My wife and I were relaxing on a sunny afternoon in Stella, a gleaming-tile pizzeria whose wood-burning oven produces the kind of crusts that would curl the toes of any pizza lover, when the couple at the nearby table asked, “Do you know where you're going to eat tonight?''
“The fish must hate us,'' moans 13-year-old Miles Singer. We are on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska with one of the river's best guides, Steve Fickes, who jokes that he's been guiding “ever since I got my accounting degree'' — more than two decades ago.
From Graceland to the world's largest ball of twine, quirky pop culture attractions have offered many tired travelers a diversion along the road. But some of these uniquely American offerings may be dwindling in the face of a tough economy and a new generation more interested in Twilight than 1950s movies and Raggedy Ann.
Q: I took advantage of a Travelocity e-mail fare alert for a flight from Minneapolis to Costa Rica. The deal seemed too good to be true: $230 roundtrip on US Airways.
Only days after federal officials announced that the nation's airlines had collected 33 percent more revenue this year from checked luggage fees, UPS offered its alternative to the hassle and expense of lugging a suitcase through an airport.
Sand, palm trees, bikinis. Parisians can get their tropical fix without ever leaving the French capital.
A new platform offering stunning views of the Alps opened this month in the mountains of southern Germany. The AlpspiX platform is made of two arms each 82 feet long and ending with a wall of glass. It offers visitors a unique, unfettered view of the nation's highest peak, the Zugspitze, and the surrounding alpine panorama.
July 31-Aug. 1: Moosehaven SummerFest, Orange Park. Live entertainment plus arts and crafts. Free. 904-418-8233, www.moosehaven.org/default.asp.