-
Virginia Memorial Day holiday travel should be up slightly
AAA expects Memorial Day holiday travel to be up slightly in Virginia this year.
Advertisement
-
Travel Briefs for May 27
Park Service website a guide to Civil WarThe National Park Service has a new website that provides an overview of the Civil War and a guide to more than 1,700 sites around the nation related to the war that divided the nation.
-
Rock City near Chattanooga celebrates 80 years
It's been advertised on barns and billboards across much of the country. It's a natural wonderland with a rock formation called "fat man's squeeze." And it's been mentioned in a country song.
-
Golden Gate Bridge marks 75 years
The Golden Gate Bridge is turning 75 this year. And what a historic span it's been. Big, bold and orange, the bridge is a beloved symbol of San Francisco and one of the most instantly recognizable landmarks in the world.
-
Fun facts about the Golden Gate Bridge
The bridge is not named for its color, but for the Golden Gate Strait, which is the entrance by water to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The bridge was painted orange partly for aesthetic reasons and partly to increase visibility in the fog. When it opened, the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, a status it retained until the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in New York in 1964. Two billion-plus vehicles have made the trip between San Francisco and Marin County since 1937. The bridge has been closed only three times due to weather, but it is often partly shrouded in fog, and its fog horns can sound for hours a day during the area's foggy summer season. The bridge was unscathed by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which was centered 60 miles away, but it is being retrofitted to protect it from future quakes. The Golden Gate Bridge has been in many movies. It served as a picturesque backdrop for Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak's tensely romantic first meeting in "Vertigo" in 1958 and was nearly decimated by a falling Romulan drill-of-death in 2009's "Star Trek." It also made the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine for a 1976 story about San Francisco-based rockers.</ul
-
Gear and Gadgets: Scanon ScanStik
Scanon's ScanStik looks like a big long pen, but it's a full-page scanner. Though it's loaded with useful features, it's surprisingly user-friendly. The ScanStik is 8.9 inches long (just right for standard paper widths) and about .5 inch in diameter. It has a built-in micro SD slot (but you must supply an SD card) and comes with an installation CD. You get free firmware upgrades, but, alas it only works with Windows platforms. Hopefully Mac access will follow.
-
Rooms with a view
Peter Sturm of Hartfield took this photo of the Mesa Verde Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado in October. The cliff palace is the largest in the park and has more than 150 individual rooms and more that 20 kivas, which were rooms where religious rituals were held. The cliff dwellings were crafted of sandstone, wooden beams and mortar.
-
Activities related to the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary
Here are some details on activities, events and history related to the bridge's 75th birthday.
-
Attendance at Richmond attractions up 20 percent in 2011
Attendance at the Richmond region's attractions was up 20 percent in 2011, according to the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
-
Gear and Gadgets: Junior pet vets
If the family pet can't come along on the trip, or even if there is no family pet, children 4 and older will enjoy making the animals that populate Playmobil's Take Along Pet Clinic feel better.
-
Your Best Shot: Spotted on safari
David Elliott of Richmond shares the story of this stunning photo ...
-
Out of town arts and entertainment events
VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL - Highlights of dozens of music, theater and dance performances in Hampton Roads ...
-
Fall for a view of the Smokies
Our train pulled out of the Bryson City, N.C., station a little late, carrying roughly 150 leaf-peepers on a fall excursion through the Smoky Mountains.
-
Travel Briefs: Enjoy the Big Easy at festival
Enjoy the Big Easy at festival Theater of the American South, a festival of Southern plays, food and culture, features a New Orleans theme this year.
-
1:25
Making coffee as a civil war soldier
Union troops had a taste for coffee, and with tin cups, a bayonet and boiling water, a hot serving of the treat was considered a godsend by the soldiers.
-
Your Best Shot: By Laurence E. Dockery
Laurence E. Dockery of Midlothian took this photo last fall from the deck of Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas cruise ship. "The view is the museum at Portland Head Lighthouse as we approached Portland, Maine," he wrote in his email.
-
Gear and Gadgets: Baby bundler
The Sidekick Bliss is a baby bag that can carry one additional thing — the baby. The big multi-pocketed diaper bag has an integrated baby carrier/sling built into the top of the bag. Just clip the adjustable waist strap around your middle, tightening to secure and pull out the sewn-in baby carrier/sling from its zippered compartment. Then sit the baby on the top of the bag, pull the adjustable shoulder strap attached to the top of the sling over the baby and over your head, tightening the strap to secure. Voila. The bag comes with a removable insulated bottle pouch and changing pad. It is designed for babies who can already hold their heads up, since there is no head or neck support.
-
Travel Briefs: Photo exhibit, Newport Jazz Festival, Elvis tour
Exhibit features photos of Wright buildings A new exhibit features photos of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and architects he influenced.
-
Biz to Go: Cruise travel agents coming from ranks of the retired
After a career in law enforcement, security and private investigations work, Oscar Paz was looking for something to fill his "semi-retired" years.
-
Eliminating E-ZPass transaction fee won't lower tolls
Though VDOT has proposed rescinding its fee for every toll paid by E-ZPass in favor of a $1 monthly transponder charge, don't expect toll rates to go down.
-
Virginia launches new tourism sweepstakes
Virginia will launch a tourism sweepstakes today with the aim of attracting a million visitors to the state's tourism website by the end of the month.
-
Gear and Gadgets: Underwater MP3 player
At less than 2 inches long and only about a half-inch thick, the UWaterG4 is one small underwater MP3 player. The 4GB player clips onto goggles or fastens onto a headband or armband (not included) for swimming and other water sports, or heading into the elements with a song in your ear. Included waterproof stereo earphones plug into a twist-and-lock jack that seals water out. The player can store and play up to about 1,000 songs or about 10 audio books, and can run about six hours on the built-in rechargeable (via included USB cable) lithium ion battery. It's compatible with Windows 2000 and higher and MAC 9.0 and higher, and can be downloaded from your iTunes library.
-
Travel Briefs: DC tours, El Greco painting, African Queen cruises
Cruise Florida Keys on the African Queen The African Queen, the iconic original vessel from the classic film of the same name, is plying nearshore waters and canals in the Florida Keys again.
-
Travelers face patchwork of free vs. paid Wi-Fi
Getting online while traveling has never been easier. Getting online for free is still hit-or-miss.
-
Tracking that elusive species, the 'green hotel'
If you've thought about staying in eco-friendly hotels when you travel, you're not alone.
Deal of the Day
Advertisement
Sign Up for the Food & Wine Newsletter
Sign up to receive the weekly email full of recipes, how to videos, and more.
Most Popular
Advertisement
Purchase RTD Photos
Advertisement
