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Travel

Travel briefcase

By JANET K. KEELER from staff and wire reports
Published April 16, 2006

SUN PROTECTION

A sunny vacation is just the thing to celebrate summer, but too much sun can harm your skin. The Wallaroo Hat Co. sells a variety of fashionable toppers that promise to block 97 percent of the sun's rays. The hats are crushable and washable, which makes them perfect travel accessories. To check out the styles or find retailers, go to www.wallaroohats.com or call toll-free 1-888-925-2766. Most hats are less than $40.

Paris Before May 19

The Louvre is, of course, one of the world's great art museums. So why make a point of getting there before May 19? Because that's when the film version of The Da Vinci Code opens. The Louvre is always crowded. Once the movie rolls out, expect it to be inundated. The film was partly filmed there, and the Louvre figures prominently in the plot. And if you want to see the Mona Lisa, definitely get there before May 19. Of course, Dan Brown's novel has already sold more than 43-million copies worldwide, so maybe it's already too late.

A SHIP DOCKS IN BROOKLYN

The opulent Queen Mary 2 has sailed through the Mediterranean, the fjords of Norway and along the rugged shores of New England and Canada. This weekend, it docks in Red Hook - a once industrial neighborhood of Brooklyn that is being gentrified.

The Carnival Corp. is relocating most of its Princess and Cunard ships from the New York Cruise Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan to the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, part of New York's $150-million project to enhance its cruise facilities.

The terminal, designed to accommodate the largest cruise ships, is expected to receive about 40 ships this year, including the new Crown Princess, which will dock there in June for its inaugural season.

ADVENTURE WRITERS

The May Men's Journal publishes its list of 25 great adventure authors. The Top 10 and their must-read books are:

-- Theodore Roosevelt, Through The Brazilian Wilderness

-- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

-- Redmond O'Hanlon, Into the Heart of Borneo

-- Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World

-- Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around the World

-- Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild and Into Thin Air

-- Jack London, The Call of the Wild

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wild, Sand and Stars

-- Zane Grey, Zane Grey on Fishing

-- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

OOOOH, THAT SMELL

A growing number of hotels are pumping scents through their accommodations.

-- This month, Starwood's Sheraton brand is introducing notes of fig, clove and jasmine to its hotels.

-- By June, all Westin hotel lobbies are expected to smell like white tea, an aroma that so far can be sniffed in 12 Westin lobbies, including in Shanghai; Bellevue, Wash.; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

-- Omni Hotels is using scent machines to send a bouquet of lemongrass and green tea wafting through its lobbies, a whiff of mochaccino or sugar cookie in its coffee shops, and coconut sunscreen aromas near the pools.

It turns out certain smells can also help the bottom line. At one Omni hotel where mochaccino smells were tested, sales in the coffee shop soared.

WATCH THE ROAD

Drivers have long appreciated the view along the Natchez Trace Parkway, but a new study cites "driver inattentiveness" as a factor in accidents there, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

Drivers watching the scenery and not the road was cited as the biggest contributing factor for nearly doubling accident rates on the Tupelo and Ridgeland sections of the national parkway and to increasing fatality rates overall, the paper reported.

The findings have prompted park officials to launch a three-month safety awareness campaign, "Arrive Alive," which began April 1.

Compiled by Janet K. Keeler from staff reports, the New York Times and the Associated Press. She can be reached at (727) 893-8586 or jkeeler@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 16, 2006, 08:11:02]