
 
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia. Jefferson's home is also filled with interesting artifacts from his lifetime!
 
The Gateway Arch, is an arch that is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. At 630 feet (192 m), it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the largest architectural structure designed as a weighted or flattened catenary arch.
 
Acadia National Park is in Maine. It reserves much of Mount Desert Island, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast. The park includes mountains, an ocean shoreline, woodlands, and lakes. The park is home to red and gray squirrels, chipmunks, white-tailed deer, moose, beaver, porcupine, muskrats, foxes, coyote, bobcats, and black bears.
 
The Indian Peaks Wilderness is a wilderness area in north central Colorado. It borders the James Peak Wilderness to the south, and straddles the Continental Divide. The area can get really busy due to its proximity to the Denver metropolitan area. Most visitors hike along the many trails, visiting high passes, lakes and waterfalls en route.
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona. Most of it is contained withing the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the oldest in America. Every year thousands of tourists flock to the Grand Canyon to camp, visit, hike and admire its beauty. The area was first inhabited by Native Americans who built many settlements and caves many of which can still be seen today.
-Tracy Smith

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Unique Attractions

The Harmandir Sahib, also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh temple located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. Its name literally means Temple of God. It was built in 1574 and completed in 1604 and has been a sacred site since. In keeping with the rule observed at all Sikh temples worldwide, the Harmandir Sahib is open to all persons regardless of their religion, color, creed, or sex.
 
Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. Considered a sacred destination, the mount is best known for the medieval Benedictine Abbey and steepled church. Mont-Saint-Michel was used in the 6th and 7th centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-Breton culture but today the population is a mere 41!
 
The Abu Simbel temples refer to two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari. Abu Simbel is one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.
 
Hạ Long Bay litterally translated as Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese is a popular destination in Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. According to local legend, when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders.
 
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is found in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. A population of approximately 25,000 large animals live in the crater including lions, rhinoceros, zebras, wildebeests, leopards, antelopes and much more. Due to the variety of animals present, the crater is a well known tourist attraction.
 
Moon Hill is a hill with a natural arch through it a few kilometers outside Yangshuo in southern China. It is also a popular tourist attraction. It takes about 20 minutes to climb to the arch, or considerably longer for those who mean to reach the top of it. Visitors have to pay an entrance fee to be allowed to climb the hill.
 
Arguable Australia's most unique and beautiful natural gift; the Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system. The reef contains an abundance of marine life including many vulnerable or endangered species. Due to its vast biodiversity, warm clear waters and accessibility from the tourist boats called 'live aboards', the reef is a very popular destination, especially for scuba divers.
 -Tracy Smith

Monday, May 2, 2011

European Seaside Gems

La Baule is a popular seaside resort in western France, which has long been home to French high society's seaside residences. La Baule is a mix of wealthy family's villas, luxury hotels and less prestigious seaside apartment buildings creating an original and unique atmosphere of social diversity. It is full of historic places, castles, walled cities, 19th century seaside resorts and many typical Breton fishermen villages.
 
Mykonos is one of the most cosmopolitan islands in Greece, known for its diverse and intense nightlife! We recommend visiting the Church of Panagia Paraportiani which they started building in 1425, this impressive, whitewashed church actually consists of five other churches attached all together. Also famous for its beaches and windmills some built as early as the 16th century, they are one of the most recognized landmarks of Mykonos.
 
The Costa Brava is a coastal region of northeastern Catalonia, Spain. While part of the Costa Brava coastline lent itself to tourist developments on a very large scale, other parts have retained a more traditional look and have become "hidden gems" for visitors who want a little more than sun, sand and sangria.
 
Langelinie is a pier, promenade and park in central Copenhagen, Denmark, and home of the statue of The Little Mermaid and the Gefion Fountain. The area has for centuries been a popular destination for excursions and strolls in Copenhagen.
 
Port de Sóller is a village, and the port of the town of Sóller, in Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Two lighthouses sit on the headlands on either side of the bay, La Badia de Sóller. The bay and the estuary of the river which comes to an end here attract all kinds of marine birds like ducks, geese and gulls!
 
Sunny Beach is a major seaside resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. It is the biggest and most popular holiday resort in Bulgaria, and is home to over 800 hotels! There are also 130 restaurants and numerous live music bars, pubs, nightclubs, discos, and cafes.
 
The Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has some well preserved medieval towns. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro.
 
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the Black Sea coast. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. The city has been selected to be the host of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, as well as the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020.
 
Ayia Napa is a resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus, famous for its sandy beaches. Apart from being a family holiday destination, in recent years, it has become a 'party capital' similar to Ibiza and Mykonos. Ayia Napa attracts a large number of tourists and features a number of pristine sandy beaches, on which water sports such as water-skiing, windsurfing, canoeing, scuba diving, and speed boating have become very popular.
 
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is in the traditional province of Lapurdi of the Basque Country. Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a fishing port on the Basque coast and now a famous resort, known for its architecture, sandy bay, quality of life and French cuisine.
 
The Bay of Gibraltar is on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It opens to the south into the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. The bay is a breeding area for several dolphin species and is also visited by whales. The other major draw for tourists is scuba diving: the area is rich with wrecks and historical artifacts such as Sherman tanks from the Second World War, and ancient anchors from Phoenician and Roman ships!
 
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands. Corfiotes have a long history of hospitality to foreign residents and visitors, typified in the twentieth century by Gerald Durrell's childhood reminiscence: My Family and Other Animals.
 -Tracy Smith