Kingston

A Pirates’ Tour of Jamaica

Published June 18, 2015 | By Clark Norton

Negril, Jamaica — former pirates’ lair. Photo by Shannon Kaiser, on Flickr.

Second in a Series:

Long before it was the land of reggae, Jamaica was pirate central, and Port Royal was its capital.

Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Calico Jack and Henry Morgan all liked to prowl the brothels and taverns here when they weren’t out scourging the high seas.

Dubbed “the wickedest city in the world” before being swallowed up by an earthquake in 1692 — much of the old town lies beneath the water now — Port Royal today is a small, pleasant fishing village a few miles from Kingston on Jamaica’s southeastern shores. But enough remains that you can still relive the days of its vile past, when some of the most infamous characters of the age stalked its streets.

When the English captured Jamaica from Spain in 1655, the new colony’s governor invited the Caribbean pirates of… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Caribbean, Countries, cultural travel | Tagged Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Henry Morgan, Jamaica, Kingston, Negril Bay, Pirates, Port Royal | Leave a comment

Set Your Alarm for 20 Years: a Rip Van Winkle Tour

Published August 7, 2014 | By Clark Norton

Washington Irving’s Sunnyside cottage. Photo from visitsleepyhollow.com

Most everyone remembers the great Washington Irving tales “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” both dating from nearly 200 years ago.

In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Ichabod Crane, the stork-legged superstitious schoolteacher, was frightened into fleeing the area by a rival who posed as the Headless Horseman. (Johnny Depp starred in a movie about it.)

In “Rip Van Winkle,” Rip — a resident of a small village in the Catskills while New York was still an English colony — unwittingly had a drink with the ghosts of Henry Hudson’s crew and slept for 20 years, right through the Revolutionary War.

As some of you know, I’m a resident of the Catskills myself, so I’ve put together a little Washington Irving themed literary legends tour of the area.

You can start your Irving legends tour at the… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Cities, Marketing | Tagged Catskills, Kingston, Rip Van Winkle, Sleepy Hollow, Sunnyside, Tarrytown, Washington Irving | Leave a comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.