Tour the States

Friday, May 13, 2016

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - Big Island, Hawaii

raction on the Big Island is Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii’s sole World Heritage Site. The volatile park’s centerpiece is Kilauea Volcano, which continues to blow its top and spout molten lava, ash and steam.

The mega attCrater Rim Drive is a spectacular driving route, skirting the rim of the caldera, stopping at lookouts and taking you from rainforest to desert. The eerie and easily accessible Thurston Lava Tube is a long hollow cave-like formation, created by flowing lava.

Another driving route to follow is the winding Chain of Craters Road along the slopes of the volcano to the coast, where lava has pooled from recent eruptions.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

El Capitan - Yosemite National Park, California

Yes, it's a big rock, but what makes El Capitan a must-witness sight in Yosemite is the fact that it's the largest exposed-granite monolith in the world. Oh, and people climb it. Rising 3,593 feet (1095 meters)—more than 350 stories—above the Valley, El Capitan was once considered impossible to climb.

However, since Warren Harding first conquered the "nose" in 1958, El Capitan has become the standard for big-wall climbing.

Take binoculars to spot the little bits of color that pinpoint adventurous climbers tackling the smooth and nearly vertical cliff.

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Carmel Mission - Monterey & Carmel, California

The Carmel Mission, or San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo Mission, to give its full name, was originally not in Carmel at all. Father Junipero Serra founded the mission at the Monterey Presidio in 1770, making it the second of California’s missions. It was moved to its current Carmel location on Rio Road, where there was better soil and water, the following year.

Although the mission was destroyed in the middle of the nineteenth century, it has undergone extensive renovations. Today the mission is a U.S. Historic Landmark, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only California mission to retain its original bell tower.

The mission is still home to a Catholic parish and, as well as holding mass several times each day, hosts regular concerts, art exhibitions and community events. Spanish Colonial liturgical art and artifacts are displayed throughout the church, which also features arched ceilings and thirty-foot altarpieces.

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Sunday, May 8, 2016

Beacon Hill - Boston, Massachusetts

True, Beacon Hill may be home to the Massachusetts State House, the crown jewel of the neighbourhood and focal point of politics in the Commonwealth, but the real appeal of this prestigious neighbourhood lies in its beauty.

Gas lanterns illuminate the cobblestone streets, while distinguished brick town houses come decked with purple windowpanes and blooming flowerboxes.

Beacon Hill’s residential streets are reminiscent of London, and streets such as stately Louisburg Square indeed capture the grandeur that was intended. Charles Street, Beacon Hill’s charming commercial thoroughfare, is Boston’s most enchanting spot for browsing boutiques, haggling over antiques, or sipping a steaming cappuccino at one of the European-styled cafes. Stay for a fine dinner, made all the more romantic when it is enjoyed in such a delightful setting.

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Freedom Trail - Boston, Massachusetts

The Freedom Trail is a great way to explore Boston’s most popular sites. The 2 ½-mile/4-km trail itself links a number of historic sites, many associated with colonial United States history.

The route is marked with a line of red paint or red brick on the sidewalk; markers identify stops and plaques point the way from one sight to the next. The Freedom Trail starts on the Boston Common and visits sights on Beacon Hill, in Downtown, near the Waterfront, and in the North End, before crossing the bridge and ending in Charlestown.

As such, it provides an introduction to some of Boston’s distinct neighborhoods, as well as its rich history. Along the way, you’ll see the King’s Chapel, Old City Hall, and the Old Corner Bookstore. You’ll visit Faneuil Hall, which is a choice spot to stop for a lunch from the food court in Quincy Market. More sites include Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground (with its grand views across the river to Charlestown) and the USS Constitution Museum, home

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New England Aquarium - Boston, Massachusetts

Teeming with more than 15,000 sea creatures of all sizes, shapes, and colors, the New England Aquarium is a giant fishbowl of sea-life wonder.

Harbor seals and sea otters frolic in a large observation tank at the entrance, but the main attraction is the awesome four-story, 200,000 gallon (760,000 liter) Giant Ocean Tank, which swirls with more than 600 creatures great and small, including turtles, sharks, and eels. At the base of the tank the penguin pool is home to three species of fun-loving penguins.

Countless side exhibits explore the lives and habitats of other underwater oddities, including the two-floor Amazing Jellies exhibit, home to hundreds of ethereal jellyfish, and the Edge of the Sea exhibit, with its sea stars, horseshoe crabs, and sea dragons. Other attractions include displays on denizens of the Amazon, marine life in the Gulf of Maine, and the ecology of Boston Harbor.

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Saturday, May 7, 2016

Cannery Row - Monterey, California

In 1958, Monterey’s most famous waterfront street changed its official name from Ocean View Avenue to its long-time nickname Cannery Row in honor of the 1945 John Steinbeck novel of the same name.

Today’s Cannery Row is a far cry from that of the “tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron …” described in Steinbeck’s novel. There has not been a cannery here since 1973 and the street is now filled with shops, from boutiques to chain stores, hotels and restaurants -- and usually populated by more tourists than locals.

It is a wonderful place for strolling, admiring ocean views, snacking on salt-water taffy, gaining easy beach access and watching the many characters that gravitate here. The world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium is located at the northern end of Cannery Row, housed in what was once a sardine cannery.

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