Gadlinks for Tuesday 8.11.09

Welcome back to another Tuesday of Gadlinks. How does it work? We scour the best of the travel web and pick our favorite links of the day, summarizing them all in one convenient post. It’s like a big “travel smoothie” of goodness, except we don’t add any antioxidants. OK, ready to see this Tuesday’s picks? Keep reading below:

  • Snorkeling takes you to another world. Simply strap on a mask and some fins and you’re instantly transported to a world of brightly colored fish and other strange denizens of the deep. Here’s a list of the Top 10 spots to snorkel to make sure you get your money’s worth. [Via CNN]
  • Grant recently brought us an in-depth look at the Western African capital of Dakar, Senegal. He’s not the only one checking out West Africa lately – check out this writeup on African tourist hotspot Ghana. [Via The New York Times]
  • Jonesing for the great outdoors? You might consider upstate New York, where Adirondack Park offers visitors plentiful hiking and some icy cold mountain lakes where you can cool off afterwards. [Via MSNBC]
  • This past week we learned of the passing of legendary filmmaker John Hughes, a man who captured the essence of 80’s surburban youth and Chicago like no other. Here’s a nice tribute to the much-loved director. What’s your favorite John Hughes movie moment? [Via Intelligent Travel]

More Gadlinks HERE.

Remembering John Hughes through travel

John Hughes died yesterday at the age of 59, while out for a walk in New York City.

I was only a few years old when The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science came out, but thanks to repeated showings on TNT and USA in the early 90’s, I grew up watching his iconic films. I wanted to skip school with Ferris Bueller and I had a mad crush on Jake Ryan. So even though Hughes had withdrawn from Hollywood in the last decade or so, I was still saddened to learn of the passing of someone whose movies were such a big part of my formative years.

For other fans out there, the folks over at Jaunted have put together a list of some of the locations used for filming in Hughes’ movies, including Chicago-area sets like the Home Alone house at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka and the Illinois Police Station (formerly Maine North High School) in Des Plaines where Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estevez suffered through Saturday detention.

I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before we see a tour dedicated to revisiting these familiar locations. In the meantime, I’m going home to watch a Hughes movie marathon. That Jake Ryan is so dreamy.