Travel

One of the most recognizable statues in the world, the Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York.  It’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US, as well as one of America’s most prized reminders of the ideals it represents.  Many of present day Americans can trace their roots back through the generations and find a relative who first sailed past Lady Liberty’s welcome before disembarking in New York harbor.

As part of stricter security measures, tourists are no longer allowed access to the statue’s crown and torch, but there are two ranger guided tours around the island.  The first of them lasts between 30 and 60 minutes and is a gentler informational tour that doesn’t require much exertion.  The second tour however is a little more strenuous but if you’ve got the energy, the view from the 10 story high pedestal observatory will be a memory you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

It’s only possible to travel to the Statue of Liberty by ferry.  The return visit allows visitors the opportunity to disembark at Ellis Island before returning to the mainland.  The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is an interesting array of artifacts, and photographs, which have been displayed amidst personal oral history stories, and which together create a great overview of what awaited most of the immigrants who arrived at America’s shore.  For most of them, they would eventually be allowed admittance to the mainland, but not all.  The archives allow those who are interested in researching their family history access to records which may help them discover more about their origins.

A trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is a must see if you visit New York.  Not only will you get to stand near one of the most treasured American landmarks, but you’ll have a greater understanding of those who came seeking a new life in America.

Situated at 350 Fifth Avenue is one of the most famous of New York’s impressive buildings.  Instantly recognizable from such movies as King Kong, An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle, the Empire State Building stands as one of the most well known skyscrapers in the world.

With its art deco architecture, the Empire State Building’s observation deck on the 80th Floor is where most visitors head.  There’s a charge to enter the observation deck but it’s not too expensive, especially considering the unique view of New York and the surrounding area you’ll get from the top.  There are 73 elevators in the building – these can take you from ground level to the 80th floor in a matter of seconds - but those who are more active, or like a challenge, the alternative is a 1,575 step climb – of course you could just take the elevator up and walk down if you prefer!

The Empire State Building is open daily from 9.30am until midnight – make sure you arrive in time to be allowed access as the building may shut at midnight, but they like the observation deck cleared prior to then.  Despite its closing time, it’s just as good an experience to see New York from the Observation Deck at night as it as by day.  Although you can’t see as far as you can in daylight, the lights of New York make the night visit special in its own right.

Although the Empire State Building is mainly for those who like to look rather than do, there is a hidden gem on the second floor for those who enjoy a thrill ride.  The New York Skyride is a flight stimulator which will have you hanging to your seat as the images take you on a fast paced virtual reality aerial tour of the “Big Apple”.

For its celebrity, architectural beauty, spectacular views and not forgetting the incredible Skyride tour, a visit to the Empire State Building should be on every visitor’s itinerary.

Anyone familiar with the American Civil War will be aware of the part that Gettysburg played, and the amount of lives that were lost during the historic 3 day battle that took place there in July 1863.  The area was the later that year to be the scene of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.   Although the final outcome of the battle at Gettysburg was a Union victory, the amount of fallen soldiers who lie in the Union burial site at Gettysburg National Cemetary (actually located on Cemetery Hill) is evidence that victory came at a high human cost to both sides.

Today the Gettysburg National Military Park is a silent witness to the military strategies, human heroism, and the loss of life sustained during its history.  You should start your visit with a walk around the visitors center, even if you are familiar with the events of the battle, as it will help you to orientate yourself “on the ground”.  You can take advantage of joining a guided tour around the park, or pick up a map for a self-guided auto tour.  A film in the Cycloarma Center will also help with your orientation to the area before you set off exploring.  The Cyclorarma Center also shows other educational films as well as displaying civil war exhibits so you may like to spend time back here once you’ve taken your drive around the park, if not before.

If you are visiting Gettysburg to give your children a living history lesson about the Civil War, check out the programs of special interest to younger visitors – in particular, the summer months usually sees a program where 7-12 year olds enlist in the army for an hour, to learn what life as a solider was like during the period.  Another favorite is the Civil War storytelling which shows the roles children played during the time.

Whether your family was involved in the American Civil War or not, Gettysburg is an interesting place to visit.  Many of the names such as Cemetery Hill, and Devil’s Den are familiar from Hollywood’s adaptation of history, but here at Gettysburg you can separate the fiction from the fact, and see how life really was for the men who fought and died here.

If you are traveling in Canada near Vancouver, be sure to visit Cortes Island.  The island boasts a number of attractions, but none is as unusual as Wolf Bluff Castle.

Wolf Bluff is not your average castle.  It is new enough that its age is measured in years, not decades or centuries.  It is not crumbling or falling down—probably because it is made of cinder blocks.  You can even meet the man who built it.

Karl Triller, owner and builder of Wolf Bluff Castle (known locally as King Karl’s Kastle), grew up in Hungary dreaming of castles.  When he moved to Cortes Island, he decided to make his dream a reality.  When Karl was building the castle wolves were abundant on the island, hence the name.

Karl designed and built the five-story, triple-turreted, eight-bedroom castle from the ground up.  He even made all 13,000 cement blocks used to construct the castle and spent 12 years completing it.

In the past, Wolf Bluff Castle was a bed and breakfast, but age has forced Karl, a former professional chef, to stop preparing and serving guest meals.  The castle’s modern full-service kitchen is available for self-catering during longer stays.  It is also a base of operations for caterers serving events in the dining hall, a room with space to seat up to one hundred people.

What castle is complete without a dungeon? Karl’s dungeon is also a torture chamber and features homemade dummies in various states of torment with placards announcing their sins.

Karl himself, who does not charge admission but does ask for a donation, leads castle tours.  Do you want to relive that childhood fantasy of being lord of all you survey or a damsel in a tower?  It can happen – talk to Karl about staying the night in Cortes Island’s Wolf Bluff Castle.

Yukon, formerly The Yukon Territory, is Canada’s most northwestern province, bordered on the north by the Beaufort Sea and the west by the state of Alaska.

Visitors to the region will need to be hardy and prepared for the sub-arctic climate.  The temperature in the province goes over 50° F (10° C) less than four months of the year.  The average winter temperature is between -4° F and -26° F (-20° to -32° C) but, since it is drier than many parts of southern Canada, the cold is considered more bearable than the same temperatures would be further south.

The Yukon is so sparsely populated that it is the only Canadian province not subdivided for the Census.  The entire province, all 186, 661 square miles of it (483,450 sq km), is a single Census division with an estimated total population of 31,500.

The Yukon is best known for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896.  The rush to hunt to for gold ended 3 years after it began and by 1902 most of the hopeful miners had left.  Gold production peaked in 1911 and the last dredge shut down in 1966.

The Yukon capital of Whitehorse is the logical place to begin exploring the history of Klondike Gold Rush.  Be sure to visit the Tourist Information Center before heading down the Klondike Highway to Dawson, ex-fishing village, ex-boomtown on the Yukon River; closest town in Canada to where the gold was found.

Today the main industry in the Yukon is tourism.  In the Yukon tourism is a $164 million per year business, a number that has grown steadily since 1996.  The recent discovery, in the 1990s, of diamonds in the Northwest Territories has led people to wonder if the precious stones might not be the next big thing in the Yukon, too.

Family vacations are times for bonding and memory building.  They’re also a time when dreams of exotic locations, or one in a lifetime opportunities/challenges are realized.   All of these are possible at Discovery Cove, Florida.  Situated beside the more typical theme park of SeaWorld, in Orlando, this isn’t a cheap excursion, nor is it a park full of rides, shows and tours.  Instead, here you will experience something that you won’t find in many other places.  You’ll get to swim with dolphins.

Another contrast to the larger parks is that at Discovery Coves visitors are put into small groups, each with its own staff member to lead it around the park.  There’s an age limit to the dolphin swim so if you’ve got under 6’s you’ll need to consider that before deciding on a visit to this park.  Another “housekeeping” tip is that trips to Discovery Cove must be pre-booked, and lunch is included – as is all of the equipment hire such as wet suit, snorkel and even a towel if required.

Apart from being taught how to communicate with the dolphins and being allowed to swim with them in your small group, you will be able to spend the rest of the day enjoying the birds that fly over beautiful beaches on the property, together with snorkeling off the various reefs packed with marine life, and exploring hidden grottos.  It’s an unforgettable experience!

For anyone who is interested in working in this kind of environment, Discovery Cove offers a Trainer for a Day program where the limited number of visitors who are on the program are allowed a closer connection with the animals and get to work alongside the regular staff members for that day.

Discovery Cove may be missing the wilder exhibits that its neighboring theme parks are noted for, but it more than makes up for this in terms of sheer magic, beauty and wildlife.

If you’re visiting Orlando, Florida, you probably have a trip to Universal Studios on your list, and therefore may decide to skip MGM Studios, however you may find that – especially if you have younger children – MGM is a better alternative as there are less attractions with height restrictions than Universal.  Although there are a few more thrill-seeking rides, most of the MGM Studio park is at a more gentle pace making it a good destination for families, or those who are a little mobility impaired.

Upon entering the park, you’ll be on Hollywood Boulevard.  This is a place to shop merchandise of both a traditional souvenir nature, and also more limited edition collectors pieces, as well as find restaurants and other kinds of retail outlets.  Walk to the bottom of the Boulevard however and you’ll find the Great Movie Ride.  Although the queue for this may be long, it does move quickly and the journey through well known movie scenes is well worth the wait.

Around the rest of the park there are shows such as the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular which shows how stunts are performed and re-enacts scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, a car and motorcycle stunt show called Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, and Fastasmic! A night-time show in the Holywood Hills Amphitheatre.

For the young, and young at heart, there’s such things as the Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D show, the Little Mermaid show, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Beauty and the Beast show, and Playhouse Disney live on stage.  Thrill seekers aren’t forgotten completely however with the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Aerosmith’s indoor Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

With the Journey in Narnia, and the Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour, there’s a great day of entertainment to be had at Disney’s MGM Studios.  If you love Disney, it’s well worth a visit!

Travel in western Canada can be adventurous, romantic, and fun.  All you have to do is take the train. VIA Rail, Canada’s federal Crown corporation railway system, offers several routes to travelers who want to see Canada without having to drive through it.

The Canadian is the western transcontinental train, a three-day journey from Toronto to Vancouver with stops along the way in Winnipeg, Jasper, and Edmonton, among others.  Truly adventurous travelers who want to plan their own vacation can even request special stops anywhere between Sudbury Junction and Winnipeg, a service the rail line touts to outdoor enthusiasts.

The Skeena takes riders for a breathtaking trip along the Canadian Rockies and out to the Pacific, traveling from Jasper to Prince Rupert in British Columbia with an overnight stop in Prince George.  Be warned, though, the Skeena does not have sleeping cars and passengers need to take care of their own accommodation needs in Prince George.

The Malahat is a four and half hour trip up or down Vancouver Island, from Victoria at the south end to Courtenay in the north central part of the island.  Malahat only offers one class of rail travel, the comfort class, but this fare includes the unique privilege of getting on and off the train as many times as you want from one end of the line to the other.  The train departs once daily from each end of the line and, at C$28 is a great bargain for the budget-minded traveler.

In 2007 VIA Rail added the winter-only Snow Train Express from Edmonton to Jasper, departing Friday and returning on Sunday—perfect for a weekend ski getaway.  Since this is a new route, and a seasonal one, check in advance to see if this service is still available before making your plans.

In a city where there’s so much to see, you need to plan your visit carefully to make the most of the time you have available.  If you have any interest in flight and/or space travel, then one of the must do items on your Washington DC itinerary is a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.  Even those with little more than a passing interest will find themselves caught up in the magic of space travel when they come face to face with aircraft that have actually been into space or are able to touch a rock that once belonged on the moon.

Many of the exhibits at this museum, which has no obligatory entry fee, are either the real artefacts that went into the air or space, or are the back-up ones which would have went on the missions had the first equipment failed.  There are two main areas to the museum, the National Mall Building, and the newer  Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

In the National Mall Building you can find exhibits as historically diverse as “The Spirit of St Louis” in which Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic solo flight, and the Apollo 11 Command module.  The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is home to items such as the Enola Gay, and the space shuttle “Enterprise” (you can find the original filming model of the starship USS Enterprise in the lower level of the museum gift store!).

With hands on teaching exhibits on such subjects as planetary science, as well as the artefacts, the National Air and Museum is not only interesting to adults who have lived through many of the flight achievement firsts noted at the museum, but it’s also educational and fun for kids, making it a perfect family destination.

Situated about 75 miles west of Orlando is the home of the Busch Gardens.  Located in Tampa, Florida, this theme part is inspired by the sights and sounds of Africa, and provides an aesthetic contrast to the sugar/sweet images of Orland’s Disney parks.

The Busch Gardens are set around 10 different themed areas that include savannahs, jungle and even pyramid features, so there’s something for the whole family to enjoy here.   Although animals are a great focal point in the park, it is home to one of America’s top zoos, there are rollercoasters for those who want a little more excitement in their day, or areas for those who prefer a bit of calm to take a gentle stroll in the afternoon.  For those who aren’t quite up to the daring rollercoaster rides, there’s the Seregenti Express railroad that will take you through some areas of the park, and an 8 minute land rover experience that will leave you exhilarated but not shaking!  If you aren’t afraid of heights, the Sky Ride Cable Car will give you a wonderful overview of the park below you.

Younger members of the family will love the Animal Nursery located in the Nairobi sector of the Busch Gardens.  Here they’ll find baby birds, and other animals plus a petting zoo - there are primates in this area also with apes and chimps vying for visitor attention.  For anyone who wants a closer experience with the animals, check out the daily schedule for visitor participation feeding and training encounters.  Another must do for those who like to get off the main beaten track is a behind the scenes tour – these take approximately 4-5 hours and you’ll find information about times and locations in the park, or ring the park in advance for more details.

As with all theme parks, entrance isn’t cheap, nor is refreshment once you get inside, but it’s a great day out with a very authentic feel and if you intend going to other parks such as SeaWorld and/or Universal in Orlando, then you could considering buying a pass that will allow you multi-park entry at a reduced cost then paying for all entrance fees separately.