[784caroline]

Brightspot
We have never been to Louisiana and that is one of the places we were hoping to visit once we get established in TV (later this month). HOw far a drive is New Orleans from TV and do you recommend other stops along the way.

[renielarson]

caroline

We flew to Louisiana from Michigan so I can't help you. Sorry.

I can tell you that New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette are cities you don't want to miss. We flew into New Orleans then travelled on to Baton Rouge then on to Lafayette over the course of a week. Lafayette is where you'll see more of the real life since it's not a tourist attraction like New Orleans. Randols is a Lafayette restaurant you'll want to visit for not only the blue crabs but also for the dancing. Don't miss the capital building in Baton Rouge...some interesting stories here.

[Lil Dancer]

Thanks Bright for the tips. That is definitely an area I'd like to see someday!

[chelsea24]

Overseas, I would say London. Here is the US, my all time favorite city is San Francisco. I just can feel the energy there and there's always something new to discover. :#1:

[Mikitv]

Hong Kong and China, it was a wonderful experience that I still remember after all this time.

Here in the US it would be Alaska. I have been there five times and it is our last frontier.

Hawaii is a close second for the US.

[graciegirl]

My favorite place abroad is London. I love a lot of places in the U.S. The Villages is my favorite.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

I loved reading about all of your favorite places you have been to. Have been to most of them and the only places we keep returning to are Alaska and Hawaii.

Each place I visit is my favorite. Wish I could return to all of them, they are all so unique and different and the friends that we have made in all the places is the best part of our travels.

This winter we hope to make our first trip to Thailand and that area. Have heard so much about the night market that I will bring along extra suitcases, even though I am down sizing. I had to buy two extra suitcases when we were in China, I would love to go back to the Pearl Market.

Would love to hear more about Thailand as we start planning our trip. We will not be going on a tour - please pm me with all suggestions.

If anyone needs specific info or dvd's of an area let me know, I have a collection of them.

HB

[chuckinca]

Santa Fe!

Probably the art center of the Southwest.

Ashland, Oregon!

Shakespeare on the outdoor Tudor stage on a summer night.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Chuck did you go to the museum in Santa Fe?

When we were there we were invited to the Catholic Church to participate in a ceremony for men becoming priest. I was very impressed with the ceremony.

HB

[KathieI]

You've all brought back such great memories of trips, its hard to decide.

Since I don't like flying too far, I haven't been to Asia or Australia yet but would love to go there and New Zealand too. Wasn't impressed with South America but I was in Caracas, Venezuela, and it was not great, but at least I can check it off my list.

Of course, my favorite is Europe: London, Paris, Florence, Monaco, St. Tropez, food is divine and scenery was wonderful. I was awarded a trip by the owner of my company on her yacht to travel from Nice all along the coast to St. Tropez for a week. What a wonderful trip that was. Private chefs, deck hands, maids. and I was lucky enough to get the owner's cabin. All was wonderful, until we hit the worse storm and our dumb captain decided to take the storm on. I hugged that porcelain god for 4 hours and thought I was gonna die.

A terrible end to a wonderful cruise.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Kathie, that cruise sounded fantastic until I read the end. I think they owe you another cruise. If you get another cruise like that one, count me in.

You can cruise to Asia and also stop off in Australia.

HB

[Sidney Lanier]

Hard to say. So many....

As someone who grew up in New York City, which even as a kid I knew like the back of my hand, I happily became a country boy 30 years ago. In spite of this, one of my favorite places is Hong Kong, highest population density in the world (quarter million people per square mile). Fascinating place, as is Beijing and its history (and the amazing Pearl Market).

My first cousins are scattered around the world (makes Thanksgiving difficult to plan for...), and three more wondrous cities on our own and which included visits with them are London (incredible theater!), Berlin (formerly East Berlin with such a marvelous selection of concerts and other cultural events to pick from every single evening!), and Moscow (so laden with history; as in all the other cities, wondrous architecture; and the challenge of staying and functioning in an all-Russian part of the city close to my cousin for half our visit, meaning far from the tourism areas where we later stayed and where English was common). Also love both Amsterdam and Venice for their uniqueness as cities, and ditto to the earlier posting about Sydney, although Brisbane, much smaller, had a real charm and friendliness about it.

We've been to Alaska many times and are ready to go back in a breath! Those going for the first time need to be reminded that while the cruise through the Inside Passage is pretty awesome, that is only one small piece of this incredible state that hopefully will remain 'the last natural frontier in the U.S.'! Beauty beyond belief!

I love all our travels throughout Latin America, from Mexico all the way south to Chile and Argentina; in terms of cities there, I'd have to say that Santiago, Chile is one of my favorites, with La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires being one of the most unique sites in the entire world! (Andrew Lloyd Webber has turned 'Evita' into a worldwide industry....) The U.S. dollar still has value in Latin America, not decimated as it is through much of the rest of the world. The people are generally warm, heartfelt, and friendly, and so appreciative of my struggling with my high school Spanish which I continue to work on improving (in fact, taking an immersion program at SUNY New Paltz next weekend).

We were in Kenya only once, and what a grand safari adventure it was! We can read about it, we can see pictures of it, we can even see videos of it on television, but when you see sights like the migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras, herds of elephants walking through the night, a pride of lions munching on the carcass of today's kill, and a hundred thousand flamingos taking off all at once, it just leaves you breathless. In spite of their political problems, people are friendly and, sometimes against our better judgment (our heads can get in the way sometimes...), we felt safe and found out that for sure that we were.

We've done many cruises but did our first European river cruise in April, this one on the Rhone and Soane Rivers in France. Lovely, and looking forward to doing more, including one on the Danube through major cities like Prague, Budapest, and Vienna on into the Black Sea (and maybe see other cousins whom we've seen only in New York before!).

And in September we're tentatively planning a driving trip, after attending trade shows in Orlando, through the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, and into New Orleans. If anyone has suggestions for this route and these places, please post them. Thanks!

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by Hyacinth Bucket

Chuck did you go to the museum in Santa Fe?

When we were there we were invited to the Catholic Church to participate in a ceremony for men becoming priest. I was very impressed with the ceremony.

HB

HB:

We went to the Georgia O'Keefe museum.

The winding street with all the art shops for about a mile was pretty amazing.

[KayakerNC]

The Caribbean, via Royal Caribbean International cruise ships.
My wife says she has never met an island she didn't love.