Flagstaff in Arizona, gate to the Grand Canyon

18 March 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

Hotel Monte Vista © flickr.com - SearchNet Media/cc-by-2.0

Hotel Monte Vista © flickr.com – SearchNet Media/cc-by-2.0

Flagstaff is a city in and the county seat of Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2015, the city’s estimated population was 70,320. Flagstaff’s combined metropolitan area has an estimated population of 139,097. The city is named after a ponderosa pine flagpole made by a scouting party from Boston (known as the “Second Boston Party”) to celebrate the United States Centennial on July 4, 1876. Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States. Flagstaff is next to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851 m), is about 10 miles (16 km) north of Flagstaff in Kachina Peaks Wilderness.   read more…

Dumbo in Brooklyn

11 March 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Empire State Building framed by Manhattan Bridge, as seen from Washington Street © MusikAnimal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Empire State Building framed by Manhattan Bridge, as seen from Washington Street © MusikAnimal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Dumbo (short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Several other New York City neighborhoods are known by portmanteaus, including Tribeca, SoHo, NoHo, NoMad, and Nolita in Manhattan, and BoCoCa in Brooklyn. The area known as DUMBO used to be known as Gairville. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another that continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The neighborhood is bounded by Brooklyn Bridge Park to the north, the Brooklyn Bridge to the west, Brooklyn Heights to the south and Vinegar Hill to the east. Dumbo is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2.   read more…

French Market in New Orleans

1 March 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  6 minutes

Seen from St. Philip Street © Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-sa-3.0

Seen from St. Philip Street © Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-sa-3.0

The French Market (French: Marché français) is a market and series of commercial buildings spanning six blocks in the French Quarter of New Orleans in Louisiana. Founded as a Native American trading post predating European colonization, the market is the oldest of its kind in the United States. It began where Café du Monde currently stands and has been rebuilt and renovated a number of times. The market is included on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.   read more…

Broadway in Manhattan

27 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  15 minutes

Broadwaay in Times Square © Peter K Burian/cc-by-sa-4.0

Broadwaay in Times Square © Peter K Burian/cc-by-sa-4.0

Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (21 km) through the borough of Manhattan and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from the city to run an additional 18 mi (29 km) through the municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, and Tarrytown, and terminating north of Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement, although most of it did not bear its current name until the late 19th century. The name Broadway is the English language literal translation of the Dutch name, Brede weg. Broadway in Manhattan is known widely as the heart of the American theatre industry, and is used as a metonym for it.   read more…

Ann Arbor in Michigan

25 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  19 minutes

University of Michigan (1855) by Jasper Francis Cropsey

University of Michigan (1855) by Jasper Francis Cropsey

Ann Arbor is a city in Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, with a population of 114,000, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan. The university significantly shapes Ann Arbor’s economy as it employs about 30,000 workers, including about 12,000 in the medical center. The city’s economy is also centered on high technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the university’s research and development infrastructure. Ann Arbor was founded in 1824, named for wives of the village’s founders, both named Ann, and the stands of bur oak trees. The University of Michigan moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1837, and the city grew at a rapid rate in the early to mid-20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s, the city gained a reputation as a center for left-wing politics. Ann Arbor became a focal point for political activism, such as opposition to the Vietnam War and support for the legalization of cannabis.   read more…

Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan

13 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City, Shopping Reading Time:  20 minutes

The Pierre Hotel © Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Pierre Hotel © Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces/cc-by-sa-3.0

Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is considered one of the most expensive and elegant streets in the world. Between 49th Street and 60th Street, Fifth Avenue is lined with prestigious boutiques and flagship stores and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Many luxury goods, fashion, and sport brand boutiques are located on Fifth Avenue, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Cartier, Omega, Chanel, Harry Winston, Salvatore Ferragamo, Nike, Escada, Swarovski, Bvlgari, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Abercrombie & Fitch, De Beers, Emanuel Ungaro, Gap, Lindt Chocolate Shop, Henri Bendel, NBA Store, Oxxford Clothes, Microsoft Store, Sephora, Zara, and H&M. Luxury department stores include Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Fifth Avenue also is home to New York’s fifth most photographed building, the Apple Store. Many airlines at one time had ticketing offices along Fifth Avenue. In the years leading up to 1992, the number of ticketing offices along Fifth Avenue decreased. Pan American World Airways went out of business, while Air France, Finnair, and KLM moved their ticket offices to other areas in Midtown Manhattan.   read more…

Carlyle Hotel in the Upper East Side

11 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels, New York City Reading Time:  4 minutes

Carlyle Hotel © Jim.henderson

Carlyle Hotel © Jim.henderson

The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury and residential hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 76th Street, on the Upper East Side of New York City. Opened in 1930, the hotel was designed in Art Deco style and was named after Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle. Owned since 2001 by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the Carlyle is a cooperative with 190 rental rooms and suites, and 60 privately owned residences. The Carlyle Restaurant was formerly known as Dumonet at the Carlyle. The Carlyle is famous for its extraordinary discretion.   read more…

Duval Street in Key West

8 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida, Shopping Reading Time:  9 minutes

Duval Street © Marc Averette

Duval Street © Marc Averette

Duval Street is a downtown commercial zoned street in Key West, Florida, running north to south from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, just over 1.25 miles in length. It is named for William Pope Duval, the first territorial governor of Florida. A 1967 National Park Service (NPS) survey of Historic American Buildings designated 18 buildings as historic. A full six blocks were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Further protection for this historically significant street has been created through the City’s, “Historic Architecture Guidelines,” approved in 2000, which sets standards for construction on Duval Street.   read more…

Brickell in Miami

4 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Daniel Christensen

© Daniel Christensen

Brickell is an urban neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami, Florida. Directly south of the historic CBD, Brickell is Miami and South Florida‘s major financial district. Brickell was settled in the modern era in the mid-19th century by early pioneers, growing to become Miami’s “Millionaire’s Row” in the early 20th century after the construction of lavish mansions along Brickell Avenue by Mary Brickell. By the 1970s, office towers, hotels and apartments began replacing the historic mansions. Today, Brickell has grown to overtake the city’s historic central business district to the north, as one of the largest financial districts in the United States. With a fast-growing residential population, Brickell is one of Miami’s fastest-growing as well as its most dense neighborhood.   read more…

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