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Mister Rogers’ Legacy Lives On

They didn’t show up in cardigans, but the people who gathered to help carry on Fred Rogers’ legacy Sunday kept the TV star’s memory close to their hearts. Two days ago three college students learned that they had been chosen as the latest recipients of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship. The 4-year-old scholarship program named for the popular children’s TV host awards students $10,000 each to help them fund media projects and studies that focus on such issues as children’s literacy and health. Rogers’ 80-year-old wife Joanne said of the annual awards, “Fred would have been just ecstatic. He loved … Continue reading →

Where to Get Your Party On During Mardi Gras

As I mentioned in a previous blog we’re just wrapping up Christmas celebrations at our home (round three of gift opening took place on Sunday—the Epiphany or Three Kings Day) and now another big celebration is just around the corner. Mardi Gras (a.k.a. Carnival) is less than a month away and if you plan to party like a college coed at the world’s hottest Fat Tuesday blowouts then you’d better make your travel plans now. Tickets to the best parties in New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro and Trinidad are going fast. The festivities peak on February 5th and lucky for … Continue reading →

The Big Easy Getting Ready for the Big Game

The Big Easy is getting a big boost from loyal football fans and travelers who are simply looking for a place to party. As I mentioned in my previous blog dozens of my pals from Hawaii boarded 16-hour flights from Honolulu to New Orleans to watch our beloved Bows get bowled over by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday. Now, it’s time for Ohio State fans to make the trip to the Crescent City to watch the Buckeyes take on LSU in the coveted Bowl Championship Series title game on Monday night. No doubt about it… it’s prime tourism … Continue reading →

Ringing in 2008 in New Orleans on a Full Stomach

Forget about New York’s Times Square, for college football fans the place to be this New Year’s Eve is New Orleans. If you haven’t been following my guest blogs in the FOOD category then you might be unaware that the state of Hawaii has experienced a mass exodus. Half the Islands’ population is in the Big Easy right now anxiously awaiting the kick-off to the biggest college football game in University of Hawaii history. Tuesday night the Hawaii Warriors take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. Which means if you plan to bid farewell to 2007 in New … Continue reading →

Where Are You Ringing in 2008?

There was a time in my life when there was no place I would rather ring in the new year than New York’s Times Square. I remember as a child watching the glittering ball descend on the Big Apple on TV from my home on the Big Island of Hawaii (five hours after it had actually dropped). I spent years dreaming of being in the midst of the pomp and pageantry. That was a few decades ago, and now Times Square is probably the last place on the planet I’d want to be at 11:59:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. … Continue reading →

New Orleans Streetcars Back on Track

They are the city’s most recognizable tourist draws, but they have been missing from the landscape since Hurricane Katrina knocked them out of service more than two years ago. Now, they are back (partially) and visitors to New Orleans can once again board the historic streetcars to catch a live jazz show or head over to the French Quarter for a crawfish boil. The legendary St. Charles Avenue streetcar returned to service at 5:27 a.m. Sunday, exactly two years, two months and 13 days after Katrina’s horrific winds snapped transit poles like twigs. City officials say the return of the … Continue reading →

Visiting Tabasco Country

If you’ve ever taken a whiff of Tabasco pepper you’d know it. The spicy scent makes your nose hairs stand on edge. And, if you think that’s a memorable experience, visit the factory where they pump out the hot sauce at the rate of 600,000 bottles a day, and your nose hairs won’t be the only things feeling the heat. The powerful aroma makes most people’s eyes water and their lungs burn. But, believe it or not, the sinus-opening experience is one some people travel thousands of miles to take in. Tens of thousands of tourist descend upon Avery Island, … Continue reading →

Travel Tidbits–Museum Moves

Good news for those of you who missed out on the headline grabbing King Tut museum tour. The mega-popular exhibit, which features objects buried with Egypt’s King Tutankhamun is returning to the United States next year. It will include three stops, beginning in Dallas. I was fortunate to be one of the 4 million visitors to take in the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit during its two-year, four-city tour. I saw the exhibit in Chicago, but it also visited museums in Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, and Philadelphia before wrapping up a few weeks ago. The exhibit … Continue reading →

The Epitome Of Family Fun

There’s a place in New York that is like no other. It’s a place where floors tilted at an 18-degree angle cause fits of laughter instead of disoriented moans. A place where butterflies flutter freely indoors past giant beanstalks and wizard’s workshops; and a place where you can walk through a massive kaleidoscope into a pirate ship. The place: The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. It is considered the nation’s second-largest children’s museum in the country (The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the biggest) and is one of the most popular family attraction in western and … Continue reading →

Fall Travel: Where To Go and Where To Stay This Season

LOUISIANA Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, New Orleans is getting a shot in the arm from Smithsonian Magazine. The publication is teaming up with the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to host CultureFest on October 26-28th in “The Big Easy.” CultureFest is one of the magazine’s signature events, which showcases a particular state’s history, cuisine, arts and more. It typically draws several thousand visitors. In years past it has been held in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon. If you are planning to make the trip to New Orleans next month for CultureFest, you may … Continue reading →