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This is the morning when I get to wake up in a very tiny hotel room all by myself.  When I was checking in, they told me I could get an even smaller single, one that they’d recently converted from a closet, and it would cost me only half of what I was willing to pay already.  I took the offer, because I don’t need as much room as I used to.  It is as small as they told me.  Enough room for a bed and a wardrobe that actually touches the foot of the bed.  There’s enough space so that I can actually do a little bit of yoga by the side of the bed, if I put all my things on the bed.  It works.  This is working.

I haven’t had a drink in a few months now.  It seems to suit me very well.  The first part was rough, but they tell me that every part of it is rough, so I just have to keep myself in the day.  This is a very good day to be in, however, because I am breathing, and I got to sleep through the night, and there’s nothing that I have to do.  Later on, I’ll have a nice long meal at a restaurant on this site, but for now, I’m going to be frugal.  Just one coffee with a double shot at Muddy Waters, and I can start seeing what San Francisco looks like.

Before all that, though, a meeting, where I can start my caffeine intake with coffee that’s much, much stronger than it looks, and some good stories from strangers that I already like.  There are lots of opinions about what I should do when I’m here, and they’re all interesting, and some of them are even strange, but I have it in mind that City Lights will be a good destination, and a good place to get lost.  There are books by every writer I’ve ever loved, and just to be sentimental I look through what they have on Kerouac.  It’s good to hold his books while I’m here, especially now.  I can feel sparks in this, and I hear sparks in this, and I think about all the things that have to line up just right so that things can turn on the wheel, to move the regret into the realm of the next right thing.

In the mid-1980s, New York City’s Chelsea Piers were marked for demolition.  But in ten short years, the Chelsea Piers project, combining public and private goals, had turned the area around, realizing the potential of the thirty acres on which the piers sat.  Today, in 2010, it’s a recreational facility unlike few others.  At a cost of a hundred million in private monies, the piers have transformed into a place for the public to come, providing recreation and access to the Hudson River.  Any traveler to New York should consider a visit there, where you will find any number of opportunities to relax and enjoy the day or night.  You’ll be able to bowl, golf, or work out at a health club, or relax at a spa.

The Chelsea Piers opened to the public in 1910, one hundred years ago.  It had taken thirty years of planning and eight years of building to complete the piers.  Great luxury ships, such as the Mauretania and the Lusitania docked at the pier, even before they opened officially.  In those days, newspapers hailed the piers as a great achievement of urban design.  For fifty years, the Piers served the New York Port; it was the city’s best passenger ship terminal; but also served as a point for soldiers to leave for World War I and World War II.  In the 1950s and 1960s, the pier became a place for cargo ships.  By the 1970s until the mid-1980s, the place had fallen into neglect.  The Piers were designed mostly for passenger travel, unable to accommodate the larger container ships; since most people now traveled by plane, they fell into disuse.  Their redesign and redevelopment in the mid-1980s, then, gave this historic site new life.

The site is as famous for the ships that didn’t arrive, such as the ill-fated Titanic and the Lusitania, as well as who left these piers, such as the US Olympic Team leaving for Germany in 1936, where Jesse Owens would win four gold medals for track.  If you’ve arrived in New York and found yourself one of the hotels, big or small, then consider including the Chelsea Piers in your itinerary, and discover a part of the city’s reborn past.

Among the many beautiful aspects of the city of New York, is Central Park.  And two of the many beautiful aspects of Central Park, are the Shakespeare Garden and the Belvedere Castle.  The Belvedere Castle sits atop the second tallest hill in Central Park, the Vista Rock.  So in any direction one chooses to look, there will be a panoramic view, one that is offered by a building that combines function, design, form and a bit of romance to boot.

This was originally designed as a fantasy building, a castle built in 1865, by Jacob Wrey Mould and Calvert Vaux.  There intention was to create a place where people could not only take in the view of the surrounding area, but one in which they could catch a show at the Delacorte Theatre, or a performance of Shakespeare in the Park.  Turtle Pond sits below the castle walls and the green expanse of the park is all-surrounding.  In current times, when you listen to the radio for news of the weather forecast, this news travels from the weather station located in Belvedere Castle.

This is a mix of a building really, with such artifacts of times gone by as paper mache sculptures and skeletons, to such scientific equipment as telescopes and microscopes.  When you find yourself wondering through the park, and consider the need for binoculars, you can find them here at the station.  Notepads and sketching paper is also available, so one can take time to draw the natural environment, whether it be the hawks that fly over head, or the aquatic life that swims in Turtle Pond.  There are many hotels in the city, located close to the castle of Central Park, which gives the naturalist travelers easy access to one of the man made, naturally beautiful spots in the world, Central Park of New York City.

While you are looking for a room at one of the thousands of hotels around Louisiana found here you may be interested in some of the state facts. Hawaii is not the only state that produces sugar cane. Louisiana is the second highest producer of sugar and sweet potatoes. It is also the third largest producer of rice and there is plenty of cotton and pecans produced in the state as well. It is also has the most crude oil refineries in the Western Hemisphere. Louisiana exports the most grain to other countries. It is quite a busy port.

You would think California has the longest coast line but actually Louisiana has the longest coast because of all the bays and sounds. If you were to stretch out all the curves you would see that mile for mile this state has the longest coastline. This would make sense then that pirates would hideaway in the town of Jean Lafitte.  Almost half, 41 percent, of the wetlands in the United States is located in Louisiana. I wonder if that is why they have half of the countries species of birds living through out the state.

There has been some notable migration to the state of Louisiana. The British forces tried to take over the area but our Major General Andrew Jackson took care of that invasion in 1815. We think of Louisiana as the birth place to the Cajun people but actually they migrated down from Canada to escape having to follow the the English King. Speaking of Kings, Louisiana was named after a king, King Louis XIV. The French have made the biggest mark of them all with the big celebration that happens every year Mardi Gras. It is all about the food and the booze before the Catholic sacrifice made for Lent. If you are in New Orleans French Quarter for Mardi Gras, remember, the celebration does not end with the bars closing. It ends with the police on horse back telling you there is a new day at midnight.

For a great Hong Kong hotel you need not look any further it is all right here.  Once you have picked the perfect spot to rest your head you will need to create the perfect plan to get the most out of your trip to this beautiful Asian island.  There are many great things to do both in the city itself and in adventures outside the city to the surrounding areas. You could start by seeing the sights in the city. You hotel can direct you to some of the popular tours that are available. I like to take a general tour so I can see other places to possibly visit on another day. The Architecture Institute of Hong Kong has organized some tours of the cities more famous buildings. You get to see the buildings of history like the Central Police Station as well as the modern towering Shanghai Building.

You can visit some amazing temples in the city. The Man Mo is an important temple in Hong Kong. It is named after the god of martial arts. A Taoist temple the Wong Tai Sin Temple is an ornate splendor and often crowded with worshipers. It is named after a faithful follower Wong Tai Sin. It is fun to have your fortune read by the clairvoyants outside the temple entrance if you like that sort of thing. Get a traditional Chinese meal at the Hong Kong City Hall Restaurant. They cook and serve the food in old tradition style. Shop on Stanley Market it is a must experience place where you can haggle over just about everything.

There are ways to get another view of the city. Take a boat ride in the Aberdeen Harbor boat ride. You can take a ride in a traditional wooden sampan or have a meal on a huge modern boat. Take a ride up to Victoria Peak and see the amazing gardens a views of the mountains, water and city. You can get up there on a train pulled by a cable and have a walk and a meal. Also don’t miss out on the chance to get some thrills in at the big theme parks Oceanpark and Waterworld.

If you plan on getting out of your room at one of the quaint hotels in Miami Florida to see some sights maybe you would like to do a drive by of the Freedom Tower. It is one of the older buildings with some height to it and give a nice charm across the sky line that is otherwise full of modern skyscrapers. The tower was built in 1925 and was originally the headquarters to the Miami News an Metropolis newspaper. There was even a printing facility inside. The building has such a great Mediterranean Revival style that came from influences of the Giralda Tower located in the city of Seville, Spain. It is a fresh lemon yellow beacon of hope in the city.

After the Miami news paper move out the government needed the facility to house many refugees that were coming in from near by Cuba. In the sixties, many people from Cuba were trying to get away from the communist regime of Castro. This building was the processing center for all those who came to our country. The deprived immigrants could get some medical care here as well. After the influx of refugees was over in the late seventies, the building was up again to who ever thought they could use it.

The deed was passed around for a few years until 1997 when the building was bought by Jorge Mas Canosa. He was the leader of the Cuban American National Foundation and he wanted to restore the building and make it into a monument for the lost people who found home in the United States and called it Freedom Tower. It is now a museum, library and meeting hall dedicated to the Cuban people visitors can come and learn about what these people went through and why. It has merged with the Miami Dade College and has some wonderful exhibits that show case artists such as Dali. There are many future plans to keep this building alive with rich art and history.

When I was young I had a book about the La Brea Tar Pits.  I have no idea why it intrigued me so much.  Perhaps it was the life-like, completely rendered illustrations that went along with the information regarding the Pits that at the time, I really did not understand.  Years later I was planning a move to the city, and had booked a room at the best Los Angeles hotel I had ever been to, mainly due to the hospitality and the decor, but also due to the fact that it was located very close to the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum which is located on the grounds.

Just a few blocks away, I began the walk to see in person, the Tar Pits of my one time favorite book.  You can smell the Tar Pits from a block away, a relatively stinky smell that reminds one a bit of rotten eggs.  I crossed the street I saw the sculptures that now illustrate the pits of Hancock Park, just as the paintings had illustrated my book.  This is evidence in the modern city of Los Angeles, of the time when the animals of the Ice Age roamed the streets of the city.  Many fossils are still being found today, and paleontologists clean and investigate the bones right there at the Page Museum. Their laboratory has windows, which allow the public to watch as amazing creatures from our past are literally unearthed, and their history is revealed.  The Tar Pits are made of Asphalt, which is crude oil in its lowest grade.

This is as much a museum as it is a research facility, a live and continuing archaeological investigation right in the heart of one of the busiest cities in the world.  It is kind of a strange experience, to be standing next to bubbling tar pits, on the shores of the oil pool, knowing that at one time, a saber tooth tiger may have been creeping up behind you.  I spent all day in Hancock Park, just thinking of this idea, and as the sun began to set, I decided that it was time for a walk along the boardwalk of Santa Monica and Venice Beach.  To clear my head a bit, and to clear my nose…to fill my lungs with the fresh ocean air.

Taking some time and wandering around the Boston Harbor is a great way to unwind, to relax and enjoy a bit of this city’s history, a history that is not only indicative of the state of Massachusetts, but one that is relative to the entire history of the United States.  One will find along the walkways, many restaurants offering the freshest of seafood, many pubs wherein there is always a tale being told, and many shops and markets offering much in the way of take-home souvenirs.  Located at the harbor is the New England Aquarium.

This is a wonderful place to take the children, and is a wonderful place for the adults who have an interest not only in the underwater world, but of the conservation and protection of it as well.  This is one of the many popular destinations for any visitor traveling through, with more than one million people walking through the doors each year.  There are many hotels located close by, check here, which makes daily trips to the harbor convenient and easily accessible throughout your stay.  The New England Aquarium is similar to other aquariums the world over, in that they provide not only hours of entertainment and enjoyment, but educational programs and seminars that are geared towards and dedicated to the public and the marine life that is in our hands. 

They offer not only the challenges to the ocean and the life therein, but solutions to the better of marine environments and lowering the impact the modern world has on the ecosystems of the waters on the planet.  The Aquarium opened just over forty years ago in 1969, and was intended at first, to simply provide entertainment, but over the years the reputation and the concept has grown to include the preservation efforts.  This is one of the many views of the city of Boston, one that will provide a better understanding not only of the natural world of the city, but the natural world of all marine life, of all life on earth.

Raleigh, North Carolina is an incredibly beautiful city with a rich history that is frequently evident in the city’s diverse architecture and various cultural elements. Tourists flock to North Carolina resorts and hotels for many of the historic attractions, landmarks and geographic elements that enhance the landscape and provide great opportunities for adventure and recreational activities just outside of the city. Within the city itself, there are a number of individual neighborhoods and areas that reflect a particular era, social perspective or architectural flavor. The Historic Oakwood neighborhood, located near the State Capital, is one of the more historically significant areas of the city.

The area is specifically designated as an historical region and is known for its beautiful Victorian architecture as well as the landmarks Mordecai Plantation Manor and the Historic Oakwood Cemetery. One of the most popular attractions associated with this neighborhood is an annual seasonal event. Every year this is a beautiful Christmas Candlelight Tour that puts on display the interiors of some of these beautiful homes and buildings as well as the garden designs of the Oakwood Gardening Club. This event is extremely popular with all generations of Raleigh residents and many of its guests come from outside of the city and even the state.

The Mordecai Plantation Manor has been registered as an historical landmark and now serves as a public museum. It was built in 1785 and is located on the edge of the neighborhood at Mordecai Square Historic Park. The house stands as the oldest residence in Raleigh that still exists on its original foundation. This is also the location of the birth of the United States President Andrew Johnson. St. Mark’s Chapel in the park is a common and popular location for weddings. Other popular attractions in the park are Allen Kitchen and the Ellen Mordecai Garden. It is definitely a popular destination on most tourists’ agenda.