Your Moment is Now

Most parents with children under the age of 5 never think about traveling outside their locale or homes, mainly because they feel there’s nothing interesting for both parent and child to do together. Seattle’s goal is to change that mind-set by not only offering a great city to visit, but by offering parents and their children interesting free things to do. For example, parents who love a good cup of coffee, will be happy to know that there plenty of kid-friendly coffee shops. The parents can sit back and enjoy Seattle’s coffee while their kids play with a slew of new-to-them toys and all for the price of a cup of coffee. Check out ‘My Coffeehouse’; ‘Ballard’s Sip and Ship’; and ‘Mosaic’. These are just the tip of the iceberg of kid friendly coffee shops and parents will find them to be a haven for themselves and their children.

The biggest kid-friendly and free attraction in Seattle is the ‘Seattle Center’ . It’s the top visitor destination for a reason, it’s a total blast! Plus, the best part of all is it’s free, parents don’t have to spend a cent to keep their children thoroughly entertained, for hours! There’s a Sculpture Garden for the kids to wander around, or they can run around the fountain. The Seattle Center offers almost 500 free or affordable events and activities throughout the year. For June, there’s the summer fitness programs, some of which is free ice-skating lessons, ideal for an afternoon excursion. If parents do have a little they can spend, then check out ‘The Children’s Museum’ , tickets cost $7.50 a pop, and both parent and children will enjoy what the museum offers.

If The Children’s Museum went over well, then there’s two other great museum’s to check out. The Burke Museum, free for children under 4, has dinosaur exhibits that will thrill children of all ages and the KidsQuest museum in Factoria, is free for all ages on Fridays from 5pm to 8pm. This innovative and unique, hands-on museum is for children and families designed to keep children, infancy to age 10, engaged with art, technology, science and daily life experiences.

While in Seattle, parents can take their children to hundreds of free play areas, like the new Kids Cove in Bellevue Square, or the Pirate Ship at Bothell Country Village. If anywhere near the University Village, every Tuesday is Play-day and all programs and activities, like story-time is free for children 5 and under. Plus, before making reservations at a Seatle hotel , see if the hotels offers programs for children or even free babysitting service while parents relax poolside or at the sauna.

There are a number of famous personalities who have left there mark here in Las Vegas, a city that sleeps, but sleeps strangely. The effect of the neon lights is as strong as it ever was, suggesting that the glory days of the city are still lying somewhere in a distant future. These same lights gave endless inspiration and energy to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, and countless Elvis impersonators, all riffing on old African rhythms that get reinvented to suit the times.

The times have been unraveling on the strip these days, where the downtown section is now looking more and more like the main strip, as if they were caught in an endless loop. Las Vegas is the ultimate simulacrum, mirroring a world that doesn’t exist anywhere else, except here, where a view out of a Las Vegas hotel might look like ancient Rome, or a miniature version of old Europe.

No one could make sense out of the absurdity and irony here better than Hunter S. Thompson , or at least no one could ramble about it in a way that made splendid nonsense out of the noise. It’s a hard place to get a grip on psychologically, especially if the whole is something that’s still seen as holding a possibility of grasping. However, it’s an easy place to enjoy the moment if the idea of sense and order is left tucked away in the luggage for later.

These sidewalks carry moments lost in time, but easily regained by re-tracing them, looking for a chance to experience something new in the middle of the afternoon or in the wee hours of the morning. It’s always alive. HST may not be around to enjoy the new face of Vegas, but it’s still difficult to know if he enjoyed the former masks. He certainly did enjoy thinking about the masks here, and investigated them until he eventually was caught staring at his own face in the fun house mirrors.

There are many things to do while visiting Honolulu Hawaii. The fact that this island is made from volcanic activity gives it some unique natural sights such as the volcanic cones. The Punchbowl crater is the home of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific . This is were the United States honors the men and women who served in WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The remains of soldiers have been relocated to this site from places like Guam, Wake Island and even some POW camps from Japan. They are home again in their own country were they belong.  

Diamond Head is another volcanic cone near Honolulu that is estimated to be 150,000 years old and has not erupted in since it was formed. It is close to many honolulu luxury hotels so it is well visited. There are some great hikes that go along the rim of the crater it takes almost 2 hours to get around. Bring lots of water and enjoy the amazing views and fresh air while exploring this massive crater.  

For more volcanic view check out Koko Head which is a volcano that created couple cones. One is Koko Crater which has a spectacular well formed and high crater and the other makes up the Hanauma Bay that is a cone filled with ocean water. Whether you see the crater by boat, land or plane it is really beautiful. There are some areas to explore such as the Lanai Lookout which gives distant views across the Kaiwi Channel, the Halona Blowhole along the rocky shore and Sandy Beach were one might catch a good wave or fly a kite. Halona Cove is a film site were Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr filmed a famous love scene. The area is all around romantic.

“Two children deliver a baby”, was the headline for breaking news in Fremont. A mother of two gave birth to her third child on her bathroom floor while her husband was at work. The call to 911 was surprisingly calm as the children, 9 and 11, followed directions from the operator. Faith, 11, tied the umbilical cord with yarn while they waited for paramedics to arrive. The mother was still in shock and awe at what had just occurred. It was amazing to her that her kids were so well behaved and calm throughout the whole process. There were no screams at the sight of blood, except for her own proclaiming that “the baby is coming!”

Midwifery is a 75 year old tradition that traces its roots back to the rural areas of New York. A midwife is someone who provides care during and after pregnancy as well as delivery help. In rural areas, where a hospital was not located nearby, a midwife would come to help the mother deliver the baby at home. Midwives care for the mother and answer any prenatal and postnatal questions she may have concerning herself or the baby. During delivery, the midwife can deliver the baby herself or assist the doctor if there is one present. After the birth, the midwife helps with the care of the baby as well as the mothers personal care. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation Fremont Center has Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM’s) on staff as part of their care team. Although the CNM’s do not help in home deliveries, the Fremont Center has comfortable rooms for your stay. Relatives can stay nearby in a hotel fremont while they await your special delivery. In addition to physical health care, a midwife can also offer counseling care for one or both of the parents. the personal relationship formed with a midwife is a special one, and she can be a wonderful source of support for the family.

Miami, Florida has had a strong placement in this nation’s popular culture for many years. It is symbolic to many people and represents the beauty of warm bay waters and glorious days in the sun. There have also been more sensational representations of the local culture that are associated with a dynamic nightlife and somewhat controversial crime scene. This became an obvious association with the release of the film Scarface in 1983 and the hit television series Miami Vice, which debuted the following year in 1984. These two productions become instantly imbedded in the national consciousness and Miami developed a sensational notoriety that contributed to the fascination many people have for this unique city. Tourism actually increased during this time rather than scaring people away, which is a common occurrence with controversial associations. Many people are drawn to exploring these taboo lifestyles from the safety and stability of their own living rooms and it does nothing to deter the pleasure seeking Miami Beach tourists from their days in the sand.

Miami Vice was a popular 1980s program and starred Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas, who became enormous pop culture icons. They played the Miami-Dade police officers who went undercover on the Miami streets. In addition to creating a lot of attention to the city of Miami, the television show also changed the way a lot of series were shot. It departed from the standard crime investigation format and focused on the cultural trends of the time. It was typically recognized as being the first to fully integrate music and visual effects into the story. It drew much of its structural format on the New Wave music and cultural that was consistent with the times. Of course the mainstream pop cultural film and television aspects of Miami did not disappear with the 80s, CSI Miami is the contemporary replacement and is just as popular.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, offers much more than a view of the aquatic life. It contains 660 species of animals, and about 16,500 specimens in all — yes, there’s an abundance of fish (from the Summer Flounder to the Zebra Shark), and invertebrates (from the Blue Crab to the Giant Pacific Octopus), but there’s also mammals and reptiles, too. Some mammals are obvious choices to be included in an aquarium, such as the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, but what about the Golden Lion Tamarin or the Pygmy Marmoset? The tamarin and marmoset are part of the family of monkeys, perhaps not the usual animal exhibit in an aquarium. Perhaps it’s easier to understand the inclusion of turtles — of which there’s a great variety, including the Giant Amazon River turtle, the Green Sea Turtle, the Painted Turtle, the Wood Turtle, and the Diamondback Terrapin (still a turtle).

The truth is that the National Aquarium not only contains the usual suspects in an aquarium — toads and salamanders and frogs, such as the American bullfrog and the Blue Poison Dart frog; and fish and sharks, such as the Banggai Cardinalfish and the Sand tiger shark — but also the animals you’d never suspect would be in an aquatic museum, such as birds and Australian animals.

Among the birds you’ll find a collection of international species, with amazingly colorful names: the Blue-Crowned Motmot , the scarlet ibis, the white-tailed trogon, the blue-gray tanager. Among the Australian animals, there’s the Black-Headed Python and the Grey-Headed Flying Fox. There’ s a Laughing Kookaburra, a Death Adder, a Frilled Lizard, a freshwater crocodile, a Snake-Necked Turtle and a Zebra Finch.

If you’re staying a few days in the best of Baltimore best hotels , then you might find the National Aquarium a pleasant way to stroll among a number of creatures, including the more amphibian-minded, without getting wet.

Mandy was in Singapore with three of her co-workers on what was a cross between a business meeting trip and overall convention. The four of them had finished a major presentation for the day and thought it went extremely well so they decided to celebrate. They had been to Singapore before and the one thing they didn’t get to do, which they all had been interested in was attend a performance of Cantonese Opera. So, on the night of their big success, they decided that they should treat themselves to a production at The Chinese Theatre Circle. Travel was a significant aspect of their job and the four of them made great traveling companions because they were all interested in exploring the local culture, including the food, wherever they went. So the last time they were in Singapore, they enjoyed some great local cuisine.

They all loved the production and were talking about it on their way out of the theatre. Mandy finally had to interrupt a conversation they were having on the detail of the customs and make up to say that she was famished and they needed to decide where they were going to eat before they could continue. Everyone started suggesting traditional Singapore cuisine options and some through in Chinese restaurants they had heard about. Finally Mandy had enough and had to say that she needed Italian food and could not compromise. Everyone was silent for a moment and then burst out laughing. Mandy was known for strong, and often bizarre, food cravings, and this fit her perfectly. Of course there is nothing bizarre about Italian food, or maybe there is who knows, but it was not what anyone else would have thought to have on that particularly evening in Singapore. It was settled though, the group was going to continue their discussion on the beauty of Cantonese Opera while enjoying pasta and or scampi in an Italian restaurant.

I went to the hotel today.  I was in New York, and even though it was morning, I was already tired, and I wanted to take a nap.  I went up to my room and did take a nap, and it was much longer than I had planned, and it was not until the next day that I woke up and realized that I needed to have breakfast.  Perhaps I would need to eat two breakfasts, one for yesterday, and it’s possible that I should work lunch and dinner in between these things.  But I don’t want this to become too much of an endless circle, because there are things I want to do besides eat.  New York has five star hotels that are sometimes exotic, and always rather pleasing in a way that apparently agrees with me.

I went downstairs and met the concierge.  She was an attractive woman, and when she spoke to me, she had a habit of brushing her hair away from her ear.  It was charming, and I recognized the gesture as one I had seen before, on other women who did not look like her.  I wanted to get her advice on the best way to walk the length of the city, and where one could go to spend some time looking into the water.  Instead, I forgot everything and tried to ask her to join me for supper.  I would insist!  If I had remembered, but I did not, and so I walked out of the hotel and looked for someone stranger than me, someone I could scorn openly.

There was no one and there were too many.  This was a rare day without clouds, and there was a feeling of purpose in my steps.  In the end, they would just be steps, but I was walking more quickly than usual.  Not twice as fast, and not even one and a half times as fast, but perhaps 20% faster.  This was a good pace.  It was enough.  Later on, I would be meeting with my friend, Camus, and we might talk about the city, or about the wars, or about the thousand things we always found in common to speak of, and sometime toward the end of the day, I might even consider something fried for my dinner.

The setting of the Oklahoma Territory inspired a grand slam musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. OK! It was the setting and the earlier Lynn Riggs play called Green Grow the Lilacs. This was the first musical for the future great duo and they really gave a lot of flash and awe over an old story with a different ending. The first play written with the Oklahoma theme was not a hit but Rodgers and Hammerstein made some great changes and it is still a top rated musical performed all over the world today.

Rodgers originally worked with Lorenz Hart and together they wrote some amazing songs like Blue Moon, The Lady is a Tramp, Falling in Love with Love and My Funny Valentine. When approached to do a project from the old Riggs play Hart didn’t want to have anything to do with it so Rodgers looked to Hammerstein to make it happen. Hammerstein’s original partner also refused to work on the project so that made a perfect fit for Rodgers and Hammerstein to take it on. They wrote the play and then cast singers who could act which was unusual for those days. They performed it in a small venue and then made some changes like adding the show stopper hit number Oklahoma and changing the name to Oklahoma and then opened it on Broadway in March 1943.

If you like show tunes maybe it would be fun to get the soundtrack to take with you while you drive around Oklahoma staying at luxurious hotels www.hotelsoklahoma.net singing classic songs like Oh What a Beautiful Mornin, Kansas City, It’s a Scandal! Its and Outrage!, People Will Say We’re in Love and Oklahoma song by all. If you know the musical you  can appreciate the references made about the show in other shows and industry fields like the popular South Park episode Bigger, Longer and Uncut. Meg Ryan and Billy Chrystal sing a karaoke version of Surrey With the Fringe on Top in the hit film When Harry met Sally.

In two films about a post-apocalyptic New York City, Twelve Monkeys (1995), in which most of the world has been destroyed by a deadly virus, and I am Legend (2007), in which most of the world, again, has been destroyed by a deadly virus that turns people into vampire-like beings — in these movies, you will see wild animals, tigers and lions, roaming the streets of Manhattan.  It’s a strange sight, the wild natural world against the man-made skyscraping towers of one of the world’s great cities.  But, of course, there are lions and tigers in Manhattan.  There are elephants, too, and gorillas, all in the center of town, but safely contained inside the Central Park Zoo.

While it may be odd to think of wild creatures in the center of a city, it’s less odd to think of a zoo in one.  Especially a zoo as interesting and as educational as the one in Central Park.  The zoo continuously puts together events for the public; two upcoming events include the “Naked” Polar Bear Cruise, which will raise funds for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for each minute a person manages to spend on the ride.  It’s noted, though, that even thought it’s called the “Naked” Polar Bear Cruise, the “naked” part is in quotes and they actually require you to be in a bathing suit, and not naked at all.  The event is scheduled for February 27th.  Later, still, you’ll find a Run for the Wild on April 24th, where the WCS benefit will allow walkers and runners to run along a five kilometer course at the Bronx Zoo.

However, if you’ve found a hotel by checking here, then you might want to look for activities you can do at the Central Park Zoo today.  For that, try out the penguin feeding and presentation, which is held at ten thirty in the morning and again at two thirty in the afternoon.  You’ll see king penguins and chinstraps and gentoos (also penguin types), feasting away; you may join the harbor seals for a meal, as well at eleven forty-five, two fifteen, and four fifteen.  Watching animals live, safely at the Central Park Zoo, seems to me much better than watching them on the big screen.