The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania boasts itself as being the oldest in the country. Well, this is difficult to argue since the company was originally established in 1809. And with many things in Philadelphia, there is an incredible history and major cultural significance to this theatre. It’s one thing to say you’ve been around for twenty or thirty, even forty years, which is impressive on its own. But to say you’ve been creating great theatre for two hundred years almost makes you sound like one of the European companies. At any rate, this theatre has been around that long and continues to produce great plays.

The theatre continues to sit in its original location on the corner of Ninth and Walnut Street and the building itself has been recognized as one of the nation’s historic landmarks. The theatre has another major static to brag about and that is the 56,000 season ticket subscribes it has. This is greater than any theatre in the world, which is possibly an even more impressive statement than its being the oldest in the country. Tourists who visit Philadelphia are frequently attracted to major cultural landmarks and you can’t get any more historic and significant than this. Ooops, that’s right, we’re talking about Philadelphia so maybe that’s not true. Regardless, many of the non season subscription holders are coming from their fabulous rooms in one of the area hotels.

Currently the theatre is presenting a production of Elliot A Soldier’s Fugue by Philadelphia native playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, who is better known for his hit Broadway musical In The Heights. This play deals with a second generation soldier returning from Iraq and making a decision about a return tour. In the process issues of generational differences and father and son relationships are brought up in a journey through generations.

While I was choosing my ideal university I had many things to consider in making that choice. This is a common aspect of many soon to be high school graduates and while choosing a school sounded extremely fascinating before I started the decision process, I soon learned that it was actually pretty tedious and I had consider many elements that I would rather have ignored. One of the primary considerations I had to make before I could even begin my final decision-making was in regards to how I was going to pay for my school. Now do you see why making the decision was much less romantic and much more tedious than I had originally though it would be?

Anyway, determining how I would pay for school was first on the list and then I had to determine which schools had the best college and department for the field I am looking for. Ultimately I want to be a genetic anthropologist, which means I have more years of school than what my initial bachelor degree is going to provide. And while there are plenty of universities that provide quality BA degrees in anthropology I decided I might want to put greater focus on my graduate program. On one hand this made my decision a little easier though it also made me wonder how much of my life was going to be spent in school versus on my actual career. Not to mention, I want to have a family and everything some day, and I don’t have to go to school for that.

It was actually my guidance counselor that suggested I stay here in town for a couple of years and go to the Santa Rosa Junior College. He mentioned that it had some quality programs and classes and a pretty extensive anthropology program. In addition to the quality of the education I would receiver there, I could also get my basic requirements out of the way, could stay at home and save on room and board for two years. In addition, the class fees are minuscule compared to university costs. When I mentioned this to my parents they joked that we would have to spend a couple of nights in one of the Santa Rosa hotels and pretend we were in town to tour the campus. Well, making that decision feels great and it will save me a year or two of decision-making stress. Plus, I’m counting on my instructors there to give me some solid advice and direction on where to go next.

Well if you only have a few hours to enjoy the city before you head in for a good nights sleep at one of Hong Kong’s comfortable hotels than you may be trying to find a place were you can see a lot for a little amount of time. There are some places you can visit but one of the popular areas is Tsim Sha Tsui. There are many nice places to shop in this area of town. They have all the nice designer stores and local flair. There area plenty of places to eat and enjoy a cocktail or two while you relax from the stresses of travel. There are many locals that hang out in the area as well which always tells me something when I am traveling to somewhere new. I like to go where the locals go in hopes of getting the best of the city and country.

Also in the Tsim Sha Tsui area you will find some great cultural attractions. If you are there during the day time you may want to get out and see some history and culture. The Hong Kong Museum of Art has a very large exhibit with over 14,000 pieces. You can have a chance to see the heritage of the Chinese people from ancient China times to current modern times. The ornate Chinese calligraphy is always interesting. They also have a Hong Kong Space Museum in the area near the Hong Kong Cultural Center. See how the Chinese fit into the space world and then catch a live performance of some kind. The Cultural Center hosts all sorts of entertainment from Opera to dance and classical music concerts. If you think those events would take up to much time then you can have some lunch and then take a walk near the Hong Kong Clock Tower and the beautiful park that is around it.

If you’re traveling in America, there are a few place in the country which may feel less like tourism and more like a pilgrimage.   Liberty Island of the National Park Service off of New York City is one of these places.  It’s strange that the country, at times, develops an attitude toward the French (such as when the Congress decided they were no longer going to eat French Fries but Freedom Fries), when the most American of symbols, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from the French people, dedicated October 28, 1886.  One hundred and ten years after the fact, the statue is a tribute to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and is intended to represent the friendship of our two countries.  For the next one hundred and twenty-four years, the statue has continued to represent the highest ideals of a democratic nation.

As another sign of the times, security is tight around the Statue and so you have to go through two screenings if you want to enter the monument; you also must have a Monument Access ticket; this ticket allows you to visit the museum gallery and the pedestal observation levels.  You can find more information about these passes from the ferry that serves the Statue and Ellis Island.

If the Statue of Liberty is the symbol of the country, then Ellis Island is the physical embodiment of that symbol: The building opened in 1892 on January 1st, and was the main immigration station for America.  It operated for 63 years and processed over twelve million immigrants stepping off steamships and into the United States.  It was abandoned for decades after 1954, but refurbished and turned into a museum in 1990.  Amazingly, forty percent of the American people may track their ancestors through Ellis Island.

For those who have been there, they suggest you find the hotels in New York, boutique or otherwise, in which you want to stay, and then purchase a CityPass for Lady Liberty.  With the CityPass you don’t have to wait in line to purchase tickets, you can board the ferry quickly.  Once you arrive, head directly into the line for the Monument.  If you don’t, you’ll find yourself in a much greater line later; take a stroll around the perimeter of the statue and enjoy the view after you’ve been inside.  If the line is too long outside, then the next best bet is to skip the museum and head on over to the Ellis, which some travelers rate more highly as an experience.

This band isn’t a river, or maybe.  It’s definitely not a short story written by Tantyana Tolstaya, although they get their name from her work.  This is a band from New Hampshire.  It’s a band that decided to move to Austin, because there was supposed to be a great music scene happening there, in 1998.  It turns out to be one of the best moves that anyone could have made, and their fans from around the world are grateful for the move.  We might not know who they are if it hadn’t been for the happy marriage of weirdnesses.  Between their own peculiar rhythms and the ones that naturally play out in the city of Austin, something good got brewed up.

They play all over the world, and have appearances on David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, among others, but it’s definitely worth the price of the ticket to see them in Austin.  Hotels are excellent and available, and it’s easy to get around the city.  Or at least it’s incredible fun.  There’s no other place like it in the country, probably, being one of the most interesting and creative centers around.  It has a certain charm that still attracts young people from all over, looking to make good work without the same pressures offered by the cities on the coasts.  Okkervil River is an original band with an original sound.

It may be slightly unfair to single out Will Sheff, as the front man always gets all the attention.  The truth is, these musicians are all extraordinarily phenomenal, and they have an unusual tightness that always looks like they just strung it together backstage.  The same sense of things about to fall apart is absolutely in the lyrics, and this is where Sheff keeps haunting.  He has an unusual poetic skill that may not translate to the page perfectly, but sung, it’s brilliant stuff.  And to hear them play, one gets the sense of things falling apart right before they come brilliantly back together.

I’ve finally got outside of my hotel room in Columbus after a nasty bout of the stomach flu, or was it something I ate? Anyways, it was time to enjoy the city and I had a few highlights during my weeks stay.

Tuesday, I headed to check out Columbus’s main library, yes, even on a working vacation, I love to be inside a library. Columbus’s library was pretty cool. It’s a working library, which means it meets the needs of the people who use it and not to be like a show piece or a museum like some libraries have a tendency to be. It was full of people and well laid out; I’m thinking maybe the cold weather also had something to do with why the library was full of people, but for me, as long as people are reading, then the world’s a better place for it.

Around the block from the library is the ‘Old Deaf School Park’ along with the ‘Old Deaf School’. The park had a topiary garden that was modeled after ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ painted by George Seurat. It was an amazing place, it was so peaceful and it was right in the middle of downtown Columbus! There were people about, even though it was cold out, and I don’t blame them, the park is too inviting.

Wednesday, I met up with some interns at the Buffalo Wild Wings, which wasn’t far from where they work. I got to meet with some interns who started a few weeks ago and got to see how they were fairing with the stresses. It seemed that every one was having a good experience so far. That will be good to report when I get back.

I ended the work week with putting to use, the new laptop and scanner I’ve received from work, I haven’t gotten all the logistics of it yet, but I really do appreciate having the convince of filing my reports via the Internet, so much easier than waiting till I get back to work in Dayton.

Joshua had such great hesitations about moving to Miami, Florida. That is, he had great hesitations about it at the beginning. His girlfriend of two years, they met during the junior year of college, had landed a great job there in an advertising firm and at first Joshua thought he could handled, and possible even enjoy a long distance relationship, but those feelings quickly disappeared after Jackie vanished from his everyday existence. Everything suddenly seemed dull to Josh, who had always been active, social and even the life of the party.

After a couple of months he confessed to his friend Steve that he was actually considering following Jackie to Miami and Steve warned him that it was a bad idea. He gave him the standard recommended and positive advice that he should never follow a person to another city but only move there if he found potential and possibility for himself. This didn’t sit well with Joshua who grew increasingly dissatisfied with his job and uncomfortable at home. He thought back to the initial trip he and Jackie had taken and their stay in one of the Florida Miami hotel resorts to find Jackie an apartment. The two of them had a great time on that trip and Joshua began to feel he could be happy in Miami.

Finally the opportunity arose, a restaurant management position became open and Joshua was able to request a transfer. He was nervous about making the decision, but suddenly knew it was right and confidently presented it to his regional manager. He then called Jackie and told her what he had done and she seemed extremely happy. She told him that he could stay with her while he looked for a place of his own. This kind of surprise Josh who had just assumed he would move in with his girlfriend. He immediately asked Steve about it who told Josh it was a good thing and that if he insisted on moving to Miami he had to establish his own life and friends there as soon as possible. Joshua didn’t think it would be much of a problem, though he had to admit that Jackie was the real reason he was going and he wanted to spend his time with her. However, he promised Steve he would branch out and find his own life, which Steve assured him was the only way his relationship with Jackie could make it.

Have you ever wanted to ride a bicycle across a high wire, thirty feet above the ground?  How about experience the gale forces of a hurricane?  You do both of these things without fear of losing your life at Tampa, Florida’s Museum of Science & Industry.  Known as MOSI, it’s a not-for-profit, educational resource for the community.  Inside its 300,000 square-foot confines, you’ll discover something for every member of the family, including Florida’s IMAX Dome Theatre.  In the museum, there’s over 450 exhibits that you can touch, hands-on, including a 12,000 square foot exhibition known as The Amazing You, which explores health and well-being in the various stages of life development: beginning of life, childhood, and adolescence.  The MOSI also contains the only plantation in Tampa — the Saunders Planetarium.  If you’re in Tampa, then for entertainment and education, MOSI should be number one of your list.  Take a look:

The High Wire Bicycle exhibit allows guests to ride a bicycle that’s placed on a steel cable, one inch in length, thirty feet above ground.  The exhibit has the distinction of being the longest high wire bike in a U.S. museum; I’m certainly hard pressed to name any others.  The guest is harnessed onto the bike; There’s a safety net beneath the bike, but apparently, because the bike is counter-weighted, it’s impossible for the bike to fall.  You’re perfectly safe, thanks to physics.  The museum also allows you to experience what 74 miles per hour hurricane winds are like, in an exhibit that encourages you to Get Smart, Get Ready for storms.

The MOSI also one of a few museums on the Earth to have on display one of the biggest articulated dinosaur ever discovered.  The Sauropod weighed in at forty tons, despite small brains.  These herbivores ate food from the tallest trees, which they reached with their long, long neck — necks that allowed them to stretch five stories tall.  The sauropods in the museum lobby have a height of three stories, and a length, combined, of about one hundred and fifty feet.

After a day of hurricanes, high wire bicycle riding, and encounters with Sauropods, you’ll want to check into one of Tampa’s hotels, basking in luxury and resting from a long, but rewarding day.

Do you know who has spent time near the Grand Rapids area? The funny man Tim Allen. It is always so interesting to me to know who has been in the cities I travel to. He went to college in Kalamazoo MI which is just south of Grand Rapids. Now here is a guy who has got the funniest life. At least, I hope so. I hope that his genuine smile is truly genuine. He it seems to me that he always wants to have some fun. The rolls he chooses are usually light and comical. He didn’t realize that a dare was going to turn into a career. One of his friends dared him to stand up at a comedy club in Detroit. He was immediately hooked. He then moved into TV commercials and then cable comedy shows.

He moved to Los Angeles and got involved with The Comedy Store were he appeared often. He then took his comedy to the late night talk shows and film. Home Improvement is the television series that became a big defining moment for him. He taped eight years of shows and now people by the tools that were made in his name. Then his film career to off with The Santa Clause. He hit the New York Times best seller list with his book Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man. Some of the other projects that came his way were making the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear come alive with his voice.

The adventures of Tim don’t stop with just comical laughs. Seems he has an need for speed as well. Mr Allen was able to create a new race team with Steve Saleen and driver Bob Bondurant and they called it the Saleen/Allen “RRR” Speedlab. They raced the Saleen Mustangs and Allen was one of the drivers to race in the SCCA World Challenge. He is still working hard today and I look forward to the new movies and shows he has in coming. If you are in a hotel in Grand Rapids, click here, get out and see what other famous star was born or lived near the area. I know there is also Judy Garland.

Many people come and fill the rooms of the quaint hotels in Gettysburg, click here,  to get even a small taste of the famous battle that took place in the Civil War of America. Many of the great military heads were there to fight for what they thought was right. General Robert E Lee was the great Confederate General and he marched his army into Gettysburg. He was considered unstoppable and many men would be shaking in there boots to come up against the Army of Northern Virginia. But Major General George G Mead had other plans. He was put in charge of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the great Battle of Gettysburg. He had a harsh personality and temperament and it was hard to deal with the man but he lead his army into the greatest battle ever fought to date and defeated his great enemy, General Lee.

Brig. General John Buford was commander of the cavalry division of the Army of the Potomac. He was the one who got the idea to stay over night and get the Confederates when they came through the next day. It was his choice they followed and is choice that lead them into the famous battle. General John F Reynolds was a highly respected Generals that served with the Army of the Potomac. He commanded the First Corps. He turned down the lead role, that went to Meade, and was sadly killed early in the battle near the McPherson Farm. His death was heavily felt throughout the army. A crucial play by the Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet would create some controversy about the battle. He was most trusted commander to Lee and he was in charge of the major southern attack on the last day of the battle. Then there was Major General Daniel Sickles with the Union army who was a colorful personality. He lost most of his men in the Southern battle as well as his own leg but was given the Congressional Medal of Honor. He, as a congressman, ended up sponsoring the bill that made the famous battlefield a national park.