Most people have heard of Route 66. It’s iconic. It’s a classic American highway recognized in pop culture and its expanse covers many U.S. states. The route original passed through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Although officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985, many portions of the original road are now National Scenic Byways under the name “Historic Route 66.” This route, or any section of it, is a good way to see the countryside of the U.S.A. You’ll see the vast plains that define the term “big sky.” When you drive through the New Mexico and Arizona portions of the road, you’ll see vivid desert colors in the land juxtaposed with perfect pastel colors in the sky. My favorite thing about Route 66 is that it begins and ends with serene water views. Whether you wind up staring off into the Pacific Ocean or Lake Michigan, your journey through the desert can be complemented with a well-deserved swim if that’s what you want.You’ll hit plenty of towns along this route. Among the larger towns you’ll pass through are Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque and Los Angeles.
Photo Of The Day: Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge
Today marks the 129th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Happy Birthday, you barely look a day over 100! This photo by Gadling’s own Willy Volk was taken from the NYC Water Taxi. He used a fake tilt-shift effect to get the unique perspective and slightly blurred edges, but it reminds me of the view you might see on a rainy day riding the subway over the neighboring Manhattan Bridge. It’s a view that never fails to inspire visitors and New Yorkers – one that’s unmistakably New York. Celebrate the anniversary with a walk across its span to Brooklyn and back; it’s one of New York’s last great free thrills.
Share your best travel photos with us in the Gadling Flickr pool. If we find them inspiring (and can download them), we’d love to include one as a future Photo of the Day.
Cruise Terminal For Sale: No Ships But Great Fishing
For cities and towns that want to be a home port for cruise ships, it would make sense to be set up to handle them first. Ensuring that today’s giant ships can dock, that there will be shore-side services available and figuring out the logistics of it all are checklist items one might consider mandatory. But there’s a big difference between being “ready” and having a $100 million cruise terminal sitting empty with no ships scheduled to call.
That seems to be right where Houston Texas is today; all dressed up and with no place to go as the would-be cruise port can’t find cruise lines that want to sail from their bright, shiny terminal.
“I’m convinced that no cruise line is going to come. They may as well forget about using it as a cruise terminal,” Texas Judge Ed Emmett told ABCNews.
Worse yet, the losses keep growing. In the last year, the port has spent another $4.7 million just maintaining the cruise terminal. The ABCNews report notes that some of the money was spent to improve the gangways for cruise passengers that may never use them.
Perhaps Houston was a bit too ambitious?
Maybe, maybe not. Business is great at the close-by Port of Galveston; in 2010 it reported its highest gross operating revenue since 1941. Making $7.3 million off revenue of $23.5 million is a pretty fair return.
So why are there no ships sailing from Houston?
Among other reasons, it takes ships much longer to reach international waters from Houston. Ships sailing from Galveston are out of U.S. waters in minutes. Sailing from Houston takes 2 hours longer to get out of U.S. waters – where cruise ship shops and casinos can open.
Flickr photo by notsogoodphotography
The Future Looks Hopeful For New York’s Proposed Underground Park
Back in September, we told you about New York’s proposed Delancey Underground, or “Low Line.” While we were unsure of its future at that time, it now looks as if the city’s first underground park will become a reality.
The park, which was inspired by New York’s “High Line,” an abandoned elevated railway, also makes use of the concept of disregarded spaces. In fact, the project’s founders, Dan Barasch and James Ramsey, are planning to build the park in an abandoned subway station. People obviously love outlandish ideas, as the pair was able to surpass their Kickstarter goal by $50,000, raising $155,000 of crowd-sourced funding. For the Low Line to work, special technology will need to be used, and the pair will now be able to show people exactly how this will work.
For a better idea of what helped the proposed park’s success, check out the Kickstarter video above.
What are your thoughts on an underground park?
The World Of The Great Gatsby: Long Island’s Gold Coast
The official trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s new film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” was released this week, inciting nostalgia across the Internet for the passion, parties and Prohibition-fueled recklessness of 1920s-era New York City. The film doesn’t come out until Christmas but if you’re hankering for a preview, try visiting Long Island‘s Gold Coast, where F. Scott Fitzgerald lived, wrote and based his famous novel.
Geographically located on the North Shore of Long Island, the Gold Coast’s grand mansions and landscaped gardens beckon visitors to explore the lives of the magnates and tycoons that called them home. Former inhabitants include familiar names like the Vanderbilts, Roosevelts, Whitneys and Pratts, and nearly all of the estates are open to the public throughout the summer.
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One Gold Coast must-see is Old Westbury Gardens, a traditional English manor home that you’ll recognize from films like “The Age of Innocence” and “Cruel Intentions.” Built in 1906, the estate was once inhabited by financier John S. Phipps, who outfitted it with lavish furnishings and artwork. Guests are welcome to tour the home’s interior or stroll around the estate’s rose gardens, walled gardens and pond.
One Gold Coast must-see is Old Westbury Gardens, a traditional English manor home that you’ll recognize from films like “The Age of Innocence” and “Cruel Intentions.” Built in 1906, the estate was once inhabited by financier John S. Phipps, who outfitted it with lavish furnishings and artwork. Guests are welcome to tour the home’s interior or stroll around the estate’s rose gardens, walled gardens and pond.
The Gold Coast’s residents weren’t all as traditional as the Phipps. A trip to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum reveals the eclectic nature of former inhabitant William K. Vanderbilt II. The 43-acre complex includes a marine museum, seaplane hangar, natural history habitats and a wide array of quirky ethnographic objects. The on-site planetarium is currently under construction, but it is expected to be one of the most advanced in the country once it is completed.
And if you’re a true literature geek, you can’t miss the Hempstead House or Falaise Mansion in Sands Point, a part of Long Island that Fitzgerald referred to as the “East Egg” in “The Great Gatsby.” Both homes are surrounded by wildlife, nature trails and picturesque spots that are perfect for setting out a picnic blanket and giving the classic novel a re-read.
[image via Discover Long Island]