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Tags: Kayaking / Boats / Active Travel / Monuments / Washington DC / → All Tags

The Kayaking Craze Means Prime Seats For Washington's Monuments

New York’s Hudson River isn’t the only scenic-but-questionably-sanitary urban waterway getting in on the kayak craze. Boating down DC’s Potomac River yields an inexpensive and crowd-free way to see the Washington tourist sites.

The Thompson Boat Center in Rock Creek Park offers kayak rentals, from $8 an hour/$24 a day for single boats and $10 an hour/$30 a day for doubles. The Boat Center is right in the middle of the city, and with just a few paddles in either direction you’ll sail past the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Kennedy Center, as well as the picturesque Georgetown waterfront. For a more adventurous day, pack a picnic lunch and stop off for a hike at Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial, the relatively un-traveled, car-free park set on the DC-Virginia border.

The boat center opens at 8 am and in our experience, it’s best to get there before noon—kayaks can’t be reserved and are often rented out by early afternoon.

Oh, and as in the Hudson, try to keep your hands out of that water.

Related Stories:
· The Thompson Boat Center [Official Site]
· Kayaking Trend Going Strong Into 2009 a> [Jaunted]
· NPR Confirms Kayaks Are the Hotness for 2008 [Jaunted]

[Photo: Marciela]

Tags: Monuments / Tourist Traps / Liberty Bell / History / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Jaunted How-To Guide: The Liberty Bell

If you ever find yourself visiting Philadelphia for the first time, the Liberty Bell is going to definitely fall into that category of "I've got to see it once, but OMFG there are way too many people here!" Fortunately, Jaunted has your how-to guide for checking this must-do tourist trap off your list.

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Tags: Monuments / Washington Monument / Tourist Traps / Washington DC / → All Tags

Jaunted How-To Guide: The Washington Monument

Now that the cherry blossoms have come and gone and Screen on the Green is a no-go, it looks like it's back to the classic tourist sites for summer visitors to Washington, DC. First and foremost is the Washington Monument, a zoo of a tourist trap that has led many swearing 'never again.' But, if you can brave the crowds and make it to the top, the view of DC (and almost 30 miles beyond) is really to die for, so it's one of those things that's worth doing once. Luckily, Jaunted has your super-simple guide for how to get to the top:

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Tags: Slovakia / Monuments / Castles / → All Tags

Chasing the Queen: Today She's Opening a Fence

We didn't think ol' Queen Elizabeth II was getting so many gigs these days, but today she's journeying to the Slovak capital of Bratislava to do a spot of monument unveiling.

In fact she'll be just outside Bratislava at the old ruin of Devin Castle, on the border to Austria. Her Majesty will officially open an iron sculpture sitting on the spot where the Iron Curtain--in this case a barbed wire fence between Austria and Slovakia--used to stand.

Today it'll be all fanfare and nice cups of tea, but it wasn't that long ago that you could've been shot for trying to cross over that part of the border. Of course if the 82-year-old Queen tries walking around the rickety walls of Devin Castle, it'll be just as dangerous for her, so we hope plenty of Slovaks are there to catch her if she falls.

Related Stories:
· British Queen to Unveil Iron Curtain Memorial at Devin Border [TASR]
· Devin Castle [Official Site]
· Slovakia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: themanwithsalthair]

Tags: World's Worst Tourists / Monuments / → All Tags

Brit Posing as Spaniard in Tokyo Vies for World's Worst Tourist Title

We've debated for years about who to call the World's Worst Tourists. Germans? Brits? Aussies? All of the above?

This week, the international incident award goes to Spain the UK*, whose citizen dove into the moat around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Even better, the guy proceeded to flail around like an obnoxious gaijin:

The middle-aged man jumped into the water, climbed the palace wall and splashed water at police who tried to catch him from a row boat.

Oh, yes, it gets better...

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Tags: kayaking / Priceline / Active Travel / Go Go / Historical Travel / Monuments / Outdoor Travel / → All Tags

48 Hours in Washington D.C. - Part 3: Popped Collars and Lacklustre Cuisine

Jaunted weekend editor Victor Ozols escaped from New York over the Labor Day holiday for a blissful getaway to Washington D.C. He recounts the hits and misses of his time in the nation's capital in this three-part series.

After getting cleaned up from our museum adventure, we walked down M Street in Georgetown. I grew up in Northern Virginia but really couldn't claim any good knowledge of DC prior to this trip, so I actually thought Georgetown was the hip place to hang out. John pointed out the preponderance of "popped-collar douchebags" in G-town, and he was right, though they didn't particularly bother us. Adams Morgan and the U Street Corridor (with places like the Black Cat) are much hipper locales. But we didn't really care, and enjoyed our stroll through Georgetown, peering into several restaurants before finally deciding to dine at Ristorante Piccolo on 31st Street. Our meal was an enjoyable disaster.

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Tags: kayaking / Priceline / Active Travel / Go Go / Historical Travel / Monuments / Outdoor Travel / → All Tags

48 Hours in Washington D.C. - Part 2: Loving Those Free Museums

Jaunted weekend editor Victor Ozols escaped from New York over the Labor Day holiday for a blissful getaway to Washington D.C. He recounts the hits and misses of his time in the nation's capital in this three-part series.

It's crucial to have a good place to get take-out coffee near your hotel, and the Renaissance M Street had a great one, an Illy coffee bar located just off the hotel lobby. Two large caffe filtros only cost $4.18 and got us plenty fired up for a day of museums. We drank our coffees and then walked past the White House to the Mall, snapping pictures and entertaining the idea of someday leaving New York and finding a place in D.C.

Our first stop was at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. It's great that all the Smithsonian museums are free. They just check your bags for bombs and stuff, but you don't need tickets or anything, just stroll your ass right on in the museum. In New York you'd have to pay like $15 for each adult ticket. That's a major point in D.C.'s favor.

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Tags: kayaking / Priceline / Active Travel / Go Go / Historical Travel / Monuments / Outdoor Travel / → All Tags

48 Hours in Washington D.C. - Part 1: Kayaking and Go Go Music

Jaunted weekend editor Victor Ozols escaped from New York over the Labor Day holiday for a blissful getaway to Washington D.C. He recounts the hits and misses of his time in the nation's capital in this three-part series.

We just got back from a weekend in Washington D.C. so I figure I should write a review in the style of those "36 Hours In ... " pieces from the New York Times Travel Section, except mine will take place over 48 hours, making Jaunted 12 hours better than the Gray Lady. We took Amtrak from Penn Station to Union Station on Friday (one-way fare = $125) and I'll skip the part where we dropped the baby off with my folks in Virginia and start with check-in at the Renaissance M Street in Washington D.C. The weather was hot, we were relieved of parental duties for two days, and felt ready to go crack-house crazy (just a metaphor: no actual crack houses involved).

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Tags: Paris Travel / Monuments / Attractions / Tourist Attractions / → All Tags

Eiffel Tower Getting Much-Needed Makeover

Tired of waiting in line for two hours just to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower? Fret no longer! The company that runs the landmark has just unveiled plans for a 10-year, $267 million makeover.

Among the ideas are timed tickets that you can book online, helping to ease waits. (They do this at the Tower of London, among other places.) The group also wants to put in more shops and restaurants so that visitors will spend more cash--on top of the $19 it costs to ride to the top.

Not yet on the makeover agenda? Fixing up Alain Ducasse's dumpy new in-tower restaurant.

Related Stories:
· Eiffel Tower Getting 21st Century Facelift [AP]
· Paris Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: webbmb]

Tags: Statues / Monuments / Attractions / Tourist Attractions / National Parks / New York Times / → All Tags

Urban National Park Travel: A Heady View

The weather must be good up there: After seven years, the National Park Service is thinking about re-opening the Statue of Liberty's crown to visitors willing to make the climb.

The statue reopened in 2004 after improvements were made to get the monument up to post-9/11 security standards. But the spiral staircase to the crown, most recently replaced in 1986 for Lady Liberty's centennial, isn't up to code and may have to be replaced before it's an option for up to 30 island-bound visitors at a time. A recent Park Service memo leaked by a New York congressman sought bids to make the crown safer.

On our first trip to New York City we walked all the way up to the crown, and the view is incredible. Let's upgrade this lady!

Related Stories:
· Statue of Liberty Crown Reopening is Studied [NYT]
· The New 7 Wonders [Jaunted]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: stevesheriw]

Tags: Turkmenistan / Monuments / Attractions / Big Things / → All Tags

Turkmenistan Plans to Move Dead-President Tower

Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
--P B Shelley, "Ozymandias"

Not even a giant self-portrait in sculpture can assure immortality, as fans of the late president of Turkmenistan are discovering. Saparmurat Niyazov's reign as president for life abruptly ended in 2006 with his death, and now a 246-foot-tall tower with a rotating gold statue of him at the top is facing exile from the center of the capital city of Ashgabat, says Reuters.

The new president's rationale for moving the tower, known as the Arch of Neutrality, is that it belongs on Neutrality Avenue, in the south of the city. But it's hard not to see the symbolism of removing a very prominent statue of the man who called himself "Turkmenbashi," or "Leader of all Turkmen," marking the final chapter of his 21-year reign.

Related Stories:
· Turkmenistan to Move Gold Statue [Reuters]
· Ding-Dong! The Dictator's Dead! [Jaunted]
· Turkmenistan: It's Not Kazakhstan [Jaunted]

[Photo: lonebiker2007]

Tags: Arts / Monuments / Spiral Jetty / Robert Smithson / Google Maps / → All Tags

Earthworks Travel: Where Is Smithson's Spiral Jetty?

On the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" is a huge earth and rock sculpture created in 1970. And as it turns out, it's sitting next to a big stash of oil at Rozel Point.

Art and nature lovers are up in arms about the possible damage to the shoreline that could result if bits go into the ground--even though the work site will be five miles from the sculpture. But others believe the natural (or unnatural) evolution of the site is part of Smithson's artistic vision.

After all, the Spiral Jetty was submerged for decades after its creation thanks to a rise in the lake's water level. Only recently re-revealed, its interaction with the environment is a critical part of the project. Would that make any nearby oil rigs art too?

Related Stories:
· Spiral Jetty [Wikipedia]
· Arts coverage [Jaunted]