Abandoned hotels past their days of glory: Which will rise again?

by Jamie Rhein on

Over at ProTraveler, there is a read worth noting about eight abandoned hotels in various parts of the world. They once had glory days, but didn’t hold onto it for financial woes or pestilence.

These are the places that chronicle shifts of time. Hot destinations that don’t stay hot or where the owners made bad decisions. You’ve probably come across examples of these types of places in your own travels.

“What was this place?” you might say to your traveling companions. You wonder if anyone important stayed here or what the building looked like when it was brand spanking new.

One example is this picture of the Palace Hotel in Jerusalem. I love this shot. The hotel reminds me of John Everett Millais’s painting of Ophelia still clutching flowers, dead, floating face-up in a pond.

The photos are haunting, I think. Chairs with no one sitting in them, debris scattered across the floor, and an old sign that once flashed its neon. These are reminders that nothing gold can stay, but if lucky, can be resurrected into a new life.

For example, the Palace Hotel is to be reopened as a Waldorf-Astoria luxury hotel in a few years. The Diplomat Hotel in the Philippines may be turned into a museum. The folks who are going to do the project better hurry while there is still a building worth saving. It’s thought to be haunted, so hopefully, the ghosts will be happy with the change.

Adventures in Hostelling writing contest wants your words

by Jamie Rhein on

If you have 150 to 250 of the very best words–whether funny, romantic, thought-provoking, etc. etc., but true–every last word of them, try out your wordsmith mettle by telling your hostelling story.

Hi-USA Golden Gate Council of Hosteling International is celebrating its 50th anniversary by throwing a contest. Here’s what you do:

  • Think of that story
  • Write it down in 150-250 words
  • Send it in by July 15

Simple, right?

For your efforts you could win:

  • the Grand Prize of one round-trip voucher for international travel on American Airlines valid through March 9, 2009
  • a Jury Prize of a Flip Video Camera (there are three of these)
  • or an Honorable Mention of a one-year membership to Hosteling International

All winning entries will be published in a commemorative publication.

By the way, the story does need to thematically highlight the mission of the Hi-USA Golden Gate Council. What’s that you say? It’s to help travelers “gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling.”

Before you send in your ONE entry, make sure you’ve made it as entertaining, perfectly written, and as relevant to the purpose of hostelling as you can. For further details, click here. To enter online, click here. Let us know if you win. No prize is too small.

Total words of this post: 220

Abe Lincoln and Civil War history buffs, head here

by Jamie Rhein on

One aspect I love about going someplace I haven’t been before is coming upon a treasure I wasn’t expecting. This was the case when I headed to Harrogate, Tennessee to the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival. My purpose was to hang out with writers who have an Appalachian bent.

What I didn’t expect was the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library. My word! In the gorgeous bowl created by the mountains, right across the border from Kentucky, right through the Cumberland Gap, is a museum filled with Abraham Lincoln and Civil War history, including artifacts not found elsewhere.

Evidently, because the people of this area were pro Union Army, Abraham Lincoln envisioned a university here. Eventually, that happened. The Lincoln Memorial University was founded in honor of Lincoln and it is where the museum is located.

The museum’s collection began about the time the university began and has grown to include the cane that Lincoln was using the night he was shot at the Ford Theatre and his life mask. A life mask is when a plaster cast is made of a person’s face while he or she is alive and then used as a mold to create a replica of the person’s face.

You probably know that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, but did you know who else might have been involved? Details of the events that led up to Lincoln’s assassination and what happened afterwards are presented in one of the displays. Mary Surratt, at age 42 and one of the alleged conspirators, was the first woman executed by the U.S. government. If I knew this, I had forgotten it, but relearned it when I visited the museum.

Along with the permanent displays, the museum also has exhibits that change. For anyone who is doing Civil War history, the museum’s archives would be an important place to include. Another reason to head here is that the Appalachian mountains are a feast for the eyes.

Another summer music festival: National Jug Band Jubilee

by Jamie Rhein on

Since the Washboard Festival won’t be around again until next year, here’s another one that looks to be its rival. The National Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville, Kentucky on August 23 is a gathering of jug bands from various states.

Why Louisville? The jug band was founded here more than 100 years ago.

Back then, clay jugs were used to hold bourbon whiskey. When the whiskey was gone, there was an empty jug in need of a use. Blow some air across the mouth in just the right way, and there’s music. The first band appeared in 1903.

Festivals like this one give me the idea that I like people. I actually do like people, which is one reason why I travel, but washboards and jug bands are happy music–perfect for summer. Perfect for creating the feeling that people are neat.

I mentioned this festival to someone who I met who lives in Louisville and she swore that this was a well worth it event, and one that gets rave reviews. She did admit she’s been out of town each time it has occurred, but still swears by it–and she’s a music sort who travels in the circle of people who know something about music.

In case you think you might go, Friday night at the Frazier International History Museum, there’s a jug band concert featuring the Juggernaut Jug Band and the Cincinnati Dancing Pigs. Afterwards there’s a showing of the documentary, “Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost” that traces the history of jug band music.

The Dirdy Birdies Jug Band will be performing. If their music is anything like the video on YouTube, I’d say you’ll be in for a good time.

Top tourist sights Americans can’t visit

by Jeremy Kressmann on

As you might realize, there are certain countries that are considered “no-go’s” for American travelers, be it for political or economic or other reasons. Publication Foreign Policy took a closer look at this question of prohibited places, recently creating a list of the “Top Tourist Spots Americans Can’t Visit,” a rundown of the top tourist attractions in otherwise “taboo” locations like Iran, Somalia, Burma and Cuba. Who knew Mogadishu had coral reefs teeming with fish just off the shore? Too bad you’re likely to be kidnapped by warlords if you try to visit.

While this sort of list is a deterrent for many, others eat common sense for breakfast, bringing back some fascinating stories in the process. It’s not that they can’t see the danger – these countries can be violent, unstable, and often downright nasty places. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer. Many have distinguished histories as centers of culture, great monuments and great natural wonders. As Foreign Policy points out for instance, the vast ruins of Persepolis in Southern Iran offer a breathtaking view of the tombs and palaces of Persian rulers Xerxes I and Darius the Great. In Cuba, the settlement of Baracoa was the colonial home of Spanish Conquistadors, and also one of the first places Columbus set foot in the New World.

Check out the list. Nobody is suggesting you should/can make a visit, but these places can offer us further insight into the many subtleties that truly define a location’s identity.

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