New York City
Times Square on New Years’ Eve — I’ll be watching at home
The one time I don’t like to travel during the year is between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Theoretically, it’s the week when I clean up my office, get my affairs in order, and enjoy more time with family and friends. Oh yes, and watch some football, especially my beloved Michigan Wolverines, who often play in a bowl game on the morning of January 1 so I have to be abstemious the night before. Go Blue!
In practice, it doesn’t always work out that way, but I still prefer spending New Year’s Eve at home with my wife, Netflix, and clam dip, unless we’re invited to a small party with nearby friends or family. I lived in New York for 20 years and never made it to Times Square to see the ball drop — not on… Continue reading
I love Chicago — in summer. Photo by Clark Norton
Did you know that Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh are the best places to celebrate Christmas in America?
And I’m sorry to have to tell you this, residents of Hialeah, Florida, but you finished dead last for Christmas cheer in a survey of the 100 biggest U.S. cities, conducted by the financial site Wallethub.
You Hialeahans might as well stoke up the coal furnace right now, because all you’ll get in your stockings are lumps of the sooty stuff.
But back to the merry cities of Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh, followed close behind by New York City and Seattle, all dubbed tops for Christmas joy — and affordability, although some might question the latter.
Orlando, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Las Vegas (NV), and Portland (OR) rounded out the top ten.
How These Results Were Determined
Wallethub surveyed “29 key… Continue reading
Man with camel at Great Pyramid of Giza at sunset. Note how souvenir shops are not visible. Photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews
In our last post, we took a look at the top five travel-related Bucket List items as determined in a survey of 1,000 people by TotallyMoney.com.
The Northern Lights, a wildlife safari, the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, and taking a cruise were all perfectly good choices — for baby boomers or active travelers of most any age — keeping in mind, of course, that everyone’s individual lists will be different.
A few of the second five in the Top 10 surprised me a bit — simply because they edged out others I would have expected — though they’re all understandable as highly ranked picks.
So here, with my comments and added travel info, are the five sights and activities that finished out the Bucket List Top… Continue reading
The Hungarian Parliament Building, illuminated at night. Photo by Clark Norton
I see a lot of Top Ten travel lists of this and that, often filed away and forgettable. But a friend just sent me a particularly interesting compilation of Top Ten travel lists — ranging from the world’s best nightlife destinations to best culture and history to cheapest and most expensive places to visit — as voted on by 7,000 travelers who took part in a recent survey by hostelworld.com.
Now it’s true that most people using hostelworld.com, a site where you can book hostels and inexpensive hotels/inns/guesthouses around the world, are probably much younger than the typical baby boomer demographic. But I was struck by, well, how much I agreed with the findings of the survey – though perhaps for different reasons in some cases.
Whether that means I’m still a 20-year-old backpacker at heart, or… Continue reading
White-cheeked Gibbons in the Bronx Zoo — photo from Bronx Zoo
In a previous post on Re-Branding the Bronx, I talked about the challenges of finding ways to combat the “bad first impression,” as one image consultant put it, that many people have had about the Bronx in the past. When tourists decide where to spend their time in New York City, how many of them are scared off by lingering Bronx images of crime, abandoned burned cars, and Bonfire-of-the-Vanities-meets-Fort Apache-style scary neighborhoods?
Well, it’s a new day in the northernmost borough of the city, so let me reiterate some of the reasons to love the Bronx:
The Bronx Zoo — one of the world’s finest.
The Botanical Gardens — flowers and plants galore near the zoo, a great place to wander.
Wave Hill — overlooking the Hudson, this estate may be be the most peaceful spot in all of… Continue reading
No More Room Service in This Room — photo from Hilton
The news that New York City’s largest hotel — the New York Hilton Midtown, with 2,000 rooms occupying a prime piece of real estate on 6th Avenue between W. 53rd and 54th streets — will soon drop room service has created a bit of a stir in the hospitality industry.
No longer will guests be able to call down for meals to be brought to their rooms; instead, if they wish to eat in the hotel at all, they’ll be forced to grab something at the Hilton’s casual Herb n’ Kitchen restaurant, which opens this month in the lobby. Or, of course, they could head to the nearest diner or Starbucks. Either way, they’ll have to get dressed before gobbling their breakfasts.
Hilton says it made the move after surveying thousands of its guests. “We decided to reinvent… Continue reading
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