Your best-kept secrets

[brian_igo]

The Idea: If someone asked what would be a really good trip or event for someone who liked your favorite hobby or interest, or your town if you live in a destination city, where would you send them?

[taurusmoon]

I try to make sure that anyone who comes to visit New York makes a stop at the Carnegie Deli.

Forget all the cultural landmarks, this is the place that defines NYC.

[phoenixx]

My heart's home is Santa Barbara, California, where I lived for over ten years, though I'm actually from SC originally and have lived in the frozen tundra of New England for a while now.

I would tell them to rent a car, pack a picnic lunch and take a day trip along Highway 150 from Santa Barbara to Ojai. The drive alone is worth the day trip, and you can stop along Lake Casitas in a special spot and see an outstanding medium sized waterfall along the way (that would require more specific directions, though - no road signs to the falls). Toward the end of they day when the sun gets hot you can travel the 150 into the heart of Ojai and stop at Bart's Books - a fantastic outdoors-indoors book store that has been in Ojai for years, complete with bookstore cat and no roof. Then you can take the 150 to the 101 back to Santa Barbara so you can eat dinner at the Big Yellow House on the ocean.

That is only one of MANY trips you can take in the Santa Barbara area.

Sigh. Now I'm homesick....

[Joubert[$]]

I Carnegie Deli.

Oops, oh, DC. Hmmmm.

I think there is something special about the Library of Congress. The always-on information availability of the Web may have changed the perspective of some, but being in the main building and sending down a request for real books or periodicals or whatever is just magical. Many see one of the buildings -- few spend any time actually researching.

Want a kick? Order up the microfilm for your home newspaper for the period surrounding your birthday or the birthdays of loved ones and read the announcement. Heck, read the whole paper! It beats those "What Happened When You Were Born" web sites silly.

[thinkerlady[$]]

taurusmoon said

I try to make sure that anyone who comes to visit New York makes a stop at the Carnegie Deli.

Forget all the cultural landmarks, this is the place that defines NYC.

Yes, Sara, you are quite right. It is a permanent mark in my memory

Great atmosphere, good food and good company.

I actually have recommended it to friends who have visited the city.

[thinkerlady[$]]

There is plenty of history in Philadelphia. Plenty of culture too--anything you want, it is in the city and available. But to do something really neat and unusual, go to the zoo, and go up in the ZooBalloon. It is a hot air balloon that rises above the zoo, and gives a fantastic aerial view of the city. Simply magnificent.

The ZooBalloon

[theworm[$]]

S. Florida has a lot. It's a beach destination, but there is plenty to do. I like the nature things - the Everglades, Butterfly World, Parrot Jungle, etc. If you like looking at beautiful people in little clothing - there is South Beach, some great restaurants, and the drive to the Keys is a MUST!

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

If someone's going to Niagara Falls, my secrets would be:

1) Stay in Buffalo or Amherst. Better hotels, cheaper price, and only 20 minutes to the Falls.

2) Rent a car; it's less expensive than staying in a close-to-the-falls hotel and taking cabs, and you can do more in the long run. Rental prices are very reasonable.

3) Visit the American side for walking on the Three Sisters Islands and the observation deck. If time is important, take the Cave of the Winds tour on the American side instead of the similar tour at Terrapin Point on the Canadian. Take the Maid of the Mist from either side, it's a wash on time and cost.

4) Visit the Whirlpool, downstream from the Falls. Mondo cool.

5) Visit Clifton Hill (on the Canadian side) at night. There are a zillion tourist traps there, such as the Houdini museum. Skip 'em all but the Ripleys Believe It or Not museum, and give yourself at least an hour to get through that one.

6) Eat on the Candian side, especially in their Chinatown (watch out for MSG). Shop on the American side, especially at the outlet malls in the Niagara Falls Boulevard area.

7) There's a casino on the American side. It's boring. (at least I thought so.) Don't pay for parking at the various lots around the Casino - last I knew, they're offering free valet parking.

If you go in the winter, visit the Festival of Lights on the American side.

If you go in the summer, be sure to go between June 30-July 5 when there's a lot of Friendship Festival stuff between the American and Canadian sides, like fireworks and air shows and stuff.

[CurtisEdmonds]

You want to go to the Czech Stop in West, Texas. Right off I-35 between Dallas and Waco. Get you some kolaches and some ranger cookies and a Dr Pepper and some gas (it's a Shell station with a bakery attached) and you're good to go.