Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The “Lord of the Rings” crew may have left New Zealand, but Wellington hasn’t lost its buzz – particularly not the city’s Cuba Quarter. Located adjacent to the financial district, the nabe is home to funky boutiques, cafés and some crazy nightlife.
I’ve never been one of those people enamored of Las Vegas. I’d been here a couple times in the past for business, stayed in crappy hotels and had virtually no time to do anything but work. So I’m the last person you’d think would actually plan a vacation to Vegas. But when my fiance’s birthday rolled around this summer, it was a no-brainer where I would take him–Vegas, baby!
When you hit the intersection of Christmas Blvd. and Kringle Place, you’ve reached Santa Claus, Ind., where it’s anything but ho-ho-hum for those who get a big kick out of all things Santa. The post office features jolly ol’ St. Nick climbing up its premises.
It’s never a good sign when your tour guide warns you about dinner–as in how to prevent yourself from becoming a critter’s meal.
Lying 41 miles south of Cancun, Playa del Carmen is a dream for Americans who don’t want to be surrounded by their countrymen (and women). Popular with Europeans, who account for 80 percent of the tourists who visit the lush locale, Playa del Carmen boasts pristine beaches, clear blue water and, yes, topless sunbathers. The crowd is older than the spring breakers who flock to Cancun every year, so the aura is relaxing, rather than frenetic.
Though spring hasn’t quite found its way to the Midwest just yet, it’s balmy here. Step into the 58,000-square-foot indoor waterpark–the largest in America–and the temperature rises to 87 degrees. It’s two degrees cooler in the water.
This little city (pop. 567), located south of St. Louis in the Ozark Mountains, is home to the Arcadia Academy, an antiques mall that used to be the Ursuline Academy, a Catholic girls’ boarding school that Bob Hope’s daughter attended.
When it comes right down to it, geocaching is just a high-tech version of hide and seek. Someone hides a box full of “treasures” in a public place–usually a park or forest–inputs the coordinates online at www.geocaching.com and then waits for people like you and me to go hunt for them.
It is nearing lunchtime on the set of “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”–which opens Wednesday–but there still are a few more shots to complete before they will be dismissed. A beam of light radiates above the actors, making them appear even more angelic than they will be on screen. With their flaxen, waist-length hair, these elves are the gorgeous supermodels of the movie. Even the horses know it.
For decades, the joke around Wellington was that Americans only knew of New Zealand as “that place by Australia.” But thanks to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which was filmed in Wellington–New Zealand’s capital–the country is stepping out of Australia’s shadow.