African Queen to begin daily cruises
African Queen to begin daily cruises
KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — The African Queen, the iconic original vessel from the classic film of the same name, is plying nearshore waters and canals in the Florida Keys again.
Keys sailing charter operators Lance and Suzanne Holmquist inked an agreement with the 100-year-old boat’s owner and invested some $70,000 to restore the boat that carried Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn to movie history. The boat was originally brought to Key Largo in 1983 and restored then, but has languished as an out-of-the-water display for the past 11 years.
Stephen Bogart, son of the film star, was present during a re-launch event Thursday for the vessel, registered as a national historic site.
Next week, the Holmquists are to begin daily cruises for Keys visitors from the Holiday Inn Key Largo.
National Zoo marks 40 years of pandas
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo is celebrating 40 years of giant pandas.
Monday was the 40th anniversary of the day that the pandas Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The pandas were gifts to the United States from China following President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to that country.
The pandas were presented to the zoo officially on April 20, 1972. They were the first pandas in US zoos in modern history. Now 11 pandas are at four American zoos.
Ling-Ling lived at the National Zoo until 1992, when she died. Hsing-Hsing died in 1999.
The zoo’s current two pandas, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, arrived in December 2000.
Some Yellowstone roads set to reopen
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Roads into the north and west sides of Yellowstone National Park are scheduled to reopen for the season this Friday.
The roads will be open from the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Mont., and the West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Mont., to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful.
Park officials say visitors still have a good chance of encountering cold weather and snow this time of year in Yellowstone. Also, many park services and amenities remain closed.
People visiting Yellowstone will be rewarded with free admission next week, which is National Park Week. Entrance fees will be waived April 21-29 to encourage people to visit America’s 397 national parks.
Commemoration of War of 1812 begins
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Navy is kicking off its celebration of the War of 1812 in New Orleans in a big way.
The event, which is the first of four years of festivities around the nation, begins Tuesday with a parade of tall ships and modern Navy ships sailing up the Mississippi River into the Port of New Orleans
A 21-gun salute fired by the National Guard’s Washington Artillery at the old Navy pier in Algiers will welcome them.
The flotilla will stretch from the Mississippi River Bridge to the Esplanade Street Wharf and the ships will be open to the public in the afternoons through Sunday.
The weeklong event in New Orleans will also have air shows, flights by the Blue Angles, and events at the Chalmette Battlefield.
Frank Lloyd Wright photo exhibit set
SPRING GREEN, Wis. (AP) — A new exhibit features photos of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and architects he influenced.
It’s being held at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, where all the tours start of Wright’s former home, Taliesin, in Spring Green. It features the photos of James Caulfield, who with writer Patrick Cannon, has produced three books with images of Wright’s buildings and other Chicago-area architects. The photos were taken while they were working on the books, which were released between 2006 and 2009.
Among the buildings featured are the 1892 Charnley-Persky House in Chicago and the Harry Adams house of 1913 and Unity Temple, both in Oak Park, Ill.
The exhibit runs from May 19 through Oct. 31.
Grand Canyon road will reopen
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — The main roadway leading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is set to reopen on May 15 for the summer season.
Grand Canyon National Park officials say the historic Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim and all other North Rim facilities will also reopen that day.
Arizona State Route 67 leading to the North Rim was closed for the winter season in late November.
Guides highlight La. ecotourism
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Guides touting Louisiana as an ecotourism destination are now on the racks of tourism centers.
The Travel Green Wetland Tour guides take travelers on four routes — through the coastal prairies of southwest Louisiana, the Atchafalaya Basin, the bayou country of southeast Louisiana and around the Mississippi River region of New Orleans and the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
The guides tell travelers where to go, eat, drink and stay and cover more than 300 places to visit.
Valsin Marmillion, managing director of America’s Wetland, and his brother, Norman Marmillion, the owner of the Laura Plantation, collaborated to create the guides.
Fields narrowed for Nevada top treasures
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A fourth round of online voting is under way to select Nevada’s top tourism treasures.
So far, the top five in each of six categories has been chosen. The categories include Las Vegas, Reno-Tahoe, Cowboy Country, Indian Territory, Pony Express Territory and Nevada Silver Trails.
The latest round of voting ends Friday.
The Nevada Commission on Tourism launched the Nevada Treasures contest on March 1, encouraging Nevadans to get out and visit their state.
Winners will be announced May 7, and the tourism agency will develop travel packages featuring the destinations.
Nominations can be made at DisoverYourNevada.com.