Jun 30 2009

July 4th – And the Rockets Red Glare

Category: Events and Happenings   Published by Belablast

fotolia_466430_xs1It’s an American ritual.  All over America, it happens.  It’s probably the one thing we do in unison (separated only by time zones), and we do it in much the same way. 

We gather up the family and head out for a 4th of July picnic of burgers, hot dogs and watermelon, or perhaps something more nouveau and color-coordinated – strawberry salsa, sun-dried tomato and roasted pepper dip, white ceviche, blue corn cakes, blueberry ice-cream and coconut macadamia truffles. 

Totally stuffed with picnic fare, we settle in to watch what we know will be a fabulous show in the summer nighttime sky. We stretch out on  blankets, lounge in lawn chairs, take our place in bleachers, lean on riverboat rails and look up, eagerly anticipating the first burst of sound and color.  Suddenly out of the darkness, streaks of gold, green, purple, red, white, or blue shoot up, exploding overhead in spectacular shapes –  starbursts, chrysanthemums, cascades - each ending in golden sparkles drizzling down in glittering rain.  Old or young, cynic or starry-eyed, we are dazzled.  And, as we eargerly anticipate the next rapid-fire surprise we tell each other that this is the best ever.    

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May 31 2009

Let Freedom Ring

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was pivotal in creating our new United States. Visiting the places where Franklin, Jefferson and other founders met is awe-inspiring. No visit would be complete without seeing the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. But be prepared. To protect these National treasures the security is high. It’s very similar to Airport security measures so factor this into your visit.

A good place to start, of course, is the visitor’s center to get oriented and a timed entrance ticket for the Independence Hall tour. Although these attractions are free they are organized from this location.

Do spend some time reading panels and plaques for a complete story and don’t miss Benjamin Franklin’s Burial Plot just down the street and the site where Thomas Jefferson completed the Declaration of Independence. Everywhere you turn in Philadelphia, History winks back!

May 13 2009

Wax Museums – Historic Realism or Groupie Obsession

Category: Las Vegas, New York, Washington DC   Published by Belablast

Years ago in New York City, I went to a party for retail visual merchandise managers hosted by a mannequin manufacturer in a loft display room.  The elevator door opened to a low-light room filled with fabulously dressed people clustered in groups enjoying cocktails.  In an effort to mingle, I approached one cluster, only to discover that some among the group were mute and motionless!  What was even odder is that no one seemed to notice.  It was business as usual!

Johnny Depp

That’s the same feeling you get in Madame Tussauds Wax Museums.  See for yourself when visiting Madame Tussauds Las VegasNew York City,  or Washington D.C.  The historic and contemporary figures are so life-like, for a moment you forget they aren’t.  What’s more, by interacting with your favorite celeb as you step into their world cleverly created through high tech accouterments, intellect and fantasy somehow get all knotted up.  You know they’re just wax figures, but for a moment you believe!

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Apr 27 2009

Finders Keepers

Category: Ft. Myers, St. Augustine, Tampa   Published by Belablast

istock_000008597167xsmallThe scenario plays out on any beach.  It’s instinctive and universal.  Walk along any beach just along the waterline where the waves roll rhythmically in and you’ll catch yourself doing it:  looking down.  Suddenly, right there, tumbling in sand and foam, you see it!  A fleeting hint of color, a minute rippled edge.  As the water recedes pulling a layer of sand and shell with it, it disappears.  Now you see it, now you don’t!  With impressive reaction time you reach down and grab the illusion.  Slowly you open a dripping handful of sand and peer inside, hoping for the perfect keeper – an intact shell, a wonder nature, strikingly beautiful, elegantly scrolled, perfectly fluted, delicately patterned.

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Mar 11 2009

Saint Patrick’s Day – Parades and “Patrick’s Pot”

Category: Events and Happenings   Published by Belablast

Saint Patrick’s Day – Is it a day of family fun, celebratory Mass, colorful parades, Celtic music, traditional Irish dancing, and green, green everywhere – or is it drinking and debauchery?  The answer is … both. 

This Saint’s day is wonderfully all-inclusive - for saints and sinners!  In the days and sometimes weeks surrounding March 17, we all celebrate our Irish roots – real or imagined!  Everyone, real Paddies, Plastic Paddies and Paddie wannabees, celebrates – one way or the other, or both.

 

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Feb 26 2009

Lighthouse Lure

Lighthouses, those stoic, sturdy, silent sentinels perched on treacherous rock outcroppings in the swirling sea, atop protruding reefs and perilous shoals, or guiding the way to the safe haven of a protective harbor, do more than guide, protect and rescue seafarers – they captivate the imagination. 

Like a siren’s song, they call to us.  By day, we are compelled to climb to the very top to gaze out to sea, hoping to see we know not what. In the pitch black of night the unique rhythmic cadence of their flashing beacon signaling out into the unknown is at once haunting and comforting.   

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Feb 09 2009

Great Dining – On the Cheap

Category: Events and Happenings   Published by Belablast

Great dining is a big draw for travelers, particularly in big destination cities where the culinary experience is an art form.  However, it can be pricey.  Imagine this – being able to feast on great food, in the best restaurants, at bargain prices! 

Do what the real foodies do - seek out Restaurant Week, usually happening twice a year in an increasing number of US cities. It’s smooth on the palate, easy on the wallet.   

Restaurant Week in participating cities is fun and festive, and everyone wins. Cities showcase their dining options; restaurants feature signature dishes and try out new ones; diners experience the city’s restaurant scene, feast on regional cuisine, sample creations by acclaimed chefs, dine in delightful ambiences, from glam to intimate -all for a great price! 

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Jan 23 2009

Dolphin Mystique

Category: Key West, Orlando, Tampa   Published by Belablast

Of all the creatures in the sea, dolphins, hands down, win the popularity contest.  We are inexplicably drawn to them, we personify them, we see ourselves in them!

They appear playful, curious; they show off, display a certain joie de vivre, and even look us right in the eye – all personality traits we claim as our own!   Like us, they’re mammals, and are therefore warm-blooded, have lungs that breathe air, give birth to their young and nurse them.  Add these facts - they have large brains, live in complex societies, help one another, learn from experience.  It’s no wonder we’re intrigued. … Get the Full Story »

Jan 08 2009

Key West Sunsets and the Elusive Green Flash

Category: Key West   Published by Belablast

The Green Flash, not a comic book character, but an atmospheric event -  that startling glint of neon green that appears just for a second on the upper curve of the sun just as its last little sliver dips under the horizon.  An optical sunrise or sunset atmospheric phenomenon, it lasts but a second or two and is the piéce de résistance of an etheral event, if you are lucky enough to see it.    

So elusive and mystical, it’s the stuff of movies and books.  It’s the soul released in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End; an indication of true love in Jules Verne’s 1882 book Le Rayon Vert (The Green Flash).

Florida Keys Sunset

Florida Keys Sunset

Key West, the southernmost point in the United States, with its awesome sunsets and unobstructed views of the flat ocean horizon, is an ideal place to try to catch it…if you can. 

Sunsets all over the world are glorious phenomena – firery orange over a tropical sea, cool mauve, blue and silver streaks over a northern sky, golden hued haze through desert sand, saturated shades of coral overpowering for the moment the silhouette cut-outs of majestic mountains.  Sunsets, wherever they are, are magical, mysterious, unpredictable, yet consistently there, and the human response to them is universal.   

They have the capacity to hold us spellbound.  Regardless of who we are, or how many we’ve seen, we never tire of them. Never the same twice, each contains an element of surprise.  We may know precisely what time they’ll occur, but what they’ll look like is a mystery even as they unfold.  

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Dec 19 2008

Fantasyland Escape – Christmas in NYC

Category: New York, The Best Of   Published by Belablast

All across America, cities and towns and villages light up for the holidays, and the mundane, functional and ordinary are magically transformed. Harsh edges soften, familiar monochrome buildings turn luminous, everything glows, nostalgia sets in.  The traditional sights, sounds and tastes of the season are embracing, triggering memories of Christmas past, of loved ones now gone, of simple pleasures and simpler times. We take our children to experience these comfortable traditions hoping they, too, will catch the feeling and create memories of their own. … Get the Full Story »

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