Side Trip briefs
Briefs and news of note for the traveler.
By JANET K. KEELER
Published December 10, 2006
New at Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens, which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, hopes a new play area and wooden roller coaster will increase its appeal to families.
The kids' area will be called Bugsville and will feature 13 rides. The Winter Haven park is also adding the historic Starliner, a 43-year-old wooden roller coaster that was once the main attraction at the now-defunct Miracle Strip amusement park on Panama City Beach.
Cypress Gardens opened in 1936 but closed in 2003 when it was unable to compete with nearby Orlando theme parks. It reopened with a new owner, four roller coasters and new rides and attractions in 2004.
Bring snorkels, not cigarettes
Tourists will soon need to watch where they light up in the British Virgin Islands.
Smokers will not be allowed to smoke in enclosed public places, including bars and restaurants, or within 50 feet of a door or window to such a space; many of the narrow, winding streets of the capital, Road Town, would effectively be off limits to smoking.
The measure, passed last month, also bans selling tobacco to minors and gives the government authority to regulate tobacco advertising and sales.
The government has yet to determine the penalties for violations, but lawmakers were considering a more lenient policy toward tourists, who might not know of the ban.
Places you want to visit now
The top emerging destinations (in alphabetical order) for the incentive travel industry, from the annual Motivation Show held in Chicago in September:
Alaska
Cambodia
China
Croatia
Dubai
India
Macau
Prague, Czech Republic .
South Korea
Vietnam
Put this date on your calendar
Hank Williams Anniversary Memorial
Every New Year's Day devoted fans of Hank Williams (senior, not junior) gather to commemorate his passing, first at Oakwood Cemetery, and then at the Hank Williams Museum. Williams, who was 29 when he died on Jan. 1, 1953, remains one of the most influential voices in country music. Check out Hank's powder blue Cadillac and hear musicians play songs from Williams' incredible catalog.
118 Commerce St., Montgomery, Ala. www.thehankwilliamsmuseum.com; (334) 262-3600.
Vegas without the gambling
It's not often that you hear of a quarter-billion-dollar project in Las Vegas that does not involve poker tables, trendy nightclubs or luxury condominiums. But the Las Vegas Springs Preserve - 180 acres of museums, theaters, gardens and trails - is just that. The project, a few miles west of the Strip, has been in the works since the late 1990s, and the plan is for most of it to open next May.
The project (www.springspreserve.org) is in an area filled with underground springs that helped give rise to, and later sustain, the desert city. In 1978, the area was added to the National Register of Historic Places. One section, the Origen Experience, will trace the history of the Las Vegas Valley, and will include a complex with three museum galleries; an indoor IMAX-type theater; and an outdoor amphitheater with about 2,000 seats.
A separate section of the preserve, the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, will focus on the state overall, and is expected to be completed in 2008.
- Compiled by Janet K. Keeler from the Associated Press, New York Times and Chicago Tribune.